628 EEPORT — 1881. 



It is of an oblong oval form, and about ^^^ of an incli in breadth, by o^ of an inch 

 in length. The contained spores are of the usual kind. 



2. New sporangium, containing minute fringed macrospores. 



The other sporangium contains an undescribed species of tetraspores. It is of 

 the same form as the one containing Z. brevipes, but very much smaller, being only 

 jl^ of an inch in breadth, by -g'^ of an inch in length. The contained spores are 

 very minute and covered with hair-like appendages. They resemble the large 

 fringed macrospore§, so common in the same material, but they are more of a 

 triangular, cockle-shell form. Minute as they are, several hundreds being pro- 

 bably contained in each sporangium, they are as perfect in form and as beautifully 

 preserved as it is possible for them to be. What are these spores ? Judging from 

 their peculiar form and fringe-like appendages, I think it much more probable that 

 they are macrospores than microspores, and that they belong to some unknown 

 form of Lepidodendron. 



3. A new fossil fungus. 



The fact of the existence of fungi among the plants of tlie coal-measures is now 

 well established. I liave upwards of fifty microscopical preparations containing 

 these fossil parasites. Peronosporites antiquarius is one of the most common 

 forms, and is chiefly found in the fossil ferns and in the lepidodendra. Its 

 mycelia may be often seen crowding the large vessels in the centre of the fern-stems 

 and sending off branches among the surrounding parenchyma, where its spores 

 sometimes occur in abundance. Its resting and other spores, along with those of 

 «ystopus and other forms, occur plentifully in many sections of the coal-ball mate- 

 rial. Some of my sections of Lyginodendron contain numbers of spore-like bodies, 

 which greatly resemble starch-grains, but the fact, that many of them have short 

 thread-like tails, proves that they are not starch-grains. In the longitudinal sec- 

 tion of a calamite I have found them associated with true mycelia. In one case 

 ■there are two branching mycelia, each occupying the centre of one of the long 

 tube-like vessels, with only a single vessel betwixt them, and surrounded by 

 the spore-like bodies (haustoria). In its appearance and habits this fossil fungus 

 is almost exactly like that of the recent species, Oystopus candidus. 1 have no 

 .doubt that it is a cystopus, and if not the identical species G. candidus, it is at 

 Jeast a near relation. I propose to give the fossil fungus the provisional name of 

 Cystopus carbonarius. 



7, Notes on Astromyelon and its root. Bij James Spencek. 



This fossil plant is one of the new genera which have been described by Professor 

 W. C. Williamson, F.E.S. It was so named from the star-like form of its pith ; 

 but since the name was given, many specimens have been found, especially in our 

 Halifax beds, differing widely from the typical form, so that the name has now to 

 be applied to specimens which have no pith, and to others in which the starlike 

 aspect is by no means .apparent. A transverse section of the stem bears a striking 

 resemblance to that of the calamite, but there are several important differences 

 between the two, which need not now be entered into. The transverse section of 

 a typical specimen is composed of a woody zone formed of a number of wedge- 

 shaped bundles, the spaces between these bundles and the centre being occupied by 

 the pith. There are two principal forms of variation from the normal type. One 

 of these has a structure not unlike that of the pine, and the pith is reduced to a 

 very small speck, containing only a few small cells. The other variety has a large 

 central cavity, which assumes various forms, and which are evidently due to the 

 original structure and not to irregularities in fossilization. In many of these no 

 pith is present ; in others only a small portion remains. It is very probable that the 

 absence of the pith in many cases is due to its destruction before or during fossili- 

 zation. In many of these specimens the wedge-shaped bundles are absent, and 

 the ligneous zone assumes a homogeneous structure. There is also a very great 

 variety in the vessels forming the bundles, often even in the same plant, which 

 gives to transverse sections a beautiful appearance. 



A complete stem is seld W met with, the bark being generally absent, but in 



