The Geological History of PlantsDawson, John William, Sir
Science
The Geological History of Plants
Dawson, John William, Sir
Paleobotany
As seen by transmitted light, and either in front or in profile, the
discs are of a rich amber colour, translucent and structureless, except
the pores above referred to. The walls are somewhat thick, or from
one-tenth to one-twentieth the diameter of the disc in thickness. They
never exhibit the triradiate marking seen in spores of Lycopods, nor
any definite point of attachment, though they sometimes show a minute
elongated spot which may be of this nature, and they are occasionally
seen to have opened by slits on the edge or front, where there would seem
to have been a natural line of dehiscence. The interior is usually quite
vacant or structureless, but in some cases there are curved internal
markings which may indicate a shrunken lining membrane, or the remains of
a prothallus or embryo. Occasionally a fine granular substance appears in
the interior, possibly remains of microspores.
The discs are usually detached and destitute of any envelope, but
fragments of flocculent cellular matter are associated with them, and
in one specimen from the corniferous limestone of Ohio, in Mr. Thomas's
collection, I have found a group of eight or more discs partly enclosed
in a cellular sac-like membrane of similar character to that enclosing
the Brazilian specimens already referred to.
The characters of all the specimens are essentially similar, and
there is a remarkable absence of other organisms in the shale. In one
instance only, I have observed a somewhat smaller round body with a
dark centre or nucleus, and a wide translucent margin, marked by a
slight granulation. Even this, however, may indicate nothing more than a
different state of preservation.
It is proper to observe here that the wall or enclosing sac of these
macrospores must have been of very dense consistency, and now appears
as a highly bituminous substance, in this agreeing with that of the
spores of Lycopods, and, like them, having been when recent of a highly
carbonaceous and hydrogenous quality, very combustible and readily
admitting of change into bituminous matter. In the paper already referred
to, on spore-cases in coals, I have noticed that the relative composition
of lycopodium and cellulose is as follows:
Cellulose, C{24}H{20}O{20}.
Lycopodium, C{42}H{19-4/12}NO{5-6/10}.
Thus, such spores are admirably suited for the production of highly
carbonaceous or bituminous coals, etc.
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