In the following pages a few of the better known species of _Equisetites_ are briefly described, the examples being chosen partly with a view to illustrate the geological history of the genus, and partly to contribute something towards a fuller knowledge of particular species. One of the most striking facts to be gleaned from a general survey of the past history of the Equisetaceae is the persistence since the latter part of the Palaeozoic period of that type of plant which is represented by existing Equisetums. There is perhaps no genus in existence which illustrates more vividly than _Equisetum_ the survival of an extremely ancient group, which is represented to-day by numerous and widely spread species. The Equisetaceous characteristics mark an isolated division of existing Vascular Cryptogams, and without reference to extinct types it is practically impossible to do more than vaguely guess at the genealogical connections of the family. When we go back to Palaeozoic plants there are indications of guiding lines which point the way to connecting branches between the older Equisetales and other classes of Pteridophytes. The recently discovered genus _Cheirostrobus_[497] is especially important from this point of view. [Sidenote: LEAF-SHEATHS OF EQUISETITES.] The accurate description of species, and the determination of the value of such differences as are exhibited in the surface characters of structureless casts, are practically impossible in many of the fossil forms. In certain living Horse-tails we find striking differences between fertile and sterile shoots, and between branches of different orders. The isolated occurrence of fragments of fossil stems often leads to an artificial separation of ‘species’ largely founded on differences in diameter, or on slight variations in the form of the leaf-sheaths. It is wiser to admit that in many cases we are without the means of accurate diagnosis, and that the specific names applied to fossil Equisetums do not always possess much value as criteria of taxonomic differences.