146 MR ROBERT KIDSTON ON THE FRUCTIFICATION OF 



affinis, L. & H.), but a fine specimen of the upper portion of Sph. crassa, L. & H. 

 Their plate is not a satisfactory rendering of the fossil.* 



C. affinis, in the dichotomisation of the main axis and the general distribu- 

 tion of the primary pinnae on the two forks of the dichotomy, follows the same 

 arrangement as that occurring in C. bifida, L. & H., sp. 



Specimens of the fruit of C. affinis were first exhibited by the late Mr 

 C. W. Peach at the meeting of the Bot. Soc. Edin., May 1874.t These were 

 subsequently named Staphylopteris (?) Peachii by the late Prof. Balfour. 

 Later Mr C. W. Peach found the Staphylopteris (?) Peachii united to Sphen- 

 opteris affinis,\ but regarded it as a parasite. The structure, however, of 

 Staphylopteris (?) Peachii, being that of a marattiaceous fructification, inde- 

 pendently of the fact of a similar structure having been found organically 

 attached to C. bifida in such a manner as to conclusively prove it is the fruit 

 of that species, shows beyond all doubt that Staphylopteris (?) Peachii is the 

 fruit of Sphenopteris affinis, and not a parasite. 



Mr C. W. Peach communicated a paper to the Geol. Soc. London on 

 Sph. affinis and Staphylopteris (?) Peachii^ in which he figured some small 

 specimens of the latter fossil. || 



In the same communication he describes and figures what he believed 

 to be the true fruit of Sph. affinis.*^ The specimen from which this figure 

 was taken was kindly shown me by its describer, but I could not distinguish 

 other than some sand-grains or other inorganic matter adhering to the 

 pinnules, which had been mistaken by my friend for fruit. I believe this view 

 of the supposed fruit is that accepted by others who have seen the specimen. 



A very good restoration of the complete frond of C. affinis is given by 

 Hugh Miller as a frontispiece to his Testimony of the Rocks. 



The figures of Sj)h. frigida and Sph. fiexilis, mentioned in the synonymy, 

 appear to belong to this species. 



Description of Specimens. — Fig. 18. From Burdiehouse, near Edinburgh. 

 This specimen, which is preserved in a dark grey limestone, shows the general 

 form of the fern. The pinnae are lanceolate, the secondary pinnae being some- 

 what more broadly lanceolate than the primary. The tertiary pinnae bear 2-4 

 cuneate pinnules, which are either simple or compounded of 2-3 cuneate lobes. 

 The veins are indistinctly preserved, the carbon of the plant being converted 

 into a bright coal-like substance. 



Fig. 19. From Harwood Burn, below Limefield House, near West Calder, 

 Mid-Lothian, in the Collection of the Geological Survey of Scotland. 



* See Kidston, Proc. Roy. Phys. Soc. Edin., vol. vii. p. 238. 



t Trans. Bot. Soc. Edin., vol. xii. p. 162. \ Trans. Bot. Soc, loc. cit., p. 187. 



§ Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc, vol. xxxiv. p. 131. || PI. viii. figs. 1-3 (4?). 



IT PI. vii. fig. 2. 



