282 Geological Society* 



with numerous, but thinly placed, fine long black hairs ; under sur- 

 face buffy-white, with even lighter feet and fore-arms ; tail brown, 

 deepening into black about the middle, beyond which the ai)ical 

 portion is white ; the white hairs being prolonged into a small tuft 

 at the tip. 



Length from nose to base of tail .... 8 inches. 



of the tail 6^ „ 



of the fore-arm 1^ „ 



of the tarsus and toes 1| „ 



GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, 



December 16, 1857.— L. Horner, Esq., V.P.G.S., in the Chair. 



" On a remarkable Fossil Specimen belonging to the Genus Neu- 

 ropteris, from the Coal-measures of Lancashire, and Remarks on that 

 Genus." By C. J. F. Bunbury, Esq., F.R.S., F.G.S. 



The author begins by noticing the comparative rarity, in a fossil 

 state, of theyoung half-expanded fronds of Ferns, showing the charac- 

 teristic circinate vernation ; and he remarks that the specimens in that 

 state, hitherto figured, belong to the genus Pecopteris. He then 

 describes a well- characterized specimen of Neuropieris in this circi- 

 nate condition ; it appears to belong to N. gigantea, or a variety of 

 it, and was procured from Oldham in Lancashire. This specimen 

 affords a strong confirmation of the opinion, that the fossil Neuropte- 

 rides were really Ferns, which some have been tempted to doubt, in 

 the absence of any knowledge of their fructification. This specimen 

 shows that they had the characteristic vernation of Ferns ; in par- 

 ticular, it shows a striking agreement in structure with the young 

 fronds of Aspidium exalt atum. It is thus clear, at any rate, that 

 Neuropieris did not belong to the Coniferous Order, in which there 

 never is any approach to the circinate vernation : even in Salisburia, 

 the leaves of which have, in their form and veining, so much the 

 appearance of a Fern, their arrangement in the young state is quite 

 different. The only flowering plants which can be compared with 

 Ferns in this respect are the Cycadeae ; and in the absence of fruc- 

 tification it is not easy to prove positively that Neuropteris may not 

 have belonged to that family. It is most probable, however, from 

 the composition of the frond, the veining, texture, and all the cha- 

 racters together, that these fossil plants were true Ferns. To deter- 

 mine their nearest affinities in that family is hardly in our power, as 

 there seems to be no constant relation between the vernation or 

 other external characters and the fructification. 



The genus Neuropteris is chiefly characteristic of the Coal-mea- 

 sures. The author has scarcely seen a genuine species of it from 

 any formation later than the Trias, unless we except the enigmatical 

 Anthracitic beds of the Alps, which afford several species apparently 

 identical with those of the Coal. The Oolitic species referred to this 

 genus by Lindley and Hutton do not agree with its characters. Two 



