THE PALEONTOLOGIC RECORD 69 



Admirable as this scheme is, and scientifically acceptable as it has 

 proved to be, it nevertheless presents certain well-recognized defects 

 with respect to the requirements of theory, although at the time of its 

 formulation and as late as 1899 it represented the sum of available 

 knowledge. It was just at this time that paleobotany became available 

 as p, means of meeting those deficiencies which a knowledge of living 

 ^plants could not overcome. For a long time botanists have been famil- 

 iar with certain Paleozoic remains having a fern-like aspect which were 

 generally accepted as ferns; but because of their want of direct con- 

 nection with stems or fruit, there remained a serious doubt as to their 

 real character. In the same horizons, detached fragments of stems 

 were also observed with increasing frequency. The study of their 

 anatomy disclosed a structure which, in some respects, was curiously 

 like that of ferns, while in other respects it approximated to the anat- 

 omy of the higher plants as presented in some of the gymnosperms. 

 This combination of filicinean and cycadean characters was noted by 

 Potonie, who succeeded in correlating them and expressing their phylo- 

 genetic position in the name of a new order which he called the Cyca- 

 dofilices. 



There yet remained to be considered certain remarkable fruits for 

 which no relationship has as yet been determined until, through the 

 work of Scott, Oliver, Kidston and others, it was shown that they were 

 of the nature of seed-bearing organs which could be correlated with the 

 Cycadofilices. It thus became evident that there was a hitherto un- 

 known group of plants combining the characters of ferns in their foli- 

 age and stem structure with those of primitive gymnosperms as pre- 

 sented in their stems and fruits. On the whole, however, these plants 

 approached most nearly to the pteridophytes in their external features. 

 To this new phylum, of which the Cycadofilices formed the most con- 

 spicuous member, Scott and Oliver in 1904 assigned the most appropri- 

 ate name, Pteridospermae. This result was based entirely upon paleon- 

 tological evidence through comparative anatomy, and it compels us to 

 recognize the existence of five, instead of four great phyla. The far- 

 reaching significance of this achievement can not be overestimated. It 

 is not only of the utmost importance as proving the general course of 

 evolution and bringing into the realm of proved facts what had previ- 

 ously been a working hypothesis only, but it offers an entirely new point 

 of departure for the botanist of the future. Attention may also be 

 directed to one other effect. The tendency of this discovery is to co- 

 ordinate, unify and strengthen all branches of botanical knowledge, 

 bringing to us the conviction that the more extended and thorough our 

 knowledge of the earlier forms of vegetation becomes, the more satis- 

 factory will be our knowledge of the science as a whole; for while the 

 example selected is probably the most important for our special pur- 

 poses, the general utility of paleontological research in relation to the 



