70 
PAUCITY OE REMAINS. 
I 
rior formations, increasing to abundance in , ; 
the upper tertiary beds. The latter contain 
wood of the beech, chesnut, poplar, willow, j 3 
and other kinds similar to the forest flora of : j 
Europe at the present day. | 
Such is a cursory and (owing to the |ld 
absence of plates and to limited extent) an j; 
imperfect account of these botanical trea- j: 
sures. s 
If the investigation be deemed uninter- M 
esting from the fewness of its subjects, it i 
should be recollected that the inquiry is i 
prosecuted under circumstances unfavour- 'i 
able to their preservation and discovery. I 
That beautiful provision of Providence, u 
by virtue of which the living bury the dead, I > 
which guides the insect and fosters the 1: 
parasitic vegetable, to lodge wherever a 1 
plant lies prostrate, and aid atmospheric )i 
influences in affecting its conversion from HI 
noxious matter to living nutriment, was 1 
doubtless in operation from the first. Hence : 
no structure could be preserved unless i 
quickly enveloped in mud or silt, and no t 
large collection of standing trees could be i 
fossilized save by catastrophe. 
