122 APPENDIX. 



Sphenopteris oeientalis, Newt. 



Plate IX, Figs. 1 and 1 a. 



S. fronde tripinnafa, rachide lougitudinater sulcata, pinuis lanceolatis Tel linearibns, acutis, pinnulis sessilibtis 

 suinmis lobatis, inferioribus laciniatis, laciniis rotundatis, apice Siepe emarginatis nervis tenuis, in lobis 

 dicliotomis. 



This species is more largely represented in the collection than any other, and yet all the specimens 

 consist of comparatively small fragments of a frond of considerable size. 



In nearly all of these specimens a remarkable inequality is observable between the pinnules of the 

 upper and under side of the rachis of each pinna — the upper ones being shorter, broader, and more 

 upright ; the lower ones elongated, narrow, and more oblique to the rachis. 



Probably this is a constant character in the plant, as examples of similar diversity of form are not 

 wanting among living ferns ; but I have seen instances of distortion not unlike this in ferns imbedded 

 in rocks which had been much disturbed. 



In general aspect this species is not dissimilar to some Carboniferous ferns, such as Sph. Schlo- 

 theimi, Sph. tridactylites, &c., but it still more resembles the Oolitic species Sph. denticulata and 

 Sph. hymenophylloides, and the Triassic species Sp)h. dichotoma, Alth. It is also considerably like 

 a Triassic species not yet described, found near Baltimore, Md. From all these, however, it is appa- 

 rently distinguished by the dissimilarity of form in the pinnules of the upper and lower side of the 

 pinuffi, and by the shape of the lobes of the pinnules. In the upper pinnules the lobes are spatulate ; 

 in the lower, fan-shaped. Some of the lobes are straightly emarginate at the summit, but generally 

 they have the appearance of being rounded and entire. 



Locality. — Sanyii Chaitang basin, west of Peking, China. 



Pecoptekis WniTBiENSis ] Brcmg. 



Plate IX, Fig. 6. 



From " Piyiinsz', west of Peking," in a coarse shale charged with the bitumen driven off from the 

 associated coal seam — now anthracite — is a fragnient including several piiime of the frond of a large 

 fern, which bears a marked resemblance to P. Whitbiensis ; so much so, that if the nervation, which 

 is obliterated in the specimen before us, were found to be similar, I should have no hesitation in 

 referring it to that species, as no Carboniferous ferns exhibit that peculiar falcate outline of the 

 pinnules, so marked in P. Whitbiensis, P. dentata, Lind. (P. denticulata, Brong.), etc. 



P. Whitbiensis is in Europe found both in the Lias and Oolite, according to Brongniart, but is 

 regarded as distinctly a Jurassic species. It has been supposed to occur in the Richmond coal basin 

 in this country ; but some of the specimens thought to represent the plant, have been found by Prof. 

 Heer to have a reticulated nervation, and therefore to be, both specifically and generically, distinct 

 from P. Whitbiensis. A careful examination of all the specimens collected in this country, supposed 

 to belong to P. Whitbiensis, will be necessary before we can decide whether it has indeed been found 

 in the^o-called Triassic strata of America; and unfortunately we must wait till other specimens, and 

 such as are in a better state of preservation, shall be brought from China before we can positively 

 a£6rm that it occurs in the coal strata of that country. 



Locality. — Shale over anthracite coal, at Piyiinsz', west of Peking, China. 



Htmenophtllites tenellus, Newb. 



Plate IX, Fig. 5. 



H. fronde bipinnata, parva, delicatula ; pinnis lineari-lanceolatis, pinnulis laciniatis ; laciniis filiformis vel spatu- 

 latis acutis ; sori subrotuudi laciniaium apicibus iusideutes. 



In the plumbaginous schist brought from " Piyiinsz', west of Peking," are numerous fragments of a 

 frond of a species of Hymenophyllites, which seems to be undescribed. These fragments are so 

 small that no clear idea can be gained from them of the magnitude or form of the frond ; but it was 



