220 FOSSIL PLANTS. 



Palceoxyris Prendelii. 



Lesquereux (in part), Eeport, Geol. Survey of Illinois, vol. iv. p. 464, 

 pi. xxvii. fig. 10. 



Spirangium Prendelii. 



Lesquereux (in part), Coal Flora of Pennsyl. p. 519, pi. Ixxv. fig. 15. 

 Schimper (in part), Traite d. Paleont. Veget. vol. iii. p. 585. 



Remarks. I have united with this species part of the specimens described 



by Lesquereux as Palceoxyris Prendelii, as they do not differ in any manner 

 from Palceoxyris helicteroides,^ Morris, sp., except in being slightly larger. 

 Lesquereux has evidently included two species under his Palceoxyris 

 Prendelii. 



Horizon. Coal Measures. 



Localities. British. Shropshire : Coalbrook Dale. 



CONIFERS. 



ARAUCARIOXYLON, Kraus, 1870. 

 In Schimper's Traite de Paleontologie Vegetale, vol. ii. p. 380. 



Remarks. The Collection contains a number of microscopical sections of 

 stems which have been described by Witham and others as belonging to the 

 Coniferce. As a transverse, longitudinal, and radial section of each specimen 

 are necessary for a satisfactory specific determination, and as it is now im- 

 possible to ascertain of those sections in the Collection which longitudinal, 

 radial, and ti'ansverse slits have been cut from the same specimen, it would 

 be unsafe to attempt to identify them. The greater part of them have 

 been made from the fossil trees found at Craigleith and Gran ton Quarries, near 

 Edinburgh, and at Tweed Mill and Lennel Braes, near Coldstream, and 

 are from the original collection of the late Mr. Alexander Bryson. All of 

 these localities are of Calciferous Sandstone age. 



Some of these ancient conifers attained great dimensions. The trunk of 

 that found at Craigleith Quarry in 1826 was 36 feet long and 3 feet in 

 diameter at its base.* Another trunk found in the same quarry in 1830 was 

 47 feet long. This specimen was much compressed, but measured at its 

 larger extremity 5 feet by 2 feet.f Both these trunks were mere fragments 

 of the original trees, the upper and lower extremities of the stems being 

 broken over. 



The large tree (Pinites Brandlingi, L. and H.) discovered at "Wideopen, 

 near Gosforth, about five miles from Newcastle-on-Tyne, and which measured 

 72 feet in length, has been referred by several recent writers to the Cycadacece 

 as the stem of Cordaites.\ 



If then Araucarioxylon (Pinites) Brandlingi is unquestionably of Cordaites 

 origin, as some authors state, how can any of the other stems which are at 

 present included in the genus Araucarioxylon be distinguished from Cordaites? 

 In other words, how are the Coniferous and Cycadaceous individuals of 

 Araucarioxylon to be distinguished from each other ? Or do all these so- 

 called Conifers? belong to the Cycadacae ? 



In the Calciferous Sandstone Series of Scotland the occurrence of Cordait.es is 

 extremely rare, and as far as I can remember I have only seen three examples 

 of the leaves of these plants from that horizon, whereas coniferous-like stems 

 are comparatively common, and carbonized fragments of a like wood are 

 abundant in volcanic ash at many localities in Scotland. 



* Witham, Internal Structure of Fossil Vegetables, p. 28, 1833. 

 t Witham, I.e. p. 29. 



j Zittel and Schenk, Handbuch d. Palseontologie, ii. Band iii. lief. p. 243. 

 Enault, Cours d. Botan. Foss. 1881 , p. 82. 



