Gorgonia. 



239 



Upon the whole, I am strongly inclined to believe that this inter- 

 esting relic must have been an enormous Gorgonia. True, no dis- 

 covery has yet been made of the central stem : but who knows that 

 the shale has yet been explored far enough in width to discover it. 

 If so, this specimen may yet be found to be from eight to ten feet in 

 width!* 



Plate XIII, fig. 36, is a sketch of an impression found in the same 

 shale, only an inch or two higher up in the rock. (No. 256.) It 

 scarcely differs from the others, except in the absence of the reticu- 

 lations. Mr. Lathrop, who sent me this specimen, could discover 

 none of these. But I have noticed that frequently the reticulations 

 are attached to a very thin layer of shale, which easily cleaves off 

 and leaves an impression precisely like that in the figure. Hence I 

 suspect that these reticulations will be found connected with the 

 grooves: although I can easily conceive of different species in which 

 the net work should be absent. And Mr. Lathrop says, that such as 

 are represented in the figure are quite abundant, not only at the spot 

 mentioned above, but also half a mile nearer the village of West 

 Springfield, where he says, " the leaves are larger, and in one in- 

 stance the edge appeared serrated." 



On the surface of the same shale, along the same river, we find 



* While the proof sheet of this page was under examination, I received, through 

 the kindness of Professor Silliman, Mr. Witham's " Observations on Fossil Vege- 

 tables," Edinburgh, 1831 ; and his "Description of a Fossil Tree in the Quarry at 

 Craigleith ;" Edinburgh, 1833 ; and I was at once struck with the resemblance 

 between several of the drawings in those works, and those which I have presented 

 of the fossil described in the text. But Mr. Witham's drawings represent sections 

 — mostly transverse — of fossil trees as seen through the microscope ; and there- 

 fore, the specimens from which they were taken, cannot be remotely allied to the 

 fossil at West Springfield, which consists simply of an impression upon shale. 



Professor Silliman has kindly given me his opinion in respect to the character 

 of the sandstones in the Connecticut valley : and I shall take the liberty to insert 

 it here. It will be seen that there is no real discrepancy between us on the sub- 

 ject. He is more confident than I am of the existence of the old red sandstone in 

 this valley ; while I merely say, that I have not evidence enough of its existence 

 to justify me in marking it on the map. Professor Silliman, I trust, will excuse 

 the liberty which I take in copying his opinion from a private letter, since it is the 

 opinion of one who examined this subject much earlier than myself, and who, in 

 my earliest as well as latest geological pursuits, I have always regarded as my 

 counsellor, patron, and friend. 



"My impression is," says he, "that both the old and the new red sandstone ex- 

 ist in the great formation of Massachusetts and Connecticut. : that the old lies the 

 lowest, and is palpably (at least here) granite ruins : that the new lies higher in 

 the series ; and that the coal formation may come between them as elsewhere." 



