. The testimony of the rocks; . (One fourth nat. size.) centre, they somewhat resemble rows of staring goggle-eyes;while the carvings in yet another species {S. pachyderma)consist chiefly of crescent-shaped depressions. The roots,or rather underground stems, of this curious genus attractednotice, from their singularity, long ere their connection withthe carved and fluted stems had been determined, and havebeen often described as the stigmaria of the fossil , too, have their curious cai^dngs, consisting of deeplymarked stigmata, quincuncially arranged, \\ith each a littlering at it
. The testimony of the rocks; . (One fourth nat. size.) centre, they somewhat resemble rows of staring goggle-eyes;while the carvings in yet another species {S. pachyderma)consist chiefly of crescent-shaped depressions. The roots,or rather underground stems, of this curious genus attractednotice, from their singularity, long ere their connection withthe carved and fluted stems had been determined, and havebeen often described as the stigmaria of the fossil , too, have their curious cai^dngs, consisting of deeplymarked stigmata, quincuncially arranged, \\ith each a littlering at its bottom, and, in at least one rare species, surroimdedby a sculptured star. Unlike true roots, they terminateabruptly; each rootlet which they send forth was jointed tothe little ring or dimpled knob at the bottom of the stig- HISTORY OF PLANTS. 67 mata; and the appearance of the whole, as it radiated fromthe central mass, whence the carved trmik proceeded, some-what resembled that of an enormous coach-wheel divested Fig. STIGMARIA FICOIDES. (One fourth nat. size.) of the rim. Unfortunately we cannot yet complete ourdescription of this strange plant. A specimen, traced forabout forty feet across a shale bed, was found to bifurcateatop into two great branches,—a characteristic in which, vnthseveral others, it differed from most of the tree-ferns, — aclass of plants to which Adolplie Brogniart is inclined todeem it related ; but no specimen has yet sho^\Ti the natureof its foliage. I am, however, not a little disposed tobeUeve with Brogniart that it may have borne as leavessome of the supposed ferns of the Coal Measures ; nowhere,at least, have I found these lie so thickly, layer above layer,as around the stems of Sigillaria; and the fact that, even inour o^Ti times, plants widely differing from the tree-ferns,— such, for instance, as one of the Cycadese,— should bearleaves scarce distinguishable from fern fronds, may wellreconcile us to an apparent anomaly in the c
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