é » 
OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 37 
genera Pecten, Venus, Crassatella, &c. of miocene species. What is quite remarkable, the carapaces, 
of these little beings are all silicious. ‘Their forms are various and highly curious. 
For the information of those who may be in possession of a good microscope, and who may 
wish to observe these beautiful forms, I give Prof. Bailey’s mode of preparing infusorial earth for 
examination. 
A little of the substance supposed to contain infusoria—a little of the surface mud from the 
wharves in Charleston, for instance, which is rich in these little shells—is placed in a glass of 
water; the heavier particles are allowed to subside, and a portion of that part found floating on the 
surface or suspended in the water is placed on a slip of glass, which is held over a spirit-lamp until 
the water is completely evaporated and a whitish powder is left behind. A drop of Canada balsam 
is now placed on the glass, and the heat of the lamp applied until the balsam is evenly spread over 
the powder. ‘The heat must be applied with care, or else air bubbles will be found in the balsam, 
which may deceive the inexperienced. It is now ready to be placed under the microscope. 
Fossttr PLants. 
The lowest form in which a plant can exist is that of a cell, and a congeries of such cells arranged 
in a definite form, gives rise to a higher plant. Plants thus made up of cells alone are called 
Cellulares ; they are further distinguished by not producing visible flowers, and hence called flow- 
erless plants. Algze, Lichens, Mosses and Ferns belong to this division of the vegetable kingdom; 
and a large portion of fossil plants are found here also. 
When cells are elongated and their contiguous ends absorbed, they give rise to long vessels, 
which when united in the structure of plants are called vascular bundles, and the plants thus 
organized are called Vasculares. Nearly all the lignite, or petrified wood, of recent formations 
belongs to this division. 
When the seed of vascular plants is composed of one piece or cotyledon, they are called Mono- 
cotyledonous plants, and are characterised by other peculiarities. The stems are composed of 
bundles of vessels, and increase in diameter by the addition of new vessels at the centre and 
among the old ones: there are consequently no concentric layers; the leaves are not articulated 
with the stem; the veins are arranged in parallel lines, and never reticulated. Such plants are said 
to be Endogenous. 
Those plants which have seed composed of two lobes are called Dicotyledonous plants. The 
woody fibre is deposited between the old wood and the bark, in concentric layers, arranged around 
the pith, which occupies the centre. The term Hvogenous is applied to these plants. 
The coniferous plants, or those which bear seeds in cones, such as pines, cedars, &c. have a 
peculiarity of structure, that may be observed under the microscope, and which enables the Paleon- 
tologist to detect such plants in the fossil state. If a very thin, translucent shaving of pine be 
placed under the microscope, there will be seen between the opaque longitudinal vessels others 
ornamented with dots enclosed in circles. 'These are called glandular vessels, and are peculiar 
to the wood of coniferous plants. In this way, if a thin chip be broken from a piece of silicified 
wood, we may determine readily whether it be coniferous or not; having first, however, settled the 
fact as to its being Dicotyledonous, which is, in general, readily done by observing the concentric 
10 
