CAEPOLITHS. 101 



V. 2132. Similar specimen, but larger, and the stem impression 

 more distinct. Ecclesbourne. Rujf'ord Coll. 



V. 2913. Part of a well-preserved scale ; shows very clearlv 

 the sharp angular contour ; the general appearance is very similar 

 to that of a large recent cycadean scale. Cf. Macrozamia, sp. 

 Ecclesbourne. Rufford Coll. 



Other specimens of similar Eury-Cycadolepis species: V. 2134, 

 piece of Sphenopteris Fontainei, Sew., on the same rock ; V. 2236, 

 V. 2301, V. 2699^, V. 2828, V. 2929. Ecclesbourne. 



Ruff or d Coll. 



V. 2800 and V. 2733. These specimens present rather a 

 different appearance to that of most of the larger scales ; this 

 may, however, be due to folding over of the edges, of which 

 there is distinct evidence. Some of the specimens of Cycadolepis 

 are by no means unlike certain monocotyledous spathes, but there 

 can be little doubt as to their cycadean nature. Ecclesbourne. 



Rufford Coll. 



Genus CARPOLITHES, Sternberg. 

 [Flor. Vorwelt, Fasc. iv. p. xl. 1823.] 



Fossil seeds are abundant in rocks of various ages, and in some 

 cases their excellent preservation enables us to study in detail the 

 structure of both testa and nucellus, and to refer them, with 

 a considerable degree of certainty, to a particular class, family, 

 or genus of plants. The superb illustrations in Brongniart's 

 posthumous work Recherches sur les graines fossiles silicifiees l 

 demonstrate in a striking manner, the excellent preservation of 

 isolated gymnospermous seeds under certain favourable con- 

 ditions ; but in spite of the perfection of the mineralized tissues, 

 it is scarcely ever possible to assign the detached seeds to their 

 respective plants. In Mesozoic rocks seeds are by no means 



1 Paris, 1881. 



