VEGETABLES. 179* 



our thoughts to a time when the British Isles had no place, in their 

 present form, on the map of the world; and when land and sea, 

 mountains and Talleys, rivers and plains, continents and oceans, 

 must have been arranged in a manner completely different from what 

 we now see. And while their extreme antiquity commands our 

 veneration, their immense number, and inconceivable variety, with the 

 beauty and perfection of many of them, impress us with sentiments 

 of wonder, and may well excite us to admire and praise that infinite 

 Creator, whose works in every age have been great and marvellous. 



This district in particular seems like a vast storehouse, which 

 nature, in primeval times, has filled with her choice and varied 

 productions, embalmed and preserved by her own hands, to supply 

 the latest ages with specimens of her ancient workmanship. Were 

 all those relics restored to their pristine state of animation, our hills 

 would teem with life : most of the calcareous strata would be found 

 immense heaps of shellfish, piled up in countless myriads ; while the 

 aluminous beds would swarm with living creatures, in an endless 

 diversity of forms and sizes. Even our vegetable remains, were they 

 to experience such a resurrection, would be sufficient to replenish 

 large forests, and to deck many a lawn, and many a mead, with 

 verdure and beauty. 



It would be vain, therefore, to attempt giving a complete list of 

 all the species, or even all the genera, of the petrified animals and 

 vegetables of the district. We can only present a general account of 

 them, beginning with the least animated kinds, and proceeding 

 upwards in the scale of life. .We begin then with 



VEGETABLE REMAINS. 



In describing the alluvium, we have noticed the decayed wood 

 and other vegetables, found in the bogs of this district, where vast 



