1867.] TATE SOUTH -AFEICAK" FOSSILS. 141 



deposits of iN'atal ; the materials at my command consist of frag- 

 ments of fronds, the distinctive characters of which may be thus 

 stated : — Erond narrow, strap-shaped, with nearly parallel edges ; 

 apex obtuse (?). Midiib narrow, continued to the apex. Lateral 

 veins strong, slightly oblique, dichotomous, anastomosing and form- 

 ing a lax network from the midrib to the margin. 

 Locality. Natal (Dr. P. C. Sutherland). 



3. "With the above-mentioned specimens from Bloemkop are some 

 of an apparently, at &st sight, second species of Ghssopteris ; these 

 do not exhibit fructification. Dr. Eubidge, however, has communi- 

 cated a drawing (by 'Mi\ M'Kay) of a specimen of this species ob- 

 tained by Mi. M'Kay near East London : and I find that it pre- 

 sents characters generically distinct from those of Glossopteris ; for 

 the position of the fructification is indicated by a few large elevated 

 rings, arising from many veins, and somewhat regularly arranged in 

 a row coincident with the margin, and not by numerous spots, small 

 in size, supported by one vein, distributed over much of the surface 

 of the frond. This new genus thus bears the same relation to GIos- 

 sopteris, among fossil ferns, that Acrostichiim does to Polypodium 

 among living forms. 



I propose for this genus the name Buhidgea, in comphment to 

 Dr. E. j^. Eubidge, E.G.S. One species only is known, the charac- 

 ters of which are as follows : — 



Etjbidgea Mackayi, gen. et spec. nov. PI. Y. fig. 8. 



Erond oblong, obovate, rounded and obtuse at the apex ; secon- 

 dary veins very slender, very much crowded, dichotomous, oblique. 

 There is no indication of anastomosis of the veins. 



Localities. Bloemkop, near the Sunday's Eiver, Graaf Eeinet (Dr. 

 Eubidge) ; East London, at the mouth of the Buffalo Eiver (Mr. 

 M^Kay). 



4. DiCTTOPTEEIS ? SIMPLEX, SpOC. UOV. PI. VI. fig. 6. 



The material at my command consists of a fragmentary specimen 

 of a single frond, showing neither base nor apex. 



Erond simple, large, oblong, broad (?); venation arising from 

 a prominent midrib, and forming a lax and regular network, com- 

 posed of elongated subquadrangular areolae. 



This species, in the fonn of its frond, approaches Ghssopteris : 

 but its venation is more like that of Dictyopteris than of Ghssopteris. 

 The specimen is on a brownish-grey shale from Bloemkop (Graaf 

 Eeinet), and was presented by Dr. Eubidge ; it was alluded to by 

 Sir C. Bunbury in 1861 as ^' consisting of mere fragments, with veins 

 forming a lax and regular network, perhaps more like the venation 

 of Dictyopteris than of Ghssoptens.''^ (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. 

 vol. xvii. p. 329.) 



5. Specimens of flattened stems are not rare in the shales of 

 Bloemkop ; they appear to belong to PJiyJhtJieca (PI. Y. fig. 6) ; but 

 as the materials are very imperfect, I refrain from attaching any 



m2 



