where, but in the woodlands that border the streams 

 through the prairie regions of our [Middle West, where 

 no rocks are to be found., the fern grows in the soil like 

 the lady fern usually does. In such woods this fern is 

 usually the most abundant species, and frequently is the 

 only fern to be found. 



Fossil Ferxs are Rare. — At the autumn meeting of 

 biology teachers at the University of Chicago, Dr. J. M. 

 Coulter discussed the discoveries that have recently been 

 made among the so-called fossil ferns. Botanists gen- 

 erally have long believed that the flowering plants origi- 

 nated from the ferns through some such forms as the 

 fern-like cycads. but there has always been more or less 

 of a break between the two groups. The assumption has 

 usually been made that the connecting links have died out, 

 and if they are ever found at all they will be found among 

 the fossil ferns. The great difficulty in testing this theory 

 heretofore has been that most of our fossil fern remains 

 are not the ferns themselves, but are. instead, the impres- 

 sions, or casts, which they left in the soft mud that later 

 became the rocks of the coal measures. Recently, how- 

 ever, many silicified fern remains have been found in 

 which the substance of the ferns has been replaced by 

 mineral matter. Such remains show the structure clearly, 

 and may be sectioned and studied like fresh material. 

 One of the first surprises in this study has been the dis- 

 covery that the great majority of what we have been call- 

 ing fossil-ferns are in reality seed-plants and not ferns. 

 The ovules have been found to arise directly from the 

 sori and the stamens have been discovered in other sori. 

 The fruits are usually borne in a husk that appears to be 

 derived from the indusium. Possibly this husk is the 

 prototype of the bract that so often encloses the flowers 

 in the lower seed-plants. In any event, these discoveries 

 make clearer the origin of flowers. After all, a stamen 

 is not so far removed from a sporangium. Pollen grains, 

 as is well known, are but spores that grow when brought 



