FOSSIL FOEESTS OF YELLOWSTONE PARK. 



15 



off, and does not show even the presence of limbs. Perhaps the near- 

 est approach to a measure of the height is aifordecl by a trunk (shown 

 » in fig. 10) that happened to have been prostrated before fossiliza- 

 tion. This trunk, which is 4 feet in diameter, is exposed for a length 

 of about 40 feet, and as it shows no apparent diminution in size 



within this distance it is safe to assume that the tree could hardly 

 have been less than 100 feet high and very probably may have been 

 higher. This trunk is wonderfully preserved. As may be seen from 

 the illustration, it has broken up by splitting along the grain of the 

 wood into great numbers of little pieces, which closely resemble 



