170 YEARBOOK, PUBLIC MUSEUM, MILWAUKEE [Vol. TIL 



The First and Second forests lie southwest of the Bhie Forest, 

 and along the same highway. At first sight these may seem disap- 

 pointing to one who has visited the other two, for the beautiful color- 

 ing and form of the rock is lacking. This, however, is more than 

 made up by the wonderful profusion of the petrified wood and the 

 beautiful colors to be seen in it. Everj' color in the rainbow, except- 

 ing blue, is present in some part of these stony trees, and the frag- 

 ments of the trunks hterally cover the ground. In most places they 

 are far removed from the rock strata in which they were buried, and 

 consequently are very much broken into fragments. At the summit 

 of the plateau, east of these two forests, a hard conglomerate exists in 

 which occasional logs occur. This is the rock which carries most of 

 the petrified wood of these forests but it can be seen in only a few 

 places, as it has been weathered away leaving behind fragments of 

 the wood. The most interesting of these logs forms what is called 

 "the natural bridge." Both ends of this trunk are still buried and the 

 middle portion stands over a small valley which has been eroded be- 

 neath it. For fear of its collapse, this trunk is now supported by a 

 concrete arch, and one can walk across on what is perhaps the strangest 

 bridge in all the world. 



The Third Forest and the Fourth, or Rainbow Forest cannot be 

 readily reached from Adamana. The road between the Second and 

 Third forests is nearly impassable and is very seldom used, few now 

 attempting to make the trip."'^ This is to be greatly regretted for all 

 who have seen them agree that in the Rainbow Forest the wood is the 

 most highly colored of all. The geological structure of this whole 

 region is very imperfectly known at the present time and will afford 

 an interesting problem to some geologist. Nevertheless this National 

 Monument attracts many hundreds of people by reason of its un- 

 usual scenery and unique fossil wood. An improvement of the roads 

 and an increase of the hotel accommodations would undoubtedly 

 greatly enhance its popularity. 



THE SOLAR ECLIPSE OF SEPTEMBER 10th, 1923 



By Ira Edwards^' 



Eclipses of the sun have always been matters of great interest. 

 At first regarded with fear and wonder, they are, at the present time, 

 made the object of study by astronomers and others. That of Sep- 

 tember 10th, 1923, aroused a great deal of interest in the southwestern 



*^This section of the Petrified Forest National Monument is readily reached from Holbrook. 

 ^'Curator of Geology, Milwaukee Public Museum. 



