322 DAWSON AND PENHALLOW — PLEISTOCENE B'LORA. 



No. 5. A specimen from the same locality by the same collector as above. 

 It represents the broken end of a branch or small trunk about two inches in 

 diameter. The form has suffered little change, and to the surface there still 

 adhere small pieces of bark. The preservation of this specimen is so distinct 

 from that of the others as to lead to the supposition, upon external exami- 

 nation, that it is a distinct kind of wood. It shows everywhere the effects of 

 advanced decay, and it is also impregnated to some extent with silica. This 

 condition uf preservation rendered it extremely difficult to obtain longitu- 

 dinal sections and impossible to get transverse sections. The former, which 

 were secured in small fragments, were sufficient to place the coniferous char- 

 acter of the wood beyond dispute, and in places the spiral structure of Taxus 

 was evident. 



In a recent communication, Mr. Tyrrell stated that specimen No. 4 was 

 obtained from a depth of 360 feet, and that No. 5 was exceedingly soft when 

 found ; but the precise depth at which it occurred is not known, though prob- 

 ably one of those depths at which wood occurred as mentioned in the report 

 of Dr. G. M. Dawson* 



No. (». Embraces two small fragments of wood about one-half inch square 

 and strongly compressed; also three slides of the same. This material was 

 collected by Mr. J. B. Tyrrell, in 18<S7, from the drift of Rolling river, two 

 miles above Heart hill, Manitoba. 



Fresh sections were cut, but the material was in such an advanced state 

 of decay that the treatment with potash had to be applied cautiously, and 

 microscopical examination showed that it had also resulted in the removal 

 of a large part of the structure of the cell walls, of which, in most cases, only 

 the primary cell wall remained. The characteristic markings of coniferous 

 wood were thus in many cases wholly removed, but in places, where the action 

 of decay was more limited, the markings peculiar to Taxus were observed. 



7. Another specimen of Taxus from peat below bowlder clay on the River 

 Inhabitants, Cape Breton, obtained by sir William 1 )awson, am! now in the 

 collection of the Peter Red path Museum, has Keen examined. It is a frag- 

 ment of a branch about three-fourths of an inch in diameter and >i\ inches 

 long, much flattened by pressure. The structure shows it to be a Taxus, bul 

 presenting some aspects different from those of our modern species. These 



may have resulted from local conditions, since the w 1 rings show it to 



hav<- grown very slowly, as if in a situation unfavorable to it. A more 

 critical examination will be made later; for the present I refer it to T. /""■- 

 cata provisionally. 



'fhe modem Canadian species of Taxut are T. brevifolia, Nutt., and '/'. boo- 

 cata, L., var. < 'anad( n is, Gray. To the first, none of the specimens described 



♦ ii. i.i. 



