he coal period, was
that order of plants known as the _Calamites_. The generic distinctions
between fossil and living ferns were so slight in many cases as to be
almost indistinguishable. This resemblance between the ancient and the
modern is not found so apparent in other plants. The Calamites of the
coal-measures bore indeed a very striking resemblance, and were closely
related, to our modern horse-tails, as the _equiseta_ are popularly
called; but in some respects they differed considerably.

Most people are acquainted with the horse-tail (_equisetum fluviatile)_
of our marshes and ditches. It is a somewhat graceful plant, and stands
erect with a jointed stem. The foliage is arranged in whorls around the
joints, and, unlike its fossil representatives, its joints are protected
by striated sheaths. The stem of the largest living species rarely
exceeds half-an-inch in diameter, whilst that of the calamite attained a
thickness of five inches. But the great point which is noticeable in the
fossil calamites and _equisetites_ is that they grew to a far greater
height than any similar plant now living, sometimes being as much as
eight feet high. In the nature of their stems, too, they exhibited a more
highly organised arrangement than their living representatives, having,
according to Dr Williamson, a "fistular pith, an exogenous woody stem,
and a thick smooth bark." The bark having almost al ways disappeared has
left the fluted stem known to us as the calamite. The foliage consisted
of whorls of long narrow leaves, which differed only from the fern
_asterophyllites_ in the fact that they were single-nerved. Sir William
Dawson assigns the calamites to four sub-types: _calamite_ proper,
_calamopitus, calamodendron_, and _eucalamodendron_.

[Image: FIG. 7.--Root of _Catamites Suckowii_. Coal-shale.]

[Image: FIG 8.--_Calamocladus grandis_. Carboniferous sandstone.]

Having used the word "exogenous," it might be as well to pay a little
attention, in passing, to the nomenclature and broad classification of
the various kinds of plants. We shall then doubtless find it far easier
thoroughly to understand the position in the scale of organisation to
which the coal plants are referable.

[Illustration: FIG. 9.--_Asterophyllites foliosa_. Coal-measures.]

The plants which are lowest in organisation are known as _Cellular_. They
are almost entirely composed of numerous cells built up one above the
other, and possess none of the hi