NOTES AND QUERIES. 
209 
this oak tree, which measured sixteen feet six inches in circumference, and eight- 
teen feet iu lengtli, was raised and laid on the quay. It is conjectured that it 
must have weighed at least fifteen tons. A tree of such dimensions, for this must 
be considered but a portiou of the length of the stem, must lead us back to a very 
early period, and certain it is, from the appearance of decay, that it must have been 
many centuries in its last position, and that before it bowed its lofty head, it must 
have been of at least 400 or 500 years' growth. The surface of the side on 
which it reposed was covered with a metallic deposit of iron-pyrites, 
which, with another scaly covering of pyrites, formed a kind of gallery, iu some 
parts a half to one and a half inches apart, having in many places the intermediate 
space filled up with beautiful crystals of pyrites of minute siae, like fine needles. 
It appears clear that this tree must have fallen and remained in the position in 
which it was found, for below it, and embedded witb it, were quantities of small 
pieces of branches and hazel-nuts, most of which were perforated at the top, and 
empty. The wood or bark, beneath the pyrites, appeared to the extent of three 
quarters of an inch completely charred, and, for three or four inches further, the 
wood, although it had not changed its colour (the lamiuaj being quite distinct), 
was yet quite decayed ; after this part was removed, the rest was found to be quite 
sound. The magistrates directed this monument of so early a stage in the history of 
that part of the country to be preserved, and, having had it cut up, a part was 
forwarded to the Cual Exclianyc iu London, then being erected in Lower Thames 
.Street ; and it now forms the dark part of the ornamental centre of the floor of 
that building. 
J. JAMESON. 
38 Arlington -square, April, 1848. 
The a. H. H. AnvKurisEMEJiT. — " 10 St. Vincent'sParade, Clifton, near Bristol, 
23 March, 1858. — Sir, — Your account for an advertisement in the February 
number of the GeolO(;ist, did not reach me till the last delivery on Saturday, 
the address being omitted. This was the first intimation I received of the inser- 
tion of the advertisement, and I instantly sent to the post-office to enquire if 
there were any letters for S. S. H. I find there have been many ; but they have 
been sent to the Dead Letter Office, as they were not claimed. 'I o those who have 
answered the advertisement, the return of the letters must have been very annoying, 
and they will suspect a trick has been played upon them. I have been confined to 
my house, by ill health, for nine weeks, and have not seen the (jeologist ; and .as 
I received no reply to my note, I supposed both the note and the advertisement to 
have been thrown aside. Some explanation must now be given, and I think it will 
be necessary to re-insert the advertisement, with the notice enclosed, in your next 
number. The Editor will decide whether it is desirable to give any explanation in 
his ■ Notices to Correspondents.' lam, Sir, your obedient servant, \Vm. Higoins.'' 
— We received the above note from the late proprietor, Mr. Parsons, of Kenilworth, 
after going to press with our last number. 
Os Seeds as a soukce of Bitumen. Bt Mr. G. Wilson, of Wakefield. — Many 
have been struck with the thickness of some of our modern peat-bogs, and have 
hence regarded them as incipient coal-beds. Be this as it may, it is difficult to 
account for the quantity of bitumen in these deposits, and I oiler the suggestion 
that the seeds of the plants growing in such places, may be one of the sources 
of its production. How far the seeds of the ling or of the heaths may con- 
duce to its supply in some peats has never been properly tested, but as peat contains 
mineral oil — Irom which, of late years, candles have been manufactured — and as 
all seeds contain more or less oily matter, might it not be worth considering 
whether any evidence exists in our heaths, peat- bogs, or coal-seams, of the 
derivation of any portion of the bituminous matter from such a source ? 
Fossil Si'o.ngbs, Clinometer, &c. — <f)i\ot,r]Ti]Tr]';, Manchestek. — "Sir, — lam 
glad to find a .source of information open in your ' Notes and Queries,' to which 
I at ouce resort. I should be glad of information on the following questions: — 
1. Have any sponges been found in the fossil state ? I ask this because I have 
a six'cimen wliich was found among the di'lris of mountain-limestone in 
Swalodale which I can assign' to no other class tlian spuuge. Yet in looking 
