130 Berry — Saccoglottis, Recent and Fossil. 



millimeters in diameter. The stone has imbedded in it 

 five large seeds, arranged symmetrically around the 

 central axis, and these appear to break away tardily on 

 drying as in Saccoglottis amazonica Martins, since several 

 are found as fossils in a detached state. These seeds are 

 narrowly elliptical in surface outline, about 2 centimeters 

 long and 7 millimeters wide ; the inner margins are trun- 

 cated to a central, nearly straight, gable-like keel; the 

 thickness of the seed, i.e., measured radially with respect 

 to the fruit as a whole, being about 6 millimeters. There 

 is some slight inequality in the development of the indi- 

 vidual seeds, but generally all five seeds are nearly equally 

 developed. The total dimensions of the fruit are from 

 2 to 2.25 centimeters in length and from 1.6 to 1.9 centi- 

 meters in diameter. No leaves that could be correlated 

 with these fruits were found in the deposits. 



No plant family except the Humiriaceae has the features 

 shown by these fruits — thin flesh, woody stone with 

 numerous resin cysts, and 5 radially symmetrically 

 arranged large seeds. I am unable to state the nearest 

 living relative of these fruits, being much hampered by 

 the lack of comparative material in the larger herbaria, 

 and this is well illustrated by the number of years that 

 elapsed before the botanists at Kew succeeded in deter- 

 mining the fruits of Saccoglottis amazonica. The fossil 

 fruits, as may be seen in the accompanying illustrations, 

 are in a good state of preservation. They are certainly 

 referable to the Humiriaceae and are strikingly like those 

 of Saccoglottis amazonica, but as just stated, I have not 

 seen the fruits of the majority of the Humiriaceae. I 

 have ventured to refer the fossil to Saccoglottis which it 

 so much resembles, and in any event it affords a striking 

 glimpse into the past history of a family which is other- 

 wise scarcely known in the geological record. 



