STIGMARIA. 265 



Corda's fine specimen on the upper extremity of a simple appendage. In 

 other specimens, according to Goldenberg 1 and Goppert 2 , there is at 

 least a small circular scar in the angle of bifurcation, which Goldenberg 

 supposes to be the point of attachment of the ovoid body. But the last- 

 named forms, not being attached to the axes, are not above suspicion. 

 Though Goldenberg and Corda consider these ovoid bodies to be fructifica- 

 tions of Stigmariae, it seems to me that there is as yet no sufficient ground 

 for this view, and I must consider any determination of them at present to 

 be premature. 



From this notice of the appendages we must return once more to the 

 axes, and take note of some states of preservation which demand careful 

 consideration. The first to be noticed are the internal casts mentioned 

 above on p. 8. It very often happens that we find inclosed in the 

 Stigmaria a cylindrical cast of small diameter, which being sharply 

 separated from the surrounding mass is plainly distinguishable on every 

 transverse fracture, and may by splitting the stone be laid bare sometimes 

 for a considerable distance. That we are here concerned with an integral 

 part of the plant, and not with some other remains introduced with the 

 fossilising material, is shown by the great prevalence of the phenomenon 

 and the regularity with which it is observed, if attention is directed to it. 

 It is only in Stigmariae that these internal cylinders are found, or if some- 

 thing analogous is met with here and there in Lepidodendron, it is of rare 

 and exceptional occurrence. The possible reason for this better state of 

 preservation in Stigmariae will be considered further on. In pieces favour- 

 ably split through, such as are found occasionally in coal-refuse and in 

 particularly good condition in the hard sandstone of the Culm of Burbach 

 near Thann, the surface of the interior cast is seen to be marked with some- 

 what crowded fusiform areolas, which thrust their extremities in between 

 one another and are separated by a lattice-work of narrow bars. In the 

 specimens from Burbach this network is generally very clearly shown by 

 its dark brown colour. If the remains are preserved in fine grayish black 

 clay-slate, there is then no difference of colour, and the lattice-structure is 

 generally less distinct, though in this case it becomes more apparent if the 

 areolae are somewhat convex and raised above the surface, and the bars 

 look like furrows lying between them. I have myself repeatedly found 

 instructive specimens of this kind at Saarbrucken. There can then be no 

 doubt, as was said above on p. 8, that this interior cylinder is the cast of 

 the central cylinder surrounded by the ring of wood. The inner surface of 

 the ring of wood necessarily left its impression on the cast, and the markings 

 on the cast correspond with that impression. When the cast was fully 

 formed, the ring of wood entirely or almost entirely disappeared. The outer 



1 Goldenberg (1). 2 Gbppert (1), t. 10, f. 16. 



