7° BOTANICAL GAZETTE [JULY 
esis, moreover, explains the appearance of included endodermis and phloem in 
oung individuals of various examples of vascular plants, a condition which finds — 
no elucidation whatever in connection with the views pee almost universally 
by English anatomists.—E. C. JEFFREY. 
Jurassic woods.—GoOTHAN’ describes a number of . woods from the 
Jurassic of King Karl’s Land, none of which he refers e Araucarineae. 
Two species, Phyllocladoxylon sp. and X. peti plies are considered 
to belong in the region of the Podocarpinea e Cupressinoxylon is also 
figured, which is compared with the C. McGeei = Gicion. Next are two 
with the conventional and generally received views. It does not seem to have — 
occurred to the author that he may have an araucarian conifer with indica 
"tions of transition toward the Abietineae. The genus Araucariopitys, recently 
edro- 
It is nevertheless unquestionably an araucarian conifer. One abietineous wood 
is described, namely Protopiceoxylon extinctum. The wood in question has 
normally only horizontal resin canals, but vertical ones may occur as the result 
of injury. The author regards his wood as evidence that the vertical type of 
resin canal is older than the horizontal, forgetful that GoEpPERT and PENHALLOW 
have described much older Fiyoay from the Carboniferous and Permian 
respectively, which show only hori canals. Itseems, accordingly, that “Pro- 
topiceoxylon,”’ with a much greater degree of probability, represents a stage in 
degeneracy toward the Cedroxylon type, rather than a primitive abietineous 
type spececng nly des ae The author lightly sets aside the evidence adduced 
on 1 and experimental grounds by the reviewer for the great 
age of the pinelike Abietineae. With admirable Teutonic frankness, he char- 
acterizes the reduction hypothesis of the phylogeny of the Coniferales as one t0 — 
which, “wohl niemand beipflichten kann.” He apparently loses sight of the 
fact that the reduction hypothesis is now quite generally adopted by competent 
morphologists for such degenerate groups as the Equisetales, Lycopodiales, ete. 
Had the literature on the fossil conifers, which has recently been published by 
American paleobotanical writers, been available, in all probability Go 
opinion in regard to the fallacy of the reduction hypothesis in connection with the — 
phylogenetic development of the conifers would have been expressed with con- 
siderably more reserve—E. C. JEFFREY. 
7 GOTHAN, W., Die Fossilen Hoelzer Koenig Karls Land. Handl. Kgl. Svensk. 
Vetensk.-Akad. 42: no. ro. 
