PALEONTOLOGY. 333 



that the Argentine lakes within the limits of this forest find their exact 

 geologic and climatic counterparts in the State of Washington next the 

 dry interior basin. Lake Chelan is one of these physiographic equiva- 

 lents of such lakes as Alumin6 and Huechulafquen, about which the 

 forests are so remarkable. The araucarias can again be brought back 

 to the northern hemisphere. 



This year the seeds failed in both the Argentine and Chilean forests. 

 It appears to be a singular fact that throughout the entire araucarian 

 region on both sides of the Andes the seeds are abundant only in alter- 

 nate years ; every other year they may be had cheaply for purposes of 

 seeding, when locally gathered as a much-prized article of food. It 

 is also of interest that the young seedlings from the forests of the 

 upper Bio Bio Valley of Chile endured the roughest treatment during 

 six weeks' journey home and are now growing. This tenacity of life 

 is more like that shown by cycads than by any conifers. 



Field observation of the araucarias, which also included a brief 

 glimpse of the Brazilian forest of Santa Catarina, shows that they have 

 a much broader resemblance to the cycadeoids than has been hitherto 

 appreciated. Without going into a technical description, it may be 

 stated that the branching habit of the heavy-stemmed cycadeoids and 

 Araucaria imbricata is nearly the same. The latter at times has stems 

 of remarkably robust form. It may reach 5 feet in diameter with a 

 height of no more than 50 feet, and little tapering, while forms 3 feet 

 thick by 30 high are not unusual. As compared with other conifers, 

 the lateral branches are much suppressed and new shoots are freely 

 sent up from the huge roots. The frequent occurrence of stem bifurca- 

 tion and the occasional examples of from 3 to 5 heavy stems grow- 

 ing in a clump at once recall the cycadeoids; so does the development 

 of the woody cylinder of both the fertile and vegetative branches, the 

 medulla being large. It is intended to give this parallelism between 

 Araucaria and the cycadeoids further consideration. It includes 

 anatomical features of deep interest in any adequate theory of gym- 

 nosperm origin and descent. 



After the field work in Neuquen the Andes were traversed by way 

 of the lake region, southern Chile being reached as the rainy season set 

 in. Fortunately, however, during one week of examination of the 

 araucaria forests of the upper Bio Bio Valley, the weather was excep- 

 tionally fine; also, during rainy weather a preliminary examination 

 was made of the considerable thicknesses of early Mesozoic deposits 

 containing plants in the lower Bio Bio Valley. These find extended 

 development along the western flanks of the Nahuel Bute range, and 

 from the facts observed and learned it is believed are in part Liassic. 

 They were found to contain many fossil plants and are a fresh-water 

 series of wide interest. 



