' JURASSIC FLORA OF IK)1(;LAS COrNTY. OKKG. 137 



Gcmis CARPOLITITrs Allioiii." 



CARi'oi.niirs oi.Ai.i.KNsis AA'ard n. sp/^ 



]'i. XXXVII, Fi<,rs. 7, s. 



Two i)u1-lik(> ohjects were found al locality Xo. 7 that seem to be 

 essentially the same, although varyin<!; slightly in form. They seem 

 to he nut -like seeds, as they stand out (juite convex from the stone 



" hi the Ninctociith Ann. Rop. V. S. Geol. Surv., Pt. II, \S'M. p.Oltl, tliis {jciicric iiaiiii' wus croditccl to 

 Arlis. will) used it in liis Aiitodiliivian Pli_vt«)Iog_y, 182.5, pp. X\' und 22, in ii systeniatic way. In the Twentieth 

 Ami. Hep., Pt. II, 1900, ]). 3(),3, it wa.s credited to Stokes and Welili, wlm used it one year earlier in n more 

 obseure way, wliieli I had overlooked. .Vn explanatory footnote was appended in wliieh I stated that this 

 ortliograpliy wa-s retained in pid'erenee tit (■(irpolilhcx o! .Sehlotheim, I.S2(), "on the assumption Ihiil it may 

 ultimately he found to have priority when the investigation is complete," and I drew attention to the u.se of 

 the plural form, Carjiulithl, by Walch in 1771. Since that time I have made further investigations, and 

 succeeded in verifying this surmise. In 17.57 a work by Allioni (Carolus .\llionius) was published in Paris 

 with the following title: Oryctographia" Pedeniontaiiie Specimen, exhibens corpora fossilia terra? adventitia. 

 Pp. I-VIII - 1-82 - 2 pp. index. On pages l-!-14 the names Pliylolithus, Litho.\ylon, and C'arpolithus 

 occur, and are sufficiently described. Carpolithus occurs only once, on page 6, and under it a specimen is 

 described in the following words: 



■' Fruetum nucis Juglandis ochn'i quadam terrificatum humanissime largitus est mibi aniicissimus Richerius 

 . . . Observatu dignum est, corticem, sen testam osseani fructus nucis Juglandis consumptam, integerrinio 

 superstite fructu." 



This fruit , as it seems from further explanations of the author, was sent to him by his friend Richerius, who 

 found it on a well-known hill called la Morra, in Piedmont. Sismonda, who worked up the fo.ssiI flora of Pied- 

 mont (Prodrome d'une Flore tertiaire du Piemont, par Eugene Sismonda, Mem. Acad. Sci.de Turin, 2'' ser., 

 tome XVIII, pp. 519-547, pi. i-W ; Materiaux pour servir a la Palt'ontologie du Terrain Tertiaire du Piemont , par 

 Eugene Sismonda, op. cit., 2'' ser., tome XXII pp. 391-491, pi. i-xxxiii), gives Morra as the locality fcr thi 

 well-known fossil nut called Juglans nuxtaurinensis, named and described by Brongniart in 1822 (Mem. Mus. 

 Hist. Nat. dc Paris, Vol. VIII, p. 323, pi. xvii, fig. 6), which has been mentioned by many later authors, and 

 of which Gaudin found additional specimens in the Val d'Arno. Brongniart speaks of it as a well-known nut 

 at that time, popularly called "noix de Turin," but says it was found in the hills that form apart of the upper 

 beds in the vicinity of Turin. He does not mention the work of Allioni, and none of the authors that have sub- 

 se(|uently dealt with that form seem to have been ac<|uainted with it. It seems probable that it is the same 

 specimen which had lain in the Paris Museum ever since 17.57. Brongniart's figme agrees very w'ell with 

 Allioni's description. Sismonda seems to have had other specimens from the same locality, as all agree that 

 these nuts W'ere common there, and that leaf impressions also occur in the same beds. Sismonda describes 

 the geological relations at Morra and classes the beds in the Upper Miocene, but neither he nor any other author 

 makes it clear just where la Morra is. There are several towns by that name in Italy, one of which is in Pied- 

 mont on the Tanaro, but it is doubtful whether this is the same. At all events the name Carpolithus is thus 

 definitely established, and must now be credited to .\llioni. 



Prof. Ralph S.Tarr.who once did some literary work for the United States Geological Survey in the libraries 

 of Cambridge and Boston, discovered this work of Allioni in the library of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 

 at Harvard University and made some notes on a slip that he sent on with his papers. These notes were insuf- 

 ficient to decide the question, but the name Carpolithus occurred on the slip. In discussing the matter with 

 Mr. David White, who has had the same difBculty with Carpolithus that I have had, be offered to write to 

 Prof. J. B. Woodworth and ask him to investigate the question. Profes.sor Woodworth very kindly did so and 

 made a full report. It is from his letter that the above facts relative to Allioni's work are taken, and I 

 take this opportunity to acknowledge my indebtednetis to him. — L. F. W. 



''The name given by Professor Fontaine to this form had already been twice u.sed for other objects and had 

 to b(! changed. The name I have chosen refers to Olalla Creek on a branch of whi«h it was found. — L, F. W. 



