NATURAL HISTORY. 
179 
GALLERY.] 
The collections of Organic Remains begin in Room I. with that of 
the Fossil Vegetables, at present deposited chiefly in the Wall Cases of 
the S. and W. sides of the room. A systematic botanical arrangement 
has been adopted, so far as the limited space and the as yet doubtful 
nature of many of those fossil remains admitted of it. Case 1 is set 
apart for the yet small number of fossils apparently of the class of sub¬ 
merged Alg^e, such as Fucoides, Confervites, &c. In the same 
Case are provisionally placed those impressions on coal slate, of plants 
with verticillated leaves, known by the generic names of Asterophy fates, 
Annularia, &c., and supposed by some to be referable to the Naiades; 
as also a few that appear to bear affinity to the Marsilace^e, such as 
Pilularites, Solenites , &c. ; together with some other vegetable remains, 
the nature of which is not yet determined. 
The upper division of Case 2 is occupied by the Equisetaceje, 
most of which may be united under the generic name of Calamites , the 
absence of the sheaths by which the latter are said to be distinguished 
from real Equiseta , being a character not to be depended upon. The 
species of Calamites, almost all from the rocks of the most ancient coal 
formation, are far from being satisfactorily determined, their internal 
structure being entirely unknown. The species of Calamitea of Cotta, 
(Case E.,) which exhibit a peculiar organic structure, can scarcely be 
said to belong to the same natural order. The genus Phyllotheca of 
Brongniart, from the coal sand-stone of Port Jackson, in which the 
sheaths are prolongated into leaves, is a distinct genus of this order; as 
is likewise the Equisetum Lyellii from Pounceford. 
The lower division of Case 2, and part of 3, contain the Ferns ( Fi- 
lices), most of them as impressions in clay slate forming the carboni¬ 
ferous strata of the transition series. Many of them bear a strong re¬ 
semblance to existing, especially tropical, species; and fructification, 
distinctly exhibiting the sporangia variously disposed in sori, &c., has 
latterly been observed in several species; but the classification founded 
on characters derived from them and the distribution and ramifications 
of the nerves, though of great importance in the classification of recent 
ferns, is obviously, at least in the present state of our knowledge, inap¬ 
plicable to those in a fossil state. The arrangement and the generic 
names here adopted, with occasional deviation, are those proposed in 
the concluding numbers of the late Count Sternberg’s work. The 
species, as far as determined, are all named; the synonymy being added 
in most cases where it appeared requisite. 
In the upper division of Case 3, and part of 4 and 5, are deposited 
those genera which are generally supposed to belong to the family of 
Lycopodiace^e, of which Lepidodendron of Sternberg (Sagenaria of 
Presl.) is the principal one. Much uncertainty still prevails in the deter¬ 
mination of the genera and species of this family. Some of them ap¬ 
pear to exhibit an internal structure intermediate between that of the 
Lycopodiacese and the Coniferse; but Lepidodendron punctatum of 
Sternberg, (of the unique specimen of which, in Mr. Cotta’s collection, 
a portion is seen in Case 3,) presents the organization of a real arbo¬ 
rescent fern. Nearly allied to the Lepidodendra are several vegetable 
fossils, considered as distinct genera, among which may be specified 
LepidophyUum and Lepidostrobus (Case 4) of Brongniart, (the 
former perhaps only the leaves, the latter the fruits of species of Lepi- 
