40 



CANADIAN FOSSILS. 



precisely the same circumstances with the preceding species, and in a 

 drifted state their fragments are often mingled together. Fragments of 

 the stems of this species can scarcely be distinguished from leaf stalks of 

 ferns ; and I now think it possible that some of the fragments from 

 the Devonian of New York referred to the genus Rachiopteris, may have 

 belonged to it. M. tenuistriata and R. pinnata are liable to this suspicion. 



The rhizomata and rootlets of this and the last species principally con- 

 tribute to the contents of the remarkable Devonian root-beds or under- 

 clays, of which a great number were described by Sir W. E. Logan in 

 his Sections of the Gasp^ Sandstones. The rhizomata lie horizontally, or 

 are entwij^ed in a serpentine manner in the beds ; and it is remarkable 

 that great numbers often lie in one direction, as if they had been subaquatic, 

 and their growth had been determined by a prevailing current ; but this 

 may have arisen merely from the extension of rhizomata outward from the 

 margins of original beds or patches of the plants. In other cases they 

 are placed confusedly in eyery direction. The rootlets often penetrate 

 downwards at right angles to the beds, and are specially manifest in some 

 sandy layers in which they sometimes resemble the Scolithus of the 

 Potsdam Sandstone. (PI. XIV, Fig. 166). The stems in some beds 

 remain attached to the roots, and are bent over and flattened in one 

 direction, like grass over which a stream of water has flowed. They have 

 manifestly in many cases been overflowed and covered with sediment when 

 in a growing state. 



50. PSILOPHYTON ELEQANS, Dn.— (PI. X, Figs. 122, 123.)— J. G. S., 

 XVIII, 315 ; PI. XIV & XV.— M. D., St. John, New Brunswick, 

 M. D., Gaspd. 



Stems slender, produced in tufts from thin rhizomes, bifurcating and 

 curving at their summits. Surface smooth, with very delicate 

 wrinkles. Fructification in grouj^s of small, broadly oval scales, 

 borne on the main stem below the points of bifurcation. 



The original specimens on which this species was established were from 

 St. John, and were distinguished by their tufted habit of growth, their 

 Smoothness, their small size and the fructification being apparently lateral 

 and sessile ; though this character could not be certainly ascertained. I 

 place here specimens lately found at Gaspd having similar characters, 

 though from the imperfect state of preservation I cannot with much con- 

 fidence aflSrm their identity. My recent discoveries as to the fructifi- 



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