G 22 
DR. J. W. DAWSON ON ERECT TREES CONTAINING ANIMAL 
specimens and much information respecting the conditions of accumulation of the beds 
and the manner of entombment of the animal remains. 
Three annual reports have been made to the Society, detailing the plan and progress 
of the work. I may here merely state that, after preliminary clearing and exposure 
of the accessible trees, more especially in the reef extending from the shore and 
uncovered at low tide, the precise position of each was marked on the plan and section. 
The trees were then carefully taken out and their contents were examined. The 
portions containing animal remains were preserved in as large pieces as possible, and 
were boxed on the spot, the material of each tree being kept by itself. On being 
taken to Montreal, the whole of the material was cleaned and examined and carefully 
split up, each surface being scrutinised with the lens under a strong light. The fossils 
found were marked, keeping together the bones belonging to each skeleton, and were 
exposed as far as possible with fine chisels and needle points. As the work proceeded, 
drawings and photographs of the more important bones were made, more especially in 
the case of those which ran any risk of being damaged in the development of neigh¬ 
bouring or underlying fragments. The pieces belonging to each animal were then 
attached to cards or placed in separate drawers for study. This preliminary labour 
necessarily required much time, and though the accessible trees were exhausted in 
1879, the final revision of the specimens and the microscopic examination of the bones 
and teeth have been completed only in the present year. 
I may add that, unless additional specimens are exposed by falls of the cliff, further 
material of this kind can be obtained only by mining in the 6-inch coal supporting 
the trees, and its roof. 
In the following pages I propose to notice as shortly as is consistent with clearness, 
the new facts obtained from the study of these interesting fossils, under the following 
heads:— 
1. Geological relations of the beds containing the fossiliferous trees, 
2. Character and contents of the trees. 
3. Description of the included animal remains. 
1. Geological Delations of the Beds. 
The beds in question belong to Group XY. of Division 4 of the section of the South 
Joggins, tabulated by Sir W. E. Logan and the writer.* The detailed sequence of 
the beds more immediately connected with the fossiliferous trees, as noted in the 
course of the recent explorations, is as follows, in descending order; the dip of the 
beds being S. 30° W-, at an angle of 32°. 
* ■ Acadian Geology,’ pp. 156 to 192. 
