24 STEVENSON— INTERRELATIONS OF THE FOSSIL FUELS. 



dence of its existence in equatorial Africa. Wall and Sawkins in 

 i860 found peaty deposits on the island of Trinidad, which even 

 after desiccation at 300° F. contained 35 per cent, of organic matter. 

 In 1870, Hartt reported his discovery of peat in the state of Sao 

 Salvador, S.L. 10°, as well as in the state of Sao Paulo, both in 

 Brazil. Brown described peaty deposits in the Demarara region ; 

 " from Santa Rosa on through the Staboots, the head of the Bara- 

 bara River, there are many tracts of open land, composed of black 

 bog-mud formed by decayed vegetables and covered with a growth 

 of rank sedges and rushes." Some portions of these " savannas " 

 are permanent swamps, in which the Ita palm, Maiiritia flexuosa, is 

 one of the prominent trees, rising to the height of 60 feet. Har- 

 rison, in discussing the same region, says that peat occurs in many 

 of the low-lying coast lands, where it is from i to 10 feet thick, 

 though usually not exceeding 4 feet. Considerable portions of this 

 " pegass " land are covered with the Aeta palm.^ 



Long ago, Lyell described the general features of the Dismal 

 Swamp and of the cypress swamps of the lower Mississippi River, 

 both of which were discussed in detail by Shaler at a later date. 

 Kuntze* in 1895 described the vast wooded swamp, a mass of peat 

 extending for 3 degrees of latitude along the Lourengo River of 

 Brazil. The conditions in Florida, where the peat areas are great 

 and the deposits often very thick, have been described in detail by 

 Harper, and several observers have made note of the peat in Ber- 

 muda. Livingstone, Cameron. Lugard and Miss Kingsley have 

 presented proof that peat is abundant in equatorial Africa.^ 



During the progress of the Dutch explorations in Sumatra, 1891, 

 Koorders observed a great Flachmoor covered with a 30-meters- 

 high mixed forest growing on peat, which Larive's measurements 



2 G. P. Wall and J. G. Sawkins, " Geology of Trinidad," London, i860, 

 pp. 62, 63 ; C. F. Hartt, " Geology and Physical Geography of Brazil," Boston, 

 1870, pp. 365, 509 ; C. B. Brown, " Physical, Descriptive and Economic Geology 

 of British Guiana," Geol. Survey, London, 1875, pp. 34, 91;" J. F. Harrison, 

 " Pegass of British Guiana," Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, Vol. LXIIL, 1907, p. 292. 



* O. Kuntze, " Geogenetische Beitrage," Leipzic, 1895, pp. 67, 68. 



s For deta;iled statement of these observations in tropical and subtropical 

 regions, see " Formation of Coal Beds, II.," Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc, Vol. L., 

 191 1, pp. 565-573- 



