L. Lesquereux— Land Plants of the Lower Silurian. 81 
the bottom, and that the woody fiber, rather lighter, had been 
deposited afterward. In this case, the heaping of the matter 
would, of necessity, show a gradual transition in ascending, 
still higher up, from clay beds to clay and woody filaments 
mixed together, these successively becoming less impure. The 
heaviest coal should, therefore, always be at the bottom, the pure 
woody matter at the top. Who has seen in our lignite beds or 
coal beds anything like this? But of this hypothesis it is use- 
less to speak further. It is set aside by facts and considerations 
a review of which would fill a volume. 
_ There are of course some beds of impure lignite, whose origin 
is due to drifted wood, especially along large rivers. One is 
known at the mouth of the Rhone in France. I have seen 
some deposits of the kind in southeastern Arkansas, near the 
Washita River. The great Red River obstructions may be- 
come in time lignite deposits. But all formations of this kind 
show their origin by their composition: sand mixed with car- 
bonized matter, sandy bottom, perforated too in various direc- 
tions by drifted stems, ete. Nothing of this kind has been ob- 
served in the beds of lignite of the west, at least not in those 
which have come under my examination. 
Columbus, Ohio, Nov. 16, 1873. 
Arr. VIII—QOn remains of Land Plants in the Lower Silurian ; 
by Leo. LESQUEREUX. 
From a recent discovery, it now seems that traces of land 
vegetation exist in the Lower Silurian strata of this country. 
A few months ago, I received from Rev. H. Herzer* two speci- 
mens representing branches or small stems of a species referable 
to Sigi/laria, and reported to have been found by Dr. S. 8. Sco- 
ville on Longstreet Creek, near Lebanon, Ohio, in clay beds 
Positively referable to the Cincinnati group of the Lower Silu- 
man. The discovery of the remains of land plants in this for-— 
* Well known th meee eee hs ee 
