THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 127 
“Scolithus,” altogether on the grounds (as he quaintly stated), 
““ since at best, wt ts only a hole tn the rock.” ILinfer the professor has a 
suspicion that the specific name may convey a very erroneous im- 
pression, at least in some instances. I do not think it at all unlikely 
that the pedicle of a Lingula (contractile when alive) was capable of 
making such holes in the mud and sand. Yet I believe many to 
represent plants, and I object to the assertion “ that no reasonable 
doubt can possibly be entertained regarding their nature.” I spent 
many weeks last fall in both breaking across and splitting great 
numbers of the Clinton Iron-band flagstones which were lying about 
the base of the Niagara Escarpment. In a former paper I stated 
these layers held several plant remains not true Fucoids, but marsh 
or land ones ; that they generally occur in an erect position as if 
the muddy sediment had formed around them before decay had set 
in. The edges of a block in some instances revealed rounded 
branching tubes. Planes of fracture or joints are found in each flag 
which separate in three subdivisions. You may split a score with- 
out discovering anything exposed on the surfaces but vertical tubes 
more or less closely packed, some a little larger than others and not 
essentially differing from Scolithus Verticalis. I had almost 
despaired of obtaining a fairly preserved specimen, when I con- 
cluded to split a few a little beyond, but from the same horizon ; 
the result was hightly satisfactory. Several plants put in an ap- 
pearance (branching forms chiefly) fossilized in a manner similar to 
the ones frequently found in the lower Clinton green beds. One 
- is very slender, and so closely allied to a Psilophyton (Lesquereux) 
from the Cambro Sil—as figured in Dana’s Manual—that it may 
prove a variety merely. Another, a jointed form, displays the main 
stem and branches contracting at regular intervals after the fashion. 
of the Equiseta (Calamites cannze formis, for example) ; portions of 
the plants are colored green. This is evidently caused by iron 
salts, etc., for shells and Bryozoons of the band also present the 
same color frequently. Specimens are submitted for examination. In 
a paper published in our Proceedings I alluded to a black crushed 
Fucoid of the Clinton green shales found attached to the under 
surface of the Pentamerus limestone, the base of our Niagara. It 
seems more like a flattened reed or rush. I was surprised lately at 
finding fragments of this, or a nearly allied form, well up even in 
the chert beds. The best preserved specimen at base is about four 
