484 Professor A. C. Seward—Fossil Plants from South Africa. 
surface of the shale which bear a remote resemblance to those shown 
in the drawing. It is possible that the drawing was not intended for 
an accurate copy of the fossil; it is not improbable, however, that the 
specimen may be the original of a sketch in which imperfections were 
partially restored and obscure features freely interpreted. Another 
specimen collected by M’Kay and bearing his label shows some oval 
and slightly raised areas which bear a closer resemblance to those 
represented in the drawing. It is hardly necessary to add, the 
supposed soral impressions have nothing to do with reproductive 
structures. 
The two specimens referred to (Nos. 19 and 16 in the South African 
Museum) are imperfectly preserved impressions of Glossopteris leaves, 
and I have no hesitation in identifying Rubidgea Mackayr, Tate, with 
Glossopteris indica, Schimp. 
Lepidodendron australe, M’Coy. (Pl. XXI, Figs. 6-8.) 
The impression of which an outline sketch is reproduced natural 
size in Fig. 6 was found in black shale brought up from a depth of 
344 feet in sinking a bore at Elandsdraai, near Orange River station. 
The specimen was presented by Mr. F. B. Parkinson to the South 
African Museum. Mr. Du Toit, of the Geological Survey of Cape 
Colony, who is familiar with the locality, regards the shale as 
undoubtedly a member of the Dwyka Series (Lower Karroo). The 
polygonal areas of which the impression consists are approximately 
8-9 mm. long and 7-8mm. broad at the widest part; they are 
arranged in regular series. A short distance below the apex of each 
area there is a more or less circular prominence, showing 1n some cases 
a central depression as in Fig. 7. On some of the areas shown in 
Fig. 6 there are indications of a groove extending from the raised scar 
to the pointed base, as at g, g. 
An examination under a low magnifying power of the thin layer 
of graphite which covers the greater part of the fossil reveals the 
existence of the outlines of parenchymatous cells arranged in fairly 
regular rows converging upwards from the base and sides of the area 
towards the raised scar. ‘The cells in the region above the scar do 
not exhibit the same regularity of arrangement as in the lower two- 
thirds of the field. The general appearance presented by the cell- 
impressions is seen in a slightly diagrammatic form in Fig. 7, and 
a few of the cell-outlines are shown as a camera-lucida drawing in 
Fig. 8. In examining the graphitic layer I made use of a method 
recently described by Professor Nathorst’; a few drops of collodium 
were placed on the surface of the fossil, and after a short interval the 
film was removed and mounted on a slide. The addition of a stain 
facilitated the microscopic examination and the drawing of the 
collodium film. 
The impression is probably that of a stem of the type known as 
Lepidodendron australe, M’Coy, or Lepidodendron nothum, Ung., of 
some authors. The cell-outlines on the surface of the polygonal areas 
may be those of the epidermal layer, but they were more probably 
z Arley for Botanik (K. Svensk. Vetenskaps Akad. Stockholm), vol. vii, No. 4, 
1907; also Geol. Foren. Férhandl., vol. xxix, Haft 4 (1907), p. 221. 
