192 



THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. 



coaly beds, and one with erect stumps ; one of them with stigmarian 

 roots and ribbed. One of the coaly beds, which alternates with 

 laminae of shale, is filled with flattened trunks of Sigillaria and 

 Lepidodendron, which probably grew on the surfaces on which they 

 now lie, and indicate how small a thickness of coaly matter may  

 mark the time required for the growth and decay of many successive 

 forests. 



On the whole, we can scarcely err in affirming that the habitat of 

 the Dendrerpeton Acadianum and its associates was a peaty and 

 muddy swamp, occasionally or periodically inundated, and in which 

 growing trees and Calamite brakes were being gradually buried in 

 sediment, while others were taking root at higher levels, just as now 

 happens in the alluvial flats of large rivers. In subsequent visits to 

 this interesting locality, I found the remains of four other species of 

 reptiles or batrachians, an ancient representative of the gaily- worms 

 (Xylobius Sigillarice), and remains of an insect. These will be de- 

 Fig. 35. — Erect Tree containing Reptilian Remains, at the Juggins. 



scribed further on. In Figs. 35 and 36 I give a representation of 

 one of the trees, and a section showing the arrangement of the 

 materials filling the base. 



Subdivision XVI. consists of one thick bed of gray sandstone with 

 prostrate carbonized trunks. The sandstone is highly silicious, and 

 of the kind used for grindstones. It is the result of the complete 



