74 
must again repair with you to distant parts, to shew you, that 
wherever attentive observations have been made, proofs of this fact 
have been found. 
Thus Mons. de la Hire gives a particular description of part of 
the petrified trunk of a palm tree, which he had obtained from some 
part of Africa. 
The petrified trunk of a palm tree was also found in the desert, 
near the isthmus of Suez, and transmitted to the class of natural 
history by General Regnier, member of the institute of Egypt. 
In the account of Mr. Horneman’s travels, in the years 1797 and 
l798j undertaken for the purpose of exploring the interior parts of 
Africa, we learn, that in that vast desert which forms the natural 
boundary of Egypt, petrified wood is found, of various forms and 
size. Sometimes are seen whole trunks of trees, of twelve feet cir- 
cumference, or more ; sometimes only branches of twigs, scarcely 
of a quarter of an inch diameter ; and sometimes merely pieces of 
bark, of various kinds, and, in particular, of the oak, are to be 
found. Many of the great stems yet retain their side branches, and 
in many the natural timber has undergone so little change, that the 
circular ranges of the wood are discernible, and especially in those 
trunks which were apparently of oak. The interior of other bodies 
of timber are said to have become a petrifaction, shewing no dis- 
tinctions of grain or fibre, but bearing the appearance of mere stone; 
though the outward coat and form of the substance clearly denoted 
the tree. 
Mr. Horneman was informed by several Arabs, that in travelling 
over this desert, petrified trees were often found upright, and as if 
growing in the soil ; but he presumed, respecting those he did not 
see, from those he did actually inspect, that they were trunks raised 
by hand, round the base of which the sand had quickly gathered 
before the winds, and formed a mound, as if heaved up by a root. 
The colour of the petrified wood is in general black, or nearly so ; 
