R. Scott . — On Traquairia . 461 
the cataloguing of Dr. Scott’s Collection of fossil slides, each specimen of 
Traquairia occurring was noted, and as a result of this work it has become 
quite clear that there is more than one species of Traquairia amongst the 
Coal Measure plants. 
Two years ago I found many good specimens in the material from 
Burntisland, and also in that from Ostrau and the Karwin district in Moravia, 
in sections lent by Dr. Kubart So that now specimens are known from 
the following horizons : — 
Lower Carboniferous : Burntisland. 
Lower Coal Measures said to be older than the English : Ostrau and 
Karwin, Moravia. 
Lower Coal Measures : Dulesgate, Oldham, Halifax hard bed. 
It seemed to be worth while to describe these new species in the hope 
that some biologist would be found who would take up the study of these 
objects, and try to decide what they really are. I hope that Dr. Kubart 
will also shortly add a description of his species. 
Before beginning to describe the various species, I will give a rather 
more detailed account of Professor Williamson’s work. In his notes on the 
catalogue of his slides now at the Natural History Museum, he says that 
many of the sections are serial and all show Lepidostrobus sporangia. In 
slide W. 1064 1 there are three very good Traquairiae in a Lepidostrobus 
sporangium, and he thought that they were three spores of a tetrad belonging 
to the plant. 2 
W. 1063 also shows a specimen in a Lepidostrobus sporangium. On 
looking at these slides it will be seen that the sporangial wall is very rotten ; 
it is quite a usual thing to find all sorts of objects apparently in these 
Lepidostrobus sporangia. In one of Professor Williamson’s own slides there 
is a good specimen of Zygosporites apparently in a sporangium, and in 
another a Sporocarpoji. One constantly comes across very deceptive 
examples of this sort. So that the fact of finding Traquairiae inside 
a Lepidostrobus sporangium is not in itself satisfactory evidence that they 
belong to it. 
It is true that these Traquairiae are usually found in association with 
Lepidodendron , but the Lepidodendron is always in a very rotten condition. 
They are generally found associated with Fungi and coprolites of insects. If 
one wishes to be sure that the contents of a sporangium really belong to 
that sporangium, it is a good rule only to judge by examples in which the 
sporangial wall is intact. In Text-fig. 2 will be seen an example of a spor- 
angium with perfect walls, evidently containing its own megaspores (. Bothro - 
dendron mundum ). 
The megaspore belonging to the Lepidostrobus in Professor William- 
son’s slides is now well known. As a matter of fact Traquairia 
1 W. = Williamson Collection, S. = Scott Collection. 2 )oc. cit., PI. XXI, Fig. 85. 
