Observations on fossil vegetables : accompanied by representations of their internal structure, as seen through the microscope / by Henry Witham.

  • Witham, Henry Thornton Maire, 1779-1844.
Date:
1831
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations on fossil vegetables : accompanied by representations of their internal structure, as seen through the microscope / by Henry Witham. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    by a sight of some magnificent specimens of plants belonging to M. Brong- niart’s first period of vegetable creation. The two varieties which pre- sented themselves, appeared to belong to his third class, the vascular crypto- gamic. The first was referrible to the Stigmariae (Lycopodiaccaj); the second to the Sigillariaa (Filiccs). The latter were fine specimens, of great cir- cumference. Two of them, which were situated in the space cleared out to get at the lead-ore, stand erect, and have their roots firmly imbedded in a thin stratum of bituminous shale, much carbonized. I should think the height •of one of these prodigious fern stumps may be about five feet, while its dia- meter probably exceeds two. The other, which has been kindly presented to me, may be seen in my museum, at No. 14, Great King Street. It has, I understand, been the opinion of some gentlemen who have vi- sited these ancient relics, that they were washed into, and deposited in, their present situation by some aqueous revolution. To this conclusion I must object, for two reasons; 1st, Because the roots are firmly imbedded in the shale, as if they had remained undisturbed in their original earthy envelope; and, 2dly, Because there may be discovered in each cheek of the vein, other trunks of these members of the ancient flora, in the solid rock, the position and appearance of which are more consistent with the supposition of their having grown on the spot where they are at present found. The confused heaping, breaking, and general indications of violence, which characterise diluvial action, are not seen here. In proceeding towards the east, I received much valuable information from my intelligent friends, Mr Buddle, an eminent coal-viewer upon the rivers Tyne and Wear, and Mr Hutton of Newcastle, whose ardour in this department of science is so well known. In the great Newcastle coal-field, the fossil plants are generally in a hori- zontal position, or parallel to the strata, in the greatest possible confusion, much broken, and with their parts far separated. Indeed, the confusion is the most serious difficulty which the observer has to contend with. It is, how- ever, difficult to trace the operation of a current of water, that has swept off the weaker vegetables, and deposited them where we now find them so beau- tifully preserved. Notwithstanding this, there are to be found, in consider-