47 



towards its upper part, — thirdly, that after passing completely 

 through the circlet of scales, it again expanded in a funnel- 

 shaped form, terminating superiorly in a well-defined circle, 

 which had evidently articulated with, and supported, some addi- 

 tional appendage. The next thing to be ascertained was the 

 nature of this appendage. Amongst a great variety of forms, 

 two specimens came under my notice deserving especial atten- 

 tion. One of these was a scaly cone resembling the ordinary 

 cones of a Cycadean plant. It had evidently been several inches 

 long, and about an inch in diameter, consisting of a series of 

 large rhomboidal scales. This specimen is in my own cabinet. 

 The other (in the Scarborough Museum) is considerably larger 

 than my own, and much more pyriform, being thickest at the 

 base, and tapering to an obtuse point. It has evidently been 

 more or less covered by leafy bracteas, and attached to a pedicle 

 much narrower than itself, of which well-marked evidence exists 

 at its thick extremity. These two specimens suggested to me 

 the probability that the additional appendage, which had origi- 

 nally surmounted the upper part of my other examples, had 

 been a cone or spike of fructification, and that the whole was 

 a beautiful form of Cycadean inflorescence. 



This is not the place to give detailed descriptions of the 

 various specimens which led me to 

 this conclusion ; and the necessity for 

 so doing is less urgent, since I have 

 placed in the hands of M. Adolphe 

 Brongniart, drawings and specimens 

 of the more remarkable examples 

 that have come under my notice; 

 and I have no doubt but that when 

 the attention of this distinguished 

 Botanist is given to the subject, he 

 will speedily clear up much that is 

 now obscure and doubtful. At the 

 same time I would refer to the ac- 

 companying diagraniy as giving a rough idea of what I believe 

 to have been the arrangement of the parts of fructification, as 

 exhibited by a vertical section. 



