﻿E. 
  W. 
  Berry 
  — 
  Age 
  of 
  the 
  Brandon 
  Lignite. 
  211 
  

  

  Aet. 
  XIII. 
  — 
  The 
  Age 
  of 
  the 
  Brandon 
  Lignite 
  and 
  Flora; 
  

   by 
  Edwaed 
  W. 
  Berry. 
  

  

  The 
  small 
  deposit 
  of 
  lignite 
  near 
  Brandon, 
  Vermont, 
  

   has 
  excited 
  an 
  interest 
  out 
  of 
  all 
  proportion 
  to 
  its 
  size 
  

   ever 
  since 
  its 
  discovery 
  in 
  1848. 
  This 
  was 
  due, 
  in 
  the 
  

   first 
  instance, 
  to 
  its 
  uniqueness 
  among 
  New 
  England 
  

   deposits 
  and 
  to 
  the 
  diversity 
  of 
  strange 
  fossil 
  fruits 
  

   which 
  it 
  contained. 
  Its 
  location 
  makes 
  it 
  of 
  very 
  great 
  

   importance 
  in 
  any 
  broad 
  consideration 
  of 
  the 
  evolution 
  

   and 
  migration 
  of 
  the 
  fossil 
  floras 
  of 
  eastern 
  North 
  

   America, 
  since 
  except 
  for 
  a 
  few 
  scattered 
  and 
  small 
  

   norules 
  in 
  New 
  Jersey, 
  Maryland 
  and 
  Virginia 
  and 
  these 
  

   for 
  the 
  most 
  part 
  quite 
  different 
  in 
  age, 
  it 
  is 
  the 
  sole 
  relic 
  

   of 
  Tertiary 
  vegetation 
  north 
  of 
  Georgia, 
  and 
  it 
  has 
  also 
  

   an 
  important 
  bearing 
  on 
  geological 
  climates 
  provided 
  its 
  

   age 
  can 
  be 
  determined 
  with 
  reasonable 
  accuracy. 
  

  

  I 
  received 
  recently 
  from 
  W. 
  A. 
  Nelson, 
  the 
  State 
  Geol- 
  

   ogist 
  of 
  Tennessee, 
  two 
  fossil 
  fruits 
  from 
  the 
  clays 
  of 
  the 
  

   western 
  part 
  of 
  that 
  state 
  which 
  prove 
  to 
  be 
  unmistakably 
  

   related 
  to 
  forms 
  described 
  from 
  Brandon 
  and 
  not 
  known 
  

   from 
  any 
  other 
  localities. 
  This 
  has 
  led 
  to 
  a 
  reawakening 
  

   of 
  my 
  interest 
  in 
  the 
  Brandon 
  flora 
  and 
  to 
  the 
  present 
  

   attempt 
  to 
  fix 
  its 
  age 
  more 
  definitely. 
  

  

  The 
  late 
  Edward 
  Hitchcock 
  was 
  the 
  first 
  one 
  to 
  

   describe 
  the 
  Brandon 
  locality 
  and 
  some 
  of 
  its 
  fossil 
  fruits, 
  

   which 
  he 
  did 
  in 
  1853, 
  1 
  subsequently 
  reprinting 
  what 
  is 
  

   substantially 
  the 
  same 
  account 
  in 
  his 
  Geology 
  of 
  Vermont 
  

   eight 
  years 
  later. 
  2 
  The 
  deposit 
  lies 
  at 
  the 
  western 
  base 
  

   of 
  the 
  Green 
  Mountains 
  about 
  two 
  miles 
  northeast 
  of 
  the 
  

   town 
  of 
  Brandon 
  in 
  a 
  region 
  of 
  Cambrian 
  quartzites, 
  

   schists 
  and 
  dolomites, 
  and 
  is 
  now 
  entirely 
  hidden 
  by 
  

   Pleistocene 
  deposits. 
  Associated 
  with 
  the 
  lignite 
  are 
  

   clays 
  and 
  limonite, 
  both 
  formerly 
  worked 
  at 
  different 
  

   times 
  for 
  iron, 
  paint 
  and 
  paper 
  clay. 
  Its 
  interest 
  may 
  be 
  

   indicated 
  by 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  there 
  are 
  no 
  comparable 
  Terti- 
  

   ary 
  lignites 
  within 
  upwards 
  of 
  one 
  thousand 
  miles, 
  that 
  

   the 
  contained 
  flora 
  is 
  largely 
  unique 
  and 
  is, 
  except 
  for 
  

   Pleistocene, 
  the 
  only 
  fossil 
  flora 
  thus 
  far 
  discovered 
  in 
  

  

  1 
  Hitchcock, 
  E., 
  Description 
  of 
  a 
  Brown 
  Coal 
  Deposit 
  in 
  Brandon, 
  Ver- 
  

   mont, 
  this 
  Journal, 
  (2) 
  vol. 
  15, 
  pp. 
  95-104, 
  1853. 
  

  

  2 
  Hitchcock, 
  E., 
  Geology 
  of 
  Vermont, 
  vol. 
  1, 
  pp. 
  226-234, 
  1861. 
  

  

  