No. 380.] REVIEWS OF RECENT LITERATURE. 599 
imperfect septa in the loculi and a partial overarching of the sorus 
by the leaf tissue recall the structure of the sporangium in Iscetes, 
which it has been suggested more than once may possibly be remotely 
related to the Marattiacez. 
Kaulfussia differs from Danza principally in the much wider 
expanse of the leaf surface and a consequent separation of the small, 
nearly circular sori; but in essential structure the sporangia of the 
two are much alike, and Bower considers that the two are nearly 
related. 
Marattia and Angiopteris have been studied more or less com- 
pletely by other investigators, but they were also examined carefully 
by Professor Bower, and some additional information in regard to 
the development of both of them was obtained. In Marattia the 
presence of a mechanical tissue, having to do with the dehiscence of 
the sporangium, and an occasional partial septation of the loculus, as 
in Danza, are the most noteworthy of these new facts. In Angiop- 
teris abnormalities were sometimes noted, the most striking being 
sporangia of unusual size, suggesting a condition intermediate 
between the normal sporangia and the synangia of the other genera. 
Angiopteris alone is provided with a genuine, though rudimentary, 
annulus, and there are special thin-walled cells upon the ventral 
surface of the sporangium where it opens. 
A comparison of the number of spores produced is made, from 
which it appears that Angiopteris and Kaulfussia mark the extremes. 
The former produces approximately 1450, the latter 7850 spores in 
each sporangium, numbers far in excess of those in any leptosporan- 
giate ferns. 
An interesting comparison is made with the lower members of the 
leptosporangiate series of ferns, and it is pointed out that the type 
of sporangium found in the Marattiacea: has certain resemblances to 
that of the Osmundacex, Gleicheniaceæ, and Schizæaceæ, a point 
which may well be borne in mind in future studies as to the affinities 
of the lower Filicinex. 
A most valuable summary of the more important facts connected 
with the fossil Marattiaces is given, from which it appears that while 
certain of the fossil genera, e.g., Danzites, conform closely in structure 
to existing types, others are to some extent synthetic in character. 
Thus Scolecopteris combines characters belonging to Marattia, Kaul- 
fussia, and Angiopteris, while others show characters which would 
seem to indicate that they are forms connecting the Marattiacee 
with the lower leptosporangiates. 
