SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.— C. 42S 



Dr. T. S. Westoll. — The distribution of certain specialised Carboniferous 

 bony fishes (11. 15). 

 The small fishes Haplolepis (Eurylepis Newberry) and Pyritocephalus 

 Fritsch have been found to be closely related, and are probably descendants 

 of Canobius ; Pyritocephalus is much more specialised. Newberry's E. 

 lineatus, from Linton, Ohio, is found to be almost identical with P. sculptus 

 Fritsch from Nyfany, Czecho-Slovakia. This suggested a correlation of 

 the two horizons, which was fully confirmed by palaeobotanical evidence ; 

 but it was later found that Teleopterina Berg, from Mazon Creek, 111., and 

 a fragmentary skull from Newsham, Northumberland, must also be referred 

 to Pyritocephalus. The two genera occur at several horizons in the West- 

 phalian and (?) basal Stephanian, namely : 



Newsham, Northumberland Flora E. 

 Longton, Staflts Flora F. 



Mazon Creek, Illinois Flora G or G-H. 



Linton, Ohio \ pi„j.n jj „- jj.t 



Nyfany, Czecho-Slovakia | 

 (Palaeobotanical horizons after Dix's scheme.) 



These fishes are of great morphological interest as they approach Holo- 

 steans in certain characters. Pyritocephalus has very specialised fenestra- 

 tions in the skull-roof, perhaps due to the large eyeball, and both genera 

 have peculiarities in their dermal bones. 



The distribution of these highly specialised small freshwater fishes 

 raises important palaeogeographical issues, while their recurrence, with cer- 

 tain Amphibia, at different horizons indicates the existence of a well-marked 

 vertebrate facies-fauna. 



Dr. J. B. Simpson. — Fossil pollen in Scottish Jurassic rocks (11.30). 



In the Jurassic strata that outcrop on the east coast of Sutherland, Scot- 

 land, coal seams and carbonaceous layers are present at horizons in the 

 Lower Lias, Estuarine Series, and Kimeridge Clay. 



Examination of the microspore content of these coals has disclosed the 

 presence in them of pollen of gymnospermous and dicotyledonous types 

 as well as the spores of cryptogamic plants. 



The gymnosperms are represented by winged pollen grains such as we 

 find in the Abietineas at the present day, and the variety of the forms already 

 indicates a considerable degree of differentiation. 



The pollen of dicotyledonous types represent at least two living families — 

 Magnoliaceae and Nymphaeaceae. In both families, too, more than one 

 genus is present. The Magnoliaceae are represented by one form similar 

 to Magnolia, and another closely akin to Drimys. The forms placed in the 

 Nymphaeaceae show close affinities to the living genera Nelumbium and 

 Castalia. The Nelumbium types show the characteristic bisymmetry of 

 this class of pollen in polar view, and in other details also, resemble Tertiary 

 and modern forms of the genus. The types identified as Castalia resemble 

 the pollen of the tropical species of this genus. 



The presence of pollen of dicotyledons in these rocks is of special interest 

 as being amongst the earliest fossil records of Angiosperms. 



p 2 



