270 



Report of the Meeting of the British Association, extracted from the 

 'Athenaeum,'' No. 923, dated July 5th, 1845. 



Section D.— ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY. 



The Rev. L, Jenyns read a paper ' On the Turf of the Cambridge- 

 shire Fens.' — This turf was not formed by Sphagnum, as most peat, 

 but from various species of aquatic plants which had been accumulat- 

 ing for a long period of years above the remains of forest trees which 

 lie buried at the bottom of the moor. There are two distinct kinds 

 oi turf, the upper Siwd the lower. The former is the more compact 

 and heavy of the two. The latter consists entirely of the bark, wood 

 and branches of the submerged trees. The turf is not now rapidly 

 formed on account of the improved system of drainage. Formerly it 

 was su])posed to grow about twenty inches in sixteen years. 



Dr. Falconer said, that he had observed in Cashmere, at the bot- 

 toms of lakes, turf of a very similar kind to the lower bed just men- 

 tioned. It consisted of the remains of various aquatic plants, as 

 Chara, Potamogeton, Utricularia and Nelumbium. The inhabitants 

 obtained it from the bottom of the lake by means of a rake, and used 

 it as fuel. — Mr. Babington stated that the character of the Scotch 

 and Irish bogs was different from that of the fens of Cambridgeshire. 

 He had seen peat procured in Ireland from the bottoms of ponds in 

 the same way as described by Dr. Falconer in Cashmere. Mr. H. E. 

 Strickland had seen peat in Ireland converted into a substance as 

 hard as jet, so that it might be used by the turner. The formation 

 of this peat threw much light on the formation of coal. There could 

 be no doubt that our coal beds were some of them formed in the man- 

 ner of bogs, whilst others resulted from vegetable matter deposited at 

 the bottom of the sea. — Mr. Selby had seen peat quite solid and 

 bright as amber. — The Bishop of Norwich stated, that the trees bu- 

 ried in the bogs of Lancashire exhibited marks of being burnt, and 

 many of them had on them the strokes of the axe, — Mr. Dowden 

 pointed out the remarkable fact in Mr. Jenyns's observations that the 

 light turf was undermost. The laws of nature were better observed 

 in Ireland, where the heaviest turf was at the bottom. — Mr, Murchi- 

 soN remarked, that it was an extraordinary fact that there were no 

 bofs in Russia, and yet throughout that country there was a great 

 extent of mountain limestone as in Ireland, the most boggy country 

 in the world. He supposed it was attributable to the character of the 

 climate. In Ireland it was always raining, and moisture favoured the 



