584 THE UNIVERSE. 



have been found, if not in all their freshness, at least re- 

 taining all the delicacy of their forms. Certain vegetable 

 secretions themselves Jiave escaped the ravages of cata- 

 clysms. Thus we discover the resin of some antediluvian 



225. Fossil Libellula, or Dragon-FIy, of the Secondary Epoch. 



Coniferoe, nncl in the midst of its transparent lumps lie yet 

 the winged insects which it imprisoned as it flowed ; this is 

 the source of our yellow amber. 1 



1 The history of yellow amber has been unfolded by M. Gbppert, who has 

 remarked that this precious substance, the origin of which was so long a mystery, 

 is only the resin produced by a species of antediluvian Conifer, the Pinites suc- 

 cinifer. This amber-tree, which seems decidedly analogous to our red fir (Abies 

 rubra, Mich.), distilled its resin more abundantly than the trees of the same 

 family do in our forests now. Hence, as it flowed in large quantities over the 

 surface of the bark, its voluminous concretions imprisoned insects and flowers, 

 which its transparence allows us to see. 



According to K. Midler, we sometimes find in the midst of morsels of amber 

 little fir-cones and remains of woody tissue, which may be recognized as having 

 proceeded from the trunk of some species closely resembling the red pine. In 

 antediluvian times the succiniferons pines formed, beyond doubt, dense forests on 

 the borders of the Baltic, and the amber buried beneath its waves is now thrown 



