﻿1851.] 



DAWSON ON UPRIGHT CALAMITES. 



195 



The tops of the larger individuals have not been removed by decay, 

 but have been broken sharply off, presenting at the summit of the 

 vertical part a crushed appearance, quite like that of a hollow cylin- 

 der of paper bent at right angles. The upper parts are flattened 

 and compressed, and lie as if broken off by a force acting from the 

 westward. I could not succeed in tracing any of them to the upper 

 extremity of the plant. I found it quite easy, however, to trace the 

 stems downward from the upper termination of the vertical part to 

 the roots ; although the cross fractures, caused by the bedding, ren- 

 dered it impossible to extract perfect specimens. For about a foot 

 below the point at which they are broken off, the stems are cylin- 

 drical, although some of them have bruises on their sides, as if hard 

 substances had been drifted against them. Towards the base the 

 stems bend in a somewhat spiral manner, as we often find to be the 

 case with weak-stemmed herbaceous plants, and then rapidly diminish 

 in size, terminating in a blunt point. They become of course some- 

 what flattened as they bend toward a horizontal position. The stems 

 are arranged in groups which appear to spring from the same point. 

 From an area of about two square feet I obtained portions of at least 

 ten upright stems. The accompanying diagram, fig. 1, represents 

 one of these groups, which I traced downward to the roots, and the 

 individuals composing which were only from two to four inches apart. 

 Fig. 2 is the upper part of one of the larger vertical stems, a3 it 

 appears at the point where it has been broken off ; and fig. 3 is the 

 pointed lower extremity of another of the larger stems. 



In the layers of rock, surrounding the vertical stems, are many pro- 

 strate, and a few inclined Calamites, a few fronds of Ferns, leaves of Fla- 

 bellaria, and slender grass-like leaves, similar to those of some species 



Fig. 1. — Upright Calamites, near Pictou. 



