In this way the spongy mass of dead plants
remains free from earthy grains, while the water and the shade of
the thick forest of trees prevent the leaves, stems, etc., from
being decomposed by the air and sun. And so year after year as
the plants die they leave their remains for other plants to take
root in, and the peaty mass grows thicker and thicker, while tall
cedar trees and evergreens live and die in these vast, swampy
forests, and being in loose ground are easily blown down by the
wind, and leave their trunks to be covered up by the growing moss
and weeds.
Now we know that there were plenty of ferns and of large
Calamites growing thickly together in the coal-forests, for we
find their remains everywhere in the clay, so we can easily
picture to ourselves how the dense jungle formed by these plants
would fringe the coal-swamp, as the present plants do the Great
Dismal Swamp, and would keep out all earthy matter, so that year
after year the plants would die and form a thick bed of peat,
afterwards to become coal.
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