G. R. Wieland — Historic -Fossil Cycads. 95 



cations may at least prove to have a rather more reduced form 

 than those of Cycadeoidea dacotensis. Transverse sections 

 of C. etrusca fruits are lacking, but should be made, as they 

 may show the disk features much better than do longitudinal 

 sections. The vegetative structures, however, agree with those 

 of the Maryland cycads very closely throughout, — only the 

 species remaining fairly distinct from Cycadeoidea maryland- 

 ica, if we hypothetical!} 7 consider the plant on the basis of veg- 

 etative features alone. 



I may add that I also had the pleasure of visiting the won- 

 derfully interesting and picturesque Etruscan town site and 

 necropolis where C. etrusca was found. These ancient ruins 

 are situated in the grounds of Count Aria in the picturesque 

 valley of the Reno, 20 miles west of Bologna in the foot-hills 

 of the Apennines. After seeing how the stream is there 

 cutting away the last remnants of what was once a regularly 

 laid out town of considerable size, I am still more impressed 

 with the likelihood of the suggestion I have once made that 

 not a few of the fossil cycad trunks were gathered into towns 

 or cities now in ruins or long since destroyed. That C. etrusca 

 is at least as ancient as the old River Reno Etruscan village 

 and necropolis of 4,000 years ago is certain ; for it bears 

 near its base, as noted by Capellini, an elliptical polished-out 

 depression of considerable size, due to use as a smoothing 

 or a sharpening stone, which may just as well have been of 

 neolithic as later date. At any rate, the great perfection of 

 the specimen indicates that in all probability it did not occur 

 alone ; and perchance the occurrence of associated silicified 

 conifers may yet aid in giving some clue to the original local- 

 ity, which, if found, would doubtless yield yet other cycacl 

 specimens of rare perfection and interest. The same remark 

 applies even more pointedly to the great Dresden trunk, con- 

 cerning the macroscopic features of which I proceed to give 

 additional facts. 



(2) Cycadeoidea JReichenbachiana. — This notable type, now 

 in the paleontological collections of the Z winger Museum at 

 Dresden, was found not far from Lednice near Cracow about 

 1753. It consists in the basal segment of an immense silicified 

 cycad trunk a full half-meter in diameter and of noticeably 

 but not markedly compressed unbranched columnar form. In 

 life it may have been more than a meter high, as the segment 

 recovered is over a half-meter in height and without tapering. 



The leaf bases are a little smaller than those of C. Jenneyana 

 and C. ingens, and of much the same size as those of C. gigan- 

 tea of Seward from the Isle of Portland, and the very similar 

 C. excelsa of Ward from the Black Hills. The trunk has just 

 emerged from its pulcherrima stage of growth, that pre-fructi- 



