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grate from the north, and displace the tender occupants of the soil, as the hardy 
hordes of Scandinavia displaced the effeminate rulers of Italy and Gaul. 
Now, this is no groundless speculation, or imaginary occurrence : for once a 
vegetation similar to that of the tropics flourished where Britain now stands ; 
though the forests of which it consisted were never seen by human eye, and the 
convulsions by which it was destroyed involved not, in their tremendous desolation, 
one being of that race which now inhabits it, and to render it fit for which, many a 
mighty commotion took place, and many an instance of creative power testified the 
provident and benevolent intentions of their Almighty Author. It was by means 
of these forests that the atmosphere was rendered suitable for the respiration of the 
higher animals, such as quadrupeds and man,—and by their submersion those re¬ 
servoirs of carbonaceous matter—coals—were secreted for the use of future ages. 
The primary, the universal function of vegetables appears to be the elimina¬ 
tion or formation of carbon, whatever secondary or temporary uses they may an¬ 
swer ; and the primaeval vegetation of the world flourished under circumstances 
highly favourable to their fulfilling this end. Indeed, so far as we can ascertain, 
there was no other object in view in their early formation ; and hence they attain¬ 
ed a size even unknown in the tropics in the present day. How perfectly they 
accomplished this object, the remains of them, existing under the surface of the 
earth at various depths, and in various states and degrees of preservation, suffi¬ 
ciently attest. A careful examination of the external form and internal structure 
of those which have retained their original constitution, or even of those which 
have undergone an alteration, and had the whole of their natural elements remov¬ 
ed and siliceous particles substituted in their place, enables us to conjecture with 
tolerable accuracy the particular tribes of plants which grew in those remote ante¬ 
diluvian ages. (See Lindley and Hutton’s Fossil Flora of Great Britain , the 
work of Mr. Witham, papers by Mr. Nicol in Jameson’s Journal , and Brongni- 
art’s Histoire des Vegetaux Fossiles.J The greater number of those which are 
discovered in the most ancient coal formations belong to the vascular cryptoga- 
mia, comprising the Ferns, Horse-tails, &c., but of a size far surpassing any now 
growing ; and among the more recent coal measures are found Ferns, Palms, Cac¬ 
tuses, Cycases, and Pines or Firs. The land on which these grew, by alterations 
in the level of the surfaces,—whether by upheaving of volcanic masses, forming 
islands or continents, and causing displacement of the waters of the ocean, or by a 
sinking of their place of growth, from earthquakes or other convulsions,—became 
submerged, and the pressure of the sandy deposits above them, aided by the super¬ 
incumbent water, and the slow action of time, converted the vegetable structures 
into those great elements of utility—coals, which are so extensively wrought in 
this country, to which they are justly considered of more value than all its gold 
mines to Peru. 
Had they, when submerged, remained for ever in that situation, they would 
