388 



THE WONDERS OF GEOLOGY. 



Lect. IV. 



related to the recent Cycas and Zamia* occur in the 

 intervals between the pine-trees ; and the dirt-bed is so 

 little consolidated, that I dug up with a spade, as from a 

 parterre, several specimens that were standing on the very 

 spot where they originally grew, having, like the columns of 

 the Temple of Puzzuoli (p. 107), preserved their original 



LlGN. 85.— SlLIClFIED TRUNK OF MANTELLIA NID1FORMIS, FROM PORTLAND; 



one-fourth the natural sizr. 

 (Cycadites megalophyllus. Dr. Buckkwd.) 



a, Central mass of cellular tissue ; b, Circle of radiating woody plates ; 

 c, Zone (f cellular tissue ; d, The case, or false bark. 



erect position, amidst all the revolutions which have subse- 

 quently swept over the surface of the earth, and buried 

 them beneath the accumulated detritus of innumerable ages. 

 These fossil plants, though related to the recent Cycadeoe, 



* These plants are so common in conservatories that their general 

 appearance must be familiar to the reader. In the botanic gardens at 

 Kew, there are magnificent specimens of Cycas and Zamia, and of other 

 plants of hot climates, of which related forms occur in the Weal den. 



