2 StopEvS, a New Fern from the Coal Measures. 



which show both axis and branches or petioles associated 

 so that a fairly complete idea of the plant is obtainable. 



The discovery, therefore, in the Bullion mine at Shore, 

 of a new fern with its main axis surrounded by numbers 

 of petioles and roots, and of such a size that a series of 

 sections could be cut from it, was an exceedingly welcome 

 one. I am extremely indebted to W. H. Sutcliffe, Esq., 

 F.G.S., of Shore, the owner of the mine, for his great 

 generosity in placing in my hands the whole series of 

 sections of this unique specimen for description in the 

 interest of science. I have named it Tubicaulis Sutcliffii, 

 in honour of the man who has done so much on many 

 occasions for the cause of Pala^obotany. 



The plant is not only new to Britain, but so far as I 

 am aware is the first of its genus to be found in the Coal 

 Measures. The single other species of this rare genus 

 has been found but once, and that in 1815, in the Middle 

 Permian of the continent. 



2. General Structure. 



The specimen was about 4^ inches in length, and, 

 including all the petioles preserved together, about 2x4^ 

 inches in diameter. From this single block Mr. Lomax, 

 of Bolton, succeeded in cutting about 60 sections in trans- 

 verse and longitudinal directions, leaving a block uncut of 

 about an inch in thickness. It seems to have been the 

 upper end of the plant ; and most of the transverse 

 sections show the central main axis relatively small, 

 surrounded by a large number of petioles of varying size, 

 those just coming off being smaller than the main axis, 

 and those further removed much exceeding it. Between 

 these larger branches are innumerable small ones, of which 

 the bulk are adventitious roots (see Fig. 2). Towards 

 the upper end of the plant the differentiation of the tissues 



