THE PALMS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD. 177 



coal. Among these relics of the primeval 

 forests which formed our coal, the remains of 

 palms occur ; and although of species no longer 

 existing, yet the character of the tribe is so 

 strongly marked in these remains, as to leave 

 no doubt of tlie place in the vegetable kingdom 

 to which they are to be assigned. The trunks, 

 the leaves, and the fruits of palms, have all 

 been found in the coal strata. A group of 

 fossil palm trees has been discovered in the 

 state of Indiana, (North America,) in one of the 

 upper members of the Illinois coal field, and 

 lias been described by Dr. Owen, of New 

 Harmony. From twenty to thirty erect trees 

 were found with their main roots attached, 

 and ramifying in the clay beneath, and their 

 stems passing through the coal and sandstone 

 above, as if (which doubtless was the case) 

 they had been submerged on the spot where 

 they originally grew, and the sand and coal 

 had been deposited around them. A car- 

 bonaceous crust envelops the trunks, which 

 are covered with lozenge-shaped scars, having 

 a transverse direction, and presenting a diversity 

 of figure in the petiole, (leaf stalk,) that indi- 

 cates at least three species of palms. The 

 leaves of three species of pinnate-leaved palms, 

 and one of a fun-leaved species, have been found 



