DESCRIPTION OF FOSSIL PALM-WOOD. 235 
long disturbed and rolled ; other specimens of wood, of decidedly palm structure, 
I have found between Bognor and Shoreham. 
It is impossible to fix the precise geological formation to which these trees 
may have belonged. The dark specimens containing so much sulphuret of iron, 
resemble, by their external appearance, the dicotyledonous wood found at Bog- 
nor, Bracklesham and Sheppey, and may be derived from the Eocene formation, 
flourishing with the Crocodiles and Serpents of that period ; others are agatized 
in a similar manner to the more recent formations of Antigua, though differing 
in external character. 
Fig. 5. Section of a coniferous wood found near Worthing, much rolled and 
very hard. 
a. Magnified view, which shows the arrangement of vessels as in common 
deal. 
b. Section taken parallel to the medullary ray from the centre to the circum- 
ference, pointing out the uniformity of vessels and the arrangement of discs, in 
which it materially differs from the Araucarian arrangement more usually found 
in fossil Coniferze. 
c. Vertical section cut at right angles to the medullary ray, in which the vessels 
appear to be without discs, the sections of the medullary rays being shown at d. 
Fig. 6. Section of common dicotyledonous wood much agatized in the centre : 
this character of fossil wood is very common at Bognor, and rolled specimens 
are occasionally picked up along the coast. 
a. Magnified transverse section, showing the structure to consist chiefly of 
elongated cells, with scattered larger tubes, resembling the dotted ducts of palm 
structure. 
All these woods are occasionally agatized, and look very well when cut and 
polished. 
