74 



must again repair with you to distant parts, to shew you, that 

 wherever attentive observations have been made, proofs of this fact- 

 have been found. 



Thus Mons. de la Hire gives a particular description of part of 

 the petrified trunk of a palm tree, which he had obtained from 

 some part of Africa. 



The petrified trunk of a palm tree was also found in the desert 

 near the isthmus of Suez, and transmitted to the class of natural 

 history by General Regnier, member of the institute of Egypt. 



In the account of Mr. Horneman's travels, in the years 1797 and 

 1798, undertaken for the purpose of exploring the interior parts of 

 Africa, we learn, that in that vast desert which forms the natural 

 boundary of Egypt, petrified wood is found, of various forms and 

 size. Sometimes are seen whole trunks of trees, of twelve feet cir- 

 cumference, or more ; sometimes only branches of twigs, scarcely 

 of a quarter 6f an inch diameter ; and sometimes merely pieces of 

 bark, of various kinds, and ? in particular, of the oak, are to be 

 found. Many of the great stems yet retain their side branches, and 

 in many the natural timber has undergone so little change, that the 

 circular ranges of the wood are discernible, and especially in those 

 trunks which were apparently of oak. The interior of other bodies 

 of timber are said to have become a petrifaction, shewing no dis- 

 tinctions of grain or fibre, but bearing the appearance of mere stone ; 

 though the outward coat and form of the substance clearly denoted 

 the tree. 



Mr. Horneman was informed by several Arabs, that in travelling 

 over this desert, petrified trees were often found upright, and as if 

 growing in the soil ; but he presumed, respecting those he did not 

 see, from those he did actually inspect, that they were trunks raised 

 by hand, round the base of which the sand had quickly gathered 

 before the winds, and formed a mound, as if heaved up by a root. 

 The colour of the petrified wood is in general black, or nearly so ; 



