Quaternary

Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Volume 8: Peasant to Eoumelia, p. 521

Quaternary, or POST-TERTIARY, the fourth great division of the fossiliferous strata, which embraces the Pleistocene (q.v.) or Glacial and Post-glacial (q.v.) and Recent systems.

A botanical illustration of a branch of Quassia (Bitterwood). The branch has several large, pinnate leaves with serrated edges. At the top of the branch is a cluster of small, white, tubular flowers. Below the leaves, there is a small, dark, oval-shaped fruit labeled with the letter 'a'. — Quassia: Bitterwood (Picrena excelsa), branch with bisexual flowers: a, fruit.

(Bentley and Trimen.)

Source scan(s): p. 0530