﻿Vol. 
  53.] 
  SIGILLARIA 
  AND 
  GLOSSOPTEKIS 
  IN 
  SOUTH 
  AFRICA. 
  319 
  

  

  convex, 
  as 
  shown 
  more 
  clearly 
  in 
  the 
  shell-like 
  appearance 
  of 
  the 
  

   specimen 
  next 
  to 
  it. 
  A 
  comparison 
  of 
  these 
  small 
  leaves 
  with 
  

   the 
  scale-leaves 
  figured 
  by 
  Zeiller 
  leaves 
  no 
  doubt 
  as 
  to 
  their 
  

   identity. 
  Among 
  recent 
  ferns 
  we 
  may 
  quote 
  certain 
  species 
  which 
  

   show 
  a 
  much 
  closer 
  correspondence 
  in 
  their 
  leaves 
  to 
  Glossopteris 
  

   Browniana 
  than 
  is 
  afforded 
  by 
  Onoclea. 
  In 
  Drymoglossum 
  carno- 
  

   sum, 
  Hk., 
  1 
  we 
  have 
  a 
  Polypodiaceous 
  fern 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  creeping 
  

   rhizome 
  bears 
  two 
  distinct 
  kinds 
  of 
  simple 
  fronds, 
  linear-spathulate 
  

   fertile 
  fronds 
  and 
  smaller 
  suborbicular 
  or 
  elliptical 
  barren 
  fronds. 
  

   Similarly 
  in 
  Drymoglossum 
  piloselloides, 
  Presl 
  2 
  ; 
  also 
  in 
  Acro- 
  

   stichum 
  villosum, 
  Sw., 
  3 
  Polypodium 
  vaccinifolium, 
  F. 
  & 
  L., 
  P. 
  ser- 
  

   pens, 
  Forst., 
  4 
  etc., 
  there 
  are 
  two 
  distinct 
  forms 
  of 
  leaves. 
  In 
  

   P. 
  vaccinifolium 
  the 
  linear 
  leaves 
  are 
  fertile, 
  and 
  the 
  smaller 
  

   roundish 
  or 
  elliptical 
  leaves 
  sterile 
  ; 
  while 
  in 
  A. 
  villosum 
  the 
  small 
  

   suborbicular 
  leaves 
  are 
  fertile. 
  Other 
  ferns 
  might 
  be 
  named 
  

   illustrating 
  the 
  same 
  kind 
  of 
  dimorphism 
  as 
  that 
  which 
  appears 
  

   to 
  have 
  characterized 
  Glossopteris 
  Browniana. 
  We 
  are 
  still 
  without 
  

   satisfactory 
  evidence 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  nature 
  of 
  the 
  sori 
  and 
  sporangia 
  of 
  

   Glossopteris. 
  It 
  is, 
  at 
  all 
  events, 
  unwise 
  to 
  attach 
  any 
  taxonomic 
  

   importance 
  to 
  the 
  very 
  doubtful 
  examples 
  of 
  fertile 
  fronds 
  described 
  

   by 
  Bunbury, 
  Feistmantel, 
  Carruthers, 
  and 
  others, 
  as 
  some 
  authors 
  

   have 
  done. 
  In 
  a 
  recent 
  paper 
  by 
  Etheridge 
  on 
  a 
  Glossop 
  tem-plant 
  

   in 
  which 
  several 
  leaves 
  are 
  attached 
  to 
  a 
  stem, 
  undue 
  importance 
  

   is 
  given 
  to 
  the 
  supposed 
  systematic 
  value 
  of 
  the 
  sorus-like 
  impres- 
  

   sions. 
  5 
  The 
  specimens 
  of 
  Bunbury 
  and 
  Zeiller 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  had 
  an 
  

   opportunity 
  of 
  examining, 
  wherein 
  there 
  occur 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  elliptical 
  

   patches 
  or 
  holes 
  in 
  the 
  lamina, 
  certainly 
  suggest 
  the 
  sori 
  of 
  a 
  

   Polypodiaceous 
  fern, 
  and 
  such 
  evidence 
  as 
  we 
  have 
  favours 
  the 
  

   reference 
  of 
  Glossopteris 
  to 
  this 
  family 
  of 
  ferns. 
  It 
  must 
  be 
  

   remembered, 
  however, 
  that 
  no 
  trace 
  of 
  a 
  sporangium 
  has 
  so 
  far 
  

   been 
  seen 
  on 
  a 
  Glossopteris 
  leaf. 
  

  

  As 
  bearing 
  on 
  this 
  question 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  mentioned 
  that 
  the 
  entire 
  

   simple 
  leaf 
  occasionally 
  met 
  with 
  in 
  Polypodiaceous 
  ferns 
  is 
  

   unknown 
  in 
  recent 
  Cyatheaceae 
  and 
  Grleicheniaceae. 
  6 
  

  

  In 
  a 
  paper 
  by 
  M'Coy 
  in 
  1847 
  7 
  there 
  occurs 
  a 
  passage 
  in 
  his 
  

   account 
  of 
  some 
  Australian 
  leaves 
  where 
  he 
  speaks 
  of 
  scale-like 
  

   appendages 
  which 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  the 
  smaller 
  leaves 
  described 
  by 
  

   Zeiller 
  in 
  the 
  African 
  Glossopteris 
  : 
  — 
  ' 
  I 
  believe 
  I 
  have 
  ascertained 
  

   the 
  rhizoma 
  of 
  this 
  species, 
  which 
  is 
  furnished 
  with 
  ovate, 
  clasping 
  

  

  1 
  W. 
  J. 
  Hooker, 
  ' 
  Gen. 
  Filicum,' 
  pi. 
  Ixviii. 
  a 
  (London, 
  1842) 
  ; 
  see 
  also 
  

   B. 
  H. 
  Beddoine, 
  ' 
  Ferns 
  of 
  British 
  India/ 
  vol. 
  i. 
  pi. 
  lv. 
  (Madras, 
  1866). 
  

  

  2 
  Hooker, 
  ' 
  Garden 
  Ferns,' 
  pi. 
  xlvi. 
  (London, 
  1862) 
  ; 
  Beddome, 
  ' 
  Ferns 
  of 
  

   Southern 
  India,' 
  ed. 
  2, 
  pi. 
  lv. 
  (Madras, 
  1873). 
  

  

  3 
  W. 
  J. 
  Hooker 
  & 
  E. 
  K. 
  Greville, 
  ' 
  Icones 
  Filicum,' 
  vol. 
  i. 
  pi. 
  xcv. 
  (London, 
  

   1831). 
  

  

  4 
  Hooker 
  & 
  Greville, 
  op. 
  cit. 
  pi. 
  xxiii. 
  

  

  5 
  This 
  subject 
  is 
  more 
  fully 
  dealt 
  with 
  in 
  an 
  article 
  in 
  ' 
  Science 
  Progress,' 
  

   1897, 
  p. 
  178. 
  

  

  6 
  ' 
  Becherches 
  anatomiques 
  sur 
  les 
  Oryptogames 
  vasculaires,' 
  G. 
  Poirault, 
  

   Ann. 
  Sci. 
  Nat. 
  [Bot.] 
  vol. 
  xviii. 
  (1894) 
  p. 
  113. 
  

  

  7 
  ' 
  On 
  the 
  Fossil 
  Botany 
  & 
  Zoology 
  of 
  the 
  Bocks 
  associated 
  with 
  the 
  Coal 
  

   of 
  Australia,' 
  Ann. 
  & 
  Mag. 
  Nat. 
  Hist. 
  ser. 
  1, 
  vol. 
  xx. 
  (1847) 
  p. 
  151. 
  

  

  