' - - 



COAL PL A 



r o aknsraH. the taterr. 

 fetter a* battmd lo he bae 



d either to toper gradually to a point, 



' ..rtr and Mnallar. Tho 



fth-sfcUnU, the others 

 Vartoue .pecuLUoo. upon the 



plant, ar. to b. found in M. Adolpb. Brongniarf. 



a*J LmaUy awl Ku.il Flora. 1 The former 



si i-a-fri-tr- that they wrr plaate allied to gfut***, onlr of 

 Later buteukU. OB the oontrarv, adduce 

 4* evidence to show the Mpposition that Cola- 



i to T|wt to b* unfounded ; and that they 



_* probably wore a rate of plant, whick hare BOW become extinct. 

 It b prticJariy ur-d tksA U presno. of bark in tWo*, the 

 Mm of wWth M. Adoipbe Hmijis1 admrU, is quite conclusive 

 ~ to the fnifdmem. Dr. Hooker 



I* b. 



matter in the Calami!*, a sub- 

 in recent Kyuitelaettt. 



_ one of the most common vegetable forms in the coal 

 not a mine is opened, DOT a heap of shale thrown out, ' 



ate of an irTegularly-ooeanressvd roundish f< . . 

 M. ,~~.~- of a .tn. marki externally with small cavities 

 to the osMre of alifht tubrrcU. arranged irregularly, but somewhat 

 a qviswoaoial mannrr. The axis of these (ragmente is often hollow, 

 or ilifcieal m texture from the .urrounding part From the tubercle* 

 ans* long ribbost-ehaped bodies, aaid to have been traced to the length 

 nty free Although for a long time regarded as an independent 

 teat that* b now no longer any doubt that Sliymaria is the root of 

 nVBeria. U various paws* epecwMlM of Sifillaria hare been found 

 oprifbt nim, with the Stiymana proceeding from it as 



. 



lion* of a raUtionahip with any individual group higher in the 



or with Cftmda* in particular, apiwar to me far too IV.-I 



our ounaidering it a* tending U> unite theae two natural ordern." It 



U a plant which mut be conaidered u belonging to the great family 



of Kt-nia, dinpUying a relationihip, thousli ..nly "f analogy, to Oyea- 



dta in one point and to Eupltorlnaettr and Catiafnr in otliera." 



-iliiintiar irigantic atomi which 

 r the anal in an erect or nearly 

 ! and orumhed Bat in the coal 

 tingi with a aingle row of anal 

 rj vary from to 86 inche*, anc 

 U> or fo feet high. 

 rwaed atate of many ipecimena, 

 i ft nature, and, from the g*ne- 

 . they muM have been very little 



Of the fcUkf* of Of 



af^at^B^PawaJlv Itt t^ka* WfWWw* 



UM Hf iHllhaiii 

 Uea>tUea.i 9 Me 



_._ little or nothing ia known. The , 



fMcies. much too broad to be ronrded as 

 of leaves such as may be supposed to have 



-r mdrtu. The great macs of the stems of 9igi' 



I to bar. bee of a soft and succulent character, but th 

 _ of a issjllal column of a deowr texture are mifficientl . 

 awttons fa) masjy of the nprifbt stoma, Tbese have been called JMo 

 TWl this oVioder oolnmn." say> I>r. Hok>T, " representei 



ilit from examination o 



mm** the same appearance. 



i^.siilssili.v,be^variou^yestfaB.I;d7Artis, 



Ih* 



> 



IsMhsm, and Oordsv have iWsiisJ (hem to Smfttrtiaetm 

 >toPklOM; VosiltMtinstoClMMwa*; Btarnberg to Fms 

 to<Vn.a-snia-. Dr. Hooker, regarding 9ifOUrZ dsM< as 

 thesa not Aw trnm Lmn 



^^* s" * ^i eVf^v^*^MPnVsw, sOQ 



near 



- T 



', i 



I 

 ; 



Sifillaria m(farmii. 



Atterophylliia are very common planto, with narrow pointed whorled 

 eavea, which vary in figure and in size, but which, together with the 

 Blcndernem of the item to which they belong, give the plants much 

 the appearance of the modern geuua Go/mm. They present howerer 

 further affinity to Exogenous Planta than thi analogy of form. 



AfliopAyHum, with many of the characters of the last genua, hu 

 broad wedge-nbaped leavea, the vein* of which are forked. That cir- 

 cunurtance baa led to the notion that it waa related to Ferus, especially 

 to the genus Manilra. 



8fhmoj>l>ytl*m Sfhlolkeiiuii. AlttroplyUittlJalionu. 



Such are the more common of the plants whose remainx ore traced 

 in the ooal-measurea, One of the Ant tilings which strikes UK in cast- 

 ing the eye on the liat is the little variety of form apparent in the old 

 flora. Instead of the infinite diversity of plants which are contained 

 in a modern forest, nothing here presents itself except fir-trees, ferns, 

 and a small number of species whose nature is unknown. Not a trace 

 i- fruinil of frnwftcn, or the numerous herbs and shrubs that are now 

 met with in all rcgiuns cluthnl with vegetation ; and of the vast class 

 <f l-:\"gen* not one authentic instance occurs. Ferns, too, would 

 sown to hare constituted in themselves one-half of the entire r'lr.-i, 

 and yet it i* only in a few rare cases that they have been mot with in 

 a state of fructification. These circumstances have led to the hasty 

 iiifi-n-ncc thnt in the beginning nature was in reality but little <li 

 fled ; that a few forms of organisation of the lower kind only were all 

 that clothed the face of the earth ; and that it was only in after-ages 

 that nature assumed her many-coloured over-varying robe. And yet 

 it has been at the same time admitted that in those early days vegeta- 

 tion was more luxuriant and vigorous than at the present hour. It 

 is not a little singular that the true explanation of thin circumstance 

 should not have been hit upon without any direct experiment having 



