BECKETT ON A FOSSIL FOREST IN PARKFIELD COLLIERY. 41 



In the reports of the British Association for 1842, this tooth is 

 included in the list of British Fossil Mammalia ; but Mr. Owen, 

 through mistake, has there assigned it to the " Diluvium of Essex." 

 I am informed by Mr. Brown, that he procured the specimen from 

 a man at Felixstow,, who stated that he picked it up on the beach ; 

 and as several of the rarest known Crag fossils have been obtained 

 at this spot under similar circumstances, there is no room to doubt 

 its being a genuine fossil of the Crag formation. The mineral 

 condition of the tooth is likewise so very remarkable, and so totally 

 unlike that of the Mammalian remains which occur in the diluvial 

 or lacustrine deposits, that this alone, in the absence of all other 

 evidence, would have sufficed to determine its geological antiquity. 



The valuable communication submitted to the last meeting of the 

 Geological Society by Professor Henslow, upon the discovery of 

 Cetacean remains in the Red Crag of Felixstow, immediately 

 brought to my recollection the existence of tins Cachalot's tooth in the 

 cabinet of Mr. Brown ; and that gentleman having, within the last 

 few days, been so good as to forward the specimen to me, I am now 

 enabled to submit it to inspection. Through the kindness of Mr. 

 Nasmyth I have had the opportunity, upon this occasion, of com- 

 paring the structure presented by the fossil with sections of recent 

 Cachalot's teeth, and the result has been to satisfy me of the cor- 

 rectness of Professor Owen's determination. 



A species of the genus Physeter may therefore now be added to 

 the four species of Red Crag Balance already enumerated by Pro- 

 fessor Owen, and the occurrence of this genus must, I think, be 

 regarded as a very interesting addition to the list of Cetaceans dis- 

 covered by Professor Henslow in the Felixstow cliff. 



2. On a Fossil Forest in the Parhfield Colliery near Wolver- 

 hampton. By Mr. Henry Beckett. 



The fossils alluded to in the following notice, occur in an open 

 work, that is, the superincumbent strata have been pared off, and 

 we find the coal (which belongs to what is called the " bottom 

 coal,") well exposed to view. The bed has been bared for upwards of 

 two years, but the fossils do not appear to have attracted attention, 

 till Mr. William Sparrow and myself, whilst tracing the great 

 faults of the South Staffordshire coal-field, accidentally stumbled 

 upon them, and were struck with their number and their evident 

 resemblance to trunks of trees. 



Since that time, by the kind permission of the Parkfield Com- 

 pany, and with the assistance of Professor Orlebar, of the Royal 

 Bengal College in Bombay, I have carefully removed the coal at- 

 tached to the roots of one of the trees. *. 



We found the stump to be perfectly bituminized, but broken off 

 about two inches above the level of the coal measure, the inner 



