54 The American Geologist. July, i9oo 
margin. A row of elongated spots, pale gray in color, appear in an 
orderly arrangement along near the middle of the fossil. The upper 
(as figured) margin of the specimen is black compact anthracite; the 
central area is gray; and the lower side (as figured) nearly dense and 
black as is the upper edge, but much thicker. Along the lower exte- 
rior (as drawn in the figure) are ridges or horn-like protuberances, in 
the cavities of which, small, elongated, black areas appear. The inner 
borders of the forked end of the thing are of compact, black, coaly ma- 
terial grading into gray towards the middle of the lobes. 
Fig. 2. An enlarged view of one of the bud-like excrescences seen 
in figure i. 
Fig. 3. Longitudinal section showing the character of the organized 
structure of the whole of this fossil or plant. The cells are of a darkish 
gray color, and grow narrower as the margin of the plant is approached, 
finally becoming lost to view in the black and dense exterior. The spec- 
imen appears to be about 135 cells in thickness in the middle. 
Fig. 4. Transverse section of the cells of figure 3. Some of them seem 
to be only partially filled with ? carbon, etc., i. e. cavities occur in some 
of the cells, giving to the substance a slightly porous aspect. 
Fig. 5. Longitudinal section, in plan, through two of the pale gray 
"spots'" seen in figure i. The cell structure of the specimen is most 
strongly developed furthest from the spots, while the margins of them 
are of cells crowded and quite small. The spots themselves show no 
organized structure, and their composition is dull and fine-grained. 
Fig. 6. Longitudinal section, in plan, of one end of a specimen of 
the same species showing: a, characteristic lobed or rugged margins 
composed of very compact black material, in which the cellular struc- 
ture is but just visible; b, several pale "spots;" and c, a sort of nucleus or 
central point from which radiate in all directions more or less distinct 
wavy lines passing through the organized structure, which, all over the 
specimen is similar in kind to that of figure 5. The other end of this 
particular specimen (figure 6) was much more pointed than the one 
illustrated. The length of the fossil was about five times its breadth, 
Figure 6 shows its broadest part. This fossil has been observed to occur 
in several layers, one over another and in close contact, in some frag- 
ments of the coal, and its characteristic "spots" at once reveal its presence 
when looked for. 
Note on the above Fossil. — Can the pale colored "spots" 
represent holes or cavities in the original plant? Does the 
aspect of the bud-like processes along the bottom of figures 
I, 2, and 3 suggest geminative excresences or sprouts? And, 
if this plant is not a unicellular one, to what group can it be 
assigned? 
