154 W. Carruthers — Coal Plants from Brazil. 



the humble Wall-rue (Asplenium Ruta-muraria, L.) is as large as 

 those of the giant Alsophilas and Cyatheas of tropical regions. And 

 this holds good also in respect of allied plants widely removed in time, 

 as, for instance, in the spores of Equisetum and Calamites ( Volkmannia) . 

 The spore of Equisetum sylvaticum, L. measures '0019 of an inch 

 across, while that of Volkmannia Binneyi, Carr. measures -002 of an 

 inch. 



We find also a corresponding relationship between the spores of the 

 palaeozoic and those of the living Lycopodiacece. The microspores of 

 Selaginella selaginoides, Link {Lycopodium selaginoides, Linn.) are 

 •0024 of an inch across, while those of Mr. Brown's specimen of Trip- 

 lorposites are "0022 of an inch in diameter. On the other hand the 

 macrospores of the same Selaginella are -0275 of an inch in diameter, 

 while the macrospores discovered and described by Brongniart in his 

 specimen of Triplosporites are, he says, ten or twelve times the size of 

 the microspores, that is to say, taking the measurement from Mr. 

 Brown's specimen, from -022 to "0264 of an inch. The singular rela- 

 tionships indicated by these actual measurements between the spores of 

 the Lycopodiacce are very remarkable. They moreover establish beyond 

 question that the spores of Lepidostrolus, and those described by Robert 

 Brown in his specimen of Triplosporites, are microspores. 



The contents of the sporangia of Flemingites have been so altered 

 before fossilization that the individual spores cannot be separated. In 

 F. gracilis I found several specimens which presented slight promi- 

 nences produced by grains in the interior. These prominences have a 

 diameter of .0028 of an inch, which, making an allowance for increase 

 of size produced by the interposed wall of the sporangium agrees 

 exactly with the measurement of the microspores of Triplosporites. 

 The contents of some of the sporangia of F. Pedroanus present also a 

 granulated appearance, a slight remaining indication of the original 

 individual spores, and these agree in size with the prominences on the 

 sporangia of F. gracilis. 



It follows, then, from these considerations, that these arborescent genera 

 are true Lycopodiacece, completely agreeing in the structure, economy, 

 and size of their spores with the living, though very diminutive, mem- 

 bers of the Order ; and further that, as among the living representatives, 

 some genera {^Selaginella and Isoetes) have both macrospores and micro- 

 spores, and one large genus {Lycopodium) has, as far as known, only 

 microspores, so, in the palaeozoic forms, Lepidostrolus and Flemingites 

 have microspores only, while in Triplosporites both forms exist. 



Mr. Binney lately communicated to the Literary and Philosophical 

 Society of Manchester a paper on Lepidostrolus and allied cones, the ab- 

 stract only of which has been published. In this abstract it is said, " In 

 the new genus Flemingites., described and figured by Mr. Carruthers in 

 Yol. II. of the Geol. Mag. for October, 1866, there are two kinds of 

 sporangia, those in the upper part of the long and slender cone being 

 something like the sporangia of the Lepidodendron, but arranged in 

 whorls, and probably filled with microspores, whilst the lowest scales sup- 

 ported sporangia, containing macrospores. This the author gathered from 

 much more perfect specimens than those which Mr. Carruthers had to 

 work upon. Most certainly the little flattened discs which he described 



