An Extinct Antarctic Eiofd . 1S9 
making them one again, I have gnashed my teeth, cursed species, 
and asked what sin I had committed to he so punished.” 
Halle writes in defence of his position—“ Only, if the species 
are narrowly delimited, the eventually established relation between 
the floras will be much more reliable than if the opposite principle 
is adopted.” This statement implies that the slight differences on 
which specific separation is based are something more than the 
expression of the plant’s plasticity, and hardly takes sufficient 
account of the lessons taught by the vegetative organs of recent 
plants. 
But these are questions of secondary importance, and in all 
systematic accounts of fossil floras the personal bias of the author 
must be the determining factor. 
Dr. Halle’s work is characterised by thoroughness and 
accuracy, and whether or not one may agree with all his 
determinations, his descriptions and illustrations are a substantial 
contribution of considerable value. The Bquisetales are represented 
by a single species hardly distinguishable from the Indian Jurassic 
type Equisetites rajmahalensis Schimp. but referred by Halle to 
E. approximatus, a designation previously suggested by Nathorst. 
The widely spread Jurassic species Sageiiopteris Phillipsi (Brongn.), 
for which Halle adopts the unfamiliar but older name S. paucifolia 
(Phill.), is represented by some well-preserved leaflets. Ferns are 
abundant, though unfortunately nearly all the specimens are sterile. 
The characteristic Middle Jurassic type Todites Williamsoni 
(Brongn.) occurs in both a sterile and fertile state, and some fertile 
pinnae are described under the name Coniopteris cf. neplirocarpa 
(Bunb.), though the Yorkshire specimens on which Bunbury founded 
his species Sphenopteris neplirocarpa are usually regarded as 
indistinguishable from the protean type Coniopteris hymenophylloides 
(Brongn.), also recorded from Graham Land. The genera 
Cladophlebis and Sphenopteris appear under various forms; several 
new specific names are instituted, and in some cases on evidence 
which is hardly convincing. Dictyophyllutn and sterile pinnae 
probably, as Halle believes, identical with Klnkia exilis (Phill.) 
afford other familiar instances of cosmopolitan Jurassic plants. 
Saporta’s genus Scleropteris is revived for specimens similar to the 
European species 6’. Pomelii Sap. S.furcata Halle is described as 
characterised by the forking of the rachis, a feature which suggests 
comparison with Zigno’s Italian species of Dichopteris, a genus 
omitted by Halle in his discussion of the characters of Scleropteris 
and Pacliypteris though there would seem to be no adequate reason 
for discarding Dichopteris in favour of Scleropteris l . The difficulty 
of drawing a line between Pacliypteris and Tliinnfeldia is considered, 
and under the former name is included P. dahnatica Kern., a form 
to some extent transitional between Tliinnfeldia and Dichopteris , 
which might reasonably be included in the latter genus. 
Cycadean fronds form a conspicuous feature in the Hope Bay 
flora, including examples assigned to Nilssonia, Pseudoctenis, 
Zamites, Otozainites, Ptilopliyllum, and a small specimen which may, 
as Halle suggests, belong to a Williainsonia. The generic name 
' Seward, “Fossil Plants,” Vol. II, p. 552. 
