C U L 



C 120 ] 



CUP 



structure, that no reasonable doubt 

 can remain of their being true 

 Cucurbitacea. 

 CULM. (Welsh.) 



1. A kind of fossil coal, of indif- 

 ferent quality, burning with little 

 flame, and emitting a disagreeable 

 smell. 



Culm is also called stone coal. 

 Between culm or stone coal and 

 bituminous or common coal there is 

 no geological difference. They are 

 mere mineral varieties, which 

 occur in formations accumulated 

 at the same period. The coal of 

 the greater part of the basin of 

 South "Wales is stone-coal or culm. 

 Culm generally presents a pure, 

 clean, and polished fracture. Plants 

 common in other coal-fields occur 

 not only in the shale, but in the 

 culm itself. A numerous collection 

 of fossil plants from the culm 

 measures has been submitted to 

 Professor Lindley, who considers 

 that they all occur in other coal- 

 fields. They consist of various 

 Lepidodendra and Calamites to- 

 gether with Neuropteris gigantea, 

 Pecopterisconchitica and Pecopteris 

 nervosa, Iphenoyhyllum Schloth- 

 eimii, Stigmaria ficoides, &c., &c. 

 Prof. Lindley, after examining a 

 collection of plants from the Devon- 

 shire culm-measures, states, "I 

 have looked over them carefully, 

 and I do not see one single species 

 which might not have been met 

 with at Newcastle, with the ex- 

 ception of two round compressed 

 bean-like bodies, which, if of vege- 

 table origin, are unknown to me." 



2. An herbaceous stem peculiar to 

 grasses, rushes, and some other 

 plants allied to them. Culms are 

 either hollow or solid, jointed or 

 without joints, round or triangular, 

 rough or smooth, hairy or downy, 

 and bear both leaves and flowers. 



CUL'MIFEBOTJS. Containing culm ; 

 such are the culmiferous rocks of 

 Devonshire, South Wales, &c. 



CUMBRIAN SYSTEM. \ The word Cum- 

 CU'MBRIAN. brian means 



CA'MBRIAX. ) the rocks of 



Cumberland ; the word Cambrian 

 the rocks of Wales. The Cambrian 

 rocks have been divided into 

 Upper and Lower ; the upper con- 

 sisting of the Coniston Flagstone, 

 the Coniston Limestone, and 

 Slates and Porphyry ; the lower 

 comprises the Skiddaw slates. The 

 Cumbrian or slate system, as 

 described by Professor Sedgwick, 

 extends over a large portion of 

 Cumberland, Lancashire, and West- 

 moreland, attaining an elevation in 

 some places of upwards of three 

 thousand feet, and affording the 

 splendid scenery of North Wales 

 and of the lakes. The strata are 

 of great, but unknown, thickness, 

 possessing a slaty character, and 

 nearly destitute of organic remains. 

 The Cumbrian, or, as it has been 

 also called, Grauwacke system, 

 includes the Plynlymmon rocks, 

 the Bala limestone, and the Snow- 

 don rocks. 



CUNEIFORM. } Having the form of a 

 CU'NIFORM. j wedge. Three bones 

 of the foot have obtained the name 

 of cuneiform bones from their 

 wedge-like shape; they are situ- 

 ated at the fore part of the tarsus 

 and inner side of the os cuboides, 

 and are applied to each other like 

 the stones of an arch. 

 CUPANOIDES. The name given by 

 Mr. Bowerbank to a genus of fossil 

 fruits found in the London clay, 

 from their resemblance to the peri- 

 carp of Cupania Americana. Eight 

 species are figured and described in 

 his admirable work on the Fossil 

 Fruits and Seeds of the London 

 Clay. 



CUPRESSINITES. The name given by 

 Mr. Bowerbank to a genus of fossil 

 fruits found in the London clay, 

 thirteen species of which he has 

 described. He says, "the fruits 

 forming this group are evidently 



