III.—Note on the Life-Zones of the Carboniferous Deposits of Europe

Extract

It has long been a matter of reproach to British geologists that, with such a grand sequence of Carboniferous rocks as occursinGreat Britain and Ireland, many of which are highly fossiliferous, all attempts to establish life-zones in them have hitherto been unsuccessful. As a subcommittee, appointed by the British Association, has been put into existence to endeavour to zone the Carboniferous rocks, it seems to me that a preliminary comparison with each other of the life-zones already establishedinEussia and Belgium, and as far as is possible to contrast the distribution of the zonal fossils with that which obtainsinGreat Britain, may to some extent clear the ground, and establish some important palaeontological facts as a basis for future work.