204 THE WORLD. 



imitation of coal, with vegetable impressions of the willow roots. 

 We will clpse this chapter with a discription of those extensive 

 accumulations of vegetable matter called peat bogs. These are 

 marshy grounds covered with successive layers or beds of mosses, 

 re-eds, equisetae, rushes, and other plants which affect a marshy 

 soil; but a species of moss called sphagnum palustre, which has 

 thB peculiar property of throwing up new shoots in its upper part 

 whilst the lower is decaying, forms a great part of the peat bogs 

 of Europe. It is said that one -tenth of Ireland is covered by 

 these marshy bogs, in which trees are often found standing erect, 

 with their roots imbedded in the sub-soil ; thus presenting evi- 

 dence of the formation of the bog since the growth of the trees; 

 these are generally oaks where the sub-soil is clay, and firs where 

 it is sand. The peat bogs of the north of Europe occupy the 

 areas of the ancient forests of oak and pine. At the bottom of 

 peat bogs, cakes of oxide of iron, termed bog-iron ore are found, 

 partly precipitated from mineral waters, and partly from the de- 

 caying vegetable masses. 



One of the most remarkable facts connected with the peat bogs, 

 is the preservation of the bodies of men and animals for an in- 

 definite period of time; in many instances they are converted 

 into a peculiar fatty substance, which resembles spermaceti, 

 called adipocire. In June 1747, the body of a woman was found 

 six feet deep in a peat-moor, in Lincolnshire. The antique san- 

 dals on her feet afforded evidence of her having been biiried there 

 for many ages ; yet her nails, hair, and skin, are described as 

 showing hardly any marks of decay. On the estates of th Earl 

 of Mori a in Ireland, a human body was dug up a foot deep in 

 gravel, coVered with eleven feet of moss ; the body was com- 

 pletely clothed, and the garments seemed all to be made of hair. 

 On the confines of England and Scotland, is a flat area, about 

 seven miles in circumference, known as the Solway moss. It is 

 a boggy ground covered with grass and rushes, presenting a dry 

 crust and fair appearance, but it shakes under the least pressure, 

 the bottom being unsound and semi-fluid. The adventurous 

 passenger, who sometimes in dry seasons, traverses this perilous 

 waste, to save a few miles, picks his cautious way over the rushy 



