﻿392 
  G. 
  R. 
  Wieland 
  on 
  the 
  Cycadophyta. 
  

  

  cones. 
  In 
  these 
  he 
  saw 
  the 
  type 
  of 
  a 
  new 
  family 
  — 
  the 
  

   "Bennettitese," 
  in 
  which 
  were 
  included 
  the 
  Isle 
  of 
  

   Portland 
  specimens 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  the 
  historic 
  Dresden 
  

   trunk 
  i 
  i 
  Raumeria 
  ' 
  ' 
  [Cycadeoidea 
  reichenbachiana] 
  . 
  The 
  

   latter 
  had 
  only 
  twelve 
  years 
  earlier 
  received 
  the 
  atten- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  Goeppert, 
  unfortunately 
  without 
  significant 
  

   result. 
  Carruthers 
  , 
  observations 
  should 
  be 
  recalled: 
  

  

  "Were 
  Buckland's 
  name 
  [Cycadeoidea] 
  unobjectionable 
  it 
  

   ought 
  to 
  be 
  retained, 
  because 
  of 
  its 
  priority 
  by 
  a 
  month 
  or 
  two 
  

   . 
  The 
  remarkable 
  stems 
  of 
  this 
  genus 
  [Cycadeoidea 
  or 
  

   Mantellia] 
  have 
  been 
  fully 
  investigated 
  in 
  the 
  important 
  memoir 
  

   of 
  Buckland 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  The 
  fossils 
  differ 
  from 
  Bennettites 
  in 
  their 
  

   form, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  more 
  distinctly 
  rhomboidal 
  petioles 
  and 
  

   the 
  elongated 
  secondary 
  axis. 
  They 
  agree 
  in 
  the 
  nature 
  of 
  the 
  

   tissues 
  and 
  the 
  method 
  in 
  which 
  they 
  are 
  built 
  up 
  in 
  the 
  stem. 
  

   The 
  petioles 
  are 
  clothed 
  with 
  a 
  dense 
  ramentum, 
  and 
  they 
  have 
  

   numerous 
  axillary 
  branches 
  which 
  bore 
  small, 
  simple, 
  linear- 
  

   lanceolate 
  leaves. 
  The 
  branches, 
  when 
  full-grown, 
  are 
  broken 
  

   off 
  at 
  the 
  point 
  where 
  they 
  leave 
  the 
  bases 
  of 
  the 
  petioles. 
  Some- 
  

   times 
  they 
  are 
  undeveloped, 
  and 
  still 
  exist 
  as 
  unexpanded 
  leaf- 
  

   buds, 
  terminating 
  the 
  shortened 
  branch. 
  These 
  buds 
  are 
  com- 
  

   posed 
  of 
  leaves, 
  protected 
  by 
  a 
  very 
  dense 
  and 
  very 
  abundant 
  

   ramentum. 
  The 
  branches 
  precisely 
  agree 
  with 
  those 
  in 
  Bennet- 
  

   tites, 
  and 
  have 
  been, 
  I 
  have 
  no 
  doubt, 
  like 
  them, 
  the 
  supports 
  

   of 
  the 
  organs 
  of 
  reproduction 
  ; 
  only 
  the 
  fruits, 
  having 
  been 
  

   borne 
  at 
  the 
  ends 
  of 
  elongated 
  and 
  consequently 
  unprotected 
  

   branches, 
  have 
  been 
  broken 
  off. 
  Some 
  stems 
  have 
  no 
  lateral 
  

   buds. 
  These 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  male 
  plants 
  ; 
  and 
  their 
  staminal 
  

   flowers 
  were 
  perhaps 
  cones, 
  produced 
  at 
  the 
  termination 
  of 
  the 
  

  

  On 
  the 
  question 
  of 
  the 
  position 
  of 
  his 
  Bennettitean 
  

   group 
  Carruthers 
  makes 
  an 
  incisive 
  statement, 
  the 
  most 
  

   interesting 
  in 
  his 
  memoir 
  : 
  

  

  "In 
  comparing 
  the 
  structure 
  of 
  this 
  plant 
  with 
  the 
  inflores- 
  

   cence 
  of 
  the 
  recent 
  Cycadeae, 
  the 
  points 
  of 
  difference 
  are 
  more 
  

   obvious 
  than 
  those 
  in 
  which 
  they 
  agree. 
  The 
  most 
  important 
  

   correspondence 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  structure 
  of 
  the 
  seed 
  and 
  

   its 
  envelopes. 
  The 
  fossil 
  is 
  truly 
  gymnospermous, 
  the 
  pollen 
  

   having 
  access 
  to 
  the 
  embryo-sac 
  through 
  the 
  tubular 
  openings 
  

   in 
  the 
  covering 
  of 
  the 
  seed 
  and 
  not 
  through 
  a 
  style 
  developed 
  

   from 
  an 
  investing 
  carpellary 
  organ. 
  The 
  most 
  remarkable 
  dif- 
  

   ference 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  compound 
  fruit 
  of 
  the 
  fossil. 
  In 
  

   the 
  recent 
  members 
  of 
  the 
  order, 
  the 
  fruit, 
  whether 
  borne 
  on 
  

   slightly 
  modified 
  leaves, 
  as 
  in 
  Cycas, 
  or 
  on 
  the 
  peltate 
  or 
  

   imbricated 
  scales 
  of 
  a 
  cone, 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  other 
  genera, 
  is 
  always 
  

  

  