"A forest or grove of the large ribbed trees known as _Sigillariæ_ was either submerged by subsidence or, growing on low ground, was invaded with the muddy waters of an inundation, or successive inundations, so that the trunks were buried to the depth of several feet. The projecting tops having been removed by subaerial decay, the buried stumps became hollow, while their hard outer bark remained intact. They thus became hollow cylinders in a vertical position and open at the top. The surface having then become dry land, covered with vegetation, was haunted by small quadrupeds and other land animals, which from time to time fell into the open holes, in some cases nine feet deep, and could not extricate themselves. On their death, and the decomposition of their soft parts, their bones and other hard portions remained in the bottom of the tree intermixed with any vegetable debris or soil washed in by rain, and which formed thin layers separating successive animal deposits from each other. Finally, the area was again submerged or overflowed by water, bearing sand and mud. The hollow trees were filled to the top and their animal contents thus sealed up. At length the material filling the trees was by pressure and the access of cementing matter hardened to stone, not infrequently harder than that of the contained beds, and the whole being tilted to an angle of 20°, and elevated into land exposed to the action of the tide and waves, these singular coffins present themselves as stony cylinders projecting from the cliff or reef, and can be extracted and their contents studied. The singular combination of accidents above detailed was, of course, of very rare occurrence, and, in point of fact, we know only one set of beds at the South Joggins in which such remains so preserved occur; nor is there, so far as I am aware, any other known instance elsewhere. Even in the beds in question, only a portion of the trees, about 15 out of 30, have afforded animal remains. We have, however, thus been enabled to obtain specimens of a number of species which would probably otherwise have been unknown, being less likely than others to be preserved in properly aqueous deposits. Such discoveries on the one hand impress us with the imperfection of the geological record; on the other, they show us the singular provisions which have been made in the course of geological time for preserving the relics of the ancient world, and which await the industry and skill of collectors to disclose their hidden treasures. "There is evidence in coprolitic matter on one of the surfaces within the trunks, and also in certain trails on these surfaces, that some of the imprisoned animals lived for a time in their subterranean prisons; that they crept around their walls in search of a way of escape, and that the larger animals fed on smaller species entrapped along with them."