SANDSTONE PETRIFACTIONS. 157 



marshes and woods, and that they occur abundant- 

 ly in the sandstone of this formation. 



An instance is given by Habel, in his Natural 

 History of Nassau, of a petrified vegetable stem, as 

 having been seen by him rising 40 feet through 

 coal formation rocks, and measuring a foot in dia- 

 meter at one of its extremities. Now, though 

 the petrifactions to which I allude, are not nearly 

 of so great a length as this, they are of a diameter 

 still greater ; one of them being 3 feet 10 inches in 

 circumference at the thickest extremity. 



They were found on the 9 th of February last, a lit tle 

 way from Harvieston, ten miles to the south of Edin- 

 burgh, by some workmen, while engaged in making a 

 drain. They were in a horizontal position, imbedded 

 in a mass of what I would call sandy-clay, about 3 

 feet below the surface. The petrifactions are three 

 in number, and have evidently been the trunks of 

 trees. They were lying with their tops towards 

 the east, and in a conformable position to the strata, 

 which are here coal-sandstone, and dip gently to 

 the west. One. of the trunks is 5 feet 9 inches 

 long ; and, as already said, 3 feet 10 inches in cir- 

 cumference at the bottom ; it tapers rather sud- 

 denly, being 2 feet % inches in girth at the middle, 

 and 1 foot 6 inches at the upper end. About 18 

 inches from the top, there has issued a large branch. 

 This petrifaction is somewhat flattened or compres- 

 sed, as all those generally are, which lie conformably 

 to the strata. It has, when set on end, and viewed 



