2 
be delighted to find such beautiful sections of Volkmannia 
in the large slide I now send. They are well worth the 
trouble and expense of the slide. These doubtless belong 
to Catamites.” When he saw the same gentleman in Lon- 
don soon after he pointed out to him under the microscope 
the small spore-like bodies in the Sporangia. 
At that time the whole of the structure of Calamodendron 
had been made out with the exception of the centre of the 
stem and the connection of Volkmannia with it. The 
valuable papers of Dr. Ludwig on Catamite fruits, and Dr. 
Geoppert on Aphyllostachys afforded him much information, 
but he obtained the evidence of Volkmannia being the fruit 
of Calamodendron from the similarity in structure of the 
central axes. About two years since he cleared up both 
the above points to his satisfaction, and then immediately 
wrote to the gentleman to whom he had sent his specimens 
and urged upon him the necessity of their immediately 
publishing. The latter replied that his engagements would 
not allow him to join, he having a short time previously 
returned the specimens which had been so long in his pos- 
session. He (Mr. Binney) then, unaided, lost no time in 
commencing to write a description of his specimens, which 
is now in the press and intended to be shortly published by 
the Palseontographical Society. Some of the plates were 
engraved a year ago, and nearly all of them were in the 
engraver’s hands and would have been done had the author’s 
health allowed. A few months since he thought the paper 
would be published in October, but owing to delays over 
which he had no control such has not been the case. All 
he asks is for the public to give him credit or discredit, as 
may be, for any discoveries he may make, as well as to the 
parties who have, without his consent, obtained possession 
of his specimens, even although the latter may anticipate 
him in publishing a few weeks. ' No doubt the observations 
are independent of each other — may differ in some respects 
