Account of a Remarkable Fossil Tree. 291 
vious and important conclusions, to be drawn from the fact, 
that such submersions and depositions of rock matter have 
taken place subsequent to the existence of forests of mature 
growth ; and that the rock strata and beds composing the 
exterior of the earth are the result of different geological 
epochs, and of successive subsidencies of chaotic matter,— 
positions which have been so severely attacked and so often 
denied, particularly by the disciples of the Huttonian 
school, that it is not without a feeling of lively interest, I 
communicate a spaxeny which appears so conclusive on 
the subject. 
Ina letter from Gov. Cass to Mr. Schoolcraft, the follow- 
ing observations are made on this fossil tree : | 
‘* The appearance of the wood and bark indicates, that it _ 
was a black walnut, the juglans nigra of our forests. The 
texture of the aay and the bark and the knots, are nearly 
as distinct as in the living subject, and the process of decay 
had not commenced previous to the commencement of this 
wonderful conversion. Every part of the mass which we 
could examine, is solid epoiie, and readily yields fire by 
collision with steel. 
“* When we visited the spot, the water of the river was at 
the lowest stage ; but there was no part of the tree within 
some inches of the:surface. The rocky bed of the stream, 
was formed round, and upon it. We raised from it pieces 
of-the rock, which were evidently in situ, and which had 
been formed upon the tree posterior to the period of its de-__ 
posit in its present situation. This rock is aspecies of sand- 
stone, whose characteristic features must be well known to 
ou. 
“ There are no mineralized substances, of vegetable ori- 
gin, in the vicinity of this specimen, nor are there any ap- 
pearances which indicate, that its present condition has 
been caused by any peculiar Bropesty in the waters of the 
Des Plaines.” 
