398 Miscellanies. 



and having been at the spot, and obtained of Col. Scott, some of the 

 fossil wood, a specimen of which I herewith present you, I can assure 

 you of the truth of the facts above slated. 



That wood should be found at such a depth in the earth, in the 

 valley of the Mississippi, excites no surprize, as the thing has fre- 

 quently occurred ; but that it should be found between two strata of 

 coal, is an interesting fact, and settled my opinion, which before was 

 wavering, respecting the origin of that mineral. 



Your obt. servant, Saybs Gazlay. 



(From the same.) 



3. Inhumed Wood. — Mr. Samuel Hall, about 1817, was digging a 

 well in Palmyra, Warren Co. Ohio, twenty miles from the Ohio riv- 

 er, where the land is almost a dead level for miles, and not in the 

 vicinity of any stream of water, it being high table land. At the 

 deptli of forty feet, he came upon the body of a pine tree, fifteen 

 inches diameter, lying horizontally, in a natural and perfectly sound 

 state. He was obliged to chop ofFtlie log at each side of the well; 

 and Judge Lowe, who lives within two miles of the spot, was there 

 within a few minutes after the log was drawn out, and assured me 

 of the fact. 



That much of the land in the valley of the Mississippi, is " made- 

 land," to the depth of forty feet or more, need not be doubted. 



4. A village lighted hy natural gas. — (Communicated.) — The 

 village of Fredonia in the western part of the state of New York 

 presents this singular phenomenon. I was detained there a day in 

 October of last year, and had an opportunity of examining it at leis- 

 ure. The village is forty miles from Buffalo, and about two from 

 Lake Erie ; a small but rapid stream called the Canadaway passes 

 through it, and after turning several mills discharges itself into the lake 

 below ; near the mouth is a small harbor with a light house. While 

 removing an old mill which stood partly over this stream in Fredonia, 

 three years since, some bubbles were observed to break frequently from 

 the water, and on trial were found to be inflammable. A company 

 was formed, and a hole, an inch and a half in diameter, being bored 

 through the rock, a soft fetid limestone, the gas left its natural chan- 

 nel and ascended through this. A gazometer was then constructed, 

 with a small house for its protection, and pipes being laid, the gas is 

 conveyed through the whole village. One hundred lights are fed from 



