100 THE MEDALS OF CREATION. Cnap. VI. 
found it sixty miles up the Hudson River, near West Point, 
Dr. Bailey observes—“ The Fauna and Flora of the Hudson 
at this place would, if in a fossil state, be rather puzzling to 
the geologist, on account of the singular mixture of marine 
and fluviatile species. While Valisneria and Potamogeton 
(two common fresh-water plants), grow in such vast quanti- 
ties, in some places, as to prevent the passage of a boat, and 
the shore is strewn with fluviatile shells (such as Planorbis, 
Physa, &c.) in a living state, yet the above plants are entan- 
gled with Algze (sea-weeds), and marine parasitic zoophytes ; 
while the rocks below low-water mark are covered with 
Balani (barnacles) and minute corallines, and the marine 
Flora is represented by vast quantities of very elegant sea 
plants.” * 
I must here close this extended notice of the fossil remains 
of a class of vegetable organisms, which, though for the most 
part invisible to the unassisted eye as individual forms, con- 
stitute by their inconceivable multitudes an important 
element in the formation of sedimentary deposits. The 
fact of their having been formerly treated of as animal- 
cules, and generally regarded as belonging to the animal 
kingdom, rendered a full consideration of the phenomena 
necessary, in order to place the subject before the reader 
in a clear and comprehensive point of view.t 
Conrervites.—The cellular aquatic plants named Con- 
fervee are sometimes found in transparent quartz pebbles, 
and in chalk, appearing as delicate simple or branched fila- 
ments, which, by the aid of the microscope, are seen to be 
* American Journal of Science, vol. x. p. 41. 
+ As both the recent and fossil frustules of Diatomaceze are beau- 
tiful objects for the microscope and polariscope, they are in much 
request. Specimens mounted on glass slides may be had of Mr. 
Topping, and Mr. Poulton. See Appendix. 
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