214 SCUDDER ON THE CARBONIFEROUS 



toward the outer part of the lower margin ; the first of these nervules is at a high level, 

 is thrown oft' near the base in continuation of the base of the main branch and is more 

 curved than the others, its basal direction being less oblique than theirs. The externome- 

 dian vein is a simple, gently arcuate vein, running from the base to a little beyond the 

 middle of the lower margin, and emitting from its upper side at the middle of its course a 

 single branch, arcuate at base, which, like the main vein, has a course parallel to the scap- 

 ular branches ; both main vein and branch are situated at a very low level. The interno- 

 median vein is nearly straight, a little arcuate, especially in the apical half, and perfectly 

 simple, situated at a high level and terminating a little before the middle of the lower 

 margin. The anal vein, neither elevated nor depressed, is forked at the base, one fork run- 

 ning parallel to the internomedian vein in the basal half, and beyond curving downward 

 to the margin, which is slightly indented at this point ; and the other again forking, the 

 forks similar, curving, but very short. 



There are several distinct cross-veins in the wing ; one important one, a long and curv- 

 ing vein, connects the externomedian and scapular vein, near the base, and appears to 

 form a downward curving basal continuation of the main branch of the scapular, making 

 it look like a superior branch of the lower vein ; the others are transverse and most of 

 them at exactly right angles to the nervures, and they are all situated in the dark bands. 

 Besides these, there are a large number of fainter cross-veins transverse to the nervures 

 they connect, pretty regularly and uniformity distributed over the wing below the main 

 scapular vein, forming quadrangular cells which over most of the wing are more than 

 twice as broad as long. 



The genus is dedicated to my honored friend Rev. Peter Bellinger Brodie ; as his name 

 will always be connected with the fossil insects of England, it is fitting that so notable a 

 form as this should recall his eminent services. 



This generic type is an ancient form of Planipennia or true Neuroptera, the structure 

 of whose wings does not agree with that of any of the existing families of the group, but 

 rather shows a combination of features which now distinguish separate families. It has 

 the general aspect of a gigantic Panorpa, borrowed from its form, its markings, the pres- 

 ence of a few scattered cross-veins, and the course of the mediastinal nervure. When, 

 however, its neuration is carefully observed, the scapular vein is seen to be fundamentally 

 different, although its position and the origin of its main branch is similar ; for, while in 

 both cases the area it occupies is important, in the Panorpina the main branch divides 

 dichotomousty throughout, and its offshoots take a longitudinal direction ; while in Brodia, 

 the main branch emits oblique shoots at regular intervals downward and outward, as it 

 does in other Planipennia, but not in Panorpina. The veins below the scapular are also 

 very different from what they are in Panorpina, and relatively to the rest of the wing 

 much less important. 



With the Hemerobina, the wide space between whose marginal and mediastinal veins is 

 filled with numerous oblique and generally forked veinlets, and whose scapular vein has 

 numerous sectors, this ancient type has less to do. In this group the mediastinal vein 

 extends nearly to the tip of the wing, while in Brodia it terminates a little beyond the mid- 

 dle. The Hemerobina, however, differ from other Planipennia in the insignificant part usually 



