i — 



182 ORGANIC REMAINS. 



rounded ; and are found on the beach in various parts of the coast, 

 particularly between Whitby and Sandsend, on the Scarborough 

 shores, and especially in Filey bay. The mosses appearing in these 

 stones are of various colours, among which yellow and greenish grey 

 are the most predominant. Many of them, when shewn in polished 

 sections, are of such extreme delicacy and beauty, as no pencil can 

 imitate. 



It may be fairly questioned, however, whether any of these 

 ramified substances have been real mosses. Similar appearances are 

 often seen in the mineral kingdom, in cases where no vegetable 

 substance is present. Not to speak of the numerous dendritical 

 impressions in the seams of sandstone, chalk, and other rocks, we 

 know that metals, or metallic solutions, assume, under certain circvim- 

 stances, beautiful arborescent forms; of which we have a striking 

 example in zink. Metallic solutions, blended with silex, may have 

 produced all those delicate and richly coloured ramifications, by 

 which our moss agates are distinguished. 



The seven Figures in Plate II, and Figure 1 and 2 of Plate III, 

 are correct delineations of a few specimens of the petrified plants, 

 occurring in the coal shale, the ironstone, and the sandstone. All 

 the specimens in Plate II are from the Saltwick ironstone, except 

 No. 4 and 5, which are from the shale at Fryop coal pits. No. 1 

 of Plate III is from the Castleton coal shale, and No. 2 is from the 

 sandstone above Sandsend alum works. Most of these petrifactions 

 are evidently ferns, a class of plants which, from the hardness of 

 their stems and leaves, are the most likely to be found in this state. 



Of the plants here figured, No. 7 of Plate II is the only one 

 that appears to have its recent analogue in this district. It is an 

 imperfect leaf of the scolopendrium, or hart's tongue. An entire leaf 

 is not often met with ; but on comparing different specimens, some 

 of which contain the stalk, others the point of the leaf; and some 



