72 Miscellaneous. 



Sexual Characters in Cephalotaxus. 



Mr. Meehan exhibited some fruit of Cephaloiaants Fovtanii, a 

 Chinese tree, this plant growing on the grounds of P. J. Berckmans, 

 at Augusta, Georgia. This tree had for many years produced male 

 flowers only. During 1882 it produced abundance of fruit. It 

 showed that the genus was not truly dioecious ; and, further, it 

 afforded an illustration, now not uncommon, that trees a long time 

 of one sex only would sometimes change to another. Hex is not an 

 invariable characteristic in an individual tree. — Proc. Acad. Nat. 

 8d. PhihuL, Oct. 17, 1882, p. 2o2. 









species, having the prothorax rather shorter than the other divisions 

 of the thorax. The body is stout, the legs robust, and the joints 

 of the tarsi, five in number, are of nearly equal size. In living 

 Phasmidse the first joint is longer than the rest. Another character 

 separating the new fossil from the recent forms is that the fore limbs 

 are shorter than those of the second and third pairs. There are 

 appendages at the extremity of the abdomen, as in the Phasmidoe of 

 the present day. 



Titanopliasma Fayol% C. Bronguiart. — The spocies measures 0*25 

 metre in length. In the specimen the insect is lying upon one side, 

 and the thorax and abdomen are uninjured only at the lower part. 

 The head shows a large oval eye, but not very distinctly ; part of 

 the mandible is armed with strong denticulations. The antennne are 

 inserted in the middle of the forehead, short and slender ; they 

 measure O035 metre, are nearly cylindrical, with the joints nearest 

 the head longer and broader. The joints are not sufficiently distinct 

 to be counted ; but there seem to be about twenty. The thorax 

 appears to be warty or spiny. The prothorax is 0*02 metre high 

 close to the head, and presents, as in l } rotoj>h<(sma, a sort of spiny 

 collar ; the mesothorax and metathorax are longer than the pro- 

 thorax, as appears from the relative positions of the legs. 



The abdomen is 0*18 metre long, with eight segments of nearly 

 equal length ; the last is shorter and terminated by two falciform 

 appendages, of which the extremity cannot be seen. On the lower 

 surface of each segment there are two spinous lines, which, on the 

 first and last segments, separate from one another and ascend towards 

 the upper part. 



In the legs the coxa is strong and presents several rows of spines ; 

 and the other parts of the legs are covered with numerous fine 

 spines, generally arranged in four or six parallel or anastomosing 

 lines, between which are observed two kinds of large tubercles. 

 The insect was probably apterous, like the females of Pltihalosoma. 

 The author remarks, in conclusion, that in general the insects of 

 the Coal -period differ but little from those of the same groups in 

 the present epoch, and that they were already very highly organized. 



Comptes liendus, December 11, 1882, p. 1228. 



