Description of a peculiar Fossil Fern from the Sydney Coal Field, Cape Breton

Abstract

The fossil plant of which I propose to give an account was communicated to me some time ago by Richard Brown, Esq., from the coalmines of Sydney, Cape Breton. I have shown it to several of my most learned friends, both botanists and geologists, who have all pronounced it to be entirely different from anything they had previously seen; nor have I been able to find any fossil with similar characters represented in any published work. The appearance of the specimen is indeed so peculiar and extraordinary, that its discoverer, who is well known to have an intimate acquaintance with the fossils of the Sydney coal-field, conceived it to present an actual union of the structures and characters of two distinct families. I have thought, therefore, that a careful description and figure of so singular a fossil might not be unacceptable to the Geological Society. Although I fear I must confess myself unable to give a very satisfactory explanation of the anomalies which it presents, still it seems desirable that the peculiarities of a specimen, at present unique, should be put upon record; and this notice, by exciting attention and discussion, may perhaps lead to a complete elucidation of the subject.