FOSSIL PALM-LEAVES. 185 
the Tertiary deposits are true palms, there can, however, be 
no doubt, for the foliage and fruit, which are occasionally 
associated with them, confirm the inference drawn from the 
characters of the trunks. 
Stems, leaves, and fruits of Palms have been discovered 
in the Paris basin, by M. Ad. Brongniart (Bd. pl. Ixiv. p. 515) ; 
and silicified trunks in many other places on the Continent ; 
but no fossils of this kind surpass in beauty and interest 
_ those which are found in the West Indies. A slice of a sili- 
cified stem from Antigua is represented, as seen by reflected 
light, in Plate V. fig. 1; it admirably displays bundles of ves- 
sels imbedded in cellular tissue. 
Silicified stems of monocotyledons, related to the Palms, 
are very widely distributed, and have been collected among 
Mammalian remains in Ava, and in the Sub-Himalaya 
mountains. 
Fosstz PatM-LEAvES.—The pinnated and fan-shaped 
leaves of the Palms are so peculiar as to be easily recog- 
nized in a fossil state. Though many specimens have been 
found in the tertiary strata of the Continent, but two or 
three examples have been met with in England. The first 
discovered British specimen is in my cabinet, and was ob- 
tained by Mr. Fowlstone, of Ryde, from the fresh-water lime- 
stone of Whitecliff Bay, in the Isle of Wight. It is thir- 
teen inches in length, and eleven in width : fresh-water shells 
and plants are imbedded with it. It is figured in Geol. I. 
of Wight, 2d edit. p. 431. This species (Palmacites Lama- 
monis) occurs also at Aix in Provence, in great perfection, 
associated with Insects, Fishes, fresh-water shells, &c. (Wond. 
p. 260. Petrif. p. 52). 
Twelve species of palm-leaves are enumerated by M. 
Unger, from the Tertiary deposits of the Continent. One 
species has been found in the Chalk formation of Silesia ; 
the most ancient strata in which the remains of undoubted 
palms have as yet been observed. 
