IS GEOLOGICAL MEMOIRS. 



in which the distinct character of the coal in each of the twelve 

 seams appeared in a most convincing manner (the first seam, for in- 

 stance, was throughout rich in Sigillarise and Lepidodendra, especially 

 i\\e Lepidojloyos laricinus; the Martin's bed in Stigmarise) ; — the small 

 Querscheid mines with the Dechen bed, in the coal from which Sigil- 

 larise predominate to a degree not seen in any other pit in the whole 

 Rhenish mining district, and strongly recalling the Leopold mine near 

 Ornontowitz in Upper Silesia. From this I proceeded to Saarbriick, 

 where the Director of Mines Sello pointed out to me the general fea- 

 tures of the coal district, and where in several collections I had an 

 opportunity of obtaining more precise information regarding the oc- 

 currence of the fossil plants. I then returned to several of the other 

 mines, in particular the colossal Gerhard mines, which every year 

 furnish 800,000 tons of coal, and in which the Beust seam must be 

 designated a true Stigmaria coal, containing this plant in immense 

 and almost incredible abundance ; — the Leopold pits, in which in a 

 distance of 60 fathoms I observed fifteen upright stems, chiefly Sigil- 

 lariae, so that in this place a whole subterranean forest seems to lie 

 buried. The Lehbach, the Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm, and 

 the Hostenbach mines are remarkable for the great abundance of 

 fibrous coal, which forms whole stems almost as in some mines in 

 Upper Silesia near Chelm, and Myslowitz and near Krakau. 



After completing the examination of the Saarbriick district, my 

 attention was directed to the coal-basin round Aix la Chapelle, and 

 particularly that on the Lide near Eschweiler and Stolberg, where I 

 spent several days studying the very rich collections of Director Graser. 

 This collection has a peculiar interest, as proceeding entirely from one 

 locality, from the very extensive works of the Centrum mine. It con- 

 tains perhaps fifty new species ; amongst them fifteen new ferns of 

 the genus Sphenopteris alone, several with that kind of fruit, which 

 ten years ago I foretold w ould be found, though then scarcely credited ; 

 and twelve species of Sigillaria. 



A very remarkable circumstance in this coal-deposit is the occur- 

 rence of Mytulites, over an extent of several hundred fathoms. On 

 inquiring about the existence of plants in the coal, I was shown a 

 piece of coal with Sigillaria, as the only instance known during the 

 last thirty years. Yet I succeeded here, just as in all other places, 

 where I was met with doubts of the possibility of finding such re- 

 mains. After I had shown the way in which the planes of stratifica- 

 tion, especially those that are dull, must be brought under the eye and 

 examined by light falling on them in various directions, it turned out 

 here as in other places : Stigmaria ficoides was frequently observed 

 as the prevailing plant, and Lepidodendra and Sigillarise also ap- 

 peared in sufficient abundance. 



The coal in all the pits on the Worm appeared to me very peculiar. 

 The structure of the coal, visible with the naked eye, tends to disap- 

 pear in a very uniform manner in all directions. Thus, just in pro- 

 portion as the Sigillarise, Stigmarise and Lepidodendra appear more 

 rarely on the shining, often anthracitic-looking coal, so also the re- 

 mains of Coniferse decrease ; whilst the so-called fibrous coal, or the 



