22 Arber, Fossil Plants from the Ardivick Series. 



whose preservation will not permit of a more exact 

 determination. It is fairly abundant in the shales of the 

 Ardwick Series. Lepidostrobus ornatiis is now known to 

 be identical with this species. I do not believe, however, 

 that any specimens of L. comosiis, a Lower Carboniferous 

 type of cone, were ever obtained from the Ardwick 

 Series, although recorded by Binney. 



Stigmaria ficoides (Sternb.) 



I have not seen any specimens of Stigmaria from the 

 Ardwick Series. There is, however, a fine specimen 

 from Bradford, Manchester, in the Owens College 

 Museum. 



The Pal^obotanical Evidence of the Horizon 

 OF THE Ardwick Series. 



The previous opinions which have been expressed 

 with regard to the position of the Ardwick Series in 

 the Carboniferous System are practically unanimous. 

 Murchison,^ Binney,^ Hull," and others* have assigned them 

 to the Upper Coal Measures. It is also commonly stated 

 in the text-books that the Ardwick Series occupies the 

 highest position in the Coal Measures of this country. 

 The evidence of the fossil plants supports this conclusion 

 in so far as by the term " Upper Coal Measures " is 

 implied a horizon higher than the Middle Coal Measures. 

 They, however, afford still further evidence. The Ardwick 

 Series belongs to a horizon immediately above the Middle 

 Coal Measures, which is regarded, on palaeobotanical 

 grounds, as distinct from the true Upper Coal Measures. 



^Murchison ('39), p. 85. 



2 Binney ('68)\ &c. 



«Hull ('62), ('64), and ('81). 



*Roeder ('92), and others, see J^ibliography. 



