254 Proceedings of the British Association. 



of Cambridgeshire. He had seen peat procured in Ireland from the 

 bottoms of ponds in the same way as described by Dr. Falconer 

 in Cashmere. — Mr. H. E. Strickland had seen peat in Ireland con- 

 verted into a substance as hard as jet, so that it might be used by 

 the turner. The formation of this peat threw much light on the 

 formation of coal. There could be no doubt that our coal beds were 

 some of them formed in the manner of bogs, whilst others resulted 

 from vegetable matter deposited at the bottom of the sea. — Mr. 

 Selby had seen peat quite solid and bright as amber. — The Bishop of 

 Norwich stated, that the trees buried in the bogs of Lancashire 

 exhibited marks of being burnt, and many of them had on them 

 the strokes of the axe. Mr. Dowden pointed out the remarkable 

 fact in Mr. Jenyns's observations that the light turf was undermost. 

 The laws of nature were better observed in Ireland, where the 

 heaviest turf was at the bottom. — Mr. Murchison remarked, that it 

 was an extraordinary fact that there were no bogs in Russia, and yet 

 throughout that country there was a great extent of mountain lime- 

 stone as in Ireland, the most boggy country in the world. He 

 supposed it was attributable to the character of the climate. In 

 Ireland it was always raining, and moisture favoured the develop- 

 ment of bogs. — Mr. R. Ball, of Dublin, had lately observed a number 

 of trees which were blown down in 1839, covered over with grass, 

 and the interspaces between the trees was filling up with vegetable 

 matter, and in the course of time he believed they would form a 

 bog. — Prof. Oldham, of Dublin, observed, that there was a difference 

 in the mountain limestone of Ireland and Russia, inasmuch as the 

 former was covered with beds of clay, and it was on these clay beds 

 that the bogs were formed. 



Sir R. Schomburgk read a description of the Murichi, or Ita 

 Palm, of Guiana. This tree grows from the Llanos of Cumana 

 to the western tributaries of the Rio Negro and the mouth of 

 the Amazon, or over an area of 550,000 square miles. It was called 

 by Father Gumilla the arbol de la vida> or tree of life, on account of 

 its various uses. It is of the greatest importance to the inhabitants 

 of the country in which it grows. The trunk and its leaves are used 

 for various household purposes. The sap is a saccharine fluid, much 

 drunk bv the natives. The flowers afford a sweet fermentable 



