506 



ENCLOSING OF FOSSILS IN PEAT 



[Ch. XLIV. 



appearance of an inundated river-plain covered with aquatic 

 trees and shrubs, the soil being as black as that of a peat-bog. 



one than the surrounding 



It is higher on all sides except 



earns ( 

 v^from 



In its centre it rises 12 feet above the flat region which 

 bounds it. The soil, to the der)th of ^^ fp^t is 



formed 



matter 



and offers an exception to a general rule before alluded to^ 

 namely, that such peaty accumulations scarcely ever occur so 

 far south as lat. 36°, or in any region where the summer heat 

 is so great as in Virginia. In digging canals through the 

 morass for the purpose of obtaining timber, much of the 



black soil has been thrown 



from time 



time, and 



exposed to the sun and air, in which case it soon rots away 



remains 



its preservation to the shade afforded by a luxuriant vegeta- 

 tion and to the constant evaporation of the spongy soil by 



5 cooled durinPT the hot months. ' The surface 



of the bog is 



mosses 



and densely covered 



many evergreen 



and trees flourish, especially the White Cedar {Giipressus 

 thyoides)^ which stands firmly supported by its long tap roots 

 in the softest parts of the quagmire. Over the whole the 

 deciduous Cypress {Taxodium disticimm) is seen to tower with 

 its spreading top, in full leaf in the season when the sun's 

 rays are hottest, and when, if not intercepted by a screen of 



mip'ht 



plants of 



autumn 



le fallen leaves and dead 



to decompose, instead of 



peaty mass. On the sur- 



umerable trunks of large 



and tall trees blown down by the winds, while thousands of 



morass 



mire 



remind 



stems of Sigillaria and Lepidodendron, converted into coal in 



ancient carboniferous rocks. 



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