446 Palaeontologie. 



results of the Variation of a number of diiferent ancestral types 

 along similar lines." It would not seem possible, however, in 

 the present state of oiir knowledge of fossil piants, to demon- 

 strate a series of intermediate stages. Yet there is strong Sup- 

 port for the adoption of this view in the fact that homoeo- 

 morphy, or parallelism of descent, is exceedingly common 

 among iiving piants. Arber (Cambridge). 



Arber, E. A. N., The use of Carboniferous Piants as 

 zonal indices. (Transactions Institute of Mining Engi- 

 neers. 24 pages. 1903.) 



A Short summary of the present position of our knovvledge 

 of the distribution of fossil piants in the Carboniferous rocks 

 of B ritain, and of the principles by which the main facts of 

 their distribution may be made use of as marking particular 

 horizons in these beds. It is pointed out that a great and 

 sudden change in the character of the Vegetation took place at 

 the close of the Lower Carboniferous period. Throughout the 

 Goal Measures, however, the flora changed gradually; new forms 

 appearing in the Upper Coal Measures, which replaced to some 

 extent those of the lower horizons, although many species sur- 

 vived throughout the whole of this period. In certain horizons, 

 a transition period is well marked, as shown by the presence 

 of a mixture of species, of which some flourished most abun- 

 dantly in the lower, and some in the higher divisions. The 

 character of the flora at any particular horizon is best ascer- 

 iained by considering the aggregate of types represented, rather 

 than the occurrence of particular species. In the Coal Measures 

 iour subdivisions may be recognised, the floras of which are 

 typical of various periods in gradual change in the Vegetation 

 of this period. Arber (Cambridge). 



Glück, Hugo, Eine fossile Fichte aus dem Neckartal. 

 (Mittheilungen der Grossherzoglich Badischen geologischen 

 Landesanstalt. Bd. IV. 1902. Heft 4. Verlag von Carl 

 Winter's Universitätsbuchhandlung in Heidelberg, p. 399 

 —428. Tafel VI.) 



Aus einer Thongrube bei Eberbach im Neckartal wurden 

 fossile Coniferen - Zapfen und zahlreiche Holzstücke gefunden. 

 Die Thone gehören in das Pliocaen oder in das älteste Diluvium. 

 Die Arbeit umfasst einen allgemeinen Teil über die geographische 

 Verbreitung, über die Varietätenbildung und deren Unter- 

 scheidungsmerkmale. G. unterscheidet: Picea excelsa (Lam.) 

 Link.: 1. var. obovata Ledebour, 2. var. fennlca Regel, 3. var. 

 alpestris Brügger, 4. var. eiiropaea Teplouchoff, 5. var. aciimi- 

 nata Beck. Das fossile Material besteht aus 14 halbverkohlten 

 Zapfen und vielen Holzfragmenten. Der einzige vollständige Zapfen 

 hat eine Länge von 82 mm und eine Breite von 24 mm. Die 

 Samenschuppen sind entsprechend ihrer jeweiligen Stellung am 



