THE BOG. 147 



dantly in the bark of the oak, and used for the 

 preserving of hides, or the converting of them into 

 leather. That the water of bogs possesses this 

 property of preserving animal substance to a very 

 great degree, may be inferred from the fact that 

 the bodies of men and horses have been repeatedly 

 found which have not undergone the least change 

 from decomposition, though they must have lain 

 many years in that situation. That it is equally 

 efficacious in preserving vegetable substance from 

 decay is no less evident ; for, when a bog is drain- 

 ed, the substance of the soil, to the depth of very 

 many feet, is found to be almost entirely com- 

 posed of vegetable fibre, scarcely altered in ap- 

 pearance from its original state when it formed 

 the principal constituent of living plants. This 

 substance, called peat, when cut into pieces of 

 a convenient size and shape, forms an excellent 

 fuel. In some places, these peat-bogs occur of 

 very great extent, and are probably the site of 

 ancient forests. That many of them were for- 

 merly covered with trees of great magnitude, there 

 can be no doubt ; for they are found in great 

 numbers embedded in the peat, perfectly sound, 

 and in every respect, (with the exception of colour, 

 which is very dark,) preserving their original ap- 

 pearance. In some parts of Ireland, the only 

 kind of wood used for fuel, building, and the other 

 purposes to which this material is usually applied, 

 is dug up from the bogs. 



This strange alteration in the face of a country 

 may thus be accounted for : suppose a forest of 

 oaks, birches, or firs, (for these are the trees 

 usually found in peat-bogs,) to have been over- 



