340 FOSSIL PLANTS. 
under the water to ripen.” It is to these phenomena that the fan- 
ciful Darwin alludes in the following lines — 
« As dash the waves on India’s breezy strand 
rli 
Her flushed upon her lily hand 
Vallisner sits, upturns her tearful bite 
” 
—LOVES OF THE PLANTS. 
= 
In future “‘ sketches” we shall endeavor to obtain some further 
glimpses at the marvels of pond-life. 
NOTE pian r ai i bron fluids may be seen in many land as well as water 
plants. “The urrents oniliform hairs on the anthers of me ae mon Spider- 
wort ( Tradesc iti Pig TS: are well known to microscopists, and, indeed, it has been 
ascertained that the hairs of most plants in some stage of their ma “exhibit similar 
phenomena. Among our native land plants few ex vape aa display of these phe- 
nomena than may be seen in the young hairs on the fruit of the Enchanter’s Night- 
shade (Circeea Lutetiana L.). Currents bearing along ad albuminous ? ? mas 
much resembling those in Chara will be found in e of 
the flower and fruit of this plant. TuTh more li ke those of Tradescantia may be 
n the hairs within the corolla of the common Foxglove of the gardens. Lindley 
states that the large cells of the rhizoma of the Scouring Rush (Equisetum) show very 
distinct currents, and the writer has seen beautiful displays of these phenomena in the 
cells of the root of the common Asparagus, 
MODE OF PRESERVATION OF VEGETABLE REMAINS 
IN OUR AMERICAN COAL MEASURES.* 
BY LEO LESQUEREUX. 
Rematys oF Piants 1N Coar. —It has been erroneously asserted 
that the coal itself does not contain any recognizable vegetable 
remains, it being merely a mass of bitumen, independent of any 
of the plants which are found in the shales overlaying or under- 
laying it. Our bituminous coal is generally a compound of sup- 
posed layers of crystalline matter, about one-eighth of an inch in 
thickness, separated by a thin coat of pulverulent coal, or mineral 
charcoal, which is a mere compound of cellular tissue and of ves- 
sels of plants. f 
eke hai 
* From the Fourth yolume of the Geological Survey of Illinois. A.H. Worthen, 
Director. 1870 
t This fact is * caatty ampera by microscopical examination, Prof. J. W. Dawson, 
of Montreal, has closely ex eas this charcoal, and published, as results of his inter- 
esting researches, numerous forms of vessels of plants. The same kind of researches 
had been already pursued by Prof. Goppert, who had recognized, in this nine 
coal, remains of plants of a family hitherto known to occur fossil 
(Quar. Geol. Jour., vol. 5, m 
F naear oead 
See A 
rie CF 
aitai 
P EEE EE S OR EA EEEN 
