451 



pendicular, and another piece had split off from the rock, and which 

 piece I found lying at the foot of the other, and also having an 

 indented impression, but not so distinct, at least only in parts. I 

 have been unable to meet with any geologist here who can explain it, 

 or give any history of the formation in which it is found. Some have 

 pi'etended to know something about it, but their opinions differ con- 

 siderably. Some say the plant has grown there since the rock was 

 found ; others that it is a zoophyte, and not a plant at all ; while one 

 man, a German, says that it was imprinted in the rock whilst soft, and 

 hlis been subsequently hardened by great heat, as the crystals show. 

 I think he is nearer the mark. The place in which it was found is 

 most wild-looking. It is a mountain pass ; so you would call it in 

 England ; we call it a Kloof. This pass runs through a low range of 

 mountains, the end as it were of the great range which begins near 

 Cape Town, but separated from that by the river Zondereuch. 

 Curiously enough, although it appears to be a continuation of the 

 great range, its structure is totally different in appearance. The 

 whole mountain seems to have been broken up into huge blocks of 

 rock, but yet preserving a stratified appearance, more regular in some 

 parts than in others. In some places, too, the strata are horizontal, 

 in others inclined at an angle of 20 degrees. All the rocks are more 

 or less crystallized, and nearly all have the traces of vegetable 

 remains (sea-weeds, as I think) upon them. 1 walked over the 

 mountain, or rather climbed amongst the rocks, crowbar in hand, and 

 found many similarly marked ; not, I mean, with the same plant, but 

 in the same sort of way as the one sent. Mr. Vigne showed me a 

 stone that he had found on the mountain behind his house ; there 

 was an appearance of a fossil plant, very much resembling the one I 

 send you ; but the plant itself was there changed into stone or coal 

 quite black ; but instead of being an impression, it might be called a 

 basso relievo. The stone was quite different, being a dark-coloured 

 sandstone, and not at all crystallized." 



It appeared to be the prevalent opinion of the members present that 

 this remarkable impression was the result of dendritic crystallization. 



Notes on the Leaf of Guarea grandif alia, DeC. By R. C. Alexander, 



Esq., M.D., F.L.S. 



In the specimens of a Guarea from Jamaica, the G. grandifolia, 

 DeC, presented to the Society, it will be seen that the lower leaflets 



