532 Petrifactions. MINERS 
<p. Various fpecies of Anemone; in the coal-mines of 
France. 
Tamarindus, the tanrarind-tree ; found near Tree- 
vikera, in the Carnatic, and firft defcribed by Capt. John 
Warren, of the 33d regiment, in a communication to the 
Aiiatic Society, 1812. 
The village of Treevikera is fituated on the north bank 
of the Arriacoopum, or Villenore-river, about fifteen 
miles in a direction well-by-north of the city of Pondi¬ 
cherry, and four miles beyond the old Fort of Woldoor, 
formerly belonging to the French, but now in a Hate of 
ruin. Treevikera is at prefent compofed of a few feat • 
tered huts, although, from the appearance of the pagoda 
at that place, the interior of which is all built of (tones, 
from the fize of the tower over its gateway, eight itories 
high, (the lower one of which is entirely of blue granite,) 
from the large (lone tank which lies clofe to the pagoda, 
and covers l'everal acres of ground, and the fize of the 
principal llreets, which can Hill be traced ; from thefe re¬ 
mains, we may conclude, that in former times Treevikera 
was a place of great extent and importance. 
To the eaftward of the village, at a diftance of a quarter 
of a mile, rifes a hill, or rather a hillock ; one of a chain 
confilling of ten or a dozen fimilar elevations, none ex¬ 
ceeding forty or fifty feet in perpendicular height. Thefe 
hills vary in fize, and run in a line from north to fouth ; 
the whole extending over about one mile and a half of 
ground. Their furface in general exhibits a dark red ap¬ 
pearance on the heights, and a fandy colour in the low 
grounds ; an eft'eft produced by the periodical rains, which 
have formed, in many places, deep channels through the 
fides of the hills, driving the fand into the hollows, and 
leaving expoled to the view their ruddy ftratum, which 
every-where has a very rugged appearance. The fub- 
llratum, in mod places, feems to be a fpecies of lime mixed 
with red earth, of fo foft a quality as to be eafily broken 
by any iron inftrument. On the declivity and on the 
weft fide of this hill, about two feet and a half below its 
fummit, a petrified tree appears, lying in a horizontal 
pofition on the furface of the ground, with about two- 
thirds of its root entirely bare. Of the body of this 
tree (which has been divided into three pieces by the 
(lone-cutters) twenty feet (till remain ; the root being 
i'even feet in diameter; the trunk, at the bottom, three 
feet; in the middle part, two feet; and, at top, one 
foot and a quarter in diameter. Another tree lies at 
a fmall diftance from the above, and five feet, below the 
fummit of the hill; this is almoft buried in the ftratum, 
the furface onjy being vilible. Some parts of this tree are 
as hard as flint, and others fo foft as to be reduced to dull 
by the flighteft preffure. Another tree, not far off, is 
forty feet in length. All thefe petrifattions lie horizon¬ 
tally; and none of their branches can be difeovered, even 
detached, or in the vicinity of the parent Hem. Thefe 
mull have withered away before the procefs of petrifac¬ 
tion had taken place ; for the knots at the infertion of the 
branches with the trunk are very vilible in moll of the 
trees. The number of petrifactions which are to be leen, 
in every direction, in this broken ground, (about fifteen 
or twenty,) is too great to admit a minute defeription of 
every fubjeCt. The fragments of one particular tree, 
however, attracted diffidently my notice, (lays Capt. 
Warren,) to induce me to give fome account of it at this 
place ; 1 fay <■/ a tree, becaule, although the parts that 
remain are very remote from one another, yet the natives 
affirm that they did belong to the fame individual. “ The 
middle part of the trunk feems to have been detached from 
' the extremities by a water-courfe, or deep rut, which, 
forming under it, deprived its centre of fupport; and, as 
all thele trees are generally broken acrofs, at intervals of 
three and four feet, (as would be the cafe, were a long 
(tone piliar to be let fall fuddenly on its fide,) it followed, 
that, when thefe divjfions loft their fupport, they rolled 
off, or fell down ; and, if of a good texture and colour, 
they may have been carried away by the ftone-cutters. 
L O G Y. Petrifactions. 
One of thefe fragments lies a little on one fide, and be¬ 
low the upper part of the tree ; but the top and the root, 
which were moll firmly fixed into the ground, kept fall in 
their place. Thele pieces lie evidently in the fame or in 
parallel lines. Meaiuring from whence the topis inferted 
into the ftratum, down to the extremity of the root, it- 
was fixty feet in length ; its diameter at the upper.infer¬ 
tion was two feet; at the piece fallen down, three feet; 
at the bottom of the trunk, four feet and a half; and at 
the root, at its broadeft place, about eight or nine feet; 
a prodigious fize, if thefe fragments really once did be¬ 
long to the fame tree. 
“ Another curious appearance was that of a tree, about 
thirty feet long, which traverfed the fummit of one of the 
hillocks in an oblique direction, fo as to let a confiderable 
part of both its extremities be feen on each fide of the 
mound. 
“ I (hall obferve of the laft eminence to the fouthward, 
(which is feparated about a quarter of amile from the reft,) 
that it exhibits thfe mod remarkable aifemblage of petri- 
faClions. I difeovered, within the circumference of about 
one hundred yards, no lefs than ten trees of a large fize, 
lying in different-directions, excepting three of them, 
which were parallel to each other, with a proportion of 
their roots out of the ground ; lome almoft complete, al¬ 
though the bodies were generally enveloped with the 
ftratum. 
“ Although it was reported to me, that there were no 
trees feen at a diftance from the riling grounds above de¬ 
fcribed, yet I noticed part of one, juft appearing at the 
furface of the earth, in the plain, about half-way between 
the hills and the village. Moreover, a French officer (who 
now refides at Pondicherry) fliowed me a piece of petri¬ 
fied wood, which he had himfelf feparated from a large 
block, which lies in the bed of the Arriacoopum river, 
at the diftance of about (even or eight miles from Tree¬ 
vikera. In thh fame manner we may believe that a great 
many more petrified trees lie hid under ground, which 
have yet never been expofed to light in that (late. 
“ I have generally remarked of thefe petrifactions, that 
they are more perfeCl at the root, and in thofe parts which 
are buried under ground, than w'here they lie expofed to 
the air. The petrified root, in mod places, is as hard as 
flint: it takes a much finer polifh than any part of the 
(tern, and affumes a more variegated appearance in its 
veins and colours: like the flint, it eafily (trikes fire, and 
breaks (hort where it is brifldy llricken. 
“ The jewellers prefer thofe fragments which, when 
broken from the tree, appear in the interior of a brown 
and purple colour, occafionally ltriped with grey or white 
veins. The more prevalent the purple or pink, the more 
the (lone is valued. When poliihed, and well feleCted, it 
affumes a great variety of colours, refembling molt fre¬ 
quently agate, changing from a dark brown grey to bright 
red, with white veins. The red, when well chofen, might 
eafily be taken for cornelians : it is generally preferred 
for necklaces, when cut in flat circles, and fet according 
to the tafte of the artift. The grey looks bell in beads, 
and is ul’ed in that lhape for necklaces and bracelets, ar¬ 
ranged in the ufual way. 
“ On the weltern or oppofite fide of the village, and 
within a quarter of a mile from it, there is another hill, 
much higher than thole already defcribed. It is entirely 
covered with large blue granite Hones, and tapers into a 
bare pointed rock. In this hill there is no fign whatever 
of petrifaction, and its afpeCt is quite oppofite to that of 
the other range.” 
Pinus, the pin,e-tree; found in Swifferland, and 
various parts of Weftphalia. 
In a paper read before the French National Inllitute, 
in 1799, it appears that C. Viilars, profeffor of natural 
liiftory, of Grenohle, faw, near a glacier in the depart¬ 
ment of Here, fome foffil wood buried among turf at the 
height of 2500 yards above the level of the lea, and 920 
yards above the moll elevated line at which wood grows 
at 
