S2 



identical. An examination of the type of Lindley & Hutton leads 

 me to recognize the venation characters as being in the closest 

 agreement. 



It is to Schenk and Eaciborski that we are indebted for the 

 •detailed examination of the sporangia of Todites WilUamsoni : 

 the former author ' published a figure of a fertile pinnule bearing 

 well -preserved sporangia in his paper on the plants collected by 

 Szechenyi in China, and Eaciborski " has since confirmed Schenk's 

 ■conclusions. There are several ferns figured by diflferent authors 

 as Asplenium whiibyense, which may be identical with Todites, 

 but in many cases it is impossible to speak positively without 

 seeing the specimens.' The rich flora of the Jurassic rocks of the 

 Cracow district contains several excellent specimens of Todites ; 

 some of these are referred to T. WilUamsoni by Eaciborski, 

 while others, which I believe to be specifically identical, are 

 placed Tinder different names. This author uses the specific, 

 designation whithiensis in Brongniart's sense, and includes under 

 that name certain fronds which cannot be separated from Todites 

 WilUamsoni. Eaciborski' s figures in Engler's Jahrbueh and in his 

 Jurassic Flora of Cracow should be consulted as the best so far 

 published of the sporangia of Todites. 



It is, I believe, safe to assert that the recent Australian and 

 South African fern Todea harlara, Moore, is the species which 

 agrees most closely with one of the commonest plants in the fern 

 vegetation of the Inferior Oolite period. 



The last English specimen of Todites WilUamsoni that I have 

 seen in which the sporangial characters are clearly shown is in the 

 Leckenby Collection, Cambridge (jSTo. 48). The Museums of York, 

 Scarborough, Manchester, and Whitby contain numerous examples 

 ■of this common Inferior Oolite species, bearing a variety of names, 

 e.g., Pecopteris Lindleyana, Neuropteris recentior, N. undulata, 

 N. lohifolia, Pecopteris dentata, P. whithiensis, P. curtata, etc. 

 A specimen in the Museum of Lund. (No. 568), labelled by 

 J!?^athorst Acrostichites, n.sp., is probably a small example of Todites 

 WilUamsoni. There is a striking similaritv between some of the 



1 Schenk (85), pi. iii. fig. 3. 



' Eaciborski (94), pi. vi. 



' E.g. Scheuk's figure of a Chinese fern (83), pi. Iii. fig. 1. 



