Notice of a Scientific Expedition. 



343 



Fig. 7. 



Fig. 9. 



Fig. 10. 



Fig. 8. 



oak than the pine family. Its vessels have two sizes, and throughout 

 the whole surface of the section, there are numerous oval spots which 

 appear to have been hcunce for the lodgment of concrete juices. 

 The texture of the wood of this plant is finer than that represented 

 in Fig. 5. Whether this is owing to a cold climate is uncertain.. 

 The pieces from which the section was taken is small, or a mere frag- 

 ment, and probably belonged to an earlier period than the greensand. 

 It shows the marks of the borings of a small species of Teredo. 



In concluding our remarks on vegetable fossils we would say that 

 it is quite satisfactory to know that the study of this branch of Bota- 

 ny has brought to light the existence of what are usually called the 

 higher order of vegetables in the ancient formations. Taking this 

 and other facts into consideration, such as the existence of Birds as 

 early at least as the new red sandstone, can we doubt that even then 

 the state of the globe was such, that it might have been inhabited by 

 man. That warm blooded animals of the mammiferous tribe did exist, 

 may not be proved for a great time by the discovery of their remains 

 in the ancient strata ; but it ought to be remembered that where one 

 relic is preserved, hundreds must have perished under circumstan- 

 ces unfavorable to the preservation of their hard parts. 



