82 ON THE FOSSIL TREES IN A MARL PIT AT HANLEY. 



fossil plants, and I am informed that the heap of cala- 

 mites from which the members collected so many fine 

 specimens during our visit to the marl pit were all found 

 in the marl which surrounded the base of these trees. 



Most of the members present to-night will remember 

 the interesting and elaborate paper on these trees which 

 Mr. Davis read during the visit which the club made to 

 the marl pit in September last. The author of the paper 

 described the trees as calamites. This I think is an 

 error, although, as I have before said, I have failed to 

 discover the roots so characteristic of sigillaria. Yet I 

 believe we have sufficient evidence to prove that they are 

 undoubted specimens of that genus. 



I will briefly detail to you the internal structure of 

 sigillaria and stigmaria. This structure is very peculiar, 

 and specimens showing structure are very interesting ob- 

 jects for the microscope when properly cut and mounted. 

 Mr. Binney (who you will remember was the first dis- 

 coverer of the true character of stigmaria, and its associa- 

 tion to sigillaria) says, in his description of these plants, 

 " that after the discovery of the outer radiating cylinder 

 by Witham, in lepidondendron, and the same arrangement 

 by Brongniart, it was to be expected that an outer radi- 

 ating cylinder would be found in stigmaria, if it were 

 the root of sigillaria." He then goes on to say that after 

 examining a large number of specimens he finds clear 

 evidence of this outer radiating cylinder in stigmaria. 

 " Not only," he says, " had it an outer but an inner cylin- 

 der. There appeared to have been on the outside of 

 this inner cylinder bundles of vessels which communicated 

 with the rootlets. The bell-shaped orifices from which 

 the rootlets spring are well displayed, and the space be- 



