19"] STEVEXSOX— FORMATION OF COAL BEDS. 605 



water, exposed to air and light, is full of minute plants, with bound- 

 less capacity for multiplication, forming in vast legions, which sink 

 and form a layer of organic material, the basis of formations com- 

 posed of higher organisms. These are followed by floating mosses, 

 which, in spite of their small size, soon produce a great mass of 

 organic material. The bladderworts, water milfoils follow and the 

 water lilies spread their leaves over the surface ; reeds press out 

 from the shore and sedges of various kinds form a wickerwork of 

 roots, which gradually spread over the whole depression and water 

 is no longer visible. Meanwhile the peat has been growing denser, 

 drawing water from below and keeping the bed moist. In it nestle 

 the milfoils and heaths. The lake closed, woody plants encroach, 

 Bctiila and then Pinus sylvcstris. But the latter does not grow high, 

 breaking off after attaining a certain height and weight, sinking into 

 the underlying soft material, there to be destroyed and converted 

 into peat as are the shrubby plants. These trees are readily over- 

 thrown by the wind and the peat is crowded with the overturned 

 trunks of birch and fir. The harder parts offer prolonged resistance 

 to chemical change and are embedded in a pulp-like mass derived 

 from the softer parts. The conditions in all stages are recognizable 

 in Swiss deposits. The succession may be varied by climatic changes, 

 whereby a W'aldmoor may be converted into a Torfmoor and that in 

 turn into a Waldmoor again. 



Friih's^^' descriptions of conditions in Switzerland and Germany 

 are much like those given in later years for localities in the United 

 States, though the succession of events may differ somewhat in 

 detail. At the same time, the Hochmoor or 6" /'/;«(/;;//»/ deposit seems 

 to be built up on the Rasenmoor, composed of Cypcracccc, Phrag- 

 mites and Hypnuui; islands of Hochmoor were seen occasionally in 

 a Rasenmoor. Lorentz is cited as having examined 57 moors, of 

 which 31 were Hochmoors developed on Rasenmoors. Friih inves- 

 tigated Hochmoors in Steiermark. the Bavarian highlands and in 

 Switzerland, all of which showed that Sphagnum is a late arrival in 



'" J. J. Friih, " Ueber Torf und Dopplerit," pp. 5, 7-9, 15, 18, 20. 



203 



