Geological Society. 551 



GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



[Continued from p. 486.J 



April 14. 1858.— Prof. Phillips. President, in the Chair. 



The following communication was read : — 



" On a Fossil Fruit found in the Upper Wealden deposits in the 

 Isle of Purbeck." By Prof. J. Phillips. M.A., Pres. G.S. &c. 



In one of the Upper Wealden shales in the northern cliffs of 

 Swanage Bay, the author found a small imperfect spherical pyritous 

 seed-vessel, about half an inch in length, which presented evidence 

 of having had eight meridional ridges, and an apparently fibrous 

 surface. After a careful compeirison of numerous forms of seeds of 

 monocotyledonous, gymnospermous, and dicotyledonous plants, the 

 author considered that the specimen presented some analogies with 

 dicotyledons of several groups, especially Euphorbiacece and Juglan- 

 dacece. 



April 28. — Prof. Phillips, President, in the Chair. 



The following communications were read : — 



1 . "On some Fossil Plants from Madeira." By C. J. F. Bunbury, 

 Esq.. F.R.S.. F.G.S. 



The vegetable remains described in this memoir were procured by 

 Sir C. Lyell and M. Hartung from a leaf-bed discovered by them, in 

 January 1854. in the ravine of S. Jorge in the Island of Madeira 

 (Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. x. p. 326). They consist of detached leaves 

 and fragments of leaves, mostly in a very imperfect state, — a large 

 proportion of them, indeed, too imperfect to be even described. Di- 

 cotyledonous leaves predominate, but remains of Ferns are also 

 numerous ; always, however, in a very fragmentary condition. Mo- 

 nocotyledons are rare. No distinct remains of fruits have been 

 found. 



Mr. Bunbury described 23 different forms (8 Ferns, 1 Monocoty- 

 ledon, and 14 Dicotyledons), which he has been able to discriminate 

 among these remains ; and added a list of those described by Pro- 

 fessor Heer, in his memoir on the same subject. Each list contains 

 several that are wanting in the other : M. Heer has 13 which are not 

 found in the collection examined by Mr. Bunbury ; and the latter 

 collection contains 12 that do not seem to be noticed by the Swiss 

 Professor. The total number of distinguishable forms in the two 

 collections amounts to 37, the greater part of which must be con- 

 sidered as very imperfectly known. They gave occasion to the fol- 

 lowing remarks : — 



1. The most abundant of the Dicotyledonous leaves and the most 

 abundant of the Ferns are with great probability identified with 

 species now existing in the island ; namely, Laurus Canariensis, 

 Oreodaphne f uteris , and Pleris aquilina. The Pteris is a plant which 

 has a wide geographical range, and accommodates itself to a variety 

 of conditions ; but the two Laurels appear to be confined to the three 

 Atlantic groups of islands, the Madeiras, Canaries, and Azores, 

 Four other of the fossils appear to be very probably referable to 



