186 



In answer to Mr. Briggs, 



Mr. Lucas said, that these old candles were found in lead 

 mines ; and 



Mr. Briggs inferred that they must have been exposed to 

 lime water. 



After a little further conversation, a vote of thanks was 

 passed to Mr. Lucas, and another to the Chairman, and 

 the Meeting adjourned to the Evening Sitting. 



At the Evening Sitting, a paper was read 



ON THE FOSSIL TREES FOUND STANDING UPRIGHT IN THE 

 COAL MEASURES. BY E. W. BINNEY, ESQ. 



In this paper, w^hich was long, and illustrated by numerous 

 drawings, the author gave descriptions of many fossil trees 

 found in erect positions in different parts of the carboni- 

 ferous strata, but chiefly in the " roofs," (the beds immedi- 

 ately above the seam of coal,) nearly all of which he referred 

 to the genus Sigillaria. His specimens were for the most 

 part from the Lancashire Coal-field, although he stated that 

 they were also to be found in most other fields, and were 

 well known to miners under the name of " Pot-holes" 



He then alluded to the Dixon Fold Trees, found in cutting 

 the Manchester and Bolton Railway, so well described by 

 the late Mr. Bowman, and brought forward by that able 

 Geologist as positive proofs that the vegetable matter, forming 

 the beds of Coal upon which they stood, had grown upon the 

 spot were it was now found. (See vol. 1, p. 112, of the 

 Transactions of the Manchester Geological Society.) 



He next fully described the singular genus of hitherto 

 supposed Coal plants, Stigmaria, and stated that he had found 

 evidence of that fossil in the floors (the strata on which the 

 coals rest) in all the seams examined by him in the Lancar 

 shire Coal-field, amounting to near 100 in number. 



