280 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XX. No. 504. 



almost certainly bore the seeds called Lagen- 

 ostoma Lomaxi by Williamson. Toward the 

 close of this paper they make the following 

 significant remark : " It is not likely that 

 Lyginodendron stood alone in this ; we must 

 now be prepared to find, what has long been 

 recognized as a possibility, that many of the 

 plants grouped under Cycadofilices already 

 possessed seeds, and thus that a considerable 

 proportion of the so-called ' fern-fronds ' of 

 the PalEBobotanist really belonged to Sperma- 

 tophyta." 



Following quick upon this discovery came 

 that of Mr. Kidston of a specimen of Neur- 

 opteris heterophylla bearing a rhabdocarpous 

 seed.* The second preliminary paper of Drs. 

 Oliver and Scottf does not mention Kidston's 

 discovery, but deals, like the first, with the 

 seed of Lagenostoma Lomaxi. In this paper, 

 however, they say : " There are raany indica- 

 tions that other genera, now grouped under 

 Cycadofilices, had likewise become seed-bearing 

 plants. It is proposed to form a distinct class, 

 under the name Pteridospermje, to embrace 

 those Paleozoic plants with the habit and 

 much of the internal organization of ferns, 

 which were reproduced by means of seeds. At 

 present, the families Lyginodendrese and 

 Medulloseae may be placed, with little risk 

 of error, in the new class, Pteridospermse." 

 Putting this with the remark above quoted 

 from their previous paper, it seems clear that 

 this new class is regarded as belonging to the 

 Spermatophyta as coordinate with the Gym- 

 nospermas and Angiospermse. 



In a paper presented to the Paris Academy 

 of Sciences by M. Grand'Eury on March 7, 

 1904,:|: he mentions the numerous seeds found 

 associated with the Neuropterides and gives 

 his reasons for believing that they were borne 

 by those plants, and he remarks that ' from all 

 this it evidently does not follow that the Neur- 

 opterideas are primitive Cycadinese, but this 

 solution is the more probable as the stipes of 

 these ferns resemble in a striking manner 

 Colpoxylon and Medullosa.' 



* Op. cit., Vol. LXXII., December 29, 1903, p. 

 487. 



t Op. cit., Vol. LXXIII., pp. 4-5. 



tComptiis Reiidus, Vol. CXXXVIII.. pp. 607- 

 610. 



At the next session of the academy (March 

 4), M. R. Zeiller made a communication on the 

 mode of fructification of the Cycadofilicinese. 

 Commenting on the facts set forth by Grand- 

 'Eury and the discoveries of Kidston and 

 Oliver and Scott, he says : " We thus find our- 

 selves in the presence of types manifestly re- 

 lated on the one hand to the ferns, on the 

 other to the CycadincEe, and we can hardly re- 

 fuse to see in this group of the Cycadofilicinese 

 or Pteridospermse, to use the name proposed 

 by MM. Oliver and Scott, one of the principal 

 steps in the process of evolution which must 

 have led from the one to the other; but we 

 have already to do here with true Gyni- 

 nosperms, and the establishment of this fact 

 leads to a profound modification in our knowl- 

 edge of the Carboniferous flora.* 



Still more significant are certain statements 

 made by M. B. Renault relative to the 

 Paleozoic flora of Autun in a paper presented 

 to the academy on May 16, 1904. He says : 

 '' With the stems of Calamodendron and 

 Arthropitys and their branches we have met 

 with small cylindrical seeds several milli- 

 meters long (Stephanospermum) ; the prox- 

 imity of the seeds and branches may permit 

 the assumption of some relationship (parente) 

 between them. * * * From the facts above 

 set forth it seems to follow that the Cryp- 

 togams may have had several points of contact 

 with the Phanerogams; the Colpoxylons re- 

 mind us of the Cycads and Ferns; Arthropitys 

 of the Equisetacese and the Conifers; and 

 flnally the seeds of Gnetopsis recall those of 

 the GnetaceK.f 



M. Grand'Eury returned to this subject in 

 the session of July 4, 1904, and gave reasons 

 for believing that several of the genera 

 formerly regarded as ferns, including Linop- 

 teris, were seed-bearing, and that the small 

 striate seeds associated with Neiiropieris 

 flexuosa from the Department of the Gard 

 were borne by. that species. He entered some- 

 what into the discussion of the numerous 



* Comptes Rendus, Vol. CXXXVIII., p. 664. 



t Comptes Rendus, Vol. CXXXVIII., p. 1239. 

 This paper was republished in the Procds-Verhatix 

 de la Society d'Histoire naturelle d'Autun, Annee 

 1904. 



