THE TWO OLDEST TREES 



the undisturbed trunks we would find 

 them intact. I think, however, their great 

 weight (which is about 200 pounds to the 

 square foot) is the real cause of the fract- 

 ure, for unless they are properly and 

 evenly supported on a true level some 

 fracture is bound to take place when the 

 erosion releases them. 



Some trees have been made oval or 

 flattened and we are told that the great 

 weight of a solid mile of rock, which they 

 say covered them at one time was the 

 cause. This I do not believe plausible, 

 for some trees are not in this shape only 

 a portion of them. 



When the organic matter in the trees 

 was being replaced with silica they could 

 not have been so deeply covered, or had 

 they been covered with so great a weight 

 after they had been fossilized, they would 

 not have been made oval or flattened, but 

 shattered into innumerable fragments if 

 disturbed at all. 



30 



