Maryland Geological Survey 217 



terminate the distal lacinae. Numbers of these fructifications are in 

 organic connection with the fronds, so that there is no room for any 

 mistake in observation. These objects are found upon microscopic ex- 

 amination to be made up of masses of closely packed, relatively large 

 spores, in the ground mass of which there are traces of other tissues 

 which cannot be made out, but which evidently represent peduncles and 

 sporangial walls. These spores are nearly spherical in form, a feature 

 common to the genera Aneimia and Lygodkim, but apparently not to 

 Scliizcea. They are of large size, averaging about 1/10 of a millimetre 

 in diameter. The tetrad scars are small but well marked, but show no 

 protuberances or ornaments at the outer angles. The walls are thick 

 and strongly striated, another feature of the modern SchizjEace^, espe- 

 cially of the genus Aneimia, and well shown in the fossil spores repro- 

 duced on PI. XXII. The spore contents are for the most part dissipated, 

 only the yellowish exine remaining, and the walls are frequently col- 

 lapsed so that with a low power they appear cross-lined because of their 

 juxtaposition. 



Since only the spores are preserved the morphology of these fructifica- 

 tions is conjectural. They have the appearance of simple fusiform 

 sporangia of gigantic size, but it is believed that they represent a large 

 number of pairs of more or less confluent, or at least close packed, 

 sporangia. 



The specimens are found in a partially lithified sandy clay, almost an 

 argillaceous sand, but the sand is fine-grained, so that the fossils are well 

 preserved, as indicated by the specimen photographed. In this specimen 

 the spores were evidently nearly mature, as indicated by their size and 

 configuration. None seen are in tetrads, and yet the sporangia could 

 hardly have dehisced before fossilization, since each tiny rock cavity 

 which represents these fructifications is packed with the spores. In some 

 of the impressions there are faint transverse lines on the matrix as if they 

 marked the line of demarcation between successive pairs of sporangia; 

 bearing branches, and in one case the vein upon which the fructification 

 was borne can be traced the entire length of the fructification, clearly 

 indicating that it is not a gigantic simple sporangium but an aggregate 



