Johnson &, Gilmoke — Dewalquea in.Coal-hore at Washing Bay. 325 



age of these beds than is embraced in the general statement that they come 

 in somewhere between late Cretaceous and early Miocene times. As, however, 

 the lake basin in which they were laid down was probably produced by some 

 early forerunner of the Miocene earth-movement, there is a presumption in 

 favour of the later portions of this long'-epoch. 



" It is obvious that any palaeontological evidence that is obtainable becomes 

 of very great importance in determining with more precision the horizon of 

 the clays. Such a determination, moreover, would also assign an upper limit 

 to the age of the great series of basaltic eruptions in north-eastern Ireland." 



One of the most interesting fossils found in the coal-bore is the genus 

 Dexoalqxiea. 



Our first recognized specimen occurs in the core at a depth of 90.3 feet, and 

 reveals itself as a five-lobed leaf (PL XI, fig. 1 ) in all essential features, in agree- 

 ment with the Deivalqueas of the European Continent and America. The whole 

 leaf is 9 cm. long by 9 cm. broad ; the petiole being only partially preserved, is 

 not included in the measurement. The petiole divides at its distal end into 

 three branches, the two outer ones branching again. Each of the five branches 

 carries a lanceolate, acuminate, toothed, coriaceous leaflet. The leaf is clearly 

 compound, quinately palmate or pedate, not a simple palmatisect or pedatisect 

 leaf. The medium leaflet is 8 x 1-.5 cm., the inner lateral ones 7 x I'o cm., 

 while the outer ones are much smaller, being 08 cm. wide, and probably only 

 4 cm. long. Neither leaflet of the outer pair is completely preserved in the 

 specimen. The median petiolule is 3 mm. long, the lateral ones are 7 mm. 

 long, and their branches very short. The base of the median leaflet is 

 symmetrical and attenuated ; the bases of the others are asymmetrical. The 

 base of each inner lateral leaflet has the lamina prolonged downwards on its 

 inner side beyond the outer lamina, the converse being the case with the 

 outer pair— clearly an adaptation of shape to space requirements. The edge 

 of each leaflet is entire in its basal part, but serrate in the upper two-thirds 

 of its length. 



We have been able to restore the epidermis on both sides of the leaf. The 

 upper and under epidermides (PI. XII, figs. 5-8) consist of cells with more or 

 less pronounced sinuous lateral walls. The lower epidermis shows numerous 

 sinuous cuticular striae on the outer face of the cells. Similar striae 

 are described by Nestler (1) in Hdlehorus, in which they are confined 

 to the upper epidermis. The upper epidermis of our fossil shows minute 

 cuticular tubercles like those on the under epidermis in Hellebore. Stomata 

 are confined to the lower epidermis. They are 35-40/i in diameter, 

 sub-circular in outline, without subsidiary cells. Peltate scales, circular 



