724 DIOCING AND PREPAKATIOX OF PEAT. 



do not yield lu-tuiil peat, but a muddy humus which is dredged 

 from them and rests on an impermeable clay-subsoil, so that 

 they may thus be distinguished from the Swabian morasses. 



These fens are found often of large extent, chiefly near the 

 watercourses, but are much less prevalent in North Germany 

 than the high moors. 



[The fens in Kast Anglia when near the low chalk hills of that 

 region, as at ]\Iildcnh;ill, sometimes rest on beds of marl formed of 

 the debris of water-plants (Chara) inciiisted with carbonate of lime 

 from the brooks running into them, peat being also found on the 

 Kimmcridge and Oxford clays. In all these cases, the vegetation 

 resembles that of the fens and morasses of Germany. Professor 

 Seeley states that in East Anglia, at the base of the layers of peat 

 there are embedded forests of Scotch pine and yew separated by 

 marine clays. — Tr.] 



Although, as a rule, the dift'eront kinds of bog preserve their 

 distinctive character, yet there are many intermediate forms. 

 Thus fens and morasses may contain patches of high peat-bog, 

 and frequently pass completely into the latter form, as in many 

 North German districts. 



Besides the above-mentioned kinds of bog, there are seaside- 

 bogs and forest-bogs. The former are found on low lands along 

 the seaside, which arc either occasionally inundated by the sea 

 or into which brackish water infiltrates, or they are caused by the 

 damming of the mouths of rivers or small water-courses by the 

 tides. Forest bogs are those in which a great number of trunks 

 of trees in more or less good preservation (bog-oak, &c.) are 

 imbedded. These trees are sometimes erect and sometimes 

 lying horizontal [as at Sunningdale in Berkshire. — Tr.]. Both 

 these forms of hog, however, come under one of the headings 

 already mentioned. 



The peat found in the different bogs varies greatly in its 

 character, according to the degree of decomposition it has under- 

 gone, its greater or lesser contents of humic acid and carbon, the 

 vegetable debris of which it is composed, and finally the compara- 

 tive quantity of earthy material which is mixed with it. Some 

 peat resembles lignite both in appearance and economic value, 

 whilst other kinds can hardly be distinguished from slightly 

 decomposed vegetable remains. So many bogs are intermediate 



