62 



was laid bare to the very hard ground, which had Iain hid for man v 

 ages: and by further exposure, the people found great trunks of 

 trees, which when they had digged up, they were, apparently, lop- 

 ped, so that one might see the strokes of the axe upon them, as if they 

 had been given but the day before. The earth looked very black, 

 and the wood of these trunks was altogether like ebony. At the first 

 discovery made by these storms, the trees (we speak of) lay so thick, 

 that the whole shore seemed nothing but a lopped grove*. 



At Charmouth, in Dorsetshire, is found a petrified wood, which 

 agrees, in many of its appearances, with the larger masses of that 

 of Lough Neagh ; particularly in the dark bluish grey stone, with 

 which it is sometimes invested, and in the softness which is some- 

 times discoverable in the wood thus inclosed. 



Indeed there is hardly any part of Europe, in which subterranean 

 wood, is discovered more generally, than in England ; there scarcely 

 being a spot through the whole island, where, upon digging to any 

 considerable depth, vegetable remains are not found. Thus we 

 learn from Dr. Plott, that at Wattington Park, in Oxfordshire, at 

 the bottom of a pond, were found some tons of oak ; and a pit beino- 

 sunk 50 or 60 feet deep, many whole oaks were found, one of which 

 was upright; one was also perpendicular, but inverted. All of 

 them were dyed through, of a black hue, like ebony, but sound 

 enough, and fit for many uses. Hazel nuts, and a large stag's head 

 with the brow antlers, were also found here, the horn being as 

 sound as the beam itself, and not at all dyed. In the same spot, 

 two Roman urns were also found -f-. 



Dr. Plott also describes a stone, found between Clifton and Nune- 

 ham Courtney, which, he says, represents a sound piece of ash : re- 

 taining the grain and colour so well and lively, that nobody, at sight, 



* Britannia Baconica, p. 142. 



t The Natural History of Oxfordshire, by Dr. Plott, p. 161, ,- <* 



