HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



i8i 



was so rich in spores, for they are so large that it 

 scarcely needs the microscope to determine that point. 

 So taking the first opportunity, I set out with a 

 brother geologist to try to settle the point. We 

 spent a long day at Lowmoor, rambling from pit to 

 pit, examining specimens of coal. The result was a sad 

 disappointment, so far as finding the coal so rich in 

 spores as we were led to imagine by the professor's 

 lecture. We brought away with us a number of 

 specimens of the coal and submitted them to the test 

 of microscopic examination, with not much better 

 results. That the coal does contain a large number 

 of spores there can be no doubt, but they are not so 

 numerous by any means as to form ' ' the bulk of the 

 coal." Overlying that coal in some places is an 

 impure earthy coal, called by miners "trub," of 

 from two to four inches in thickness, in other 

 places the celebrated "fish bed" takes its place; 

 both these layers contain a large number of the 

 macrospores. 



But it would not be correct to say that even these 

 layers were mainly composed of spores and fruits. 



Fig. loS. — Macrospore with endospores, X so diameters. 



Yet they are far richer in them than is the bulk of 

 the underlying coal. 



It is worthy of note that these large macrospores 

 are so common in many of our house coals, that any 

 one who wishes to see them may find them by 

 examining the coals in his coal scuttle. They are 

 most abundant on the faces of the dull slaty varieties, 

 and may be detected by the naked eye, but by the 

 aid of a pocket lens they can be seen to better advan- 

 tage. By the aid of a lens they are seen to be flat, 

 round bodies of a dark brown colour, and covered with 

 wart-like protuberances with a slit on one side from 

 which the endospores have escaped, but they appear 

 to be destitute of those hair-like appendages which 

 characterise the Halifax macrospores. 



So far as I am able to judge from the examination 

 of a large number of microscopic preparations of 

 different kinds of coals, I believe that our coal-balls 

 are as rich in spores as, if not richer than, any other 

 coals in this country, yet it would be a great mistake 

 to suppose that these spores formed the bulk of the 

 coal-balls. There can be no doubt that these balls 

 contain a fair sample of the plants which formed the 



coal in which they are enclosed, and also of the 

 manner in which they were aggregated together. The 

 sight presented by some of these balls when broken 

 is very curious and interesting. Various kinds of 

 plants may be seen mingled together in great confu- 

 sion, lepidodendroid stems, leaves, fruits and spores ; 

 calamites, ferns, astromyelons, lepidodendroid tis- 

 sues, and other vegetable] remains may often be seen 

 standing up in bold relief on the slab before us. 



The balls which present this curious medley of 

 fossil jjlants in "bold rehef" are generally highly 

 pyritised, and on that account the specimens are worth- 

 less for microscopical purposes, but make good 

 cabinet specimens. A large number of balls contain 

 fragments of large Lepidodendrons and Sigillarias, 

 some of which are above a foot in width and originally 

 formed parts of trees of considerable magnitude. A 

 less proportionate number contain fragments of 

 smaller plants such as ferns, calamites, astromyelons, 

 young branches, twigs and leaves of lepidodendrons, 

 &c. &c., mixed with a large number of spores of various 

 kinds. Some balls contain a large proportion of 

 spores, but even in these the spores do not form half 

 the contents. But a far larger proportion of the balls 

 are mere lumps of pyrites in which the structure of the 



d 

 



Fig. 109. — Microspores (greatly enlarged). 



plants is almost completely destroyed. Although all 

 these coal-balls contain plant remains, yet it will be 

 seen from the above that really good material forming 

 a suitable matrix for the fossil plants in which they are 

 preserved in the wonderful manner that we now and 

 then find them, is of rare occurrence. As in other 

 branches of geology the collecting of these coal plants 

 entails much healthful exercise in the open air, ram- 

 bling from coal-pit to coal-pit for many miles away, 

 over a rough hilly district. But there is an indescrib- 

 able charm in unearthing these precious " medals of 

 creation," that to us is irresistible, so that each fine 

 Saturday afternoon finds us ready to start on our 

 ramble equipped with hammer and bag, and sundry 

 other little creature comforts, such as a pipe and a 

 pouch well-filled with the "fragrant weed," &c. It 

 must not be supposed, however, that the latter are 

 necessary adjuncts to the geological kit, but we fancy 

 that the pipe helps to cheer the sometimes long 

 tramp homewards. 



(To de contimied.) 



AsELLUS AQUATicus. — In reply to J. A. C.'s query 

 this crustacean is the Asellus vulgaris of Latreille, 

 Desmarest, Milne-Edwards, and Cuvier. — J. M, 

 Campbell. 



