W. Carruthers — On the Secondary Coniferoe. 541 



carina transverse obtuse. Cone 6 inches long, by an incL. and a 

 half broad at the middle. Apophyses of the scales in the middle 

 of the cone, -^-^ inch broad and -J-^ inch deep. 



Localilij. — From the Gault of Eastware Bay, Folkestone. I am 

 indebted to J. S. Gardner, Esq., F.G.S., for my knowledge of this 

 species. 



The genus Finns is, with a single exception, confined to the 

 northern hemisphere, extending from the Arctic regions, where it 

 grows on the plains, to the flanks of high mountains within the 

 tropics. It is remarkable that in the American continent the Isthmus 

 of Panama suddenly stops their distribution southwards. The groves 

 which occur on the mountains of Mexico and Guatemala are not 

 continued on the similar mountains in the neighbouring regions 

 of South America. The pines are a gregarious group of plants, 

 vast tracts of country being frequently covered with trees of the 

 same species. 



Cones which may be referred with certainty to pines have not 

 been hitherto found in strata older than the Upper Oolites. I ex- 

 clude the fossil to which Lindley and Hutton gave the name 

 of Pinites anthraciniis (Foss. FL, pi. 164), which is most probably 

 the fragment of a Lepidodendroid branch. 



The earliest certain indication of a pine-cone is in the Kimmeridge 

 Clay, from which I have described a small and imperfect siDccimen, 

 with scales which are attenuate towards the margins, and which 

 consequently belongs to the section Sapinus of the larger genus. I 

 described this cone under the name Pinites depressus (Geol. Mag., 

 VI. p. 2), overlooking the previous establishment of a species with 

 the same specific name by my lamented friend, M. Coemans. I take 

 this opportunity to substitute the name P. dejectus for this, which 

 must be set aside. In the Cretaceous beds the pines become more 

 numerous. They belong chiefly to the thin- scaled section Sapinus. 

 The only exceptions with which I am acquainted, besides the two 

 from the Gault to which I have already referred, are P. Fittoni, 

 Carr., Geol. Mag., VI., p. 543, from the Purbeck ; P. Andrcei, 

 Coem., Mem. Acad. Belg., xxxvi., p. 12 ; P. aquensis, Sap., in 

 Schimper Tr. Pal., ii., p.27 ; P. Coquandi, Sap., I.e. ; P. Immilis, Sap., 

 I.e., p. 28 ; and P. Quenstedi, Heer, Flor. Moletein, p. 13, all from 

 Cretaceous rocks. In the Tertiary strata the species of the section 

 Pinea, to which these belong, that is to say, cones with thickened 

 apophyses or apices to the scales, greatly increase. 



Sequoiites ovalis, sp. nov. Cone oval, composed of many scales, 

 arranged spirally on the axis. Scales cuneate from the base, with a 

 transversely-oblong hexagonal apex, which is rugose and depressed 

 in the middle. Cone 21 inches long, and a little over one inch in 

 width. Apex of the scales in the middle of the cone, -J^- of an inch 

 broad and y\ of an inch deep. 



Locality. — From the Gault near Folkestone. 



This is the largest fossil cone which has been referred to the 

 genus Sequoia, being nearly as large as the largest cones of 

 Sequoia gigantea. 



