294 FOSSIL PLANTS, FROM NEW RED SANDSTONE 



Description of several species of Fossil Plants, from 

 THE New Red Sandstone Formation of Connecticut and 

 Massachusetts. By Prof. Edward Hitchcock, LL. D., of 

 Amherst, Massachusetts. 



In the towns of Woodbury and Southbury, in Connecticut, 

 near the Housatonic, there exists a series of rocks, almost precisely 

 similar to those which occupy the valley of Connecticut river. 

 We find associated there, shales, sandstones, limestones, and 

 trap rocks, with all the organic remains found along the Con- 

 necticut ; nor can there be a doubt, that it is precisely the same 

 formation, on a limited scale, as that in the Connecticut valley. 



About thirteen years ago, I gave an account, in the fourteenth 

 volume of the American Journal of Science, of a portion of the 

 fossil trunk of a tree, in the cabinet of Dr. Smith, of Southbury. 

 It w^as eight or ten inches in diameter, and several inches long ; 

 completely silicified, and showing a difference of colors between 

 the bark and the inner portion of the tree. It was obtained by a 

 workman, who mistook it for a stump, in a swamp, and battered 

 his axe upon it, and in revenge almost ruined it. Recently I 

 sent a small piece of this wood to Prof. Bailey, with the request 

 that he would examine it microscopically. The result of liis 

 investigation is highly satisfactory, and I give it in his own 

 words. 



" I examined, with great interest, the fossil tree, in whose branch- 

 es probably once sported some of your wild fowl of the New Red 

 sandstone period. The paucity of organic remains in this formation, 

 made me very desirous to ascertain, if possible, the nature of the 

 wood. By means of thin splinters, coated with Canada Balsam, I 

 was able to examine it almost as well as if I had slices prepared by 

 a lapidary. 



" The facts ascertained were these : 



Facts. Condnsiovs. 



1. It presents medullary rays. 1. Therefore DicotiihtLmons. 



2. Ill the space of an inch there are no 2. Tlierefore of raiiid growth, or pro- 

 concentric rings. duced in a warm climate. 



