382 NATURAL SCIENCE. 



July, 



Handbuch " (7, p. 713). This extinct form Patzea has its nearest 

 living representative in the genus AvcentJwbium, a parasitic Angiosperm 

 of the Mediterranean, North American, and other regions. The 

 oldest known examples of the Loranthaceae are those mentioned by 

 Saporta in the list of fossil plants from Lower Cretaceous strata of 

 Portugal. 



Among the Monocotyledons we may mention representatives of 

 four families. 



LiLiACE^. — Sniilax has been detected from a well-preserved 

 female flower. 



PalM/E. — Four species of Palms are included in the Amber 

 Monocotyledons, belonging to the genera Phoenix, Sabalites (Casp.), 

 Bemheygia (Casp.), and Palmophylhiin (Conw.). 



Arace^ and Gramine/E. — Three new genera have been instituted 

 to include fragments referred to these two families. 



We have not to trust, in the case of Amber flowering plants, 

 merely to doubtful determinations based upon fragmentary leaves, 

 but are dealing with flowers and fruits which the Amber has sealed up, 

 and in a condition which allows of little or no doubt as to their true 

 botanical affinities. To form some idea of the perfect state of these 

 flowers, buds, leaves, and twigs, one has only to look at the excellent 

 figures of Conwentz and previous writers, in which are seen sepals, 

 petals, stamens, and pistils still in their places, and apparently as com- 

 plete and distinct as if just gathered from the living plants. Another 

 interesting example of flowers which have left similar relics of their 

 delicate structures is that of the Sezanne tuffs of Eocene age (8, p. 6), 

 in which perfect moulds have been left by the embedding and subse- 

 quent removal of the flowers in a calcareous matrix : wax introduced 

 under an air-pump into the moulds, and after the removal by acid of 

 the surrounding travertine, forms casts of the floral organs of the 

 flowers. Specimens of these wax casts are doubtless familiar to 

 those who have examined the collections of fossil plants in some of 

 the Paris Museums. 



Gymnospevms are especially abundant in the Baltic Amber, and 

 the coniferous stems, roots, and branches furnish us with striking 

 examples of Amber petrifactions. In the form of large pieces, or as 

 small fragments, the wood and bark of Pines and other Coniferae 

 have been thoroughly impregnated with resin, which in its Amber 

 condition allows us to examine microscopically the most minute 

 structures in the tissues of these Amber trees. In addition to the 

 vegetative parts of Conifers, male and female flowers, and even pollen- 

 grains, are frequently found. 



Many of the Amber Conifers belong to genera which have 

 retreated since Tertiary times to more congenial extra-European 

 latitudes. 



Male flowers of Abietaceae are mentioned by Conwentz (2) as 

 common, and their frequent occurrence is explained by the fact that 



