What I told you, also, of the
change produced on wood by being long exposed to moisture and kept from
contact with the air, will be of use here, as wood, in all stages of
change, is often found in coal-fields, in the same way as in peat-bogs.
_Edward_. That is a very strong circumstance in favour of the
alleged origin.
_Mrs. R_. There are some facts, indeed, connected with this, which
prove this origin beyond question, as you will admit, when I tell you
that specimens of wood are often found partly converted into coal and
partly unchanged, or petrified by some other mineral.
_Edward_. This will, at least, be direct proof that wood may be
converted into coal.
_Mrs. R_. One instance of this kind is mentioned by Brand, in his
"History of Newcastle," as having been brought from Iceland, by Sir
Joseph Banks. Dr. Rennie, in his "Essay on Peat Moss," gives a still
stronger example. In the parish of Kilsyth, he tells us, there was
found, in a solid bed of sandstone, the trunk of a tree in an erect
position, the indentations of the bark and marks of the branches being
in many parts of it still obvious. It rose from a bed of coal below the
sandstone, and the roots which reached the coal, as well as the bark for
an inch thick round the trunk, were completely converted into coal,
while the centre consisted of sandstone.
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