2* 'M.r.Wilhamonthe Vegetationqfthe First PeriodoftheWotidy 



I shall therefore now state to you the result of my limited in- 

 vestigation. 



To the ardour of M. Adolphe Brongniart, in the re- 

 searches he has so successfully made in collecting materials 

 for the physical history of the formations which compose the 

 crust of our planet, every geologist must feel interested ; as 

 well as to Cuvier, Sternberg, Boue, Brown, D'Urville, and 

 others, for their able and unremitting exertions in this dark 

 field of early existence. It has been reserved for this eminent 

 younor naturalist to present to the public a classification so na- 

 tural, and generally so clear, as greatly to facilitate the labours 

 of those who interest themselves in such pursuits, and gready 

 to aid them in recording such particulars as may accidentally 

 come under their immediate notice*. 



Impressed with the importance of this subject, I first of all 

 availed myself of the kindness of Mr. Dolphin, head-agent to 

 Messrs. Hall and Co., who solicited me to explore a vein called 

 Jefferies Rake, in the Derwent mines, near Blanchland, in 

 the county of Durham. Having travelled up the adit about 

 three quarters of a mile, we began to descend by the assistance 

 of ladders. At the depth of about fifty-five fathoms below 

 the surface, in a bed of sandstone nearly forty fathoms thick, 

 we were "-ratified by a sight of some magnificent specimens of 

 an ancient Flora, belonging to M. A. Brongniart's first pe- 

 riod of vegetable creation. The two varieties appear to be- 

 long to his third class, " the Vascular Cryptogamia." The 

 first \\eYeStigmaria(Lyco\)od\ace?E); the second were fine spe- 

 cimens, of great circumference, of Sigillaria (Filices). Two of 

 these last-named specimens, which were situated in the space 

 cleared out to get at the lead ore, stand erect, and their roots 

 are firmly embedded in a thin stratum of bituminous shale, 

 much carbonized. 1 should think the height of one of these 

 prodigious fern stumps may be about five feet, and its dia- 

 meter probably exceeds two. The other, which has been 

 kindly presented to me, may be seen in my museum, No. 14, 

 Great Kin"-street. It has, I understand, been the opinion of 

 some gentlemen who have visited these ancient relics, that 

 they have been washed into, and deposited in their present 

 situation by some aqueous revolution. 



To this conclusion I must object, for two reasons. First, 

 because the roots are firmly embedded in the shale, as if they 

 had remained undisturbed in their original earthy envelope ; 

 and Secondly, because you may discover in each cheek of the 

 vein, oUier trunks of these members of this ancient Flora, in 

 the solid rock, the position and the appearance of which are 



more 

 * See Phil. Mag. and Annals, vol. vi. p. 133. 



