Palaeoiitologie. 107 



the specimens, the cell structure is described, and supports the 

 view that it is a true calcareous alga. M. C. Stopes. 



Holden, R., Con tributions to the Anatomy of Mesozoic 

 Conifers. No 1. Jurassic Coniferous Woods from York- 

 shire. (Ann. Bot. XXVII. p. 533-545. pl. 39—40. 1913.) 



The author deals first with those features of fossil coniferous 

 wood which are judged to be of importance in diagnosing species, 

 about which authors disagree. The present author relies on what 

 she calls "bars of Sanio" as true criteria to distinguish the Arauca- 

 rian from the Abietinean woods. Specimens ofGothan's genus Xeno- 

 xylon are described, and the author describes several new genera 

 without distinguishing the names by the formula "sp. nov." following 

 the names she gives, or diagnosing the genera or species. The 

 main conclusion is in the summarj", and is that "The character of 

 these transitional woods corroborates other evidence — both palaeo- 

 botanical and comparative anatomical — pointing to the conclusion 

 that the Ahietineae are the oldest Conifers, and ancestral to the 

 Arancarineae'\ The author also rejects "all criteria except cellulose 

 bars of Sanio as an infallible test for tribal affinities". 



M. C. Stopes. 



Mc Lean, R. C, Two fossil p rothall i from the Lower 

 Goal Measures. (New Phytologist. XL 8. p. 305—318. pls. 5—6. 

 1912) 



Describes petrified specimens which show the soft tissue of the 

 prothallus well preserved. from plants of Goal measure age. Very 

 detailed description of the prothallial tissue in two cases, viz. the 

 seed of Lagenostoma Lomaxi and the megaspore of Bothrodendron , 

 are illustrated by two exceptionally beautiful plates. The prothalli 

 show not only well preserved tissue but also the remains of the 

 archegonia, which in the case of the specimen of Bothrodendron 

 are crowded on the part of the prothallus extruded from the spore 

 wall. Textfigures are given to illustrate other, described fossil pro- 

 thalli, and both the descriptions of the new specimens and the 

 comparisons with the work of others, are given in careful detail. 



M. G. Stopes. 



Pepperbepg, R. V„ Preliminary Notes on the Garbonife- 

 rous Flora of Nabraska. (Neb. Geol. Surv. III. 11. p. 313 — 330. 

 pl. 1—11. 1910.) 



From the Atchinson shales of Middle or Upper Pennsyl- 

 vanian age, the author describes and figures the following: Neu- 

 ropteris Scheuchseri, var. hirsuta, var. angustifolia , N. ovata, Odon- 

 topteris sp., Equisetites occidentalis ?, Equisetites sp., Calamites sp., 

 Asterophyllites eqiiisetiforinis? , Archaeocalamites scrobiculatus?, Lepi- 

 dostrobtis Salisburyi, Lepidostrobiis sp. Berry. 



Seward, A. C, A British fossil Selaginella. (New Phytologist. 

 XII. 3. p. 85-89. pl. 4. 1913.) 



Describes a new species of Wealden age in which the spores 

 are preserved, and therefore make the association with Selaginella 



