DISTRICT OF CAPE 13KKT0N COUNTY. 



409 



the leaves and other more delicate parts of plants ; and on this account 

 I give here sketches of a few examples of the foliage of the Coal forma- 

 tion period, as displayed in the rocks of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton 

 (Fig. 15G). On the mode of occurrence of such leaves, Mr Brown 

 remarks : — 



" The shales are the most prolific in plants, especially those which 

 form the roofs of the coal-seams. It is singular that not even a trace 



Fig. 156. — Foliage from the Coal formation. 



a h c d e f (J. 



(a) Aletliopteris heterophj-lla (fern)— Moose River, (i) SplienophyUum ScMotheimii— Pictoii 

 (c) Lepidodendron biiierve— Sydney, (d) Asteropliyllites fuliosa — Sydney, (e) Cordaites 

 borassifolia — Jogging. (/) Neuropteris rarinervis (tern)— Sydney, (g) Odontopteris sub- 

 cuneata (fern) — Sydney. 



of a fossil plant nor any organic substance has been found in any of 

 the red shales, although they have been carefully examined for that 

 purpose.* Wherever erect trees occur, ferns, Asteropliyllites, Spheno- 

 phylla, and other delicate leaves, are found in the greatest abundance ; 

 from which I infer that they fell from growing trees and shrubs, 

 having been covered up by successive layers of fine mud, deposited 

 at frequent intervals over a low marshy district. In the.se localities 

 single fronds of ferns are sometimes found covering a slab of .shale 

 two feet square, as sharp and distinct in their outline as if they had 

 been gathered only yesterday from a recent fern, and spread out with 

 the greatest po.ssible care, not a single leaflet being wanting or even 



* This does not apply to the Coal formation of Pictou, where ferns, Cordaites, and 

 Sphenoi)liylIuni aro found in red shales, though rarely. 



2d 



