384 SKETCH OF PALEOBOTANY. 



heersieimes de Gelinden,"" in which, as in his " Eecherches sur les v6g6- 

 taux'fossiles de Meximieux,"" he was assisted by Prof. A. F. Marion. 

 But Saporta's contributions do not all relate to the Tertiary. Of nearly 

 equal importance have been his studies in the Jurassic flora of France. 



The three volumes of his "Plautes jurassiques,"*^ which have already 

 appeared, with accompanying atlas, constitute, without any doubt, the 

 most exhaustive treatise upon the vegetable paleontology of that hori- 

 zon that has thus far been produced. Its value is by no means confined 

 to the light it throws upon the Mesozoic flora of France. The manner in 

 which the determinations are supported by comparison with other fos- 

 sil and with living floras, renders the work a thoroughly general one. 

 Indeed no better treatise exists on the histology of coniferous stems and 

 on the classifications of the Coniferse in general than is to be found in 

 the introduction to the third volume of this work. Besides numerous 

 other minor descriptive papers and memoirs of greater or less length and 

 importance on fossil plants. Marquis Saporta has written two interesting 

 popular books on the subject. That entitled "Le Monde des Plantes 

 avant I'apparition de I'homme," which appeared in 1879, is unquestion- 

 ably the best popular treatise in this branch of science. The first vol- 

 ume of the work on "L'evolution du rfegne v6g6ta]," confined entirely to 

 1 study of the Cryptogams from the point of view of evolution, appeared 

 in 1881 as one of the International Scientific Series, though it seems 

 nev'cr to have been translated into English. In this work Professor 

 Marion was associated. Other volumes showing the evidence of phe- 

 uogamous plants for the doctrine of evolution are anxiously looked for. 

 Saporta has long been a strong supporter of this class of views, and his 

 writings display a broad and enlightened spirit. 



22. Oarruthers. — The subject of this sketch was born at Moffat, Scot- 

 land, and educated in Edinburgh. In 1859 he entered the British Museum 

 as assistant in botany, and became keeper of the department of botany in 

 1871. He began his paleobotanical work by re-editing Lindley and Hut- 

 ton's " Fossil Flora of Great Britain," and is understood to be now prepar- 

 ing a supplement to it. During this time he has been constantly contribut- 

 iug articles upon various points connected with his investigations. The 

 number of such papers is very large and their merit so great that his 

 title to a place in the present enumeration will not probably be disputed. 

 Although pursuing somewhat the same line of investigation as the other 

 British paleobotanists, he still has given himself a much wider field. 

 He has not limited his researches to the Paleozoic, but has made incur- 

 sions into the Mesozoic and even into the Tertiary. Fossil fruits have 

 formed a favorite study for him, and his investigations have widely 



^^M^moires couronn^s de TAoad^mie des sciences de Belgiqne, Bruxelles, 4= Edition 

 Tome XXXVII, No. 6, 1873. ' 



** Archives du Museum d'histoire uaturelle de Lyon, 4^ livraison, 1876, p. 131. 

 «Pal6ontologie francaise. S^rie 2. V€g6taux, 1873, 1875, and 1876-1883. 



