Land Plants in the Lower Silurian. — Lei^querenx. 43 



number of perfect stoue implements seems to me unusually small 

 throughout this entire series of mounds. The question arises : Had 

 this people the habit of sometimes breaking the stone implements cast 

 into the burial mounds? Or, were broken ones selected for this purpose, 

 as being of little other use? 



On JRemains of Land Plants in the Lower Silurian ; by Leo. Lesquereux. 

 From the Amer. Jour, of Science and Arts, January, 1874. 



[The gist of the following remarkable statement, from the pen of a 

 distinguished naturalist, may be taken with a grain of skepticism. It 

 will require further proof before the discovery of land vegetation in 

 t!ie Cincinnati Group becomes an admitted scientific fact.] 



From a recent discovery it now seems that traces of land vegetation 

 exist in the Lower Silurian strata of this country. A few months ago 

 I received from Rev. H. Hertzer two specimens, representing branches 

 or small stems, of a species, referable to Sigillaria, and reported to have 

 been found by Dr. S. S. Scoville on Longstreet creek, near Lebanon, 

 Ohio, in clay beds positively referable to the Cincinnati Group of the 

 Lower Silurian. The discovery of the remains of land plants in this 

 formation is too remarkable a fact to be accepted without positive evi- 

 dence. Being at that time about to take the field for geological 

 explorations, I merely took a sketch of the specimens, and returned 

 them to the owner, purposing to examine more closely into the mat- 

 ter at a future time, either by going to Lebanon, or by corresponding 

 with Dr. Scoville. On my return, as Rev. Mr. Hertzer had parted 

 with the specimens, I sent to Dr. Scoville a sketch of the fossil under 

 consideration, in order that he might recognize it, if it had been in his 

 hands, and with the request to positively state whether he himself 

 found the specimens, and when, and whether he had any more of the 

 same kind. Li his answer, he writes: "I can say now most emphat- 

 ically, that I found on Longstreet creek, about six miles east of 

 Lebanon, a fossil which resembles the sketch accompanying your letter 

 in all the essential features. The specimen was, I think, in two pieces, 

 or perhaps Mr. Hertzer took only one piece. I know within a rod or 

 two where it was found. Its position or horizon, in the Lebanon beds, 

 ■was about the middle. Should any one question the accuracy of my 

 statement in regard to the discovery of a specimen of this character, 

 in the locality designated, I would refer them to Mr. S. R. O'Neall of 

 this place, who has paid much attentian to geology, and who will sup- 

 port my assertion, so far, at least, as to say : that I have described to 

 him several times, and even but a few days since, the specimens under 



