EEECT FOSSIL TREES. 443 



coal. Pig. 295, representing a virgin forest of the Isle 

 of Grouahan, one of the Mariana Islands, will enable the 

 student to form an idea of the character of the vegetation 

 which is supposed to have produced the coal-fields. 



EEECT FOSSIL TEEES. These have been found in various 

 parts of the Continent as well as of this country. At 

 fSt. Etienne, near Lyons, a fossil forest appears, the stems 

 of the trees standing nearly vertical. (Fig. 296.) 



A single tree was discovered some years since, at Craigleith, 

 in a sandstone quarry, near Edinburgh. (Fig. 297 ) 



FIG. 297. Inclined position of a fossil tree in a sandstone quarry near Edinburgh. 

 Angle of inclination, 27. 



Those discovered by Mr. Hawkshaw on the Bolton and 

 Manchester railway are here figured. (Fig. 298.) 



The following description will afford an idea of their 

 position, appearance, and general characters. Another tree 

 has subsequently been discovered on the opposite side of the 

 railway, making the entire number six. The section of 

 the strata gives the following as their order and composition. 

 1. Sand, intermixed with patches of loam ; 2. An intermix- 

 ture of argillaceous and siliceous shales ; 3. Siliceous shale ; 

 4. A vein of coal, two feet in thickness ; 5. Blue and white 

 argillaceous shale, in which the trees are embedded. The 

 five trees are nearly in a straight line, and being parallel to 

 the direction of the railway, they stand obliquely across the 



