- 
272, Noticeow Vegetable Fossils. 
branches, of which there seems to be but little doubt, estab- 
lishes a remarkable difference between. this.case, that-of St. 
Etienne, and those of which we have made mention. 
Finally, Mr, Habel bas observed, in these same mines, 
vegetable stalks placed in an almost vertical, position, and 
which were in every respect similar toours ; they were from 
two to two and a half metres (six and a half to eight feet) in 
height, and twenty-five centimetres (teninches) in diameter; 
they were articulated, regularly fluted, and covered witha 
thin coat of coal. These stalks traversed the beds of the 
formation which contains the earthy carbonate of iron. | | 
There has been lately found in the standstones (these are 
probably the psammites) which cover the coal formation of 
Glasgow, to the north-west of that city, the trunk of.a tree in 
a vertical position ; this trunk was.six decimetres (one foot 
eleven and a half inches) in diameter, its transverse section 
presented a figure inclining to oval; like those already, de- 
scribed it was entirely filled with rock of the same,nature as 
those which surrounded it ; but, the bark,.(that is to say the 
external part of this vegetable, for nothing proves that it) had 
a real bark,) was converted into ,coal. It was disengaged 
throughout, an extent of about one metre (thirty-nine inch- 
es,) and no branches were discovered; yet, it is said, roots 
were formed at its lower,extremity, particularly four large 
ones which plunged into the earth like the roots of common 
trees. We cannot, says the author of the notice, class this 
with any kind of trees.now known. \(Thomson, Annals of 
Philosophy, 1820, November, page 138.) i 
I say nothing of the stalks and trunks of trees, properly so 
called, not only fossil but. petrified into silex, which have 
been found in formations absolutely foreign and always pos- 
terior to that of coal ; these instances of petrified wood are 
very numerous, but their geological position distinguishes 
them entirely from those which are the object of the present 
notice. aedowideiaba 
It is probable that examples of stalks traversing the layers 
of coal-grounds are also very frequent,.and that, if only a 
small number have been described, if so few. have been en- 
craved, this circumstance is owing chiefly to the manner in 
which the coal-mines are generally worked. They are almost 
always deep and can be approached only by shafts and gal- 
leries which are never very large. In digging these subter- 
