﻿252 
  BI2TCJEY 
  AXD 
  KIEKBY 
  ON 
  THE 
  TTPPEB 
  BEDS 
  

  

  so 
  much 
  resemble 
  the 
  Bear-Island 
  ones 
  that, 
  in 
  all 
  probability, 
  what- 
  

   ever 
  the 
  latter 
  are 
  finally 
  determined 
  to 
  be, 
  ours 
  must 
  follow 
  *. 
  

  

  What 
  are 
  the 
  roots 
  of 
  Lepidodendron 
  is 
  at 
  present 
  doubtful. 
  One 
  

   of 
  us 
  has 
  shown 
  that 
  in 
  structure 
  Halonia 
  exactly 
  resembles 
  Lepi- 
  

   dodendron, 
  and 
  was 
  probably 
  the 
  root 
  of 
  the 
  latter 
  plant. 
  Up 
  

   to 
  the 
  present 
  time, 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  our 
  knowledge 
  extends, 
  no 
  well-marked 
  

   specimen 
  of 
  Lepidodendron 
  with 
  its 
  roots 
  attached 
  to 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  dis- 
  

   covered, 
  although 
  M. 
  Heer 
  may 
  have 
  seen 
  such. 
  M. 
  Lesquereux, 
  

   one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  experienced 
  living 
  authorities, 
  in 
  his 
  description 
  of 
  

   Halonia 
  tortuosa, 
  appears 
  to 
  have 
  observed 
  his 
  specimen 
  in 
  situ, 
  and 
  

   saw 
  that 
  it 
  had 
  not 
  been 
  flattened, 
  but 
  was 
  in 
  its 
  original 
  shape, 
  that 
  

   its 
  natural 
  position 
  was 
  not 
  vertical 
  but 
  horizontal 
  or 
  prostrate, 
  

   and 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  a 
  fragment 
  of 
  a 
  plant 
  growing 
  and 
  expanding 
  

   its 
  branches 
  upon 
  the 
  ground 
  f 
  . 
  This 
  fact 
  in 
  some 
  degree 
  sustains 
  

   the 
  view 
  that 
  Halonia 
  was 
  the 
  root 
  or 
  rhizoma 
  of 
  Lepidodendron, 
  

   with 
  which, 
  as 
  previously 
  stated, 
  it 
  is 
  identical 
  in 
  structure. 
  

  

  It 
  may 
  be 
  remarked, 
  in 
  conclusion, 
  that 
  these 
  red 
  rocks 
  of 
  Fife 
  

   are 
  higher 
  Coal-measures 
  than 
  any 
  seen 
  on 
  the 
  east 
  side 
  of 
  England, 
  

   so 
  far 
  at 
  least 
  as 
  we 
  have 
  observed 
  in 
  Northumberland, 
  Durham, 
  

   Yorkshire, 
  and 
  Derbyshire. 
  The 
  high 
  position 
  and 
  general 
  

   character 
  of 
  the 
  strata 
  naturally 
  suggest 
  that 
  they 
  are 
  the 
  equiva- 
  

   lents, 
  either 
  in 
  full 
  or 
  in 
  part, 
  of 
  the 
  Upper 
  Coal-measures 
  of 
  Lan- 
  

   cashire 
  and 
  other 
  western 
  districts 
  of 
  England. 
  In 
  one 
  particular, 
  

   however, 
  they 
  differ 
  from 
  the 
  upper 
  series 
  of 
  western 
  England, 
  as 
  

   there 
  is 
  nothing 
  in 
  the 
  Fife 
  beds 
  like 
  the 
  Spiror 
  £>is-limestone, 
  which, 
  

   in 
  one 
  or 
  more 
  bands, 
  is 
  so 
  characteristic 
  a 
  feature 
  of 
  the 
  Upper 
  

   Coal-measures 
  of 
  the 
  west, 
  in 
  their 
  range 
  from 
  the 
  Forest 
  of 
  Wyre 
  

   northwards 
  into 
  Dumfriesshire 
  and 
  Ayrshire 
  ; 
  neither 
  is 
  the 
  deve- 
  

   lopment 
  of 
  the 
  series 
  in 
  Fife 
  so 
  great 
  as 
  on 
  the 
  west 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  

   country, 
  2000 
  feet 
  and 
  upwards 
  being 
  its 
  thickness 
  in 
  Lancashire 
  

   and 
  other 
  districts 
  in 
  the 
  west 
  compared 
  with 
  less 
  than 
  1000 
  feet 
  in 
  

   Fife 
  ; 
  so 
  that 
  while 
  the 
  Coal-measures 
  of 
  Fife 
  are 
  evidently 
  more 
  

   complete 
  in 
  the 
  possession 
  of 
  an 
  upper 
  set 
  of 
  beds 
  than 
  elsewhere 
  

   on 
  the 
  east 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  country, 
  it 
  is 
  probable 
  that 
  the 
  thick 
  mass 
  of 
  

   Lower, 
  Middle, 
  and 
  Upper 
  Coal-measures 
  of 
  the 
  west 
  country 
  may 
  

   represent 
  more 
  thoroughly, 
  and 
  more 
  nearly 
  approach 
  the 
  close 
  of, 
  

   this 
  great 
  upper 
  division 
  of 
  Carboniferous 
  strata 
  J. 
  

  

  * 
  The 
  Editor 
  has 
  very 
  kindly 
  drawn 
  my 
  attention 
  to 
  the 
  close 
  resemblanoe 
  

   of 
  some 
  of 
  our 
  figures 
  of 
  this 
  fossil 
  to 
  those 
  given 
  by 
  D. 
  Stur 
  as 
  representing 
  

   the 
  foliage 
  of 
  what 
  he 
  terms 
  Archceocalamites 
  radiatus, 
  Brongn., 
  in 
  his 
  " 
  Culm- 
  

   flora 
  des 
  mahr.-schles. 
  Dachschiefers," 
  in 
  the 
  8th 
  vol. 
  of 
  the 
  ' 
  Abhandlungen 
  ' 
  of 
  

   the 
  Austrian 
  Geological 
  Institution, 
  as 
  will 
  be 
  seen 
  on 
  comparing 
  figs. 
  5, 
  6, 
  and 
  

   8 
  of 
  his 
  pi. 
  iv., 
  with 
  our 
  figs. 
  2, 
  3, 
  6, 
  7, 
  and 
  8.— 
  J. 
  W. 
  K. 
  

  

  t 
  " 
  Observations 
  on 
  the 
  Structure 
  of 
  Fossil 
  Plants 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  Carboniferous 
  

   Strata," 
  part 
  iii. 
  p. 
  94, 
  vol. 
  for 
  1871 
  ; 
  and 
  ' 
  Pennsylvania 
  Second 
  Geol. 
  Survey,' 
  

   p. 
  413. 
  

  

  | 
  Originally 
  the 
  Coal-measures 
  on 
  the 
  east 
  side 
  of 
  England 
  were 
  probably 
  

   as 
  complete 
  as 
  those 
  on 
  the 
  west 
  ; 
  for 
  their 
  junction 
  with 
  the 
  overlying 
  Permian 
  

   rocks 
  is 
  always 
  unconformable, 
  so 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  possible 
  to 
  say 
  what 
  amount 
  of 
  

   higher 
  measures 
  have 
  been 
  denuded. 
  The 
  highest 
  Coal-measures 
  that 
  we 
  have 
  

   seen 
  on 
  the 
  east 
  side 
  appear 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  Rotherham 
  Red 
  Rock, 
  in 
  South 
  York- 
  

   shire. 
  It 
  is 
  possible 
  that 
  still 
  higher 
  beds 
  may 
  come 
  in 
  as 
  the 
  measures 
  dip 
  be- 
  

   neath 
  the 
  Permian 
  and 
  Triassic 
  strata 
  of 
  South 
  Yorkshire 
  and 
  Lincolnshire, 
  

   which 
  may 
  be 
  some 
  day 
  proved 
  as 
  the 
  search 
  for 
  coal 
  is 
  continued 
  eastward. 
  

  

  