A SUPPOSED FRUIT OR NUT FROM ALASKA 
115 
the meridional and polar lines strongly suggest a four-celled 
ovary protected by an indehiscent epicarp while the meridional 
lines may represent the distal edges of septa between the seed 
cells. Attention is called to the point that the structure here 
designated as “epicarp” may be, at least in part, the wall of 
the ovary. Whether the plant (if plant it was) to which it be- 
longed was terrestrial or aquatic in habitat we can only conjec- 
ture. The variable beds of the marine Tokun formation and of 
the subjacent, coal-bearing, non-marine Kushtaka formation 1 in- 
dicate a variety of habitats in the region in Tertiary times. 
The specimen was shown to Dr. R. P. Baker of the department 
of mathematics at the University. In his opinion “the chances 
are enormously against its being of mechanical origin and we 
should look rather to an organic derivation for so symmetrical 
an object.” 
It is hoped that students of paleobotany who may see this note 
will communicate their opinions should they in their wider ex- 
periences have encountered similar material. Likewise any sug- 
gestions from those who have studied concretions and their mode 
of formation will be gratefully received. 
Paleontological Laboratories, 
State University of Iowa. 
x Iowa Academy of Science, Vol. XVIII, p. 88, 1911 ; also U. S. Geol. 
Survey Bull. 335, pp. 31-36,. 1908. 
