Fossils Found in the South Esk. 59 



a piece of tlie slab mentioned; an offer I should have hesitated 

 to accept in case of injuring the specimen, but on examination 

 I found that the stone could be split with advantage rather 

 than otherwise to the remanent part ; and so it happens that 

 this separated portion, with its beautifully preserved foliage, 

 comes to be exhibited to the Society this evening. It would 

 be wrong should I not take this opportunity of thanking the 

 noble Marquis for his kind and considerate gift in the interest 

 of Science. 



To return to the bed of the river, the specimens of fossils 

 in the following list have been either gathered by me while 

 exploring it in the very dry weather of last summer, or 

 obtained in the manner above mentioned : 



AsterojjhyUitcs longifolia ; Antholithes Pitcairnii {Carclio- 

 caiyon of Carruthers) ; Catamites nodosus ; Catamites (species 

 not identified) ; Cordaites (Flabellaria) horrassifolia ; Lepido- 

 dendron (Knorria condition) ; Lepidodendron (species not iden- 

 tified) ; Neuropteris (species not identified) ; Pecopteris Serlii ; 

 P. nervosa ; P. marginata ; Poacites (mth numerous stems of 

 ferns) ; Sigillaria flexuosa ; Sphenopteris Hihberti ; Sporangia 

 (spores or seeds in great variety) ; Stigmaria; Strohilus (under 

 which head I place a small fruit or cone with well marked 

 scales). 



I may remark that in the specimens of Flabellaria the 

 beautiful fan-like leaves so characteristic of this plant occur 

 in great abundance. 



The chief interest in the specimens exhibited, however, 

 centres in the size and beauty of the Pecopteris Serlii on the 

 large slab, and which is not very unlike the familiar living 

 fern Polypodiurn vidgare. It is very rarely that this species 

 is found in this country except in a very fragmentary condi- 

 tion. M. Ad. Brogniart, in his description of the species 

 represented in his tableaux, mentions in regard to this one, 

 that it is chiefly found in America, and there only in a 

 similar incomplete condition, rarely with well developed 

 fronds. 



The only representative of fossil mollusca I met with in 

 the Esk bed was a very fine specimen of Lingula scptami- 

 formis. 



