Notice of the Occurrence of Upright Calamites near Pictou, Nova Scotia

Abstract

In his ‘Travels in North America†,’ Sir C. Lyell notices the occurrence of Upright Calamites in the Upper Coal-formation near Pictou. At the time of his visit this bed was covered hy the water of a mill-dam, and he notices it on my authority. In the past autumn a part of the dam was broken down by a freshet, and a few feet of the out-crop of the bed exposed. I availed myself of this opportunity to verify the observations which I had made several years ago, and was so fortunate as to find a group of the vertical stems in the exposed portion of the bed. The beds at this place dip to the E.S.E. at an angle of 25°, and consist of grey argillaceous sandstones; the upper part being somewhat hard and flaggy, and the lower very fine-grained and soft. They belong to the upper portion of the Coal-formation, and are associated with brown sandstones and shales, grey sandstones, concretionary limestones, and conglomerates, all of which appear in the vicinity, and frequently contain remains of Calamites, Artisia, Lepidodendron, Endogenites? , and Ferns. The stems of the vertical Calamites in the bed now under consideration are about 20 inches in length, and the largest is 1 inch in diameter. The larger stems are in their upper part at right angles to the beds; the smaller are more inclined, and are often broken off at a lower level than the larger stems. The tops of the larger individuals have not been