128 SIE J. WILLIAM DAWSON ON THE MODE, Etc. 



aud could not extricate themselves. Ou their death, aud the decompositiou of their soft 

 parts, their bones and other hard portions remained iu the bottom of the tree intermixed 

 with any vegetable debris or soil washed in by rain, and which formed thin layers separ- 

 ating successive animal deposits from each other. Finally, the area was again submerged 

 or overflowed by water, bearing sand aud mud. The hollow trees were filled to the top 

 and their animal contents thus sealed up. At length the material filling the trees was by 

 pressure and the access of cementing matter hardened into stone, not infrequently harder 

 than that of the containing beds, and the whole being tilted to an angle of 20°, and ele- 

 vated into land exposed to the action of the tides and waves, these singular cofhus present 

 themselves as stony cylinders projecting from the clitt' or reef, and can be extracted and 

 their contents studied. 



The singular combination of accidents above detailed was, of course, of very rare 

 occurrence, aud in i>oint of fact we know only one set of beds at the South Joggins in 

 which such remains so preserved occur; nor is there, so far as I am aware, any other 

 known instance elsewhere. Ev^eu in the beds in question only a portion of the trees, 

 about fifteen out of thirty, have afforded animal remains. We have, however, thus been 

 enabled to obtain si^ecimens of a number of species which would probably otherwise 

 have been unknown, being less likely than others to be preserved in properly aqueous 

 deposits. Such discoveries on the one hand impress us with the imperfection of the 

 geological record ; on the other, they show us the singular provisions which have been 

 made in the course of geological time for preserving the relics of the ancient world, and 

 which await the industry and skill of collectors to disclose their hidden treasures. 



There is evidence in coprolitic matter on some of the surfaces within the trunks, and 

 also in certain trails on these surfaces, that some of the imprisoned animals lived for a 

 time in their subterranean prisons ; that they crept around their walls in search of a way 

 of escape, and that the larger animals fed on smaller species entrapped along with them. 



Specimens aud photographs were exhibited of two species of Dendrerpelon, belonging 

 to the group of Labyrinthodontia, and of species of Hylononms, HyJerpekm, SmUerpeton, 

 Fritschia, etc., belonging to the group of Microsauria ; also two species of Pupa, remains of 

 several species of Milliiiedes and fragments referred to Scorpions.' For detailed descrip- 

 tions of the animals reference was made to the author's " Acadian Geology " and 

 " Airbreathers of the Coal Period," and to his memoir in the 'Transactions of (he Royal 

 Society of London,' 1882, and to recent papers in the ' London Geological Magazine,' 1891. 



These specimens are now in the collections of Sir W. Dawson, deposited in the Peter Redpath Museum. • 



