﻿118 
  F. 
  0. 
  Bower 
  — 
  Botanical 
  Research 
  in 
  the 
  

  

  of 
  the 
  pteridophyte. 
  A 
  second, 
  and 
  still 
  more 
  important, 
  

   discovery 
  relates 
  also 
  to 
  plants 
  of 
  bilotaceons 
  affinity, 
  but 
  

   known 
  only 
  as 
  very 
  early 
  fossils. 
  The 
  Lower 
  Devonian 
  

   Flora 
  which 
  gives 
  the 
  earliest 
  record 
  of 
  vascnlar 
  plants, 
  

   includes 
  fossils 
  referred 
  to 
  Psilophyton 
  and 
  other 
  genera, 
  

   Remains 
  of 
  these 
  chiefly 
  in 
  the 
  form 
  of 
  impressions 
  had 
  

   already 
  been 
  described 
  by 
  Dawson, 
  and 
  others 
  : 
  recently 
  

   (1916) 
  Halle 
  has 
  accurately 
  depicted 
  many 
  specimens 
  

   from 
  Roragen, 
  including 
  a 
  remarkably 
  mosslike 
  capsule, 
  

   which 
  he 
  named 
  Sporogonites. 
  But 
  in 
  all 
  these 
  the 
  actual 
  

   form 
  and 
  detailed 
  structure 
  were 
  wanting. 
  It 
  was 
  then 
  a 
  

   matter 
  of 
  peculiar 
  interest 
  when 
  in 
  blocks 
  of 
  chert 
  refer- 
  

   able 
  to 
  lower 
  Devonian 
  age, 
  from 
  the 
  farm 
  in 
  Rhynie 
  in 
  

   Aberdeenshire, 
  fossil 
  plants 
  were 
  discovered 
  in 
  masses, 
  

   standing 
  as 
  they 
  died, 
  with 
  their 
  form 
  and 
  structure 
  very 
  

   perfectly 
  preserved. 
  Drs. 
  Kidston 
  and 
  Lang 
  have 
  mono- 
  

   graphed 
  3 
  the 
  first 
  of 
  these 
  plants 
  under 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  

   Rhynia 
  Gwynne-V 
  aughani. 
  Its 
  details 
  are 
  as 
  well 
  

   known 
  from 
  their 
  description 
  as 
  some 
  modern 
  plant 
  

   might 
  be, 
  though 
  it 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  earliest 
  vascular 
  plants 
  

   in 
  point 
  of 
  date. 
  The 
  description 
  of 
  others 
  will 
  soon 
  

   follow. 
  Rhynia 
  is 
  a 
  rootless 
  and 
  leafless 
  sporophyte, 
  

   with 
  branched 
  cylindrical 
  stems 
  attached 
  to 
  the 
  soil 
  

   by 
  branched 
  underground 
  rhizomes, 
  bearing 
  rhozoids. 
  

   Epidermis 
  with 
  stomata, 
  cortex 
  and 
  stele 
  were 
  all 
  found 
  

   perfectly 
  preserved, 
  while 
  large 
  distal 
  sporangia 
  con- 
  

   tained 
  many 
  spores, 
  of 
  one 
  kind 
  only. 
  For 
  this 
  plant 
  a 
  

   new 
  phylum 
  of 
  organisms, 
  the 
  Philophytonales, 
  has 
  been 
  

   established 
  with 
  near 
  relations 
  to 
  the 
  living 
  Psilotacese. 
  

  

  The 
  importance 
  of 
  much 
  singularly 
  detailed 
  knowledge 
  

   of 
  a 
  plant 
  from 
  the 
  earliest 
  known 
  flora 
  of 
  vascular 
  

   plants 
  cannot 
  be 
  overestimated. 
  It 
  will 
  be 
  enhanced 
  as 
  

   other 
  forms 
  are 
  detected 
  and 
  described 
  from 
  the 
  same 
  

   source. 
  A 
  new 
  chapter 
  in 
  the 
  morphology 
  of 
  the 
  earliest 
  

   land-plants 
  is 
  opening 
  before 
  us. 
  The 
  third 
  year 
  of 
  the 
  

   great 
  war 
  will 
  undoubtedly 
  be 
  recognized 
  as 
  an 
  era 
  in 
  the 
  

   history 
  of 
  morphology. 
  The 
  new 
  facts 
  verify 
  in 
  a 
  very 
  

   remarkable 
  way 
  the 
  brilliant 
  speculations 
  of 
  the 
  late 
  

   Prof. 
  Lignier 
  of 
  Caen. 
  At 
  the 
  same 
  time 
  they 
  arouse 
  a 
  

   special 
  interest 
  in 
  the 
  embryology 
  of 
  the 
  living 
  Psilo- 
  

   taceae. 
  "We 
  may 
  anticipate 
  that 
  this 
  will 
  very 
  soon 
  be 
  

   satisfied 
  by 
  Prof. 
  Lawson. 
  We 
  are, 
  through 
  these 
  dis- 
  

  

  8 
  Trans. 
  Roy. 
  Soc. 
  Edinburgh, 
  1917. 
  

  

  