ON COAL. 155 



coal is supposed to be composed principally of tlie remains of four 

 families only, viz : Ferns, Sigillaria', Lepidodendrons , and Cdlamiles. 

 The abundance of individuals belonging to these families is so great, 

 and their size so enormous, that they must have given character to 

 the vegetation of this period, and may therefore be taken as represen- 

 tatives of its flora. As such, therefore, I shall consider them, and it 

 will be our object in this lecture to give you some idea of their appear- 

 ance and affinities. 



There are certain periods in the history of our race upon which we 

 are apt to gaze with peculiar interest and admiration — when the 

 human mind, awakening from its sleep of barbarism, rejoices in the 

 ostentatious display of its strength and its beauty, so in the history 

 of our earth, the period of the coal stands out beyond all others as the 

 ^^ heroic oge," when nature seemed to delight herself in the fantastic 

 exercise of power, and to exhaust her strength in the production of 

 vegetable giants and monsters. It will be my object to show that this 

 age, although to the popular mind it may appear a mythological age, 

 an age of wonders and prodigies, an age to which ordinary principles 

 of reasoning are inapplicable ; that this age is but one chapter, a page, 

 in a connected history^ one step in the accomplishment of the unvary- 

 ing plans of Deity. 



A glance at these drawings of coal plants will give you some general 

 idea of the strange forms which constituted the flora of this period. 

 But it is not only a vague general idea of external form which I wish 

 to give you ; we have already had too much of this in popular lectures 

 on geology. If we would grasp the real thought expressed in the 

 vegetation of this period ; if we would understand the true significance 

 of the coal flora in the Divine economy ; if we would catch the key- 

 note of this Divine harmony, we must take more than a superficial 

 glance — we must look deeply, thoughtfully, reverently. But, in order 

 to make myself understood, I find it necessary to step a little out of 

 the way, to give you a sketch of the great divisions of the vegetable 

 kingdom and the characteristics of each, so that, by comparison, we 

 may be able to determine the position of the coal plants. Whatever 

 is noble and elevating in science must be equally interesting to every 

 intelligent mind ; but in order to appreciate it, it is absolutely neces- 

 sary to master in some degree uninteresting technicalities. The jewel 

 is inclosed always in an unattractive casket of lead ; we must find the 

 key before we can gain the prize. 



The vegetable kingdom, then, is divided into two great classes: the 

 Fhcenogajns, or flowering plants, and the Cryptogams, or flowerless. 

 The Cryptogams may be again divided into cellular and vascular Cryp- 

 togams. The cellular Cryptogams, such as the mosses, fungi lichens, 

 sea weeds, &c., consist entirely of cellular tissue, while the vascular 

 Cryptogams, such as ferns, club-mosses, equisetaceae, (horse-tails,) com- 

 bine the vascular tissue with the cellular. The Phoinogams may also 

 be divided into two sub-classes, viz : the Gymnosperms, or naked seeded 

 plants, and the Angiosperms, or covered seeded plants. The Gymnos- 

 perms bear their seeds naked or exposed, either near the base of an 

 open capillary leaf, as in the pine family, {Co7iifers,) fig. 12, or else 



