24 
Examination of Fossil Wood 
when nearly half fledged. In examining one of these 
mounds, I myself found the remains of a dead young 
one, of considerable size. Mr. Macleay, of Sydney, 
had one of these interesting birds quite tame, and which 
fed and ranged about with his fowls. This specimen, 
which was a male, annually scraped together a mound of 
a very large size, it is evident, therefore, that the male, 
and in all probability both sexes, unite in forming this 
singular receptacle for the eggs. 
Art. IV. On the Examination of some Fossil Wood from 
Macquarie Plains, Tasmania. By Joseph D. Hooker, 
Esq., M.D., Assistant Surgeon of II.M.S. Erebus. 
One of the most remarkable circumstances connected 
both with the Geology and Botany of Tasmania, is the 
occurrence of vast quantities of silicified wood, either ex¬ 
posed on the plains, or imbedded in rocks both of igneous 
and aqueous formations. Those of the former, in particu¬ 
lar, are the most striking, from their singular beauty, and 
the very perfect manner iu which the structure of the 
living wood is retained. Soon after my arrival in this 
Colony, magnificent specimens of a fossil tree were shown 
me, dug out of a volcanic rock, and which, as far as my 
memory serves me, were unequalled even in what I had 
seen of the rich collection of Brown. So much interest 
is now taken in these fossils, as tending to elucidate some 
of the more intricate branches of Vegetable Physiology, 
that I was induced to visit the original tree; hoping that 
a selection of specimens might, when brought to England, 
throw some light upon the nature of the trees found 
under these circumstances. Of its geological site I may 
