82 Geology of Antigua. 



neath the ground. The fragments are not usually more than ten 

 or twelve inches long, and are frequently split in the direction of 

 the fibres. The most perfect specimen which has been found, is 

 described by Dr. Nugent, as being the " trunk of a tree about 

 twelve feet in length and as many inches, in diameter, rent cross- 

 wise asunder, but all the parts lying contiguous to one another." 

 The largest section which I saw, was eighteen or twenty inches 

 in diameter, and about two feet in length. 



Though these fossils are all silicious, they vary exceedingly in 

 the perfection of the material and in the beauty of their colors. 

 Sometimes they present a dull, compact, earthy aspect — some- 

 times the grain is coarse and the fibres are indistinct ; but when 

 a combination of fine grain, variety and beauty of colors, and 

 distinctness of structure, is found, the specimens are exceedingly 

 elegant. Among these may be particularly specified, dendritic 

 and moss agates, and the petrifactions of the loblolly (Pisonia 

 subcordata. ) The cocoanut, also, is often very beautiful, espe- 

 cially its involved fibrous roots. A person who has seen the tree 

 in its natural state, would instantly recognize its petrifactions. 

 The same may be said of many other specimens. Indeed, they 

 are generally as distinct from each other, as the living fibre of one 

 tree is from that of another. The most of these fossils, I do not 

 doubt, are relics of shrubs and trees identical with those now 

 growing upon the island, though some of them are probably ex- 

 tinct. In addition to these petrifactions, specimens of jasper, 

 either pure or mingled with chalcedony, are abundant. They 

 often occur in veins of trap, and abound most in the neighbor- 

 hood of that formation. Fortification agates are also found in 

 the form of nodules, both upon and below the surface of the 

 earth. 



The preceding details open to the geologist a most interesting 

 field of speculation. The extent to which silex, in its purest and 

 most interesting forms, here presents itself, is, I believe, within 

 the same compass of country, without a parallel. It has converted 

 into its own substance organized bodies of the most opposite char- 

 acters, and in every variety of circumstances. It presents them 

 under all forms and of every degree of color and perfection. It re- 

 minds one of Midas's touch, which changed every thing into gold. 

 It will hardly be expected that phenomena, so varied and compli- 

 cated, can be referred to a common origin. Indeed it is obvious, 



