CAEPOLITHES. 125- 



T liave no hesitation in uniting Ca/rpolUhes conicus, L. & H., and 

 C. Buchlandi, L. & H., ex "Will. MS., under one specific name. 

 The seeds designated by these names were obtained from the- 

 Coralline Oolite of Malton in Yorkshire. 



The seeds grouped under Carpolithes conicus are characterised 

 by their conical form, by the broad truncate surface, which is 

 probably the base of the seed, traversed by either oine or three 

 prominent ridges. The margin of the truncate surface is usually 

 provided with irregular tooth-like prominences, ■which were most 

 probably pierced by vascular bundles which passed iuto the seed 

 from its supporting organ. On some of the seeds the lateral 

 surface bears numerous and irregularly disposed tubercles, 

 a character which Lindley & Hutton mention as peculiar to 

 Carpolithes Buchlandi. These lateral tubercles exhibit no uni- 

 formity either in their arrangement or in their occurrence, 

 and they cannot, I think, be regarded as having a taxonomio 

 importance. They may have been caused by the attacks of 

 insects, and are probably not an original feature of the seeds. 

 In some seeds, e.g. V. 9004 (PL XIII. Kg. 5), a single median 

 ridge (Fig. 5, a) extends across the truncate end, while in 

 others (Text-fig. 13c and Text-fig. 14 C) three ridges extend 

 from the slightly raised centre of the truncate surface to the 

 edge, giving the seed a somewhat triangular appearance. The 

 difference in the form of the seeds, whether biconvex in section or 

 triangular, cannot reasonably be considered a specific character. 

 In the recent Ginlcgo hiloha (the maidenhair - tree) the seed, or 

 rather the embryo-sac, is usually two-angled, but three-angled seeds 

 are sometimes met with.' The peripheral teeth are clearly seen in 

 A, B, and C, Text-fig. 14. In some examples the truncate 

 surface is almost flat, with a central papilla (Text-fig. 13 J), 

 while in others (Text-fig. 13a) it is broadly conical. A specimen 

 from the Malton Museum represented in Text-fig. 15 shows 

 a seed cut through longitudinally ; the interior is seen to be 

 occupied by a cylindrical cast, bluntly terminated at one end and 

 more pointed at the other, resembling the nut of a Ginkgo seed. 



As regards the morphological nature of the parts of the seeds seen 

 in the fossil specimens, the fairly thick outer envelope which forms 



» Penzig (94), p. 515. 



