56 



Cincinnati Society of Natural History. 



THE PETRIFIED FOREST OF ARIZONA. 



By S. A. Miller. 



There is an extensive tiact of land in the eastern part of 

 Arizona, south of the Union Pacific Railroad, called the 

 "Petrified Forest," though it is not a forest of petrifactions; 

 and it has even been more erroneously called " Chalcedony 

 Park," though it is not a park in any sense of the word. 

 Those who visited the World's Fair saw polished specimens 

 of the petrified wood in the exhibits of Arizona and South 

 Dakota. 



I spent several days on this tract of land, and will attempt 

 to convey to those who have not had such an opportunity 

 some impression of it. First, cast out of the mind the idea of 

 a forest, for there is none there, then follow my imagination 

 of what may have taken place to produce the fossil wood, and 

 possibly I can make myself understood in describing the 

 present appearances. 



Suppose there had been a lake or bay in that area, bordered 

 on one side with a sandy plain bearing pine trees, and on the 

 other side with volcanoes, in some comparatively recent 

 geological age. We know there were volcanoes, for we can 

 see lava distributed over hills and valleys for hundreds of 

 miles in extent. We know there was a lake or bay, for sand, 

 and gravel, and boulders, that are made by the action of 

 water in rolling broken stone, are found in great abundance. 

 We know there were pine trees, for we find fragments of the 

 fossil trees in many places. And we conclude the pine trees 

 grew in a sandy plain, not only because such trees flourish 

 best in a sandy soil, but because the fossil trees, where undis- 

 turbed by the modern denudation of the country, are encased 

 in a sand-stone matrix. 



Suppose, now, that, through volcanic or earthquake action, 

 the pine trees were uprooted, prostrated, submerged beneath 

 the water, and buried in the sand, until they were subjected 



