The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-02-04
NitI,n,und Dispatfh.
{ I. r1repAy FEBRUARY 1, 1871

run prrn,r,Ep FOREST OF CALIFORNIA
rrrom the Alta Califo'7a a. 1.-The Petrl'
Nod Forrest" discovered near Caltstoga last
I.,ne. OF then first made known to the pub
i;c. is one of the wonders OF the
general State. The name adopted by
common usage conveys an erroneous lm'
preston, for there is no forest nor any
petrified tree in standing position;
There are parts Of dozen Peirlneo
trees lying down, and scattered v erds
square. The largest is five feet in dame
ter and about fifteen feet long. with
nothing TO indicate what became OF
the remainder of the tree. limo case nave
any petrified branches or leaves oeell
found nor more than twenty feet OF the
trunk Of any one tree. The dlameteis u
the trunks vary from one foot TO nve 'eee'
the majority being over two ieet. nt az pe,
IRRIGATION IS complete. All the Wonus d AZ h,,
has disappeared and has been repiaceu ny
a erayish consolidation that seems 10 con-
sist mainly Of carbonate of lime. The gram
NJ tho wood is distinctly preserved IN APP
naarance and also in the firmneSs OF crys-
iaI;zation. for the petritactions split readily
with the grain, so that there is no difficulty
in getting long and straight splinters. The
oronnd near the trunks Is covered with
iarne and small splinters, which 4 person
lgnOEdllt Va VIC NlSlhitN Va
would not suspect OIL first sight to be OF
any material but ordinary wood discolored
hy the weather. Knot holes and fractures
are found in the stone, and occasionally
holes lined with transparent crystals of car
Donate Of lime.
One Of the most singular features Of this
"forest" is that every stone trunk il
broken across tranSverSely, and ut every
break the end is not SO smooth as II SaWn,
but more smooth than trunk broken II
its vegetable condition could be. The wOot
had certainly turned into stone, or been re-
placed by stone before the trunk broke
But the pieces are usually short-not more
than two or three feet long, and the stone
is strong, and piece twelve or fifteen fee1
in length, supported at the ends, would
probably not break by its own weight. we
do not know that any person has broken
these trunks by design, and we have nc
supposiug that the trunks were petritiet
while upright and were af'terward broker
by falling.
Major snyder informs Us that while h'
was superintendent of the Buena Visit;
Ninicultural Company piece of petrifiet
tree, about sixteen inches through and two
feet long, with square ends, was lount
above the wine cellar, which is cut int
tufa and on the adjacent vineyard OF MI
Gundlach a similar piece was found. From
the Buena Vista tract to the petrifled Tor
est the distance, in q direct line, is proba
bly, twenty-five miles, so the petrltication OF
large trees and the peculiar fracture are
not confined to small space.
The tree was probably redwood. The
stone splits better than the common white
oak, and the grain Is closer than some I'll
which we have looked at; and the trees are
too large for any other genus growing in
the neighborhood save the sequoia. In the
largest tree we counted 10 rings, or annual
layers of wood, within an inch, near the
heart, and % near the outside. The ring:
grow thinner as the diameter of the tree
increases. Several weeks ago we copied ar
account of the finding Of two lizards il
these petritied trees, the idea being convey
ed that the lizards had been surrounded
by solid stone ever since the pctritac
ton occurred. We are satisfied that there
is no good foundation for such an idea
and that the lizards had crawled into crack:
of these petritied trees within 4 few months
Just as they do into the crevices of any
rock that gives them a convenient shelter
Instead Of having lived for Il hundred thou
sand years, these little reptiles had proba-
bly, not celebrated more than one anniver-
sary Of their birthday. The petritied for.
est is an important fact, and the world vii
probably hear much of it from learned
men. 1t is within two hundred yards OIL
the Calistoga and Santa Rosa stage road
and tourists leaving here in the morning
can see all there is of it and be back here
by noon the next day.