136 
Notes. 
To make my position clearer I will refer to a few of the figures in detail : 
Lepidophyllum mirabile as shown in Nathorst’s photomicrograph (Nathorst, loc. 
cit., Taf. 13, Fig. 27) should be compared with Text-fig. 4 b in the Mazocarpon paper. 
Though less bulky, the resemblances in the form of the sporange and of the bract 
are unmistakable. Nathorst states : * die Partie fiber dem oberen Feld scheint in 
einer dreieckigen Spitze oberhalb der Blattlamina frei zu endigen ’. If we also note 
that the sporophylls are detached from their cone axis, we see that we have several 
characters strongly indicative of the Sigillariostrobus microsporophyll. The trabe- 
culate character of the sterile tissue and the suggestion of a longitudinal ridge or 
lamina are also in harmony with this interpretation. If the Mazocarpon paper had 
antedated Nathorst’s ‘ Palaeozoic Flora of Spitzbergen Teil I, it is probable that he 
would himself have included these specimens in Sigillariostrobus . 
Turning now to Bassler’s specimens we find he recognized nine species, of which 
seven are new to science. Specimens of each are figured. All are found, like 
Nathorst’s, to be detached from the cone axis. When found in their original relative 
position to one another the axis has perished — a condition similar to that of the 
microsporophylls of Sigillariostrobus recorded by Kidston. 1 They all show the 
characteristic prolongation of the sporange beyond its line of insertion on the bract. 
Indications of the Mazocarpon position of the vascular bundle in the pedicel and not 
in the keel are possibly seen in Bassler’s Fig. 22, and several specimens (Figs. 1-3, 
16 and 27) suggest the occurrence of a so-called ‘ lateral lamella ’ which is characteristic 
of Mazocarpon and possibly is the true interpretation of the line referred to as ‘ the 
brace’ (Bassler, loc. cit., p. 79), while the region Bassler calls f the crest’ has been 
called in Mazocarpon 1 the ridge ’. 
It seems unnecessary further to discuss the details, as a comparison of the 
figures can hardly fail to convince the observer that we are dealing in both with the 
same type of structure. 
For convenience I will tabulate what I regard as the more important indications 
that most, if not all, of Bassler’s new specimens can be interpreted as Sigillariostrobus. 
1. Their general occurrence free from the axis of the cone. 
2. The form of the sporange and of the bract. 
3. The occurrence of lateral lines, some of which suggesfi-the vascular pedicel 
and some the ‘ lateral lamella ’ of Mazocarpon. 
4. The indication of a bulky sporange wall and the relatively small spore-bearing 
region. 
With respect to Bassler’s grouping of his specimens into numerous species, 
I should like to state that I do not consider the data are sufficient in every case. 
There were sporophylls on a single cone in Mazocarpon which showed as wide 
a range as that between C. linear if olius (Lx) and C. grandis. 
Some of the specimens (Bassler’s Figs. 4 and 19-21) which have been repro- 
duced from Nathorst’s work representing Lepidophyllum riparium and L. walden- 
burgense I should prefer to leave as Nathorst left them, as nothing is to be gained by 
attempting to interpret them further than as sporophylls bearing sporangia ‘ of some- 
1 Kidston: On the Fossil Flora of the Yorkshire Coal Field (second paper). Trans. Roy. 
Soc. Ed., vol. xxxix, Part I, 1897, PI. II, Fig. 1. 
