DESCRIPTION OF FOSSIL PALM-WOOD. 231 
satisfaction in stating that Robert Brown, Esq., F.R.S., has been so kind as to 
give me his valuable assistance in drawing up the following remarks. 
To persons unacquainted with the distribution of fossil trees and plants in the 
great divisions of geology, it may be as well to observe, that in the earlier and 
transition period, the vascular cryptogamous plants, such as Calamites, Ferns, 
Lycopodiaceex, &c., are mostly discovered, the remains of these plants principally 
furnishing coal; in the Secondary formation Cycadez and Conifers are abun- 
dant ; and in the Tertiary, Dicotyledonous woods (Coniferze included) are par- 
ticularly found, many of them agreeing with families of the present day*. 
Palm structure rarely occurs in the earlier geological periods ; in the second- 
ary only a few specimens have been traced, but in the tertiary they are more 
abundant ; and as many as eight or ten species have been noticed by Ad. Bron- 
gniart in his list of the fossils of the tertiary series. 
Seven localities have been pointed out by Cuvier and Brongniart in the ter- 
tiary strata of France, Switzerland and the Tyrol, in which fossil palm-leaves have 
been found differing from any known species. 
Fossil stems of Palms beautifully silicified are brought from Antigua; they 
also occur in the East Indies, in Hungary, and in the calcaire grossier of the 
Paris basin. Prostrate trunks of Palms of large size have been found above the 
gypsum beds in the vicinity of Paris, and as they are associated with freshwater 
shells and not drifted, they grew probably not far from the spot where these 
remains are discovered+. During my visit to Paris in 1847, Ad. Brongniart 
* The family of Coniferae have been discovered in nearly all the geological periods. 
Dr. Unger, in his ‘ Synopsis Plantarum Fossilium,’ published at Leipsic, 1845, mentions 141 species, 
which are distributed as follows :— 
Mhertransiioupormatounee erence ea eee 
Oldiredisandstone™n--pr eee eee eis 12 
Lower new red sandstone ..............000. 2 
Magnesian limestone ........-.... Ds Sesvetstenats 1 
Uppermewssandstone meee mere riesa se mers 
IKeupersandsteinecreyarya cer Treen rae ree a 
) OF EY eres pochs Sen CA a RTGS Wns 5 ee 7 
Ooliter nae tier nanan eR eee 7 
Chalke - aaa ree tee oie See ei o aoe 6 
OCOD Cs crenperer ote tats te aeVoscrat rei er RS ose 13 
Miocene: Se ectratsktcicce ose Sots oes ercloce avs 73 
Pliocenewa. mya steten ctor oe eles os cereal fB 
+ According to Mr. Bowerbank, palmaceous fruits are abundant at Sheppey, while coniferous fruits 
are comparatively scarce. At Bognor and Bracklesham, the fossilized wood is mostly dicotyledonous. 
2H 2 
= 
