Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1860-11-08
A Vegetable Mummy.

Let Us trace the history Of a single pine
tree of the Oolito, as indicated by its petrifed
remains. His gnared and twisted trunk once
anchored it roots amid the cranuies of pre-
cipice of dark gray sandstone that rose over
some nameless stream of the Oolite in what is
now the North Scotland. The rock which,
Notwithstanding its dingy color, was a deposit
of the lower old red sandstone, formed a num-
Der of the fshbeds Of that system-heds that
were charged then, as not with numerous fossils
as strange and obsolete in the creaton'of the
OOtc as in the creation which at present ex-
lists It was a frm indestructible stone, cover
ed by thin, barren soil and the twisted root
lets of the pine rejected aud thrown backward
from its more solid planes had to.penetrate in-
to its narrow assures for q straitened and
meager subsistence.
The tree grew but slowly in considerable
more than half a century it had attained to
diameter of little more than ten inches, foot
over the soil and its bent and twisted form
gave evidence Of the life of hardships to which
it was exposed. 1t was, in truth,a picturesque
rag of a tree, that for the first few feet twist
ed itself round like an overbOrne wrestler strug-
Cling to escape from under his enemy and then
struck out an abrupt angle, and stretched it.
self like a bent arm over the stream. The
seasons passed over it every opening sprng
gave its fringe of tendeTer green to its splky
foliage, and every returning autumn saw it
shed its cones into the stream below. Many o
delicate fern sprang up and decaged around
it's gnarled and fantastic root single leayed and
simple of form, like the Sc0iopcairj2 of our
cayerns and rock recesses, or irettcd into many
slim pinnate leadet, like the minute maiden
hQir or the graceful lady fern. Flying rep
tiles have pe7ched among ITS boughs the
light winged dragon Fly has darted on wings
of gauze through the opening Of its lesser
twigs the tortoise and the lizard have hyber-
mated during the chills of winter amid the hol-
low of its roots for many years it formed one
of the minor features in q wild and picturesque
scene on winch human eye neer looked and
at length, touched by decay, its upper branches
began to wi,hcr and bleach white in the winds
of heaven; when shaken by a sudden hurricane
that came roaring adown the rayine, the mass
cf rock in which it had been anchored gave
way, and bearing fast iammed among its roots
fragment of the mass which we still fud
there, and from which we read portion OF lis
story, it was precipitated into the foaming tor
rent. Dancing on the eddies, or lingering
amid the pools, or shooting, arrow like adown
the rapids it at length finds its way to the
sea and after sailing over beds Of massive
coraI-thc ponderous Isastre and more delicate
THqmnqsLrcQ-aud after disturbing the Eual
losaur and the BaIemnite in their deep green
haunts, it sinks saturated with water, into q
bed Of aranaceous mud to make its appearance
after long ages, in the world of mau-a mar
bic mummy Of the old Oo.te forests--and to
be curiousIy interrosated regarding its charac-
ter and history-Hugh lLiller's " "Popusar
GeOlQgy."