﻿282 
  GEOLOGY. 
  

  

  stone. 
  In 
  one 
  of 
  these, 
  of 
  considerable 
  size, 
  of 
  a 
  bluish 
  

   color, 
  and 
  of 
  extreme 
  hardness, 
  is 
  imbedded 
  a 
  petrified 
  

   trunk 
  with 
  projecting 
  branches. 
  The 
  character 
  and 
  

   appearance 
  of 
  this 
  rock, 
  have 
  before 
  been 
  described, 
  

   and 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  mentioned 
  that, 
  with 
  the 
  exception 
  of 
  

   some 
  impressions 
  or 
  casts 
  of 
  leaves, 
  and 
  of 
  small 
  seed- 
  

   vessels 
  noticed 
  at 
  Grand 
  Gulf, 
  this 
  is 
  the 
  only 
  fossil 
  seen 
  

   imbedded 
  in 
  it. 
  

  

  For 
  more 
  tlian 
  twenty 
  years 
  past, 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  a 
  

   stmiding 
  petrified 
  tree, 
  in 
  the 
  Scutchaloe 
  Hills, 
  a 
  ridge 
  

   dividing 
  the 
  waters 
  of 
  the 
  Bayou 
  Pierre 
  and 
  Big 
  Sand, 
  

   in 
  Claiborne 
  County, 
  had 
  been 
  repeatedly 
  asserted 
  and 
  

   generally 
  believed. 
  

  

  A 
  petrified 
  forest, 
  in 
  a 
  sandy 
  desert 
  near 
  Cairo, 
  in 
  

   Egypt, 
  has 
  been 
  often 
  described, 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  stumps 
  of 
  

   trees 
  yet 
  stand 
  erect 
  above 
  the 
  surface, 
  and 
  has 
  been 
  

   accounted 
  for 
  satisfactorily, 
  by 
  the 
  shifting 
  sands 
  in 
  

   which 
  it 
  had 
  formerly 
  been 
  involved. 
  And 
  indications 
  

   of 
  a 
  similar 
  character 
  have 
  been 
  reported 
  in 
  connection 
  

   with 
  the 
  district 
  known 
  as 
  the 
  Cross 
  Timbers, 
  in 
  Texas. 
  

  

  I 
  need 
  not, 
  therefore, 
  remark 
  upon 
  the 
  interest 
  that 
  

   would 
  attach 
  to 
  an 
  isolated 
  specimen 
  of 
  a 
  single 
  tree 
  of 
  

   this 
  character, 
  or 
  speak 
  of 
  my 
  desire 
  to 
  examine 
  it. 
  

   My 
  search, 
  however, 
  at 
  different 
  times, 
  although 
  guided 
  

   by 
  persons 
  who 
  were 
  familiar 
  with 
  the 
  region, 
  was 
  

   fruitless. 
  

  

  But 
  I 
  found, 
  at 
  several 
  places, 
  large 
  trunks 
  of 
  silicified 
  

   trees, 
  lying 
  on 
  the 
  surface 
  of 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  elevated 
  

   ridges. 
  

  

  At 
  one 
  place, 
  the 
  trunks 
  of 
  two 
  trees, 
  about 
  three 
  

   feet 
  in 
  diameter, 
  lie 
  in 
  close 
  proximity. 
  Along 
  one 
  of 
  

   these, 
  broken 
  into 
  several 
  sections, 
  I 
  measured 
  sixty-five 
  

   feet 
  to 
  its 
  first 
  or 
  principal 
  bifurcation, 
  beyond 
  which, 
  

   fragments 
  of 
  less 
  diameter, 
  doubtless 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  

  

  