378 Mr. Webster on some new Varieties of Fossil Alcyonia* 



They were of various sizes, from half an inch in diameter to three 

 or four inches, but were more usually about an inch and a half or 

 two inches. Their substance was sandstone of the same kind as the 

 rock they were in ; but the part resembling the bark was somewhat 

 harder, which enabled it to endure longer than the rest of the stone, 

 and thus project above its surface. 



The colour of the outside was sometimes of the same yellowish 

 tint as the other parts of the rock, but was more frequently dark 

 grey, owing to their greater durability permitting the lichens to grow 

 upon them. When the dark coloured pieces were broken, the in- 

 ternal part was yellow. Often a piece of the bark appeared wanting, 

 and then the central part of the branch, or that corresponding to the 

 wood was smooth, but the outside of the cortical part was rough 

 and corrugated. Some were straight, others a little crooked, and in 

 a few instances I observed them forked. Others again had much 

 the appearance of roots, having frequently holes as if branches had 

 been broken out. 



While in the rock their forms were sufficiently distinct ; but they 

 were so friable in their structure, that I could not detach pieces of 

 any great length ; and when so detached, they seldom conveyed the 

 same idea. The appearance of the largest and finest specimens, 

 therefore, which were imbedded in rocks of considerable magnitude, 

 must be imagined from the drawings. 



Notwithstanding that the resemblance of these forms to branches 

 of trees was so striking that it was impossible not to imagine at first 

 sight that this had been their origin, yet considering the difficulties 

 attending the supposition that wood had been converted into sand- 

 stone, it seemed to me much more probable that they had been de- 

 rived from some of those animals assuming a vegetable form and 

 distinguished by the name of Zoophyte. 



