8o 



characteristic of the delta of a large river. The great diversity of 

 forms and the water-worn conditions of many of the specimens 

 indicate an assemblage brought together from a large area. On 

 the other hand, the appearance of the fruits which I saw laid bare 

 by the receding tide on the Sussex coast argues strongly for the 

 view that they had grown close by. So uniform was their size and 

 condition that they might have fallen from one tree, and having 

 germinated almost where they fell, left only an empty shell now filled 

 with sand. Herein, too, they differ from all specimens I have seen. 

 The mineral cast of the interior of the London clay and Belgian 

 fruits which replaces the seed was evidently formed by the filtration 

 of dissolved mineral matter through the pericarp, while the Sussex 

 specimens are empty shells filled with sand pushed in from outside 

 through the aperture left in germination. In every case there is 

 ample evidence as Bowerbank, Ettingshausen, and Schimper have 

 demonstrated, from both the fossil fauna and flora of a tropical, or 

 at least a sub-tropical climate. 



As already stated, the credit for the discovery of Nipadites at 

 Bournemouth is due to Mr. Starkie Gardner. Beyond the interest 

 attached to the fruits themselves there is the probability they will 

 serve as a means of correlating the leaves and flowers of the Middle 

 Bagshot flora at Bournemouth with the fruits at Sheppey. Mr. 

 Starkie Gardner evidently realized this, for he mentioned at the 

 time that the fruits had a value which the botanist might refuse to 

 leaves alone. 



In the Geological collection of the Bournemouth Natural 

 Science Society there are fragments of casts of Nipadites collected 

 from time to time in the Honeycombe Chine, near Boscombe Pier, 

 the property of Mr. G. G. Hamilton, f.r.c.s. One or two specimens 

 are labelled " Gardneri " — a name that cannot be traced and 

 probably was never published. Recently a complete cast was 

 obtained from Honeycombe Chine by the writer. It was forwarded 

 to the British Museum Natural History. An exact determination 

 was not possible but Dr. Rendle is inclined to call it N. Parkin 

 sonis, Bowerb. — a figure of which appears in Journ. Linn. Soc, xxx, 

 pi. 7. Specimens of N. Burtini, Ad. Brogn. with fruits as large 

 as cocoa-nuts are mentioned in Dr. Rendle's Revision (1895) as 

 having been discovered by Mr. Clement Reid, f.r.s., at Bracklesham 

 and West Wittering, in Sussex. Also some fine specimens "as large 

 as the Belgian ones," were discovered by Mr. Reid at Hengistbury 

 Head, about four miles east of Honeycombe Chine. " Unhappily," 

 writes Dr. Rendle, "it seems impossible to keep these fruits for any 

 length of time, as they consist of a carbonised shell filled with sand, 

 which rapidly crumbles on being taken from the damp beach while 

 the carbon film cracks and peels." N. Burtini^ originally known from 

 Sheppey and the Brussels Eocene, by Mr. Reid's discovery has been 

 pushed westwards to the west of Hampshire. 



