The Red Cloud chief., 1894-03-16

One reads almost every week in
the newspapers Of tho finding of a
'petrified" human body. Such a
thing never did and never will exist.
Nevertheless, so dense Is the popular
ignorance OF such matters, and so
ready Is the human mind to be de-
luded. that reports of this kind ore
commonly accepted Us facts. It
would be we'll II they could be de-
prlved OF credibility for all future
time by the publication OF q few
truths on this subject.
In the first place .petrifcation" is
not strictly speaking q transforma-
ton OF the original animal or plant
into stone. 1t is merely a replace
ment OF the organic tissue by MINER
al substance. As each particle OF
tho plant or animal decays and dis
appears its place is taken, usually in
water and mud. by a particle OF m in
eral matter deposited from the water
which has held it in suspension.
Thus the perishable original is
changing into imperishable stone,
preserving its form and even its
structural appearance when cut into.
BY such means have the skeletons
OF animals millions Of years old been
preserved In the rocks of the ever
lasting hills. so that they may DO
reconstructed to-day as they were
ages before man appeared on the
earth. But II is only the bones that
are In this way kept; never the flesh,
because water cannot ~percolate
through It. In the same way whole
forests OF trees in the Yellowstone
region and elsewhere are changed
into agate and other forms OF stone.
the hollow logs Of the forest primeval
being often found filed with beau
tiful crystals OF quartz and amethyst.
The cliffs that border the eastern
branch OF the Yellowstone river
afford q view Of a series OF such
forests buried Of top OF one another.
The lowermost level was originally
q wooded plain. hundreds Of thous.
ands Of years ago. Volcanoes burst
forth in the neighborhood. and it
was overwhelmed by their debris.
On top tho later fresh trees took
root and grew, to be in their turn
buried by subsequent eruption. This
sort OF thing continued through
century after century, until 1000
feet OF accumulations were heaped
above the forest at the bottom.
Beneath the hills thus formed
water flowed. as 1t does constantly
through the earth's crust. The
buried trees gradually decayed, and
their decomposing substance was re-
placed by mineral matter. trans
forming them into stone. Afterward
the Yellowstone river cut down
through the strata formed OF volcanic
debris in the ann described. For
thousands and thousands OF years
the great stream plowed out its bed.
until to-day the latter is a cut 4. 600
feet deep-a canon walled in by
towering cliffs. And. as one looks
upward at those cliffs, the buried
forests are plainly to be seen in the
successive layers composing them.
They can be counted easily. the
reckoning carrying the observer
back to the very night of time. when
real dragons and chimeras dire
walked on the earth. swan in the
seas and few In the air.
Nearly all the trees which line
these wonderful cliffs are turned into
agate. Ono can climb up and knock
them off, as they break readily into
sections. Many OF them, which were
hollow before they were buried. are
filled with beautiful crystals oil
quartz and amethyst. Water, perco.
lating into such hollow trunks
brought particles Of silica, which
formed themselves into CRYSTALS
finally filling up the cavities. 1t i.
In the hollow parts OF buried tree.
that nearly all existing crystals O,
amethyst and quartz were originally
formed. They are treasures which
were hidden away by the hand OF ma
ture in old logs and stumps. Anne
thyst, Of course, IL merely quartz
crystal. with a little coloring matter
from metallic oxides. .
Iron, being plentiful in maay
rocks and readily soluble. often re
places organic substances and form,
fossils. In the department OF pre-
historic anthropology at the Smith
sonian institute is preserved O human
skull OF iron. which was dug out Of {
hillside not long ago Not only ha
iron replaced the substance OF tn,
bone, but the brain cavity Is file,
with the metal, SO that the skull
weighs many pounds. The hill IL
which its owner was buried was ricl
In iron ore, OF course.
Shells, inclosed in the strata O
the hills, are sometimes TRANSFORMS,
into opal by q process of fossilization
opal being merely a form OF quartz
P~etrifications, properly termed fossil
remains. OF plants are readily dis
tinguishable in beds OF coal, SO tina
it Is easily determined from wha
sort OF giant ferns and other tree
the coal was originally formed
Among the most ancient OF fossil
r numerous insects. which, despit
the delicacy OF their structure. hav
been preserved through millions {
years for the instruction OF a moder
generation. the very nuf nm IN