i68 
Notes . 
two generations, it brings the present case into line with other 
exceptions to the normal life-history cycle, whose bearing on the 
nature of alternation has been discussed by Bower 1 . The present 
case, although more striking in its appearance, seems, so far as it has 
been investigated, to afford no sufficient reason for dissenting from the 
conclusion at which he arrived. 
It is of interest to note the additional evidence, were such needed, 
which these observations afford of the generalization made by Goebel 2 , 
that the sporangium is to be regarded as an organ sui generis. 
From the staff of the Royal Gardens, Kew, I received ready 
assistance in many practical matters in the conduct of the cultures ; 
my thanks are especially due to the curators, Mr. Watson and 
Mr, Nicholson. 
OFT CHEIROSTROBUS, A NEW TYPE OF FOSSIL CONE 
FROM THE CALCIFEROL'S SANDSTONES 3 . By D. H. Scott, 
M.A., Ph.D., F.R.S. — The Peduncle. — The first indication of the 
existence of the remarkable type of fructification about to be described, 
was afforded by the study of a specimen in the Williamson collection, 
from the well-known fossiliferous deposit at Pettycur, near Burntisland, 
belonging to the Calciferous Sandstone Series at the base of the Carbo- 
niferous formation. This specimen is a fragment of stem, of which 
seven sections are preserved in the collection 4 * . Its discoverer thought 
it might possibly belong to the Lepidostrobus found in the same bed. 
‘ If so,’ he adds, * it has been part of the axis of a somewhat larger 
strobilus than those described V 
A detailed examination of the structure of this specimen convinced 
me that it is essentially different from any Lepidodendroid axis, and 
is, certainly, a new type of stem 6 . 
As it was the examination of this fragment of stem which first put 
me on to the track of the new cone, it may be well shortly to describe 
its chief characteristics, reserving all details for a future paper. 
1 Annals of Botany, Vol. iv, 1890, p. 347. 2 Bot. Zeit., 1881, p. 707. 
3 Preliminary Paper, read before the Royal Society, January 21, 1897. 
4 The cabinet-numbers are 539-545. 
5 Williamson, Organization of the Fossil Plants of the Coal-measures. Part III. 
Phil. Trans., 1872, p. 267. 
6 A short account of this specimen was given by me before the Botanical Section 
of the British Association at the Liverpool Meeting, 1896. See Brit. Assoc. Report, 
1896. 
