S. A. Adamson — Fossil Tree near Bradford. 



407 



there is a great thickness of sandstones, shales, etc., of various 

 characters, and it was in these measures that the fossil tree was dis- 

 covered about 12 feet below the surface. The sandstones just 

 referred to are of little commercial value, many being irregularly 

 bedded, and others very perishable in their nature ; the better kinds 

 are used for rough walling, the remainder being merely rubbish to 

 fill up other excavations. The marketable flagstone is at a consider- 

 able depth in this quarry, and blasting operations have to be carried 

 on to remove rapidly the overlying strata. After one of these 

 explosions, Messrs. Murgatroyd observed part of a large fossil tree 

 exposed, and, profiting by their knowledge of geology (which, by 

 the work of the Yorkshire Geological Society and also of the Leeds 

 Geological Association, is rapidly spreading throughout the entire 

 county), they immediately suspended further operations, and, instead, 

 gave orders to their workmen to carefully bare the remainder of the 

 roots. Part of the stump and four of the roots were damaged by 

 the explosion, but four roots were left in situ. Since then, the 

 broken pieces have been collected and placed together most admirably, 

 presenting now the remarkable sight of a huge stump of Sigillaria, 

 sending out eight forked stigmarian roots. The following dimensions, 

 carefully measured, will afford an idea of the magnitude of this 

 fossil : — 



Height of stump 



Diameter of stump (longest axis) , 



,, ,, (at right angles to longest axis). 







Distance 



Distance from 



point of 





Diameter close 



from stump to 



bifurcation to 



present 



Eoot. 



to stump. 



bifurcation 



termination of root. 







;0f roots. 



Right fork. 



Left fork 



No. 



inches. 



ft. in. 



ft. in. 



ft. in. 



1 



21 



4 



9 6 



13 



2 



17| ... 



4 



8 



6 6 



3 



16 



5 



7 



4 



4 



16 



4 



2 



4 6 



5 



.. 17| ... 



7 



1 6 



3 



6 



18 



5 6 



3 



4 6 



7 



17 



7 6 



3 



2 



8 



17 



7 



9 6 



7 



ft. in. 



3 9 



4 6 

 3 10 



Greatest length 

 of root. 



ft. in. 

 17 

 12 

 12 

 8 6 

 10 

 10 

 10 6 

 16 6 



The diameter of the visible area covered by the ramifications of 

 the roots, is, from north to south, 29 ft. 6 in. and from east to west 

 28 ft., giving a superficial area exposed of 826 feet. The stump of 

 the tree was embedded in soft sandy shale, locally termed " yellow 

 loam," the roots resting on a bed of soft blue shale, which some of 

 them penetrate. The roots 7 and 8, and also the roots 1 and 2, re- 

 spectively cross each other, producing depressions in the lower roots 

 at the point of contact. The Stigmarian roots present very finely 

 the characteristic pits or scars from which the rootlets or filaments 

 formerly originated, and an examination of the shale immediately 

 touching the roots, reveals these rootlets in vast numbers. The 

 neighbourhood appears to be prolific in grand examples of Carbon- 

 iferous vegetation, for in another part of the quarry at a short distance, 

 I observed two large stigmaria protruding from the side, whilst in the 



