THE OREGON NATURALIST. 



65 



WOOD IN WELLS. 



Recently, in the town of Forest Grove, 

 Or., two deep wells have been sunk. At 

 a depth of 78 ft. in one of them, some 

 wood was struck, while in the other 

 similar pieces of wood were brought up 

 from a depth of 138 ft. 



FIG. I, FINE. 



Now a great deal of inform-ation of very 

 great interest to the geologist can be 

 gathered together by the systematic ob- 



comes possible for a -clever dendrologist, 

 or one who studies trees in the fullest 

 sense, to determine very nearly what 

 kind of a tree produced a certain specimen 

 of wood, and it happens that it makes no 

 difference how old the wood may be so 

 long as certain conditions, such as may 

 be found in any swamp or marsh, are 

 present. In other words, wood buried in 

 mud and water and organic matter, may 

 be preserved indefmitely. On the other 

 hand, wood left exposed to the air is at- 

 tacked by all manner of living forms, 

 which very soon change it back to the 

 simple chemical compounds of which it 

 was made. 



If this be true, it follows here that at 

 some time, a long while ago, the general 

 surface of the ground was a good deal 

 lower at Forest Grove, than it is now, 

 and that trees were growing at that time. 

 After probably many many generations of 

 these trees had passed away, some of 



FIG.' 2, 78 ft. 



servation of the materials discovered by 

 well digging and boring; and it has oc- 

 cured to the writer that a little talk about 

 the wood found in these two wells at 

 Forest Grove, would set some of the 

 readers of the "Oregon Naturalist," to 

 thinking about, and studying the wells 

 which may be dug in their vicinity. 



Now the wood which one kind of tree 

 produces, is different from that which 

 another kind of tree produces, and this 

 difference extends to the minute or inicro- 

 scopical structure as well as to the quality 

 and general appearance. Hence it be- 



their remains being preserved in the way 

 already indicated. Afterwards some ge- 

 ological agency has been at work, piling 

 up on these tree remains, in one place 46 

 feet in thickness of blue clay, then some 

 pebbles and sand which strongly suggest 

 glaciers, and finally a thick body of clay 

 and soil. It has further occurred to the 

 writer that it would be interesting to know 

 what kind of trees lived in that long ago, 

 but to be very correct it was not very long 

 ago according to a geologist's way of think- 

 ing, and so to get some idea of what the 

 mountains and plains ware clothed with 



