Dr Arber and Mr Goode, On some fossil plants, etc. 89 
On some fossil plants from the Devonian rocks of North 
Devon. By EH. A. NeEwett Arser, M.A., Se.D., F.G.S., Trinity 
Yollege, and R. H. Goope, B.A., St John’s College. 
(Plates IV—YV.) 
[ Read 22 February 1915.] 
INTRODUCTION. 
Before the completion of the work on the Carboniferous rocks 
of Devon and Cornwall of the senior author of this note, a search 
had been begun for plant remains in the Upper Devonian series of 
North Devon. The existence of a few fossil plants, collected by 
the late Townsend Hall from these beds, seemed to indicate that 
further work might bring to light an interesting Devonian flora. 
The results however of this inquiry, which was aided by a grant 
from the Royal Society Government Grant Committee, have been 
disappointing. The repeated visits of the author in question spread 
over a considerable number of years, and supplemented by the 
enthusiastic help and skilful collecting of Mr D. G. Lillie, M.A., of 
Cambridge, Dr Young, of Woolacombe, and Mr I. Rogers, of 
Bideford, have not resulted in the discovery of fresh specimens 
at all proportionate to the time, labour and expense involved. 
There is little doubt that, while fairly well preserved plants do 
sometimes occur at more than one locality situated on the Baggy 
or Cucullwa beds, and to a less degree in certain other divisions 
of the Devonian of North Devon, such plant-bearing sediments 
are always of the nature of very thin local lenticles. These 
impersistent layers, often of less than an inch in thickness, are 
only occasionally exposed in quarries, and thus the chances of 
finding them are small. The well-known Sloly Quarry, in the 
parish of Marwood, some three miles north of Barnstaple, is a case 
in point. Many years ago it would appear that a plant-bearing 
band was there exposed, and of this exceptional opportunity 
Townsend Hall made good use. Nearly all the Devonian speci- 
mens from Devon, which now find a home in our museums, were 
collected by him in these circumstances. This quarry has recently 
been repeatedly visited and searched by one of us, and it seems 
quite certain that no plant-bearing shales are to be found there 
at present. In fact, beyond the occurrence of some very frag- 
mentary and badly-preserved stem-casts in sandstone, of no value, 
no plant remains have been obtained from it for many years past. 
Again, in the case of the small quarry of Croyde Hoe, on 
Baggy Point, from which some of the specimens figured here were 
