f 52 Morphology BOOK i 



arisen, possibly from the same stock, showing more complete 

 affinities with those now known. Polypodiaceous types 

 were discovered ; Fontaine recognized an Aspidium from 

 the Potomac region of America in 1889 ; Renault described 

 a representative of the Osmundaceae, and Schenk spoke of 

 a similar form in 1887 ; Raciborski described a type allied 

 to Danaea in 1894. Representatives of the Gleicheniaceae 

 also were discovered, and Seward described some of the 

 Matonideae, allied to the recent form Matonia, in 1899. 



Nor were the Cycadeae the only Gymnosperms investi- 

 gated. Many representatives of the Coniferae came to 

 light ; Fontaine described a specimen resembling Podo- 

 carpus in 1889 ; branches of Piniles, a form allied to Pinus, 

 were found by Nathorst in 1897. Cones of Pinus Laricio 

 had been unearthed by him in 1896. Many other workers 

 added to the list. 



The determination of the remains of the Angiosperms 

 gave rise to much controversy, as they took the form 

 chiefly of leaf casts, and no specimens were forthcoming to 

 show any anatomical details. Though much of such 

 material was accumulated, and though the impressions 

 pointed to outward similarity with many recent types, the 

 study of the Angiosperms of the Mesozoic period was but 

 in its infancy when the century closed. 



The period under review thus brought a great extension 

 of our knowledge of the details of structure exhibited by 

 the fossil remains, especially of the plants of the Palaeozoic 

 period. It furnished important results in the classification 

 of the Pteridophyta. The group Sphenophyllales was dis- 

 covered and its affinities approximately determined. The 

 discovery of the Cycadofilices changed the current views of 

 the dominance of the Ferns in Paleozoic times and showed 

 a great probability of the descent of the Gymnosperms, or 

 part of them, from Filicinean ancestors, a probability which 

 was not lessened by the investigation of the mesozoic 



