272. Notice on Vegeiable Fossiis. 
branches, of which there seems to be but little doubt, — 
lishes a remarkable ditference between this case, a 
Etienne, and those of w we have made mentio 
Finally, Mr. Habel has observed, in these same snicen 
vegetable ‘stalks placed in an almost vertical position, and 
which were in every respect similar toours ; they were from 
two to two and a half metres (six and a half to eight feet) in 
height, and twenty-five centimetres (ten inches) in diameter; 
they were articulated, regularly fluted, and covered witha 
thin coat of coal, Chena stalks traversed the beds of the 
formation which contains the earthy carbonate of iron. 
There has been lately found in the standstones (these are 
probably the psammites) which cover the coal formation of 
Glasgow, to the north-west of that city, the trunk of a tree in 
a vertical position ; this trank was six. decimetres (one foot 
eleven and a half inches) in diameter, its transverse section 
presented a figure inclining to oval; like those already de- 
scribed it was entirely filled with rock of the same nature as 
which surrounded it 5 but the bark, (that is to say. the 
pons oi part of this vegetable, for nothing es that it had 
a real bark,) was converted into coal. ii was disengaged 
throughout an extent of about one metre (thirty-nine inch- 
es,) and no branches were discovered, yet, it is said, roots 
were formed at its lower extremity, particularly four large 
ones which plunged into the earth like the roots of commoa 
trees. We cannot, says the author of the notice, class this _ 
with any kind of trees now known. ate Annals-of 
Philosophy, 1820, November, page 1 
I say nothing of the stalks and Sinai trees, pr oper rly so 
called, not only fossil but petrified into silex, which have 
been found i in semanas absolutely foreign and always pos- 
terior to that of coal ; these instances of petrified epaes are 
very numerous, but thet geological position distiniguishes 
them ately from those which are the object of the prey 
notice. 
It is probable that aisiseled of stalks trav ersing “the layers 
of coal-grounds are also very frequent, and that, if only @ 
small one have been described, if so few have been en- 
sraved, t this circumstance is i ea chiefly to. the manner in 
orked. They are almost 
always deep and can be postin S09 only by shafts and 
leries which are never very large. In digging these subter> 
