454 



Therefore we try to avail ourselves of every opportunity 

 offered, to show the value of our method in obtaining 

 resiilts, vainly aimed at otherwise. 



Thus some time ago we studied the wood of Cytmis 

 Adami and its two components C. Laburmim and C. 

 pitrpureus ') and were able to show that the wood of C. 

 Adami is that of Laburnum, very slightly altered, it is 

 true, but by no means in a direction tending to the 

 structure of the wood of C. purpureus. This resuit could 

 in the main hâve been anticipated from the splendid 

 work of Winkler and Baur on this subject and in so 

 far may not be accounted very interesting. But it was 

 valuable as a testimony for the usefulness of our method, 

 because several other botanists had tried in vain to 

 identify this wood. 



Now again a similar opportunity is offered by the pu- 

 blication, some months ago, of an elaborate paper by 

 Mrs. Marie C. Stopes, entitled: Petrifactions of the 

 earliest European Angiosperms ^). 



In this paper detailed anatomical descriptions are given 

 of 3 spécimens of fossil wood belonging to the collections 

 of the British Muséum ofNatural History. Thèse spécimens 

 are from the Lower Greensand, a formation of the Creta- 

 ceous Period and are considered by the author as repre- 

 senting the oldest European Angiosperms, known up to 

 this date. For this reason a careful study of the inter- 

 esting spécimens was commenced, and descriptions were 

 made, so far as the condition of the spécimens permitted. 



By far the best preserved spécimen was that called 

 Aptiana radiata, gen. et spec. nov. We will only treat of 

 this one. 



1) Recueil d. trav. bot. Néerl. Vol. VIII. 1911. 333. 



2) Phil. Trans. o. t. Roy. Soc. B. Vol. 203. 1912. Pp. 75-lCOand 

 Plates 6-8. 



