WARD. ] THE SOUTHWESTERN AREA. 319 
Kunz in a series of notes and papers' on jasperized and agatized woods 
of Arizona, and in his work on Gems and Precious Stones of North 
America, New York, 1890, pp. 135ff; more especially in the second 
editicn, 1889, pp. 135, 137, and Appendix, pp. 352-355. 
Portions of these trunks, which were long on exhibition at the 
National Museum, were examined by Dr. F. H. Knowlton and found to 
exhibit internal structure with sufficient clearness to be capable of 
microscopic study. Slides were prepared and the results of his inves- 
tigation were published in the Proceedings of the Museum.? Both 
trunks appear to have the same structure and belong to the same spe 
cies, and the generic determination was practically the same as that of 
Mollhausen, viz, Araucarioxylon, formerly called Araucarites. But 
as Géppert failed to describe or figure Mollhausen’s specimens, it was 
impossible for Dr. Knowlton to tell whether he had the identical spe- 
cies or not; he was therefore obliged to give it a specific name, and 
called it Araucarioxylon arizonicum. 
A collection of fossil plants was made by Major Powell in the fall 
of 1886 in the vicinity of Abiquiu, New Mexico, among the copper 
mines. It consists largely of vegetable impressions belonging to the 
Cycadacee, etc. A second collection was made in 1889 by Dr. F. H. 
Knowlton, both in the same region last mentioned and also among 
the petrified forests of Arizona and New Mexico. This latter collec- 
tion is quite large and very important, especially that of the silicified 
wood, as he visited nearly all of the best localities, and with his prac- 
ticed eye selected only such material as was capable of successful 
scientific investigation. The plant impressions of both these collec- 
tions have been examined by Professor Fontaine, and Dr. Knowlton 
has found the wood of the copper mines to be the same as that thus 
far identified from the plains.’ 
There is no part of the American Trias that possesses greater inter- 
est for the geologist and paleontologist than this great southwestern 
area, and yet we have, as the above record shows, exceedingly meager 
scientific data respecting it. The petrified forests of Arizona are now 
celebrated, and a movement has been set on foot to have the most 
important tract in that Territory set apart as a national park. Before 
I had heard of this movement I had planned to make at least a recon- 
naissance into the region on my return from the Pacific coast in the fall 
of 1899, but before I left Washington in August the matter had been 
brought forcibly to my attention by a letter from the honorable 
Commissioner of the General Land Office to the Secretary of the 
1Trans, New York Acad. Sci., Vol. V, 1885, pp. 9-11: Pop. Sci. Monthly, January, 1886, Vol. XXVIII, 
pp. 362-367 (copied in Scientific American Supplement, Vol. XXI, February 6, 1886, p. 8418); Ex- 
changers’ Monthly, Vol. I, Nos. 6-8, 1886. ‘ : : 
2New species of fossil wood (Araucarioxylon arizonicutn) from Arizona and New Mexico, by F. 
. Knowlton: Proc. U. 8. Nat. Mus., Vol. XI, 1888, pp. 1-4, pl. i. 
3 Notes on Triassic plants from New Mexico, by Wm. M. Fontaine and F. H. Knowlton: Proc. U.S. 
Nat. Mus., No. 821, Vol. XIII, 1890, pp. 281-285, pls. xxii-xxvi. 
