OBSERVATIONS : 
=* 
ON 
FOSSIL VEGETABLES. 
INTRODUCTION. 
Tue remains of organic existence which occur so abundantly in many of 
our rock formations, have attracted the attention of the curious in all ages. 
In the infancy of geological science, they furnished objects, if not of accu- 
rate observation, yet of ingenious speculation ; and at the present day, when 
their nature and relations are better understood, they receive the notice 
which their importance, as keys to the hidden mysteries of the formation 
and relative age of the strata of which our globe is composed, demands. It 
is therefore unnecessary for me to say any thing, either in commendation of 
a minute and scrupulous investigation of these objects, or in apology for 
obtruding upon my friends and the public the observations which I propose 
to lay before them. 
My investigations have led me to believe, that plants of the phanero- 
gamic class are much more abundant in our coal-fields and mountain lime- 
stone groups, than has generally been supposed. The great opacity and 
peculiar mineralogical arrangements of these fossil plants, have presented 
obstacles to the examination of their intimate structure, which have in- 
duced naturalists to rest contented with the distinctive characters afforded 
