﻿194 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  SOME 
  IMARINE 
  ALGAE 
  FROM 
  THE 
  TRENTON 
  LIME- 
  

   STONE 
  OF 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  

  

  BY 
  R. 
  RUEDEMANN 
  

  

  The 
  early 
  paleontologists 
  described 
  as 
  algae 
  all 
  fossil 
  bodies 
  from 
  

   the 
  marine 
  beds 
  \vhich 
  in 
  their 
  habit 
  had 
  some 
  similarity 
  to 
  plants, 
  

   whether 
  or 
  not 
  any 
  organic 
  structure 
  or 
  substance 
  was 
  shown, 
  

   and 
  in 
  so 
  doing 
  created 
  a 
  burdensome 
  mass 
  of 
  names. 
  The 
  ten- 
  

   dency 
  of 
  late 
  has 
  been 
  to 
  doubt 
  the 
  vegetable 
  nature 
  of 
  all 
  so 
  

   called 
  Paleozoic 
  seaweeds 
  ; 
  or 
  to 
  follow 
  Nathorst^ 
  who, 
  after 
  prov- 
  

   ing 
  the 
  mechanic 
  or 
  animal 
  origin 
  of 
  many 
  of 
  them, 
  makes 
  the 
  

   presence 
  of 
  a 
  rind 
  of 
  coal 
  the 
  ultimate 
  criterion. 
  Solms-Laubach,^ 
  

   however, 
  will 
  not 
  admit 
  this, 
  since 
  ''the 
  coal 
  may 
  entirely 
  dis- 
  

   appear 
  in 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  time 
  from 
  remains 
  that 
  are 
  undoubtedly 
  

   organic, 
  if 
  they 
  are 
  deposited 
  in, 
  a 
  porous 
  rock." 
  

  

  The 
  actual 
  presence 
  of 
  fossil 
  algae 
  in 
  at 
  least 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  Paleo- 
  

   zoic 
  formations 
  of 
  New 
  York, 
  viz 
  the 
  Chemung, 
  was 
  demonstrated 
  

   a 
  few 
  years 
  ago 
  by 
  David 
  White. 
  ^ 
  It 
  is 
  pointed 
  out 
  by 
  this 
  emi- 
  

   nent 
  paleobo.tanist 
  that 
  plant 
  life 
  of 
  the 
  class 
  Algae 
  must 
  have 
  

   been 
  very 
  abundant 
  in 
  the 
  Siluric 
  and 
  Devonic 
  eras 
  and 
  that 
  

   the 
  apparent 
  rarity 
  of 
  undoubted 
  Paleozoic 
  seaweeds 
  is 
  due 
  to 
  

   several 
  causes 
  one 
  of 
  which 
  is 
  here 
  cited 
  as 
  having 
  a 
  direct 
  

   bearing 
  on 
  the 
  material 
  in 
  hand 
  and 
  the 
  discussion 
  'to 
  follow. 
  

   This 
  is 
  the 
  partial 
  explanation 
  of 
  tlie 
  apparent 
  rarity, 
  resting 
  

   " 
  in 
  the 
  remarkable 
  similarities 
  in 
  form 
  and 
  habit 
  between 
  

   many 
  algae 
  and 
  certain 
  contemporaneous 
  low 
  animal 
  types, 
  spe- 
  

   cially 
  among 
  the 
  sponges 
  and 
  sertularians, 
  whose 
  structure 
  was 
  

   so 
  much 
  better 
  suited 
  to 
  preservation 
  as 
  to 
  establish 
  a 
  presumptive 
  

   hypothesis 
  that 
  the 
  resemblant 
  forms 
  must 
  embrace 
  the 
  animal 
  

   characters 
  of 
  structure 
  and 
  would 
  not 
  have 
  been 
  preserved 
  but 
  

   for 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  the 
  latter." 
  

  

  A 
  reaction 
  from 
  the 
  tendency 
  to 
  refer 
  the 
  distinctly 
  preserved 
  

   algoid 
  remains 
  to 
  the 
  animal 
  rather 
  than 
  to 
  the 
  vegetable 
  kingdom 
  

   may 
  be 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  set 
  in 
  in 
  the 
  last 
  decade 
  of 
  the 
  preceding 
  

   century. 
  It 
  is 
  denoted 
  by 
  investigations 
  of 
  Rothpletz, 
  Alexander 
  

   Brown, 
  Stolley 
  and 
  Whitfield. 
  The 
  first 
  named 
  author* 
  began 
  by 
  

   referring 
  to 
  the 
  algae, 
  G 
  i 
  r 
  v 
  a 
  n 
  e 
  1 
  1 
  a 
  p 
  r 
  o 
  b 
  1 
  e 
  m 
  a 
  t 
  i 
  c 
  a 
  Nichol- 
  

  

  ^Nathorst, 
  A. 
  G. 
  Kongl. 
  Svenska 
  Akad. 
  Handl. 
  i88i. 
  v. 
  i8, 
  n. 
  7. 
  

   ' 
  H. 
  Graf 
  zu 
  Solms-Laubach. 
  Fossil 
  Botany. 
  1891. 
  p. 
  47. 
  

   ' 
  White, 
  David. 
  N. 
  Y. 
  State 
  Mus. 
  Bui. 
  52. 
  1902. 
  p. 
  593. 
  

   *Aug. 
  Rothpletz: 
  Fossile 
  Kalkalgen 
  ans 
  den 
  Familien 
  der 
  Codiaceen 
  und 
  

   der 
  Corallineen. 
  Zeitschr. 
  d. 
  deutsch. 
  geol. 
  Ges. 
  43 
  Bd. 
  1891. 
  p. 
  295. 
  

  

  