226 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



During the progress of this work it had been gradually 

 discovered that many of the types of fern-like foliage to which 

 I have already alluded, especially the frond-genera Alethopteris, 

 Neuroptcris, and some Sphenopterids, belonged in reality to 

 these same plants, the Cycadofilices. Thus, for some years 

 past, it has been apparent that Stur was correct in his view that 

 such fronds were not the leaves of plants which were really 

 Ferns, in the sense that we imply when we speak of the recent 

 Ferns. 



Nothing, however, had so far been discovered as to the 

 nature of the fructification of any of the Cycadofilices. It was 

 not until 1903 that we possessed any definite information 

 on this point. The real initiation of the whole of our now 

 comparatively advanced knowledge of the ancestry of the 

 Gymnosperms, as well as of the reproductive organs of this 

 group, dates from that year, when the researches of Prof. 

 Oliver and Dr. Scott on this subject were first made public. 

 Prof. Oliver had been engaged for some time previously upon 

 an investigation of the petrified seeds of the Carboniferous and 

 Permian periods. Among these was one, previously named by 

 Williamson Lagenostoma Loxmai, which was reinvestigated by 

 Prof. Oliver conjointly with Dr. Scott. The main result of this 

 work was that these authors 3 were able to recognise in this seed 

 the female fructification of Lyginodendron oldhamium, a member of 

 the Cycadofilices, possessing highly compound, fern-like foliage 

 of the Sphenopteris type. 



The seed itself is a highly evolved structure, agreeing in 

 certain respects with that of living Cycads, more especially in 

 the possession of a well-developed pollen-chamber, and pollen- 

 collecting mechanism, but in many of its features much more 

 complex than the seed of any recent Gymnosperm. 



It may be of interest to point out that this seed has not, even 

 to this day, been found attached to Lyginodendron. Yet its 

 attribution, although indirect, is none the less certain. The 

 seed itself was enclosed in an envelope, known as the cupule, 

 the whole resembling somewhat a hazel nut surrounded by 

 its husk. The cupule was a lobed structure, studded with 

 peculiar glandular hairs. These glands agree exactly with those 

 long known to occur on the stem, petioles, and even the leaflets 

 of Lyginodendron, but have not been found on any other 



1 Oliver and Scott, 1903, 1904. 



