156 ABOIDES. 



In 1867 Carruthers described some specimens from the Stones- 

 field Slate under the name Aroides Stutterdi, which he regarded as 

 fragments of an Aroideous spadix comparable with that of the 

 recent Xanthosoma. It was subsequently suggested that the fossil 

 might represent a portion of an anal sac of a Crinoid,' but this view 

 is not shared by Dr. Bather, of the British Museum, who examined 

 some specimens of Carruthers' fossil.* The Stonesfield fossils have 

 the form of cylindrical casts covered by peltate plates — sub- 

 quadrangular or hexagonal in outline — dovetailing into one another 

 by irregularly dentate margins. I am unable to offer any opinion 

 as to the nature of the specimens, beyond stating that in my 

 opinion they do not afford any satisfactory evidence of the 

 occurrence of Monocotyledonous plants in the Stonesfield Slate. 



In addition to the specimens in the British Museum others may 

 be seen in the Oxford Museum and in the Jermyn Street coUeetion. 



V. 3442. A specimen showing four rows of hexagonal projecting 

 areas arranged in vertical series. 



Stonesfield. Brodie Coll. 



V. 5585. A very good specimen showing the calcareous plates 

 more clearly than in the figures published in Carruthers' paper. 



Presented ly Mr. S. SiuUerd. 



52,871. In this example the plates are less regular in shape 

 than in the preceding example. S. Sharp Coll. 



1 Quoted by Gardner (86), p. 198. 



2 Seward (96), p. 212. 



