Geological Society. 391 
istence of these rays. ‘The slices therefore exhibit proofs of dico- 
tyledonous structure, and considerable probability of that structure 
being coniferous. The important evidence however of coniferous 
structure deducible from discs in sections parallel to the rays, was not 
obtained, the vessels having apparently undergone some altera- 
tion. 
2. With respect to the second point, that the trees grew and died 
on the spots where they are now found, and that they were not drifted 
from distant lands, Mr. Bowman says, the arguments in favour of 
the formation of beds of coal by a series of subsidences of the sur- 
face on which the vegetables that produced the coal grew, naturally 
lead to the inference that the trees associated with the coal also 
flourished on the same spots. In opposition to the opinion that trees 
would naturally float in an upright position in consequence of the 
greater specific gravity of the base and roots, he asserts, that the 
trees would maintain that position only as Jong as they floated, and 
that they would fall and lie prostrate when grounded on shoals or 
east ashore. He agrees with Mr. Hawkshaw in the opinion, that 
it is more difficult to account for a number of great trunks being de- 
posited in the position of the fossils in the Manchester railway, than 
to imagine that they grew on the surface of the bed on which they 
now stand. Their position on a bed of coal is another proof, Mr. 
Bowman conceives, that the trees were not drifted, for if they had 
been transported by currents of water they might equally have been 
imbedded in the alternating shales or sandstones. If beds of coal 
are the accumulated remains of many generations of a luxuriant ve- 
getation, the rich compost thus formed, Mr. Bowman argues, would 
be well suited for the growth of trees. Again, the angle at which 
the roots of the fossil trees, particularly of that distinguished by him 
as No. 2, dip towards the bed of coal, is considered by the author 
evidence of the trees being in their original position, because, had 
_ they been drifted, the roots would have been bent upwards, by the 
downward pressure of the trunk, when the water had left them. 
The appearance of the roots being cut off, where in contact with 
the coal, he is of opinion, may be explained by the fermentative 
process having dissolved the vegetable texture below the surface. 
The stems and upper portions of the roots standing above the coal, 
he explains by reference to similar phenomena in peat marshes, in 
which the bases of the trunks of ancient forest trees stand with the 
roots exposed, owing to the shrinking of the surrounding peat. 
3. In discussing the third point, that the trees became hollow 
from the decay of their wood, and were filled with sedimentary 
matter after their immersion, Mr. Bowman refers to the facts re- 
corded in the preceding paper by Mr. Hawkshaw (see ante, p. 386.) ; 
and in confirmation of them states, that Mr. Schomburgk during his 
four years’ travels in Surinam repeatedly observed similar pheno- 
mena. Mr. Bowman then proceeds to explain the processes by which 
he conceives the fossil trees were gradually submerged—their upper 
branches torn off—their interior removed by natural decay,—their 
bark converted into coal,—their central cavities filled with sediment; 
and the whole buried beneath the stratum of shale or sandstone in 
