Sporangiferous Spike from the Middle Coal Measures. 73 



On a Sporangiferous Spike, from the Middle Coal 

 Measures, near Rochdale. By Thomas Hick, 

 B.A., B.Sc, A.L.S., Assistant Lecturer in Botany,, 

 The Owens College, Manchester. 



(Received December 10th, 1895.) 



At a meeting of the Manchester Geological Society,, 

 held on December nth, 1894, a fossil Fruit-spike, or 

 Strobilus, was exhibited by S. S. Platt, Esq., F.G.S., 

 of Rochdale, which attracted some attention, but was 

 not definitely determined. Through the kindness of Mr., 

 Platt, and the good offices of Mr. Bolton, of the Man- 

 chester Museum, I have had an opportunity of submitting 

 it to a careful examination, and have drawn up the 

 following description of it. The history of the specimen,, 

 previous to its coming into my hands, is given as an 

 introduction to the description, but for this I am indebted 

 to Mr. Platt, who was good enough to supply me with 

 the necessary details. 



In the first instance the specimen was turned up by 

 a workman in a bed of shale that was being worked for 

 brickmaking at Coptrod, near Rochdale. The geological 

 horizon of the shale is the same as that at Sparth 

 Bottoms, which is a little above the Royley, or Arley 

 Mine, and possibly below the Neddy Mine, both of which 

 belong to the Middle Coal Measures. The shale is 

 irregularly bedded, and at intervals is traversed by bands 

 of the same material, which are harder and more con- 

 solidated than the rest. It would be from the top of 

 one of these harder layers that the specimen was obtained. 



In the matrix in which it is imbedded, the spike lies- 



