420 Scientific Intelligence. 



Nos in lat. 68° 45'. This ridge, divergent from the meridian direction 

 of the Ural Mountains, but parallel to their northern extremity, seems 

 to form a part of the great girdle of palaeozoic deposits which wrap 

 round the crystalline nucleus of Lapland and Scandinavia, of which the 

 Baron Leopold von Buch, by his description of the fossils collected 

 there, has recently determined an important fragment of carboniferous 

 age in Bear Island near Spitzbergen, on the north-western flank of 

 Scandinavia. 



6. On the Fossil Vegetation of Anthracite Coal. — Mr. J. E.Tesche- 

 wacher, at the recent meeting of the American Association of Geolo- 

 gists and Naturalists, read a paper on this subject, confining his obser- 

 vations to the remains of vegetation found in the body of the coal, apart 

 from that in the accompanying shales. The principal points of the me- 

 moir were that, the remains of the larger forms of the coal epoch, as 

 well as of the smaller plants, were abundant in the coal, contrary to the 

 usual opinion. Specimens were exhibited from the interior of the coal, 

 showing the external and internal parts of plants — the vessels — the 

 leaves — the seeds, &c. 



Since the mepting, Mr. Teschemacher has continued his investiga- 

 tions, and has communicated in a letter to one of the editors the follow- 

 ing results. 



1st. What I considered as vessels were said to be mere marks of 

 sliding of the coal. Prof. Bailey prepared a specimen of this, by his 

 method, and told me that if I found vessels there, my proposition was 

 correct. Examined by Agassiz and myself, with his large Oberhauser, 

 it turns out to be nothing but a mass of perforated vessels, as clear and 

 distinct as if they were recent. Mr. Agassiz observed, "one moment 

 suffices to remove every doubt on the subject." 



2nd. What I considered as fossil seeds, were said to be mere pea- 

 cock-eye coal ; the dark carbonaceous centres of these seeds which 1 

 held to be carbonized cellular matter, was thought to be a mere mistake 

 and the seeds imaginary. I have since discovered them with distinct and 

 clear apparently spinous appendages. Mr. Agassiz thinks the seed a 

 Samara, and I have found sufficientquantity to pick out the carbonaceous 

 matter from the interior with a fine needle— decarbonize it in a clean 

 platina crucible over a spirit lamp, with every possible precaution o 

 prevent any foreign substance mixing therewith ; on examining t & 

 with the Oberhauser, 700 diameters, Mr. Agassiz shewed to Dr. w>u 

 and myself the cells as clear and plain as possible ; it is a mass of ce - 

 ular matter as I stated. You may of course imagine the extreme lenul j£ 

 of the parietes of cells of seeds when decarbonized, and the dl ^ cu J y he 

 those less experienced than Agassiz in the microscope in managin D 

 subject — he feels quite convinced of their being fossil seeds. l* ]e 

 ture of the genus of plants must require further examination. ■ 



3rd. The smooth glossy surfaces which I considered the exe ^ {Q 

 parts of large plants rendered smooth by intense pressure, were , Sal uC h 

 be nothing more than slickenslides. My position here is proved 

 more easily than in the other cases, by specimens passing S 1 ^.. ^{j 

 from the smoother through different degrees of protuberance, \** Q# 

 smooth and polished,) until we arrive at the full form of the Lepi ^ 

 dron. Nay more, I have found the parallel lines (channels) wnic 



