﻿194 PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [Mar. 12, 



I stated (p. 134) that none of the plants of that deposit "have any 

 close resemblance to those of the lias or the oolites." To this there 

 is an exception in the case of the Pecopteris Beaumontii, Brongn. *, 

 which comes so near to P. Whitbiensis, that Brongniart hesitates 

 whether to consider it a distinct species. This single exception, 

 however, does not invalidate the general reasoning on that very sin- 

 gular case. 



EXPLANATION OF PLATES XII. and XIII. 



PLATE XII. 

 Fig. 1 a. Sphenopteris nephrocarpa ; natural size. 



Fig. 1 b. A leaflet of the same, showing the fructification at the extremities of the 

 lobes. 



Fig. 2. A fragment of a recent Dicksonia (coniifolia?) f from New Granada, for 



comparison with Fig, 1. 

 Fig. 3. Baiera ? gracilis ; natural size. 



PLATE XIII. 



Fig. 4 a. Cryptomerites ? divaricatus ; natural size. 

 Fig. 4 b. A small portion of the same, magnified. 



Fig. 5 a. Pecopteris exilis ; a barren leaflet, magnified, showing the veins. 

 Fig. 5 b. The same ; a fertile leaflet, magnified, showing the capsules. 



2. Notice of the Occurrence of Upright Calamites near Pictou, 

 Nova Scotia. By J. W. Dawson, Esq. 



[Communicated by Sir C. Lyell, F.G.S.] 



In his ' Travels in North Americaf,' Sir C. Lyell notices the occur- 

 rence of Upright Calamites in the Upper Coal-formation near Pictou. 

 At the time of his visit this bed was covered by the water of a mill- 

 dam, and he notices it on my authority. In the past autumn a part 

 of the dam was broken down by a freshet, and a few feet of the out- 

 crop of the bed exposed. I availed myself of this opportunity to 

 verify the observations which I had made several years ago, and was 

 so fortunate as to find a group of the vertical stems in the exposed 

 portion of the bed. 



The beds at this place dip to the E.S.E. at an angle of 25°, and 

 consist of grey argillaceous sandstones ; the upper part being some- 

 what hard and flaggy, and the lower very fine-grained and soft. They 

 belong to the upper portion of the Coal-formation, and are associated 

 with brown sandstones and shales, grey sandstones, concretionary 

 limestones, and conglomerates, all of which appear in the vicinity, 

 and frequently contain remains of Calamites, Artisia, Lepidodendron, 

 Endoyenitesl, and Ferns. 



The stems of the vertical Calamites in the bed now under con- 

 sideration are about 20 inches in length, and the largest is 1 inch in 

 diameter. The larger stems are in their upper part at right angles 

 to the beds ; the smaller are more inclined, and are often broken off at 

 a lower level than the larger stems. 



* Hist. Veg. Foss. p. 323. f (First Series), 1845, vol. ii. p. 195. 



