218 Scientific Proceedings, Royal Dublin Society. 



suggested comparison with the sporangia of Bimeri/dcris gracilis described by 

 Schmalhausen (11), from the Devonian beds of Donetz, where shells of 

 Prodicctus and of other Molluscs scarcely distinguishable, it is stated, from 

 those of the Upper Devonian beds of America, had already been found. 

 These Donetz beds also revealed several species of Archaeopteris fissilis, A. 

 archctypus, A. cf. dbtusa. Schmalhausen himself compai-es his Dimeriplcris 

 {D. fasiculata and D. gracilis) with — (1) Sphenopteris Hitclicockiana Dawson, 

 which is clearly, judging from the figure, a fertile frond of Archaeopteris, 

 and, as Dawson himself suggests, probably of A. (Cyclopteris) Jacksoni; 

 (2) Sphenopteris Condrusorum Gilkinet, of the Upper Devonian of Belgium 

 (12). 



I do not myself agree with Schmalhausen in his comparisons, based, I 

 think, largely on the rough figure of S. Hitchcockiana. There is nothing in 

 Archaeopteris like the repeated forking of the slender sporangial stalks seen 

 in figures 23-25 (op. cit. pi. 11) of his Bimeripteris. In the Kiltorcan 

 material stalks are scarce. When present they agree in general with those 

 figured of Bimeripteris. When the dark bodies already mentioned were 

 removed from the slab and suitably treated, they proved to be sporangia 

 containing spores, one of which is shown in fig. 5, PI. XL The appearance 

 of pairing of the sporangia may be due to their valvular apical dehiscence 

 (fig. 6, PI. XI). I had begun to despair of finding anything definitely 

 suggestive of seeds when the impression represented in fig. 1, PL XII, was 

 noticed. In this slab one may see, in addition to the dot-like micro-sporangia, 

 barrel-shaped bodies, 5 x 2'5 mm. in size, in some cases faintly longitudinally 

 ridged, and occasionally stalked. Sometimes one finds a fairly thick, radially 

 striate, ovate envelope enclosing the softer carbonaceous matter of the central 

 part of the body. The rounded area represented in fig. 1, PI. XII, is also 

 usually observable. There can be little doubt that these oval bodies are true 

 seeds, and that the black speck-like ones are male sporangia. They cannot, 

 however, be referred to Archaeopteris. Scraps of foliage of Sphenopteris 

 Hoolxri frequently occur mixed with them on the slabs. The frequency 

 suggests affinity, but it is not conclusive. 



When one of these oval bodies is enlarged eight times, the general likeness 

 to the seed of Lagenosloma or Sphaerostoma is strikingly brought out (fig. 2, 

 PI. XII). This untouched photograph shows the scooped-out base (b) where 

 the stalk was inserted, while the apical papilla is suggestive of the region of 

 the pollen chamber of Zagenostoma. Can the central ring represent the 

 limits of the embryo sac ? There is nothing suggestive of a cupule or an 

 involucre — the detached seed was apparently " naked," and of the radiospermic 

 type. It is to be regretted that Kiltorcan gives impressions only, no 



