1896.] Geological History of Monocotyledons. Ill 



A case in point is the species Kaidacarpon minus Carr. from 

 the Lower Greensand of Potton ; this it is proposed to transfer to 

 Araucarites. 



In the Geological department of the British Museum there 

 are several specimens of fossil stems discovered many years ago 

 in the Iguanodon quarry at Maidstone, and named by Konig 

 Dracaena Benstedtii. 



The reasons for making use of the recent generic name are 

 quite inadequate, and it is much more probable that the stems 

 are Cycadean and not Monocotyledonous. In some species of 

 Zamia, e.g. Z. Skinneri, Warsz, Z. Loddigesii, Miq. and others 

 the stem is without the characteristic armour of leaf-bases, and 

 presents an appearance very similar to that of the Cretaceous 

 fossils from Maidstone. The pre-Cretaceous, and some of the 

 Lower Cretaceous fossils described as Monocotyledons, cannot be 

 quoted as trustworthy evidence bearing on the question of Angio- 

 spermous development. As yet we are without any definite proof 

 of the existence of either Monocotyledons or Dicotyledons before 

 Cretaceous times, and the statement that the former preceded 

 the latter does not seem to be supported by the facts of palaeo- 

 botany. 



(2) A description of the Crania found at Girton in 1881. By 

 R. J. Horton -Smith, B.A., St John's College. 



The following Crania of which a short description is here given 

 were excavated from the Anglo-Saxon cemetery discovered at 

 Girton in 1881. 



The work of excavation was undertaken by Mr F. J. H. Jenkin- 

 son, and a description of the results is to be found in the 

 Journal of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society of that year. 

 In the cemetery many crania were found, together with a large 

 amount of pottery of early Anglo-Saxon date. 



It would seem that before the Anglo-Saxons made use of this 

 piece of ground as a cemetery it had been devoted by the Romans 

 for a similar purpose. This one might have expected, inasmuch 

 as it lies alongside the old Roman road, and this supposition is 

 supported by the fact that some Roman cinerary urns were 

 discovered at a lower level than those of the Anglo-Saxons ; and 

 with these urns were also found a carved lion's head and a 

 military torso, both of Roman workmanship. 



All the human remains, however, were found with the Anglo- 

 Saxon urns and other relics, and as no Roman coins were to be 

 seen with the skeletons, we may fairly presume that the skeletons 



