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EARTH
SCIENCES

ORG.ANIC REMAINS

OF A

FORMER WORLD.

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ORGANIC REMAINS OF A FORMER WORLD.

ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD ^

GENERALLY TERMED

EXTRANEOUS FOSSILS.

By JAMES PARKINSM.

j i ' , ' ' i • •

IN THREE VOLtTMES.

STOVE LILY
THE THIRD VOLUME;

CONTA1SIKG

THE FOSSIL STARFISH, ECHINI, SHELLS; INSECTS, AMPHIBIA, MAMMALIA, & .

LONDON/

PRINTED BY WIHTTIXGHAM AND ROWLAND,

Goswell Street;
AND PUBLISHED BY SHERWOOD, NEELY, AND JONES, PATERNOSTER-ROW 5

7, WHITE, AND J. MURRAY, FLEET-STREET; W. PHILLIPS, GEORGE-YARD, LOMBARD-STREET; J. ASPERNT

J, M. RICHARDSON, AND J. AND A. ARCH, CORNHILL ; BLACK AND PARRY, LEADENHALL-STREETJ .

AND LACKINGTOX, ALLEN, AND CO. FINSUl'RY-SQUARE.

1811..

EARTH
SCIENCES
UBflARY

C 0 N

VOLUMJ..

LETTER I.

O TAR- FISH... rarely mineralised. ..Fossil Species particularised

Pate

LETTER II.

Echinites... Arrangement of Leske adopted... The various Species of these Fes.'!!? t1f> •. ;'..?d...
Anocysti, divided into Cidares and Clypei , g

LETTER III.

Catocysti, divided into Fibulae, Cassides, Scuta, and Placentae. ..Fibula, subdivided into Conuli
a id Discoides... Cassis, subdivided intoGalese and Galeolae, included in Echinocorys... Scutum,
Echinanthus.. . Placenta, Echinodiscus...Echinocyaraus \%

LETTER IV.
Pleurocysti, Echinarachnius.,.Cor Marinum, Spatangus, and its Species 28

LETTER V.

•?

Spines of Echini... Arrangement of Fossil Spines 37

LETTER VI.

Fossil Shells.. .Arrangement of Lamarck adopted. ..Chiton... Patella.. .Fissurella...Emarginula,.t .
Crepidula...Concholepas...Calyptraea...Conus...Cypraea...Ovula....TerebeIlum....Oliva.,.An-
cilla...Voluta...Mitrft...Columbella...Marginella...Cancellaria...Nassa...Purpura.,.Buccinum
...Eburna...Terebra...Dolium...Harpa.. .Cassis. ..Strombus...Pterocera....Rostellaria....Murex
.,.Fus«s,..Pyrula...Fasciolaria..,Pleurotoma , ,. .t,. ...... 47

CONTENTS;
LETTER VII.

PlL^f.

Fossil Shells continued. — Cerithium...Trochus.«Solarium... Turbo. ..Monodonta... Delphi nula...
Cyclostoma...Scalaria...Turritella...Pupa...Janthina...Bulla....Bulimus....Achatina....Phasia-
nella...Lymnaea...Pyramidella...Melania.... Auricula... .Volvaria....Ampullaria....Planorbis...
Helix. ..Helicina..,Nerita...Natica...Testacella...Stomatia...Carinaria....Haliotis....Sigaretus...
Argonauta fi<>

LETTER VIII.

Nearly straight or irregularly twisted shells, with simple or divided' Cavities. ..Penicillus... Den-
talium...Vermicularia.,.Serpula...Siliquaria 9L

LETTER IX.
Multilocular Shells. ..Nautilus. ..Fossil Species... Orthoceta 92

LETTER X.

Hippurites... Dalmatian and Veronese Fossils of a similar Appearance... Belemnites, Opinions
respecting... Species described UK

LETTER XI.
Ammonites.. .Baculite«...Hamites...Scaphites...Turrilites • 133

LETTER XII.

Nummulites....Discorbis....Rotalites....Lenticulina....Lituola...,Spirolina...Miliola...Renulina...
Gyrogonites « • M.,... 148

LETTER XIII.

Biralves with equal Valves, and regularly formed... Pinna.. .Mytilus...Modiola...Anodonta...
Unio...Nucula...Pectunculus...Arca...Cucullcea...Trigonia...Tridacna...Hippopus...Cardita...
Isocardia...Cardium...Crassatella...Paphia...Lutraria...Mactra....Erycina....Petricola...Donax
....Trigonellites....Venus....Cytherea....Venericardia....Cyclas....Lucina....Tellina...Capsa...
Solen..,Sanguinolaria...Glycemeris...Mya.»J>anopea. ..»..; , 155

LETTER XIV.

Pholas...FistuIana... Teredo. ..Diceras...Acardo...Radiolites...Chama....Spondylus....Plicatula...
Gryphaea.-.Ostrea , „ IQ7

LETTER XV.

Vulsella.. .Malleus.. ,ATicula...Perna...Crenatula...Placuna...Harpax....Pecten... .Lima. ..Pedum
.. .Pandora.. .Corbula.., Anemia. .. Crania. ..Terebratula...Calceola...HyaIaea....Orbicula... .Ian-
gula...Balanus...Tubicinella...Coronula...Anatifa 218

LETTER XVI.
Fossil Fish.,. of Vestena Nuova, Pappenheim, Mansfeld;, &c....of England t,,,,,, ,,,,,.

CONTENTS.
LETTER XVII.

ttgi
of Fishes.., Head, Eyes, Jaws, Teeth, Palates, Proboscides, Scalts, Bones, &c. ............ 253

LETTER XVI*.

Entomolithi... Insects in Pappenheim Limestone. ..In Coal Slate. ..Crabs of Shepey, Verona,
East Indies, and Maestricht...Oniscites...MonocuIites...Trilobites *25?

LETTER XVIII.
Amphibiolithi... Tortoise... Crocodile .........>..... 26S

LETTER XIX.

Fossil Crocodiles... Two Species found in France, differing- from any known Species.. .Fossil Spe-
cies found also in England 270

LETTER XX.

Large Fossil Animal of Maestricht... Ascertained to be neither Physeter, Fish, nor Crocodile.. ,
Opinions of Dr. Peter Camper, M.Faujas, M. Adrian Camper, &c.... Remains of the existing
Monitors. ..English Specimens ........................... 286

LETTER XXI.
Ornitholites , 302

LETTER XXIL

Fossil Remains of Mammalia. ..Cetacea, Whales, &c.... Amphibia... Trichecus, Seals, &c...,Soli-
pedes, the Horse ., 307

LETTER XXIII.
Fossil Remains of Ruminantia... Fossil Elk of I re land... Stags, &c....Ox, Buffalo, Auroch, &c.... 319

LETTER XXIV.

Fossil Bones of Ruminants, &c. in the Islands of Cherso and Osero... Island of Cerigo...AtNice
and Antibes... At Cette...Near Concud, in Arragou...In the Rock of Gibraltar ...,.», 329

LETTER XXV.

Fossil Remains of Elephants. ..Frequently found... Manifest the Existence of one or more Fossil
Species 0... 33$

LETTER XXVI.
Mastodon , 35*

LETTER XXVII.

Fossil Remains of the Rhinoceros.. .Fossil Animal different from the recent Species... Hippopo- ,
tarn us... Fossil Remains... Small Fossil Hippopotamus, an unknown Species. ..Fossil Animal*
approaching to the Tapir .„..,....,..,......,..............,.„...,„„..,....„„.„.„.,.,>,„.„,,„.,„,. 367

CONTENTS.
LETTER XXVIII.

PMM
Fossil Pachydermata of the Environs of Paris.. .Palaeotherium Magnum, Medium, Crassum,

Minus.. .Anoplotherium Commune, Medium, Minus, Minimum. ..Undetermined Animal of
Orleans « ............ 380

LETTER XXIX.

Fossil Remains of Animals of the Order Bruta, of Linnaeus, Tardigradi, of Dumeril... Mega-
therium.. .Megalonix .. 403

LETTER XXX.

Caverns in Germany and Hungary, containing Fossil Bones, &c....GayIenreuth> &c..., Inquiry
respecting the Animals to which they belonged. ..The Remains of two Species of Bears
discovered .,,,. .»,.., • •• • • » 415

LETTER XXXI.

Inquiry continued. ..Remains of carnivorous Animals found in the Caverns of Germany, &c...,
Hyena.. .in Gaylenreuth, Caastadt, &c.... Spotted Panther.. .Animal resembling the Fox,.,
Zoriila, or Polecat of the Cape... Wolf, or Dog... Remains of carnivorous Animals found in the
Plaster Quarries near Paris... Sarigue of America., .An Animal of the Genus Canis...One
approaching to the Civet... Another, somewhat resembling the large Otter.. .Another, entirely
unknown*. •.....,..,.„...... «... 4-27

LETTER XXXII.
Fossils considered in Connection with the Strata in which they are contained... 44O

THE THIRD VOLUME.

AGREEABLE to the plan of this work, the important
observations and discoveries of M. Lamarck and of
M. Cuvier are introduced in the present volume ; but it
may be necessary to notice the circumstances which have
occasioned the account of their labours to be extended
to so considerable a length.

Excepting the Fossilia Hantoniensia of Solander and
Brand er, no really systematic arrangement of fossil shells
had appeared ; the classification of shells, therefore, by
Lamarck, in which particular attention is paid to those
in a fossil state, became highly estimable. . So clear and

VOL. in. a

X PREFACE.

so comprehensive is the arrangement of this naturalist,
that of the numerous fossil shells which were unclassed,
there are hardly any which may not now be placed un-
der an appropriate genus. This circumstance alone, it
is presumed, will warrant the having introduced into
this volume the generic characters of this system.

Very few successful anatomical examinations of the
fossil remains of amphibia, and of land animals, had been
attempted before the justly celebrated Cuvier made them
the subjects of his investigation ; but in consequence of
the ardour with which he has availed himself of the extra-
ordinary opportunities which he possessed, the history of
these fossils must now be chiefly formed with the materials
which he has furnished. The full range of the plaster
quarries, so rich in fossil bones, and the unlimited power
of examining the rich cabinets of fossils which have been
dragged to the National Museum, from different parts of
France and of the Continent; and, above all, the oppor-
tunity of comparing these with the recent bones in the
prodigious collections of skeletons, &c. in the Museum,
have placed before him a rich harvest, which he has

PREFACE. XI

most carefully reaped. By his persevering assiduity he
has accomplished the most important discoveries respect-
ing several unknown animals which have existed in
former ages of this planet. To have omitted an account
of these discoveries would have been a departure from
the intention of the work ; and to have extracted less
than is here given, could not have been done without
inj urious mutilation .

From the frequency with which these invaluable
labours are referred to, it would have been very difficult
to have marked each reference ; it has, therefore, been
thought preferable to give two lists of the references to
the places where the several subjects are treated of in
the original works of these authors.

It is presumed, that the phenomena noticed in this
work may lead to highly useful discoveries, and to the
establishment of important truths. Already the mine-
ralized remains of numerous unknown plants and animals
have added facts, supplementary, as it were, but of a
highly interesting nature, to the sciences of Botany and

XH PREFACE.

of Zoology. From the connected examination of fossils,
and of the strata which contain them, much useful infor-
mation may be expected to be obtained, respecting the
situations in which various useful substances may be
found. Thus, the traces of vegetables generally point
out the vicinity of coal, whilst the remains of land ani-
mals show that, in general, in the places in which they
are found, coal can exist but at prodigious depths. It
is therefore hoped that, in future, the circumstance of
particular fossils being found in certain strata, may be
more particularly attended to : and whilst noticing the
localities of fossils, it is recommended to mark the stra-
tum, as well as the name of the place in which they are
found.

The phenomena particularised in the latter part of this
volume, yield some important knowledge respecting the
structure of the planet which we inhabit, These facts
would also supply, if it were needed, the strongest proof
of the error of those who believe, that there has always
been a succession something similar to what is continually
observed ; and that the human species have had, and will

PREFACE. Xlll

have, a uniform and infinite existence. With almost
equal force will these phenomena oppose that system
also, which considers the form and structure of the sur-
face of this planet, as resulting from a regularly recurring
series of similar mutations.

The loss of whole species or genera, and the late cre-
ation of others, as is assumed in this work, are circum-
stances which strongly militate against both these hypo-
theses. It must, however, be acknowledged, that some
accurate inquirers have doubted whether a single species
has been thus lost. Bruguiere attempted to account for
this apparent extinction of several species of shell-fish,
by supposing that there are many genera, and even
families, which live constantly in the lowest depths of
the sea. These animals, which he termed Pelagian,
being entirely out of the reach of man, can only, he sup-
posed, become known to him by the mineralized remains
of those shells, which have been left in parts over which
former seas have flowed. Among these shells he places
the Ammonite, the Belemnite, and the Orthoceratite ;
but it is expected that it will be shown in the following

PREFACE

pages that all these shells possess a peculiar structure,
which belongs to such an organization, as would have
enabled those animals to raise themselves up to, and even
to support themselves at, the surface of the water.

Many have been led to doubt the total extinction of
some species, and the late creation of others, as circum-
stances which would be incompatible with the power
and wisdom of the Almighty, who, they conceive, would
have formed a creation so complete at first, as to have
required no subsequent change. Without dwelling on
the impropriety of such modes of reasoning, it must be
observed, that the facts are indubitable, and afford a
direct proof of the Creator of the universe continuing
a superintending providence over the works of his hands.
That the extinction of species maybe taking place even
in our days, seems to be shown by the discovery of dead
shells in the island of St. Helena, differing from any
known species of recent or of fossil shells. The small
remaining number of some species of animals, such as the
Dodo and the sloths, seems also to give some support to
this opinion.

PREFACE. XV

It is with much regret that the author finds himself
under the necessity of requesting, that the excuse which
has been already offered in the Preface to the preceding
volume, may be accepted for the much too numerous
Corrigenda which will be found in the present volume.

ERRATA.

Page 10, line 22, for as a, read as forming a.
IV, 1. 26, /or ovi, raid ova.
16, 1. 1 1 , for echinites, read echinitee.
24, 1. 21, /or appear, read appears.
25, 1. 19, for Melita, read Mellita.
28, 1. 4, /or is the, read is formed of the.
65, I. 6 from the bottom, for Fig. 1, read Fig. 6.

70, last line, for The notch, read A notch.

71, first line, after one, read This notch appears,

however, to be accidental.
80, 1. 2, for notch, read groove.
86, 1. 12, for acreting, read accreting.
89, 1. 3, dele Plate VII. Fig. "2.
98, 1. 4, dele and.
100, 1. 23, dele particular.
132, 1. 32, for is, read are.

136, 1. 2 from the bottom, for parieties, read parietes.
139, 1. 4 from the bottom, for enables, read enable.
141, 1. 3 and 4 from the bottom, dele and much

flatter.

151, 1. 6, insert a comma after through.
175, 1. 9, insert a comma between the words clav el-
lata and curvirostra.

181,
184,
191,

192,
200,
205,
216,
231,
232,
233,

241,

. 7, after unknown, add in a fossil state.

. 10, for gives, read give.

. 12, dele and.

>ottom, for France, read Paris.

. 10, for S, read 4.

15, for XIV. read VII.

14, for 1 4, read 16.
. 6, dele Fig. 9, a.
. 1, for Fig. 10, read Fig. 10*.
. 6, for this being, read which is.
. 20, for XI. read XVI.
. 5 from the bottom, for nor, read or.

Page 242, 1. 5 from the bottom, for bodies are, read

body is.

257, 1. 2, for XXIX. read XIX.
263, 1. 19, for formed, read found.
265, 1. 9, for have, read has.
270, 1. 5, for Stanffield, read Staunsfield.
1. 11, for Cuivier, read Cuvier.

278, 1. 22, for axis, read axis or dcntata.

279, 1. 19 and 20, for vertebrae, read vertebra.
284, 1. 26 and 30, for first, read second.

288, 1. 20, for their, read there.

290, last line, for jaws, read jaw.

291, 1. 24, for alveola;, read alveoli.
296, note, for juncture, read junctures.
303, 1. 13, for a part, read a small part only.
320, 1. 27, after seen, add that.

. I. 28, for found, read discovered.

337, 1. 1, for and, read able.

338, 1. 5, for appear, read appears.
345, 1. 12, dele Plate XX. Fig. 8.

1. 23, for teeth, read tooth.

350, 1. 1, for have been, read be.
1. 9, for Fig. 9, read Fig. 1.

367, 1. 14, dels he.

368, 1. 26, for rhinocers, read rhinoceros.
372, I. 9, for Fig. 3, read Fig. 2.

374, 1. 15, for which, read who.
400, 1. 1, 6e/ore the, add with.

405, the second paragraph to conclude with the

word seventeen.

1. 25, after nine, odd cervical.

406, I. 9, dele malar.

412, two lines from the bottom, for forms, read

form.
453,1. 4 from bottom,/or cub frochal, read entrochal.

ORGANIC REMAINS

LETTER I.

STAR-FISH RARELY MINERALISED FOSSIL SPECIES PARTI-
CULARISED.

As we proceed upwards on the scale of creation, the star-fish, or
sea-star, Stella marina, Linckii, et Asteria, Linnai*, is the next animal
which demands our attention, as a subject of the mineral kingdom.
The fossil remains of these animals are by no means so frequent as are
those of many others ; a circumstance which is perhaps not to be satis-
factorily accounted for. The numerous species of these animals which
do now exist, and the comparatively few which are found in a mine-

* The name, Stella marina, employed by Linck, on the authority of Pliny, is adopted,
in these pages, in preference to Asteria, which Linnaeus has used, after Hippocrates and
Aristotle. The only reason for this adoption is, that the confusion will thereby be pre-
vented, which would necessarily arise from the employment, in this place, of the word
astei'ia, which oryctologists, and indeed natural historians, have generally applied to the
vertebrae of the pentacrinites, as may be seen in the preceding volume.
VOL. III. B

ralised state, lead to the supposition, that the paucity of fossil star-fish
depends, either on some circumstance in the original composition of the
animal, which renders it little fit to undergo the petrifying change ; or
on some circumstance, in its mineral state, which prevents its preserva-
tion in its matrix, or its safe extrication from it. All these circumstances
have, perhaps, some share in occasioning the scarcity of these fossils :
it appears, however, to be chiefly attributable to the original conforma-
tion of the covering of the animal, which is the only part which can be
preserved to us by mineralization.

The coriaceous, and even pulpy consistence, of the coverings of these
animals, in a living state, plainly evinces, that the mucilaginous or
membranous matter, bears a very large proportion to the carbonate
of lime, .whicfc -enters into the composition of these bodies. On the
cessation 'of fife, * therefore, a speedy decomposition of this animal mat-
" ' -'

ter "mil- ensue v -aa'A. -fF'om a deficiency of earthy matter to support
its form, the whole substance must, in general, be resolved into a shape-
less mass.

The crustaceous covering of one of these animals, of a smallish size,
was found to be pierced with fifteen hundred and twenty apertures,
through which passed, or to which were attached, as many horny tubes;
serving, according to M. Reaumur*, either as feet, or as organs through
which the water received by the stomach of the animal was ejected.
The anatomy of this animal, however, has not, at least to my know-
ledge, been pursued so far, as to determine the real use of these tubes,
which seem rather to be analagous with the absorbent tubes of the
echinus. For our present purpose, it is only necessary to remark, that
the membranous matter connecting these tubes with the external crust,
or lining the apertures through which these tubes pass, must consider-
ably add to the quantity of animal membrane, on the predominance
of which its perishable nature so much depends.

* Obscwatio de Stellis marinis, Sect. VIIL

From the nature and proportion, therefore, of the constituent parts
of the coriaceous crust of the animal, and its speedy resolution, by
which it is prevented from passing through the several changes necessary
to its mineralization, we may suppose, that the rareness of its being
found in a petrified state chiefly proceeds.

The remains of several species of these animals have, however, been
preserved, and chiefly in chalk and in lime-stone; and almost all of
them approximate so nearly to known recent animals, as to allow of
the considering them as of similar species with those which have been
described by Linck and other naturalists.

The recent animals to which the fossil species appear to be referable,
are: —

1. Pentagonaster semilunatus ; Linck. de Stellis marinis, Tab. xxin.
No. 37 ; xxiv. No. 39 and 45. This fossil has been figured by Schultz,
Betrachtung der versteinerten, Tab. n. Fig. 6, from Pirna. A chalk
fossil, from the Kentish chalk-pits, in which a considerable part of this
lunated star is preserved, is represented Plate I. Fig. 1. M. Walch, in
Knorr's work, Recueil des Monumens des Catastrophes, Kc. gives the figure
of an impression on a flint, from New Strelitz, of a stellite of this species.

2. Pentagonaster regularis ; Linck. Tab. xm. No. 22. A fossil asterite
of this species, with which I was favoured by H. H. Goodall, Esq. of
the East-India House, is figured Plate I. Fig. 3. This is also from the
Kentish chalk-pits.

3. Pentaceros reticulatus, Linck. Tab. xxin. xxiv. No. 36, is found fos-
sil, in fragments, at Chassai sur Saone, according to Davila.

4. Pentaceros lentiginosus, sen, Stella reticulata lentiginosa; Linck. Tab. XLI.
and XLII. I lately obtained a stellite of this species, or very nearly
approaching to it, from one of the Essex chalk-pits. The specimen,
though large and handsome, and possessing the general form of this
animal, would not have given the idea of this particular species, per-
haps, if the two rows of mamillae, or rather bones, had not still existed

in one part of the lunated or falcated margin. Fragments of this species
are sometimes found in the Isle of Sheppey.

5. Astropecten echinatus minor ; Linck. Tab. viu. No. 12. Some frag-
ments of a stellite, of which this stella is supposed to be the analogue,
is depicted in Knorr's work, Supp. PI. vn. b. 3. I obtained, at the sale
of some of the Marquis of Donegal's fossils, a most uncommonly perfect
specimen resembling this species. It is imbedded on a lime-stone, of a
yellow colour, and has only lost a part of one of its rays. I have not
been able to learn where this fossil was found. Portions, and even
complete specimens of stellites, apparently of this species, are found
among the pyrites of the Isle of Sheppey. A specimen, which now
lies before me, has one of its rays perfect ; and has sufficient left, of the
others, almost to determine that it is of this species.

6. Stella coriacea acutangula; Linck. .Tab. ix. x. Fig. 19. The com-
mon yellow star-fish of Lhwydd. A petrifaction of this species was
found at Malesme, in France ; and is figured and described by M. Guet-
tard, Mem. de I'Acad. An. 1763.

7. Stella lumbricalis lacertosa, corpore spharico ; Linck Tab. 2. No. 4. A fos-
sil, containing a considerable portion of a stellite, resembling this species,
is figured by Bourguet, Traitc des Petrifactions, Plate LIX. No. 438. A
very beautiful specimen, imbedded in chalk, apparently of this species,
was sold at the sale of the Leverian Museum. To this species the
small stellites seem to approximate, which are found in the fissile stones
of Solenhofen and Pappenheim, and which bear so near a resemblance
to spiders. One of these is depicted, Plate I. Fig. 15.

8. Stella lumbricalis, corpore penfagono, lateribus lunatis ; Linck. Tab. xxn.
No. 35. Three specimens of a micaceous sand-stone, from Cobourg,
with several stellites, which appear to be ot this species, are figured by
Knorr, Rccueil des Monumens, S(c. Tab. L. 1. 23. Another specimen is
also described by M. Davila, Catal. Tome m. p. 191.

9. Stella lumbricalis, corpore spharico tuberculoso, radiis conice productis.. Under

this denomination M. Walch comprehends small detached stelliform fos-
sils, about the size of a lentil, which are found in St. Peter's mountain,
near Maestricht. Recueil des Monum. Tom n. p. 262. The body of
this animal appears to have been of a spherical form, and large in pro-
portion to the length of its rays, which are conical, and vary in their
number, from four or five to six or nine. The body, as well as the
rays, are beset with tubercles.

10. Stella crinita, decacnemos rosacea, Linck. Tab. xxxvu. No. 66, is
figured as a fossil by Baier, Oryct. Norie. Tab. vm. No. 5 ; and by
Knorr, Recueil des Monumens, Plate vn. Fig. 6.

11. Stella decacnemos, barbata, Linck. Tab. xxxvu. No. 64, appears
also to be figured as a fossil by Baier, Monim. Rer. Petr. Tab. viz. No. 2,
4, and 5; and in Oryctogr. Noric. Tab. vm. Fig. 4.

12. Stella crinita polycacnemos , the Caput Medusa of Linck; Linck.
Tab. xxi. et xxu. Gesner, De Petrificatis, p. 31, mentions a fossil,
which he supposes to be a fragment of this species; and of which, it
appears, that fragments only have been found.

13. Astrophyton, of Linck; or Caput Medusa of Rumphius; Cabinet des
Raretes & Amboiney Tab. xvi. Gesner,, De Petrificatis, p. 31, speaks of fossil
fragments of this animal having also been repeatedly found. This he
repeats, on the authority of Lhwydd, who names a fossil (No. 1132) of
this kind, Astropodium Ramosum; and on that of the intelligent Rosinus,
who also iigures (Prodromus, 5fc. Tab. x. Fig. n. No. \.) what he sup-
poses to be a fossil of this kind. Gesner, however, did not advert to
the circumstance of both Lhwydd and Rosinus having written before
the period at which the pentacrinites were discovered. An inspection
of the figures given by Lhwydd and by Rosinus will directly show, that
the fossils which they have figured are undoubtedly parts of penr
tacrinites.

Mr. Knorr, Sup. Tab. vi. 8 — 17, figures various small fossil bodies,
which he learned came from some part of Italy, and which he considers
as belonging to the Stella fissa kof Linck ; but acknowledges that, even

with the microscope, he was unable to discover the fissure, which, in
the recent stella, is always observahle. He thinks, therefore, that
these bodies must either belong to a species of stelloe entirely unknown
to us, or must be merely the casts of minute stellae.

Plate I. Fig. 16, is a sketch of a fossil stella figured by Baier, Moni-
ment. Rer. Petrif. Tab. vir. Fig. 6, which he considers as referable to
small coriaceous pentapetalous sea-stars.

I am happy in being able to communicate the observations of the
late Mr. Strange, on a minute species of stellae found at Verona, being
in possession not only of an engraving of two species of this fossil which
was executed for that gentleman by Antonius Gregori, and which are
here copied, Plate I. Fig. 17 and 18, but of the manuscript account
of the fossils drawn up by Mr. Strange himself.

Plate I. Fig. 18. " Stella marina fossil is minima, pentagona, stella
pentaradiata in superficie posita, more echinanthi, et echino-spatagi,
centro stellae perfecte rotundato ; radiis ferme ovalibus : superficie cor-
poris sublaevlgata ; colorem priebens, qui ex albo in flavescentem leviter
vergit. Substantia gaudet calcarea. Invenitur frequens ad Castrum Divi
Faelicis intra urbem Veronae : naturalem autem invenimus in littore Nea-
politano ad Cumas Baiarum."

Plate I. Fig. 17. " Stella marina fossil is, minima, pentagona, stella
pentaradiata in superficie posita, centro stellse perfecte rotundo ; radiis
autem ovato-acuminatis ; superficie corporis laevigata, colorem exhibens
alboflavum. Eadem substantia gaudet calcarea, et in eodem loco inve-
nitur cum altera specie supra descripta."

" Species hasce Stellas marinae fossilis pentagonae saepius vidi Romae, Flo-
rentise, Bononiae, Veronae, Augustae Taurinorum, et alioquin in quam
plurimis Italorum musaeis : nihilominus a nemine, quod sciam, hucus-
que descriptae sunt. Inveniuntur tantummodo ad Castrum Divi Faelicis,
intra urbem Veronae, ut supradixi, in caeteris Italiae provinciisconchy-
liferis nondum vidi."

It is with much pleasure I am also able to place before you another

species of these minute stellitee. The specimen from which the copies,
Plate I. Fig. 19 and 20, were made, having been originally in Mr.
Strange's museum, was most probably obtained, with the former, from
Verona.

Plate I. Fig. 20, exhibits the interior part of the fossil. The radii
are connected at their sides by a substance, which, in the recent animal,
was doubtlessly membranaceous. The mouth is surrounded by five sub-
cordiform substances, disposed between the central terminations of the
radii.

Plate I. Fig. 19, represents the superior surface, which appears to
have been smooth. The radii, however, are here unexpectedly sul-
cated ; a circumstance which, however, may have proceeded from the
contraction of the membrane over them, in its dried state.

In its general appearance, this stellite resembles the Stella cartilaginea
of Aldrovandus; or Stella membranacea, as Linck would rather call it.
But its great degree of comparative thickness, and a curiously-figured
process on its sides, mark an essential difference between the two, besides
that of their size.

You have perceived, by the preceding account, that the fossil remains
of these animals are rare. But you will also discover, that as far as
my reading and observations extend, that the difference between the
fossil remains and the recent animals does not appear to be so great as
was observable, whilst examining the fossil animal remains noticed in the
former volume.

LETTER II.

JECHINITES ARRANGEMENT OF LESKE ADOPTED THE VARIOUS

SPECIES OF THESE FOSSILS DESCRIBED ANOCYSTI, DIVIDED

INTO CIDARES AND CLYPEI.

1 HE next subjects of our inquiry are the fossil substances termed
Echinites, the mineralised remains of the echinus; an animal of a
roundish form, covered with a bony crust, approaching nearer to the
coverings of the crustaceous than to those of the testaceous animals, and
furnished with moveable spines ; the mouth being placed beneath. The
characters of many of these bodies are so remote from each other, as to
seem to point out the propriety of considering the whole as forming a
distinct order of vermes, thus marked out as different genera, possessing
other characters, which would well serve for the distinction of species.

Many have endeavoured to bring the incongruous assemblage in the
Linnsean genus, echinus, into a more lucid and instructive arrangement.
To this work the labours of Muller, Phelsum, Bruguiere, and La-
marck, have much contributed : but to no one is more merit due, 'in
this respect, than to the industrious Leske, the ingenious commentator
on Klein's useful work. It is intended, in the following pages, chiefly
to be aided by the arrangement of Leske, who has also availed himself
of the labours of Phelsum and of Muller.

Agreeable to this arrangement, the first class of these bodies which
we shall examine is that of the ANOCYSTI, the vent of which is in the

vertex. These are considered as included in two divisions ; Cidaris (the
turban), and Clipeus (the buckler).

The first natural family in which these bodies may be placed, appears
to be that of Cidaris. The characters are : hemispherical, globular, or
suboval; with porous ambulacra, diverging equally, on all sides, from
the vent to the mouth ; vent vertical, mouth beneath and central.

These, from their rounded forms and their different protuberances,
are supposed to resemble turbans, beset with their several ornaments.
From other characters, derived from their spines, they have obtained
the name of sea-urchins, sea-hedgehogs, sea-thistles, &c. and, those in
a petrified state, have obtained various names, agreeable to the par-
ticular notions which have been entertained respecting their origin.
Thus, they obtained the name of ombria, from the Greek word o^fyog,
signifying the heavy rain, in which they were supposed to fall ; brontia,
from fyovTy, the thunder, by which they were supposed to be thrown to
the earth ; ceraunii lapides, from xegawog, the lightning, by which they
were supposed to be generated and formed in the air ; chelonites, from
their resemblance, in their sutures, to the shells of the tortoise ; and
ova anguina, from their having been even considered by some as the eggs
of serpents.

Of the fossils belonging to this family, the first species is Cidaris
esculenta\ which is hemispherical, with small, nearly equal sized tu-
bercles, between the ambulacra. This species appears to have been
rarely found fossil; it having been described, in this state, only by
Aldrovandus, Mm. Metal, p. 456 ; and by the editors of the description
of the museum of Moscardo, Mus. Moscardi, Lib. n. p. 177; and of
Calceolarius, Mus. Calceolarii, p. 412. A near approach to this echinus
is, I think, to be seen in the beautiful fossil from France, Plate I. Fig. 2,
from the late Mr. Forster's collection. C. saxatilis chiefly differs from the
preceding, in its ambulacra being narrower, and in its being smaller,
and of a more depressed form. It is supposed, by Leske, to have been
frequently found fossil ; he believing it to be figured as a fossil by Plot,

VOL. III. C

Nat. History of Oxfordshire, PI. v. Fig. 5; and copied by Lister, de lapid.
turbin, Fig. 23. To this species he also refers the echinites figured by
Bourguet, Traite des Petrificatiom, Fig. 336, as well as some of the echi-
nites figured by Abilgaard and one or two others. C. hemispherica,
which is however very properly suspected by Leske to be only a variety
of Echinus esculentus, is, as was observed of that species, not a frequent
fossil : it is, I believe, depicted as such by Walch only, Monum. des Cat.
PL E. II. Fig. 1 ; and copied by Leske, Tab. XL. Fig. 7. C. angulosa
appears also to be depicted by Walch only, Monum. des Cat. PL E. II.
Fig. 5. The specimen is of the small variety. Leske describes and
figures a small echinite, a variety of this species, echinites excavatus, from
Verona. Another fossil from that place, which I possess, seems to be
another variety of C. miliaris saxatalis, apparently echinus gratilla, Linn.
Its characters are, ten ambulacra, with three rows of double pores, and
five broad and five narrow areae.

The above are considered by Klein as comprised under the genus
miliaris, from their tubercles being of the size of millet-seeds. Those which
we have next to examine, he considers as a genus, which he names
variolata, from the size of the tubercles, and have been supposed to
resemble the Turkish turban. Cidaris diadema, of this genus, does not
appear to have been known to exist in a fossil state.

The echinite, Plate I. Fig. 4, from Wiltshire, approaches, however,
very nearly to this species. It has ten areae : in the five larger are two
rows of tubercles; those just above the margin being large, and those
above and below these gradually diminishing. These tubercles are all
pierced in their apex, and have the margin of their base crenulated, as in
those of the next genus, and surrounded by a granulated surface. The
smaller areas project beyond the larger, and are formed of two rows
of miliary tubercles. The ten ambulacra are porous, each being formed
by two 'rows of pores disposed in pairs.

The very uncommonly perfect specimen, from Stunsfield, Oxford-
shire, Plate I. Fig. 8, in which a considerable number of spines are still

adherent to the shell, appears to be of the same species with the last
fossil.

As far as the characters can be traced, on the inside of the shell, it
appears, that to this species the specimen, Plate I. Fig. 5, is referable.
This extraordinary specimen, in which so rnany spines are seen im-
bedded in the flint, was considered as one of the most splendid fossils in
the Leverian Museum.

Cidaris subangularis, ofLeske, Kleinii, Tab. in. C. D. does not appear
to be known as a fossil. Cidaris fenestrata, of Leske, Kleinii, Tab. iv.
A. B. he thinks, is the analogue of the echinite figured by Scilla, Tab. xi. •
No. 1, Fig. 2; and by Walch, PI. E. i. a. 1. The Echinus of Klein,
T. iv. c. D. is considered by Leske as referable to E. lucunter, of Lin-
naeus. He names it, therefore, C. lucunter; and observes, that it is
rarely seen petrified: he however believes the fossil echinus, figured
by Morton, Nat. Hist, of Northumberland, P. x. F. 2, to be of this
species.

Echinites ovarius, Langii, is a small fossil, in which the characters of
the species 'are discoverable. It is figured by Plot, Hist, of Oxfordshire,
Plate v. Fig. 6, and copied by Lister, de Lap. turbin. Fig. 24. Lhwydd
has also given a figure of this fossil, Lithophylacii Ichnogmph. Tab. ix.
Fig. 940.

Small specimens, of an elliptical form, are found in the Wiltshire
chalk-pits, which appear to possess the characters of C.fenestrata, of Leske
and • of Klein, and which are figured by the latter, Tab. iv. A. B. But
the echinus, of which three specimens are represented by Klein, Tab. v.
a, b, c, named C rupestris by Leske, has perhaps an equal claim to be
the analogue of this Wiltshire echinite, the difference not being ascer-
tainable; but the agreement is by no means sufficient to warrant their
being assumed as of the same species.

C. calamaris araneiformis, stellata, radiata, violacea, do not appear to
have been remarked in a mineralised state. C. circinnatus is only known

as a fossil, and is figured by Rumphius, Amb. PL LIX. Fig. c. and by
Breynius, p. 55, who names it Echinometra Circinnata.

The chalk specimen, Plate I. Fig. 10, from Kent, does not sufficiently
agree with any species with which 1 am acquainted, to allow of its being
supposed to be exactly analagous. It may, however, be considered as
belonging to this genus (variolata.)

The third genus of Cidaris is C. mammillata. The first species of this
genus is distinguished by Leske by the name of the genus, and figured
by Klein, Tab. vi. A. B. c. D. The shell of this species is elliptical and
depressed. The areae are, five large, and as many small, beset with
papilla?, not perforated, and of a size proportioned to the areae: the
ambulacra are singly porous. This species is not very common in a fossil
state. The fossil referred to by Leske, in Bourguet, Fig. 337, is cer-
tainly of this species ; but that of Lister cannot be spoken of so deci-
dedly.

The next species, C. papillata, Lesk. and E. cidaris, Lin. the moorish
turban (cidaris mauri), is round in its circumference, and rather de-
pressed. It has five areae, on which are alternately disposed two rows
of mammilla?, each of these being surmounted by a perforated papilla,
crenulated at its base, and surrounded by a distinct groove : the rest of
the area being filled by minute puncta and granular projections. Each
papillary tubercle of this echinus has its own plate. Between each pair
of ambulacra, which are biporous and undulating, is a narrow granu-
lated band : these are considered by Leske as the less area?.

Petrified specimens of this species have been frequently figured and
described. These are, the ovi anguini of Pliny, and the brontix. of Agri-
cola. They are also figured by Plot, Hist, of Oxfordshire, Tab. v. Fig. 3,
4; and copied by Lister, lap. turb. Fig. 22 and 25. Lhwydd, Tab. 12,
Fig. 910, has depicted a fragment; and Morton, two complete speci-
mens, Hist, of Noi'thumberland, T. 10, /. 3, 5. Representations also, of
this species, are seen in most of the works of the foreign oryctologists.

In the figures given by Drs. Plot, and Lister, considerable difference is..

observable. The form of the one is rather orbicular and depressed, and
of the other somewhat conoidal : in the one are no papillae, whilst in the
other they are well preserved. Leske, who has remarked the difference
very correctly, explains it, in part, by considering the latter as a silicious
cast : a circumstance which fully accounts for the absence of the papillae;
but the difference of their form remains unaccounted for. An exami-
nation, however, of the fossils figured Plate I. Fig. 9 and 11, will, I
think, show that this difference is only to be explained, by supposing the
two fossils to be of two distinct species, or at least varieties.

In the echinite from Oxfordshire, of a globose form, Plate I. Fig. 9,
the narrow strip of area, edged by the ambulacra, is formed by four
rows of small and equal sized granular tubercles ; whilst in the other,
Plate I. Fig. 11, from Kent, these areolae are wider; and, except
towards their superior and inferior extremities, are composed of six rows
of granular tubercles, which are large in the external rows, and dimi-
nish as they approach the centre. Its papillae, though perforated in
the apex, are not crenulated at the base. The much greater space of
granulcited area between the papillae, and the conoidal form of the
shell, also help to constitute a difference so great, as to lead to the
opinion, that it should be considered as a distinct species. If this
should be admitted, the species might be distinguished as cidaris papillata
conoidea.

The echinite from Wiltshire, Plate I. Fig. 6, beautiful from its origi-
nal formation, and estimable as a fossil, from its state of preservation
being such, that even somewhat of the original colour of the shell is still
to be perceived, partakes so much of the characters of C. mammillata
and papillata, as to render it difficult to determine with which it should
be arranged. Like the former, its less areae equal half the width of the
larger, both being ornamented with papillae of a proportionate size; but,
like the latter, its papillae are perforated in the apex, and crenulated at
the base; and this is the case even with those papillae which are disposed'
on the Less areae. The pores of the ambulacra, as in the former, dirni-

•nish in number as they ascend; and, as in the latter, are closely bordered
by granular tubercles. It should perhaps be considered as a variation
of C. papillata.

Of Cidarites coronalis it is impossible to speak with decision, the spe-
cimens have been so rare and the descriptions so meagre. C. corollaris,
Plate I. Fig. 7, specimens of which have been so generally spoken of
among the early oryctologists, as ombria and ceraunia, is evidently, as is
very justly remarked by Leske, merely a silicious nucleus. These nuclei
vary in the figures and markings : they are all, however, rather orbi-
cular ; but some are much more depressed than others. But their dif-
ferences are not such as can at all oppose the opinion, that they are casts
of different species of C. miliaris or variolata. The large protuberance in
the middle of each side, is evidently formed by the excess of silicious
matter, beyond that which was necessary to fill the shell.

With equal accuracy does Leske suggest, that the assumed genus of
Klein, of C. asterizans, does not merit the being considered as even a
distinct species: and 1 am happy in being able, I conceive, to point
out the genus, at least, to which this fossil may be referred; which
seems to be that of C. variolata.

In the remarkably perfect specimen of a variation of C. papillata,
Plate I. Fig. 6, a view is obtained of the verrucous appendage, which,
in perfect specimens, is frequently found surrounding the superior open-
ing of the anocysti : of the use of which appendage, notwithstanding
the conjectures of Klein, it must be admitted that nothing is known. A
reference to this peculiar organization, it is hoped, will assist in explain-
ing the riddle which Walch and Leske, with M. Genzmer, have found
so puzzling. In Knorr's splendid work, Supp. x. a. Fig. 3, 4, is repre-
sented a fossil with its cast, which M. Walch considers, with M. Genz-
mer, as an echinus totally different from any with which we are
acquainted. There are in this fossil no tubercles, ambulacra, nor sutures,
as in other echini; but its surface is nearly covered with a kind of tre-
lisse work, formed by lines passing in almost every direction, so as to

form figures bearing somewhat of a stellated appearance. A slight
sketch, showing the form of the surface of this fossil, as given by Walch,
is shown Plate I. Fig. 14.

Plate I. Fig. 12, is an echinite found in the green silicious sand, so
frequent in several parts of Wiltshire. The figure here given is mag-
nified to about twice the size of the fossil. Round the superior opening
of this echinite may be seen a remarkable extension of the appendage
above mentioned; formed chiefly in roundish plates, connected toge-
ther by numerous short filaments, and reaching over nearly a third part
of the surface. In another specimen, these plates are hexagonal, and
exactly fitted to each other. Plate I. Fig. 13, is another echinite from
the same part, which is particularly interesting, from its appearing to
be highly illustrative of the fossils above mentioned. The anal append-
age is here seen, with a trelissed surface, almost exactly similar to that
of M. Walch's fossil, and extending so low down, as to cover nearly
one half of the echinite. If, indeed, this surface had extended over
the whole echinite, it would have very closely resembled M. Walch's
fossil, and have yielded us no further information: but sufficient of the
inferior part of the surface of the echinite is left uncovered, to allow us
to discover, that it has all the characters of a beautiful variation of the
C. diadema.

Still, however, we are without any positive information as to the
nature and office of this part, which is so singularly organised. It is on
future specimens, and on further observations on the living animal, ,
that we must depend for information on this subject. Whether this is a ,
permanent appendage or not; whether it belongs to particular species
only ; or whether it is a part essential to the animal of each species, .
serving to model the increasing shell, or to perform some other im,-
portant service ; are questions which must be answered by some future

investigator.

The genus C. assulata* of Klein, is undoubtedly unfounded^ since the
distinction, which is derived from a distinct view of the assuiae, or plates, ,

composing the shell, and of the sutures by which these are connected,
depending merely on the thickness with which the tubercula are dis-
posed, and on the bowldered state of the shell, cannot be regarded as
even a specific distinction.

Of the several species placed by Klein under this assumed genus, none
have been noticed as fossils, except C. Sardiaca, Klein, Tab. ix. A. B. by
Scilla, Tab. xvi. Fig. 1, and Tab. xxvi. Fig. B. ; C. Botryoides, Klein.
Tab. xi. H. by Aldrovandus, Mus. Metal, p. 457 ; and C. Toreumatica,
Klein. Tab. x. D. E. by Leske, Tab. XLIV. Fig. 2.

I cannot introduce the necessary notice of the Echinites favagmeus in
any better place, I presume, than this. The echinites thus named bear
on their surfaces hexagonal cavities, which give to the fossil somewhat
of the appearance of a honeycomb. These fossils have been noticed by
Encelius, Wormius, Olearius, Oliger, Jacoba3us, and others; but with-
out any rational conjecture having been offered as -to their nature and
origin, until the attention of M. Walch was attracted by a very beau-
tiful specimen, and his ingenuity was exercised in its examination, Mo-
numens des Catastrophes, Tome II. Sect. 1, p. 155. This fossil he describes
as a crystallized cast of an echinite, composed of hexagonal cells, resem-
bling those formed by the bee. These cells, he observes, agree exactly
in their margins with the shape of the plates of the echinus, with which
they also agree in their general form ; and hence he infers, that the su-
tures, by which the plates were connected, had influenced the formation
of these hexagonal cells.

In answer to the inquiry, in what mode is this influence exerted,
M. Walch remarks, that the cavity of the shell being filled by any crys-
tallizing fluid, the first formation of crystals would be, that which would
fill up the small spaces existing at the articulation of the plates ; and
thus would be formed the bases, or margins, of these hexagonal co-
nical cells. These being formed, he thinks, on the principle that
homogeneous particles are most likely to unite, that the successive ap-
proximation of crystallizing particles will take place on these hexagonal

crystallized margins, rather than on the intervening spaces of the shell
itself; and that, by the gradual approximation of the lines of crystals
they formed, have resulted the conical cavities described.

A specimen which I possess, being the internal part of an echinite
from the Kentish chalk-pits, will serve very much to illustrate and con-
firm the observations of M. Walch. The crystallizations of calcareous
spar are here seen formed on the internal surface of the plates, the basis
of the crystals being the margins of the plates. In the silicious nucleus
of M. VValch, the crystals had formed an hexagonal cavity ; but, in this
calcareous mass, the crystals are solid : a difference which might pro-
ceed from the silicious crystals, in the former case, having been formed
on the calcareous crystals, which, being afterwards removed, would
necessarily leave the inferior part of the silicious crystals' hollow.

Small specimens of cidares, in a pyritous state, are sometimes found,
with other fossils, in the Isle of Portland. Very minute shells of this
kind are also found in the Devonshire whetstone, in the state of cal-
cedony : they are also found in a silicious state in the green sand
of Wiltshire.

The echini of the second section, or division, of anocycysti, are distin-
guished as Clypei, from their similitude in form to the round bucklers of
the foot-soldiers of the ancients. The first species of these is, Clypeus
sinuatus, Lesk. the Echinus sinuatus, Linn. Plate II. Fig. I. The upper
surface is convex, and divided into ten areae by ten striated ambulacra.
One of the areae is also divided by a groove, hollowed out from the cen-
tre of the shell to the margin. The ambulacra, at parting frotn the
centre of the shell, expand, but contract at the margin, and thus con-
tinue to where they meet in the centre of the lower part of the shell,
which is rather excavated and grooved where the ambulacra pass. The
whole of the surface c-f the shell is thickly beset with granular tuber-
cula, the largest of which are surrounded by small circular risings. This
species is figured by Plott, Tab. u. 9, 10, and is found chiefly at Tang-
ley, Fulbrook, and Burford, in Oxfordshire : they are also found in

VOL. III. D

Gloucestershire. Plott's engraving is copied by Lister ; and Lhwydd,
n. 971, as well as Morton, p. 233, both describe this fossil.

It is of this fossil that Dr. Plott informs us, Hist, of Oxfordshire, p. 91,
that the centre of these rays being never placed on the top of the stone,
but always inclining to one side, as that at the bottom does to the other,
the axis lying obliquely to the horizon of the stone, gave occasion to a
learned society of virtuosi, that during the late usurpation lived obscurely
at Tangley, by consent, to term it the polar stone ; since, by clap-
ping two of them together, they made up a globe, with meridians
descending to the horizon, and the pole elevated, very nearly corre-
sponding to the real elevation of the pole of the place where the stones
are found.

The Cl. hemisphtfricus, Lesk. Tab. XLIII. Fig. i. taken from Lang.
p. 119, does not appear to belong to this section; even Cl. quinquela-
biatus, Lesk. Tab. XLI, Fig. 3, taken from Walch, PI. E. in. Fig. 4,
is in such a state as will hardly allow of determining its real species. CL
Conoideus, Lesk. Tab. XLIII. Fig. 3, appears to be a rare petrifaction, and
but little known. It seems, however, to agree in every respect with
Echinus magnus, Aldrov. Mus. Met. p. 456.

LETTER III.

CATOCYSTI, DIVIDED INTO FIBULAE, CASSIDES, SCUTA, AND PLA-

CENTk FIBULA, SUBDIVIDED INTO CONULI AND DISCOIDES

CASSIS, SUBDIVIDED INTO GALEJE AND GALEOL^, INCLUDED IN

ECHINOCORYS SCUTUM, ECHINANTHUS PLACENTA, ECHI-

NODISCUS ECHINOCYAMUS-.

W E now arrive at the second grand division, or family, of Echini,
CATOCYSTI, the opening for the vent of which is in some part of the
base of the shell. The first section under which these are arranged by
Klein is that of Fibula, a name which is generally adopted ; although
the echini it includes bear no resemblance to fibulae, but rather to
clothes'-buttons, to which the word is now made to apply. These
echini are divided into two genera. The first, conulus, contains those
which rise from a circular base into a cone, with an acute or obtuse ver-
tex, from which five pair of punctated or crenulated lines, or ambulacra,
pass, dividing the shell into five large and five small areae, that in which
the anus is placed being Tather the largest." By some oryctologists these
have been termed Bufonita and Scolopendrita, and by others, Pilei ; and
by the English Capstones.

The species which constitute this genus are only known as fossils, and
are so variously distinguished by the modification of their forms, and
by other little circumstances, as to render their varieties too numerous
to admit of being specified.

Conulus albogalerus, Lesk. E. albogalews, Linn, deriving its name from
the white conical caps of the priests of Jove, is the first species of this

genus. This species is in the shape of a pointed five-sided cone, in the
vertex of which are five small foramina, from which proceed five small
arese, hordered on each side by bi porous ambulacra ; the remaining
space being filled by five larger areae. The mouth is small, somewhat
retracted; and the anus sometimes inclining to oval. This species is
figured and described by most oryctologists, in consequence of the fre-
quency with which it is found. But it exists nowhere, perhaps, in
greater number, than in. England ; particularly, according to Dr. Plott,
in the southern counties, where the black flint most abounds. Plate II.
Fig. 10, is a fossil of this species, from the Kentish chaik-pits ; and
Fig. 11 is a representation of its under part.

Leske refers the Echiniten pileatum, ore pentagono of Melle, Tab. i.
Fig. 2, to this genus, considering it as its second species, which he
distinguishes as Echinites depressus. The Globulus of Klein, Tab. xiu.
Fig. c — k, and Tab. xiv. Fig. a — k, is denominated Echinites vulgaris by
Leske, and considered as the third species. These fossils are in general not
more than half the size of Conulus albogalerus ; and, like it, are divided
into five large and five small arese, by ten ambulacra. In general, these
fossils are merely casts, and do not retain sufficient distinctive characters
to allow of their subdivision, even into varieties. These fossils, like the
former, are described by almost every oryctologist, and are very fre-
quently found in the gravel of different parts of England : they are the
chelonites of Mercatus, and the brontitt and ombria of many authors.
Plate II. Fig. 3, is a fossil of this species from Sussex. Two other spe-
cies of this genus are mentioned by authors, varying in the number of
their ambulacra : these are, however, of very rare occurrence. One of
these species has only four fascia or areolae, and is named Echinites qua-
terfasdatus. This is figured by Leske, Tab. xi/vn. Fig. 3, 4, 5. It is
also figured by Walch and Gehler. The other species, Echinites sexies-
fasciatus, has six bands. This species has been figured by Klein, Act Ge-
dan. ii. Tab. v. Fig. 14 and 15, as well as by the authors just mentioned.

The second genus of this section is Discoides, the only species of

which is subuculus, and is only known as a fossil. The surface of this
is divided in the same way as the former species. The periphery is cir-
cular. The vertex is much more depressed, and the base rather more
concave. One of this species is represented Plate II. Fig. 7.

Another genus is here introduced by Phelsum, and named by him
Echinoneus. It agrees, in every respect, with E. Discoides of Linnaeus,
except in its periphery, which is rather ovate, and not angular. It has
the same number of areas and ambulacra; the latter being biporous, and
having the pores more distant from each other than in the preceding
genus.

The second section of the class of CATOCYSTI is Cassis (helmet-stone.)
These echinites are distinguished by an oval base, from which the shell
rises in a vaulted helmet-like form. One extremity of the oval, that in
which the vent is placed, is commonly more produced and acute than
the other. Klein divided these echinites according to their size, into
two genera, galea and galeolte ; but Leske, considering the difference of
size as not sufficient to affect the genus, has very properly included
them both under the genus echinocorys. As the echini of this extensive
genus are only found fossil, the changes which they have sustained' from
various kinds of injuries, prevent, in many instances, their species being
exactly determined.

The first species, .Ecliinocorys 'scutatus, Tab. xv. A. B. Kldnii, is in
general as high as it is long. It has, like most others, five large and
five small arese, separated by biporous ambulacra. Minute tubercula
and granulse exist on some parts of the surface, and particularly on the
base and near to the mouth. The base, the circumference of which is
nearly elliptical, is almost flat : the edge, however, is slightly rounded ;
and, in its middle, a prominent slip extends from the mouth to the anus,
near to which, on each side, two bands of minute granulae are disposed.
The mouth is reniform, placed crossways, at the broadest extremity.
The anus is of a roundish oval figure, and is near to the narrow extre-

mity. The spine, which gives name to the species, runs down from
the vertex and along the narrower end, and becomes attached to the
higher edge of the anus. Plate II. Fig. 4, is a species from the Kentish
chalk-pits.

E. ovatus, Lesk. Galea wagrica, vert ice ?mda, Klein, differs from the
former species in being more depressed in its circumference, being of a
rounder oval ; and in being without the -crest- like ridge which runs along
the back of the other species. Another species, Echinocorytes quaterradia-
tus, has been formed from an echinite figured and described by Melle,
Tab. i.' Fig. 7 : but I suspect the absence of the fifth ray has pro-
ceeded from the omission of the engraver, since, in the remarks on this
fossil which are made by Melle, at some length, this remarkable cha-
racter is not noticed.

Among the smaller echinocorytes, most of which are mere nuclei, certain
particulars are observable, which, though hardly sufficient to distinguish
them as varieties, still deserve notice. A variety is marked by Leske,
Tab. xvi. c. D. Klein, Galeolapapillosa; in which, as he observes, the papillae
evidently result from the silicious matter which filled the foramina of the
shell still continuing, whilst the shell which surrounded them is re-
moved. Another, Tab. xvn. a. b. Klein, is named G. undosa, from the
waving lines on its surface, formed by the silicious matter having insi-
nuated itself between the edges of the plates forming the shell.

Part of a remarkable cast of a galeated echinite is shown Plate II.
Fig. 9, said to be from France. Although this fossil is hollow, and
retains such strong markings of the shell, it can still be only considered
as a cast. Its substance appears to be pyrites of iron, which has suf-
fered some decomposition, and has been since frosted over with minute
quartz crystals. Its matrix appears to have been chalk, some of this
substance being yet adherent to it on several parts. Its formation appears
to have taken place, by the shell becoming imperfectly invested, both on
the in and the outer side, with the pyrites, which then obtained a par-

tial covering of drusy quartz ; the acid resulting from the decomposition
of the pyrites subsequently removing the shell, the impressions, which
are plainly discernible, showing the forms of the plates of the shell, and
the sutures by which they were joined. That the quartzy incrustation
took place previous to the removal of the shell, is shown by the spaces
which the shell has left being entirely free from crystals.

The third section of the class of CATOCYSTI is named Scutum by Klein,
and Echinanthus by Leske and Phelsum. The shells comprised under
this section are of an irregular figure, resembling an oblong or angular
buckler. On the base, which is concave, five grooves pass from the
margin, and terminate at the mouth in the centre. The upper part is
ornamented with five rays, which have been supposed by some to
resemble a pentaphylous flower, and by others a five-rayed star. The
mouth, which is pentagonal, is furnished with five teeth of an alated
form and a plumose appearance, and is placed in the centre of the base,
the anus being at the margin. The whole of the surface is beset with
minute circular depressions, with central tubercles.

One genus, Echinanthus, Lesk. comprises all the shells of this section.
The first species, Scutum humile, Klein. Tab. xvu. a. -xvin. b. Echinan-
thus humilis, Lesk. is rather of an oval form, and is divided into ten area*
by five biporous, pentaphyloideal ambulacra, the five smaller areae
being comprised in the pentaphyloid surface formed by the ambulacra,
and having grooves pass across them, and connecting the immediately
opposite pores. Specimens of this species, in a mineralized state, are
represented by Aldrovandus, Met. MILS. p. 499, /. I : Scilla, Tab. x.
f. 2, 3; Tab. xi. No. 2 : Walch, T. E. V. f. 1, 2. This species is chiefly
found in a petrified state in Malta and in Occitania . Dr. Shaw figures
a fossil of this species found in the desert Marah, Voyage to Barbary, Sfc.
Fig. 40, /;. 128, app.

As this fossil may thus be seen figured, in its complete state, in the
works of these authors ; and as its cast is a more uncommon fossil, and

will also serve to convey a satisfactory idea of the general form of this
species, a small specimen of a perfect cast is represented Plate II. Fig. 8,
from Malta.

Scutum altum, vcl Echinanthus altus, has only yet been met with in a petri-
fied state. It differs from the former species in heing higher, and having
wider ambulacra. Figures of it have been given by Scilla, t. ix. /. 1,2;
Bonan. Nat. Hist. t. xxxvi. /. 1 ; by Mercatus, Met. Mm. p. 233 ; and
by Leske, Tab. LIU. 4. A specimen of this fossil, which I possess, may,
I think, be considered as a variety from those which have been figured
by the above authors. Although equally high, its sides rise not so sud-
denly, but more obliquely, to the vertex ; forming, therefore, a more
acute angle with the base. I obtained, at the sale of the Leverian Mu-
seum, a complete specimen, being the nucleus of the echinite of the
above authors : it serves to give a correct notion of the structure, as well as
of the form of this echinite. PI. IV. Fig. 7.

Scutum ovatum, vel Echinanthus ova/us. The fossils comprised under this
species of Leske, differ so considerably in form from the preceding, as
seems fully to authorize their separation into two genera. The difference
which is discoverable between different specimens of the oval scuta
appear, also, to be such, as would fully warrant the separating of them,
with Klein, into species, instead of into varieties, as has been done by
Leske. Fossils of this form are figured by Aldrovandus, Mus. Met. p. 498,
/. 1, 2; Mercatus, Mus. Metal, p. 232; Rumphius, D* Amboiiische Rar.
R. LIX. /. D. ; and others. The one which is here represented, from
Verona, Plate II. Fig. 5, is interesting on account of the distortion of its
figure, and particularly of one of its rays.

Leske regards as a doubtful species, Echinanthites orbicular is, since the
specimen from which he forms his species, and which is taken from one
of Knorr's plates, Monumens des Catastrophes, T. u. Tab. E. in. Fig. 3,
is too imperfect to give a correct knowledge of its characters.

The fossil, Plate II. Fig. 2, is, I believe, of this species, and has hardly

suffered the least injury. It formed a part of Mr. Forster's collection; and
is, I conjecture, from Oxfordshire. It needs no other notice of its form,
than that it is nearly circular, deviating only in having that part of the
shell, which is the region of the anus, a little more produced. It not
having been thought necessary to figure the inferior surface, it is proper
to observe, that it is slightly concave, the mouth being pentagonal, and
the vent oval and transverse, and situated near the margin ; but more on
the under side, than it appears in the figure.

The echini of the fourth section, CATOCYSTI, are named Placenta, by
Klein, the shells being flat, like a cake, and variously formed. They are
all ornamented with a pentaphylloidal flower. The mouth is in the mid-
dle of the base, and the anus near to the margin, or to the third region of
the axis. This section is divided by Klein into thfee genera, mellita,
laganum, and rotula, which are comprised by Leske in the genus Echi-
nodiscus, so named by Breynius. The characters of this genus are, a
depressed, discoidal figure, nearly flat on both sides; ambulacra imi-
tating the forms of petals ; a smooth central mouth with teeth ; the top
perforated with four large pores.

The Melita, honey-cake of Klein, forms the first family of this genus.
The species differ in the number of foramina, the situation and the form
of the periphery.

Echinodiscus bisperforatus, E. quinquiesperforatus, E. sexiesperforatus,
E. emarginatus, E. auritus, E. inauritus, E. quaterperforatus, do not appear
to have been hitherto known in a petrified state. The fossil which is
represented Plate II. Fig. 6, is the only fossil which I have seen of this
family, and is undoubtedly one of the first species, Echinodiscus bisperfo-
ratus, as will appear, on a comparison with Klein's figure of the recent
shell, Tab. xxi. A. B. and with Leske's description of that part, which is
here in best preservation. " Ambulacra petalorum ovatorum figuram
sistunt, atque singula ex serie simplici punctorum interiore, et striarum
obliquarum, testam penetrantium, non tamen puncta interiora prorsus
attingentiam, componuntur : in apice ambulacrorum puncta non con-

VOL. III. E

junguntur, sed spatium intermedium relinquunt. Additamenta ad Klei-
nii dispositionem Echinodermatum." P. 196. This fossil, which was
in the collection of Lord Bute, is, I suspect, from Verona.

The second family of this section is the Lagana of Klein. The
species Echinodiscus Laganum, or pancake of Leske, includes, on ac-
count of their similarity, the first and third species of Klein, and are
exemplified in Klein's Plate xxn. a. b. c. The specimen which is here
figured, Plate III. Fig. 10, may be considered perhaps as only a variety
of this species. The shell is white, and of a form between the oval and
pentagonal. The mouth is central, and an obtuse pentagon ; the anus
is small and round, and nearly midway between the mouth and the
margin. Five slightly hollowed lines, proceeding from the mouth, di-
vide the under part of the shell into five nearly equal areas, by coin-
ciding with the centre of the terminations of the ambulacra. These
are ten, biporous and undulating; and form, on the upper surface, five
pentaphyloidal figures, expanding at their extremities. This species is
not noticed by Linnaeus.

Echinodiscus subrotundus, Tab. XLVII. Fig. 7, Lesk.; Scilla, Tab. vm.
Fig. 1 — 3. Leske, who had never seen this fossil, has copied his figure
from that of Andrsea, in Lift. Helvet. Tab. v. Fig. g. But the figures
of Scilla and of Andraea do not, as Leske supposes, agree. In that of
Andrea the edge is acute, and somewhat undulating ; whereas, in that
of Scilla, the margin is obtuse, and nearly circular. The fossil figured
Plate III. Fig. 2, from Italy, agrees with the former, in its edge being
undulating.

This fossil is very nearly circular. Its upper surface is convex. The
base is flat, with five narrow and slightly excavated grooves, extending
in right lines, and at nearly equal distances, to the margin. The mouth
is rather injured, so that its shape cannot be determined. The anus is
small and round, and is placed at about a fifth of the diameter* from the
margin, in an area which is rather smaller than the others. The ambu-
lacra /appear to have borne the figures of oval petals; and are* each,

composed of a line formed of single pores, surrounded by three, four,
five, or even six lines, of minuter pores, obliquely disposed in very small
grooves. What figure resulted from their approximation in the centre
cannot be determined, as the shell is in that part broken.

On examining the surface of this fossil with a lens, it was found still to
retain, in several parts, the small flat imbricating spines. These are
represented in the sketch on the right side of the fossil.

Echinodiscus reticulatus is not known fossil. E. Orbicularis, Tab. XLV.
Fig. 6, 7 ; Lang. Tab. xxxv. Fig. ulthn. ; is a depressed orbicular echi-
nite, about an inch in diameter, with acute oval ambulacra, and ten
porous rays in the base ; the mouth round and the anus small, and mid-
way between the centre and the margin. E. Rosaceus, Tab. XL. 4, Lesk.
et Tab. E, in. 8, Knorr. differs from the former, in being much smaller,
and in its ambulacra forming a floweret, with very short petals, round
the vertex.

Echinodiscus decies digitatus, — octodigitatus et dentatus, do not ap-
pear to be known as fossils.

Under the class Catocystus a new genus has been formed, by Phel-
sum, and named Echinocyamus. The generic characters are, ten stel-
lated ambulacra, passing from the top in straight biporous rows'; the
mouth and anus adjoining in the middle part of the base. The shells of
this genus are not known in a petrified state.

LETTER IV.

PLEUROCYSTI, ECHINAR ACHNIUS COR MARINUM, SPATANGUS,

AND ITS SPECIES.

1 HE third grand class of Echini is the Pleitrocysti, in which the vent of
the animal is on some part of the side, or on the upper surface. The
only genus of the first section, and which also contains but one species,
is Arachnoides, Klein. Echinarachnius, Lesk. so named from its yielding,
by its markings, the appearance of a spider's web. It is not known
fossil. Of the second section, Cor marinum, or sea-heart, characterized
by the bilabiated mouth being in the third region of the axis of the base, ,
and the anus in the side of the truncated extremity, the first genus is
spatangm. In this genus, or, as he terms it, family, Leske, with Muller,
includes spatangus, spatagoides, brissus, and brissoides, not considering the
absence of the groove to be a generic distinction, and finding that the
animals agree in their general construction, as well as in their having
a bilabiated mouth, and being without teeth. The first family is
formed of cor dated spatangi, with a sulcated vertex. The first species is,
Spatangus, cor anguinum, Tab. xxiu. c. D. et Tab. xxm. C. Klein, cor
anguinum Anglicum. Plate III. Fig. 11, is a variety of this species. The
characters of this shell are, its being cordated, and more or less oblong ;
the base, in some, flat, and in others rather convex ; being beset, in this
part, with miliary, and, in the superior, with fewer and smaller granulae.
The back is convex, and divided into five areae, by as many grooved

ambulacra, formed by four rows of pores, connected by transverse lines,
each two rows, uniting at the end of thegrooves. Two of the ambu-
lacra, the shortest, are directed obliquely towards the narrow truncated
extremity ; two others, longer, pass obliquely towards the broader end ;
and the fifth passes straight to the mouth, forming the dorsal groove.
Along the middle of the opposite part, a keeled edge passes directly to
the anus. The vertex is perforated by four large pores. The mouth is
reniform ; the upper lip triangular, and extended over the lower. The
anus is round, and placed in the upper margin of the acute extremity.
From the anus, a slight depression passes to the lower margin ; at each
of the angles of which is a protuberance, surrounded by a broad smooth
surface.

Specimens of this species are found in many parts of Europe, but
particularly in Germany and in England. They are the most frequent
fossils in the chalk-pits of Kent and Essex, and are frequently found
filled with flint. These are the Echinites cordati vulgares of Lhwydd,
Lithoph. Fig. 964—967.

Two more varieties are noticed by Leske : the one, sulcis crispis, does
not, in the figures referred to, appear to possess this particular charac-
ter; and the other, norvagicum, Tab. xxm. E. F. Klein, varies from the
preceding, in being a little more oblong in its form.

Spatangus lacunosus, Tab. xxui. A. B. Tab. xxiv. a. b. and Tab. xxvu.
A. Klein. This fossil, which has indubitable claims as a distinct species,
is of an oval form; its upper surface gibbous, and its under rather con-
vex. At the vertex are two, or, according to Muller, four puncta.
From the vertex immediately proceed four deeply sulcated obtuse am-
bulacra, with angular margins: within the grooves are four rows of
pores, connected by transverse lines. The two posterior ambulacra,
directed towards the narrower part of the shell, are shortest, being
sometimes merely two deepish fossulse : between the two anterior am-
bulacra is disposed another deep groove, which is also beset with striae

and puncta. On each side of the shell, are several gradually rising pro-
minences ; from which pass, in different directions, several intercurrent
lines, on which minute granular tubercles are very thinly disposed ;
whilst the general surface is covered with tubercles of rather a larger
size. The mouth is small, and nearly round, according to Leske : its
situation is, however, not pointed out, nor am I able to point out its
situation in either of the three specimens which I possess. The anus is
round, and placed in the upper margin of the narrower, and apparently
truncated termination of the shell.

From some peculiarity of structure of this shell, the specimens are
almost always distorted. Such is the case with all the specimens which
I have seen, and with most of the representations of them. The recent
shell is figured with its spines, in the sixth volume of Encyclopedic Fran-
fois, PL LIX. Fig. 4. The fossil is mentioned and figured by many
authors, but none of the figures appear to exceed those of Scilla. The
specimen figured in the present work, Plate III. Fig. 12, is from Malta.

Spatangus pusillus, Tab. xxiv. c. d. e. Klein, et Tab. xxxvin. Fig. 5,
chiefly distinguished by a deep dorsal groove, has not, I conjecture,
been yet discovered fossil.

Spatangus radiatus. This species is only found in a fossil state. The
shell is of an ovate circumference, and of a vaulted galeated form.
The vertex is pierced with four foramina, 'where four transversely
striated and biporous ambulacra arise. Two of these pass nearly half
way down the shell, obliquely directed on each side of the posterior
part : a dorsal lacuna also, in which are two double rows of pores, ori-
ginates from the vertex, and, passing down the anterior part of the
shell, is extended to the mouth. The shell is formed chiefly of penta-
gonal assulae. The mouth, which is situated in an oblong pit, in the
broader and anterior part of the base, is reniform, and beset with pores
and tubercula, disposed in somewhat of a stellular form. The anus,
which is nearly round, is placed in a pit at the posterior part, close

above the margin. The shell is remarkably firm and thick ; and its
colour, as well as that of the calcareous matter with which it is filled, is
a light yellow. It is figured by Walch, Tab. E. iv. No. 1 and 2 ; by
Klein, Tab. xxv. ; and by Faujas St. Fond, Histoire Naturelle de la Mon-
tagne de St. Pierre, PI. xxix. ,

A faithful representation of this fossil is given Plate III, Fig. 4 and 5.
This fossil has been sometimes termed Spatangns Mosa, from the circum-
stance of the Meuse laving the hills at the foot of St. Peter's mountain,
where it is found.

Spatangus purpurais, Tab. XLIII. 3, 4, 5, Tab. XLV. 5, Lesk. The recent
shell, as figured by Leske, Tab. XLIII. 3, 4, 5, Tab. XLV. 5, but particularly
in the latter plate, which represents the back of the shell, appears to
agree exactly with the fossil which I have represented Plate III. Fig. 9,
which I purchased from Mr. Forster's collection, and which I believe
to be a Maltese fossil.

This fossil is of a subangular cordated ovate shape. Four large pores, 4
near to each other, form, as it were, the centre in the vertex, which is
rather flat ; and at which four ambulacra, and a deep and wide dorsal
groove, concentre. Each of the four ambulacra is of a lanceolate
petalloidal figure, formed by two bending bands of a double row of
oblong pores, each pair of which is connected by an oblique furrow.
The small spaces, or areae, contained within the ambulacra, appear to
have been beset with very minute pores and tubercula ; and a serrated
line, passing through their centre, connects two rows of* hexagonal
assulge. The remaining part of the superior surface is divided into five
large areae. In the anterior part is the dorsal groove, wide, rounded, and
deep, passing from the base to the vertex, forming a semicircular notch
in the margin, and narrowing as it rises. On each side of the dorsal
groove is a raised triangular flat surface, bordered by two tuberous
ridges, which, rising from the vertex, proceed downwards ; the tubera
€nlarging, to the margin, and slight transverse risings connecting the
opposite tubercles. Similar raised surfaces descend through each of the

other areae ; and similar transverse risings are observable over the whole
upper surface. The flat raised surface, on the posterior part, is raised
much above the rest. On this surface, ten sets of tubercles, lessening
as they approach the margin of the area, are obliquely disposed, in
two rows. On the two lateral raised surfaces, a like number of sets of
tubercles are disposed, so as nearly to form angles along the central line.
The rest of the surface appears to have been beset with numerous small
tubercles ; the larger of which, being connected at rather acute angles,
with the tubercles of the raised surfaces, form undulating lines, giving,
in many places, the figure of the letter W. From the ridges above
mentioned proceed the angles observable in the circumference of the
fossil ; and from the transverse risings, the surface of the shell is formed,
as it were, into numerous facets. This description of the recent echi-
nus will be found to apply very nearly to the fossil here represented :
the difference being only that which proceeds from the injurious changes
which the fossil has sustained.

The inferior surface of the fossil is nearly destroyed ; but from Leske's
account, we learn, that it very nearly resembles that of Spat, pusillus, and
Spat, striato-radiaius. The mouth is oval and transvere ; the upper lip
not covering, nor much projecting over, the under lip. In the superior
margin of the narrow end is the transverse oval anus; and, in the infe-
rior margin, is a renifbrm area.

Similar specimens are, I believe, rare. It has, however, been figured
by Aldrovandus, Mus. Met. p. 475; Scilla, Tab. xi. Fig. 1; and by
Allion, the editor of the French edition of Klein, and of the French
Encyclopedia.

Spatangus depresms, Tab. LI. Fig. 1, 2, Lesk. Under this species are
included those echinites which are of a flattened upper surface, of a
subrotund and cordated figure, proceeding from a dorsal groove, and
having five pair of ambulacral bi porous rows : one pair, in some varie-
ties, passing along the dorsal groove. The mouth is transversely placed
in the centre of the base, and the anus in the middle part of the nar-

rower and higher extremity. This species is only known as a fossil ; in
which state the granular surface is generally removed.

Spatangites subglobosus, Tab. LIV. Fig. 2, 3. This shell is cordated, and
on each side, convex and subglobose; with ten striated and bipo-
rous ambulacra. Leske adds to these the following characters : —
Four pores, in the angles of a trapezium on the vertex ; also, in the
apex, where the two pores unite, a little pit is impressed. The two
neighbouring ambulacra form triangles, the bases of which are in the
periphery, and their apices in the vertex. Two rows of pores in the
dorsal lacuna reach to the mouth ; and, from the vertex to the anus,
a prominent ridge proceeds. Each area is divided by a serrated longi-
tudinal suture, and is divided into assulae by transverse lines, slightly
arched : the assulae of the larger areae are heptagonal, and those of the
less arese are alternately heptagonal and pentagonal. The circumference
of the middle of the base is granulated ; but the superior surface is gene-
rally so worn, as to show only the traces of the granulae : two fas-
ciae, free from granulae, extend from the angles of the mouth towards
the anus. The mouth, which is subreniforrn, is near to the grooved
margin, and is surrounded by tubercles, disposed in a stellular form.
The anus is near to the superior margin of the narrower and undivided
extremity.

This description is given more fully, since the figures given by Leske
do not accord with that of Lister, to which he refers. The figure given
by Walch, Tab. E. iv. Fig. 3, 4, agrees exactly with that of Leske.

Spatangites ananchytis, Tab. LIU. Fig. 1, 2, Lesk. differs from the pre-
ceding, chiefly in its upper part being more conical, its base more flat,
and its periphery more oblong. The figure given by Leske, is, from a
silicious nucleus ; and the only specimen of this fossil, which I possess,
is a spathose nucleus.

Ananchytis, sen Synochitis, of Mercatus, p. 316, and App. 89, ap-
pears to approach much nearer to the form of Spatangites globosus, than
to that of this fossil.

' VOL. III. ' F

Spatangites bicordatus, Tab. XLVII. .F^. 6, Lesk. In this fossil, which
is but rarely met with, there exist, connected by a linear carinated
ridge, two vertices, in which the ambulacra terminate. Both ends, thus
becoming sulcated, the echinite is said to be bicordated.

Spatangites carinatus, Tab. LI. Fig. 2, 3, Led-. This Spatangite, like
the former, has a linear carinated ridge, connecting two vertices ; but,
unlike the former, the narrow anal termination is not sulcated. It is
also figured by Baier, Oryct. Noric. Tab. in. /. 43.

The third family of this genus is considered by Leske as composed
of those echini which form the genus Brissus*, of Klein : the chief cha-
racters of which are : the back not grooved but striated ; four deep cre-
nated and perforated sulci, as ambulacra ; the base tumid ; the anus and
mouth patulous, and the latter bilabiated. None of the varieties of Spa-
tangus brissus, into which, according to Leske, they all resolve, appear
to be known in a mineralized state.

The genus brissoides, of Klein, is adopted by Leske as the fourth
family of Spatangi. The shells of this family, like the brissi, are ovate,
and the back striated, but not lacunated ; the rays are flat.

Spatangus brissoides, Tab. xxvn. B. Klein, is ovate, oblong, subcord-
ated; with four petaloidal, lanceolated ambulacra, with two rows of
pores, connected by transverse striae ; large tubercles existing between
the ambulacra ; the rest of the surface being covered by granulated risings.
The mouth subrotund and renifbrm, surrounded by pores disposed in the
form of a pentagonal star ; the middle of the base raised and tuber-
culated.

Spatangus ovatus, Tab. XLIX. Fig. 12, 13, Lesk. differs from the for-
mer, chiefly in being more convex ; but this species does not appear to
be known fossil.

Spatangites ovalis, Tab. XLI. Fig. 5, Lesk. copied from Walch, Tab.

* Brissus. This word, fyiccras, is applied by Aristotle, and after him by Athenaeus, to
certain genera of echini. The name Brittus is also elsewhere applied to them. Afyvros is
the designation, then, of a genus of echini, corrupted from ufyuroi, i. e. non commcsu apti.

E. in. Fig. (), is particularly interesting, in consequence of two of the
ambulacra, proceeding from two points, at nearly half an inch distance
from each other. The bands formed by three pair arise at the vertex of
the shell, the middle one passing straight, and the lateral ones obliquely,
to the region of the mouth ; whilst the two posterior pair proceed from
a point of the shell just above the anus, and pass round the margin
on each side of the anus. The specimen, figured Plate III. Fig. 3, dif-
fers from that of Leske and Walch in being larger, and not having its
parts so distinctly visible, as to be able to determine the form of the
assulae ; which, in the otherwise very correct description of this fossil by
M. d'Anhpne, are said to be quadrilateral, whilst in the figure they are
depicted pentagonal. Three species appear to exist in a fossil state, in
which the ambulacra do not arise from the same point in the vertex of
the shell.

The specimen figured Plate III. Fig. 8, is evidently of the family bris-
soides, and might be named Spatangites brissoides Avails. The form is
oval; the base concave, and rounded at its margin: in the centre,
where the mouth, which is oval, is placed, the ten biporous ambulacra
terminate separately : the back is convex ; near the centre of which are
four foramina, and the superior lanceolated terminations of each pair of
ambulacra : the anus, large and pyriform, is placed on the back, just
above the margi n .

The following species deserve, perhaps, as is ^observed by Leske, to
be considered as forming a distinct genus, which might be placed be-
tween echinanthus and spatangus.

Echinitcs pyriformis, Tab. LI. Fig, 5, 6, and Tab. XLIV. Fig. 7, Lesk.
The shell is ovate, gibbous, and rather acute at one end ; the base flat.
On the back originate five porous, sub-petalous, ambulacral bands, which
reach to the periphery : a carinated line ^divides the back of the shell,
as it were, in two parts. In the middle of the base is the round^sub-
pentagonal mouth, furnished with five prominent lips. Between each
of the two prominent lips a double series of pores unite, forming a five-

rayed star round the mouth. The anus is round, and placed in the
upper part of the acute extremity of the shell.

One of these fossils, from St. Peter's mountain, is delineated Plate III.
Fig. 6.

Echinites lapis caneri. Tab. XLIX. Fig. 10, 11, Lesk. This name was
given by Leske, from a supposed resemblance to the stones commonly
called crabs'- eyes. The shell is obtusely oval ; in the vertex, which
is excentrical, are four pores; and there meet five biporous, ovato-lan-
ceolated, petalloidal ambulacra, divided at their points. The base is
slightly excavated ; the month is in the centre, but nearer to the nar-
row end ; the anus is oval, and raised on the broader end, in the upper
part of a rounded groove. Plate III. Fig. 7, represents a specimen,
which, I have reason to believe, is from Switzerland.

Echinites patellaris, Tab. LIII. Fig. 5, 6, 7, Leske. This species, which
is smaller than the preceding, is described as differing from all others,
except as to the mouth and anus, which agree in their situation with
those of the two last species. The difference appears chiefly to consist
in the shell being considerably depressed, and the ambulacra being dis-
posed in the form of a star. The shell is ovate in its periphery, the
back is slightly convex, and the base gently hollowed.

I do not know if the curious echinite, Plate iv. Fig. 10, from Verona,
has been yet described. It is very flat, of a rude sub-cordate form, and
possesses a finely-granulated surface, which seems to be so formed by the
points to which the minute spines have adhered. I must however
acknowledge that 1 have only been able to discover one aperture in this
fossil, which is in its margin.

LETTER V.

SPINES OF ECHINI ARRANGEMENT OF FOSSIL SPINES.

IT so rarely happens, except in some particular situations, and under
some uncommon circumstances, that the spines of the echinus continue
long adherent, even to their recent shell, that it is not at all surprising,
that instances of their being connected in fossil specimens are exceedingly
rare. Soon after the death of the animal, unless it happens to have
been placed under such circumstances as prevent the decomposition and
resolution of those membraneous and muscular parts on which the con-
nection depends, the spines become disengaged, and fall off from the
shell. This circumstance, being considered, with that of the numerous
chances of injury, after the death of the animal, and previous to the
period of its becoming a subject of the mineral kingdom, it indeed ap-
pears wonderful that any fossil specimens should exist, where the shell
and the spines continue united.

From the opportunities of seeing the shell and spines in connection, in
a mineralized state, being so exceedingly infrequent, proceeds, in a
great measure, the difficulty of succeeding in the attempt to ascertain the
particular species to which the various fossil spines belong. To the
labours of Klein, Phelsum, and Leske, I must be chiefly indebted for
such information as I may be able to convey to you on this sub-
ject. I shall however endeavour, as I proceed, to confirm their observa-
tions, or correct their opinions, by occasional references to such speci-

mens, in my own possession, as seem to determine the relationship
between the particular species of spines and of echinal shells.

The ACICUL^E capitata, in their respective varieties of forms and
colours, are found chiefly belonging to the echini of the genus miUaris
and variolata.

Instances of their preservation, in a petrified state, have not been fre-
quently mentioned. Two unconnected specimens are figured by Volk-
mann, Siles. Subt. Tab. xxx. Fig. 17, 18 ; and it is this species of which
Gesner speaks, de Petrificat. p. 36 d. as aculei, s. radioli leves, exquisite
cuspidati. Two specimens are also figured by Miiller, Delic. Natur. Tab.
p. i. Fig. 1, 5. But no instances are given, in any author, of their
preservation in a fossil state, in connection with their shell. In the spe-
cimen in chalk, Plate I. Fig. 10, one of these spines, ofasubulated form
and striated surface, is seen in that situation, which gives full reason to
suppose its relationship to the shell which it accompanies. The flint speci-
men, Plate III. Fig. 1, is interesting, from its showing that E. saxatilis
is provided with spines of a similar shape : in one part the spines are
seen, with their articulating terminations, lying close to the points to
which they belonged ; and in another, one of the spines is seen in the
substance of the flint, still attached to the shell. In the remarkably fine
specimen from Stunsfield, in Oxfordshire, Tab. I. Fig. 8, some little
variation is observable with respect to the spines. Like the former, they
are striated, subulated, and rather bent ; but they gradually, though very
slightly, swell a little about their middle, and thence become somewhat
fusiform.

In the flint fossil, Plate I. Fig. 5, which was considered as one of the
most valuable in the Leverian Museum, spines of this class are still seen
adherent to the echinital crust, and imbedded and passing into the solid
flint. These are subulated like the preceding, but are more straight.
The echinite of this specimen appears to be of the variolated kind.

In the interesting specimen of Cidaris papillata, from Calne, Plate IV.

Fig. 20, spines of the same class are fixed. But these appear to have
been longer, and more of a cylindrical form than those above described.

[n a fossil from Hertfordshire, in which an echinite, probably of the
variolated kind, is involved in a mass of pyritous clay, innumerable subu-
lated and capitated aciculae are seen piercing through and laying in the
surface of the mass.

The capillary aciculre are so small as to give but little chance of detect-
ing them, mineralized, in an attached state ; and I know but of one instance
in which they have been found petrified arid adherent. This has lately
occurred in a mass of silicious cordated echinites from Devonshire, im-
bedded in a matrix of chert. In this specimen, the capillary acicular
spines are accumulated on the echinites, in prodigious numbers.

The spines comprised in the class of SUDES are very numerous; but, for
the reasons already related, the spines of this class, in the state of petrifac-
tion, are very rarely found in attachment with their shell. The first
genus of this class, Sudes villarum, Stakes, is divided into three species :
1. lavis; 2. nodosa ; 3. granulate and striata ; 4. torosa, Kc. Of the first
of these species, I have not, to my recollection, seen a specimen ; the
glass making some configurations appear on the surface of all which I
have examined of this genus : nor have I seen any of the second spe-
cies, simply knobbed, the lens generally showing striae also.

Of the third species, granulated, there exist many varieties; among
which, indeed, are several, apparently deserving of being considered as
distinct species. Plate IV. Fig. 3, represents a cylindrical species, with
denticulated rings, which is adherent to its shell, by which we discover
that it belongs to one of the Cidarcs papillata. This spine is capitated ;
and, if it were not in a slight degree tumid at its commencement, might
be considered as completely cylindrical. It is surrounded by eight rows
of denticulated granulae, the surface between which is minutely striated.
In one specimen which I possess, these spines, very little superior, as to
thickness, to those which are here represented, are full five inches and a
half in length.

Of one variety of the torose, or knobbed sudes, a fragment is repre-
sented Plate IV. Fig. 5 ; — and now take a view of Vol. I. Plate VL
Fig. 29, where you will have one instance of the strange, and even
absurd errors, to which we are liable in these pursuits. A specimen,
not indeed so well defined, is there given as part of the branch of a tree.
To mistake the spine of an echinus for the branch of a tree, you may
say, is pretty well; but this is trifling— I will now confess to you, that
in the same plate, we both narrowly escaped the misfortune of having
part of the tusk of an elephant introduced as part of the stem of a tree.
I mention these circumstances, to impress on your mind the great chance
of error in these pursuits, from the obscurity of specimens and the simi-
larity of appearances, in even most different bodies. But to return :—
The fossil just mentioned, Plate IV. Fig. 5, is a very curious variety of
this species, torosa, from Giengen, in Swabia, being the compressed ser-
rated spine which is mentioned and figured by Andrea and Leske. At
its inferior termination, part of its articulating head is yet to be seen.
Thence it assumes a compressed triquetral form, beset both on its edges
and faces with denticulated noduli. This is the Bacolo di santa Paulo of
Scilla, Tab. xxiv. Fig. 2. Representations of fragments of knobbed
spines are given in most writers on this subject.

No fossil specimen of the genus Sudes fortalitiorum, pallisadoes, has, I
believe, been yet known : I shall, therefore, be under the necessity of
offering my observations on such fossils more at large, than the space,
to which I find myself limited, has allowed rne to treat of the former
species.

The genus Sudes fortalitiorum, pallisadoes, is divided by Klein into
two species, the plain and the variegated with bands. For an instance
of the former, he refers us to Rumphius, Tab. xiu. D. D. D. ; and, of the
latter, he gives figures of twenty-two varieties, de Aculeis echinorum,
Tab. xxxiv. Of the spines of this genus, he observes, the substance of
which they are formed is very different from that of which the spines of
all the other genera are composed. Whilst all those belonging to the

class Acicula, and to the genus Sudes villarwn, are formed of a substance
which has a spathose appearance, those belonging to the Sudes for talitio-
rum, or palisadoes, are composed of a porous substance, in consequence
of which they do not sink in water as those of every other genus do.

Among the numerous riddles which the admirers of fossils have to
solve, there has been hardly any one more involved in puzzle than the
original nature of the belemnite. A considerable progress had, how-
ever, been made in removing the mystery, when fresh difficulties started,
in consequence of the peculiar appearances discovered in some fossils,
which were sent to Klein by his friend Fischer, from Studtgard.

These bodies, although of a dark colour and striated from the centre to
the circumference, and generally considered to be belemnites, were, in
the opinion of Klein, the spines of echini. Descriptiones TubuL Mann. p. viii.
To this opinion he was led by their figure, their seeming spathose substance,
and by their striae concentering in a line passing longitudinally through the
centre of the body, in which no trace of a canal was observable. Led by
the examination of these bodies, which bore a resemblance so strong both
to belemnites and to the spines of echini, he formed these, as it will
appear, just conclusions : — That all fossils, resembling belemnites in
their substance and figure, are not to be referred to belemnites ; that all
belemnites cannot be considered as spines of echini ; and that the sub-
stances naturally constituting the belemnite and the aculeated, if not all
the spines of the echinus, were such, as to be capable of under-
going the same kind of change. The fossil figured by Lhwydd, Li-
thoph. No. 1702, Tab. xxi. as Belemnites minor cinereus ari pistillum refe-
rens; the shelled belemnite of Grew, Rarities of Gresham College, PI. 20;
Belemnites sulcatus niger major, of Langius, Hist. Lap. Helv. Tab. xxxvu.
Fig. 3 ; Utrinque perquam acuminatus of Baier, Oryct. None. Tab. i.
Fig. 7 ; and others similar, he conceives, should be considered as spines
of echini, and similar to those which he received from Studtgard : but
those fossils which possess the conical cavity, the canalicula, and the

VOL. Ill, O

alveola, he thinks, must still remain among the belemnites, Descript.
Tub. Marin. p. 9, &c.

How far he was led in his suspicions, respecting these bodies, may be
inferred from the following remarks : — " Neque diffitebimur, probabi-
lem esse conjecturam illorum haud levibus suffultam ratiociniis, qui
belemnitas prussicas omnes, proprie lyncuriorum nomine insignitos, pro
radiis animalium marinorum hactenus incognitorum reputant: quae
animalia, si non ad classem echinorum pertinerent, proxime tamen ad
echinos accederent; nee dessent rationes, quae difficultates a cavitati-
bus conicis, rimis alveolisque petitas sufficienter removerent ; et quseso,
quid turn amplius obstaret, quin omnes Belemnita, Radii, vel Echinorum
vel similium animalium marinorum forent ! In praesenti propositi nostri
non est, aliorum causam agere : nobis incumbit ut claviculis, quas laeves
nuncupamus, patrocinemur, ita ut vix sufficiens ratio dissentientium
appareat, ob quam illae a radiorum echinitorum familia removeantur, et
Belemnitarum classe inscribantur." De AcuL Echin. p. 54. He then
proceeds to show, that among the dactyliform bodies, assumed to be
belemnites, there are some, one of the extremities of which would apply
exactly on the papillary protuberance of an echinus; and quotes the
authority of Rumphius for the fact of the pallisadoe-like spines, scattered
on the sea-shore, passing into a spathose substance.

It is with much pleasure that I find myself able, not only to confirm
the observations made by Klein, but to point out the probable cir-
cumstance on which the perplexing ambiguity with respect to these
bodies has depended. It appears, that the original matter of the pali-
sadoe-like echinal spine, and that of the belemnite, are both of such
a nature, that on impregnation with a fluid holding carbonate of
lime, in solution, they become a spathose substance, similar in colour
and in form of crystallization : — a fact which, I trust, will be found to
assist very much in making out the original nature of that curious sub-
stance, the belemnite.

The echinital spines which are found in chalk, are known by
the chalk-diggers by the names of files, and chalk bottles : by the
former, are meant the striated and prolonged cucurmerine clavicula; and
by the latter, those which are of an olive form. The belemnites have
also, from early times, been distinguished by them as pencils. About
two years since, among the chalk fossils which I had obtained from
Kent, were several pencils ; and among them one, which, when cleared
of the chalk, and carefully examined with a lens, I could plainly per-
ceive was not only not a belemnite, but a complete palisadoe-spine,
possessing a perfect circular articulating cavity, and a grained surface,
somewhat resembling the manufactured surface of seal-skin. Like most
of the recent spines of this genus, it is of a triquetral form, at the end
which is attached to the shell : but, unlike all those figured by Klein, it
not only soon becomes larger and rounded, but terminates in a rounded
cone. Its colour, at its articulating end, is of a very light fawn colour,
which shades off to nearly white, at about one third of the length of the
spine, the remaining part being again of a fawn colour, but much darker
than that in the other part of the spine.

As a collector, I highly estimated a fossil, which I had not hitherto
known to exist, and consequently treasured it with some care. But
comparison with some specimens of the Folkstone belemnites, which
possess somewhat of a similar form with that of this fossil, and at the
same time the transparency of the Prussian fossils, which, although
generally regarded as belemnites, had been suspected by Klein to be
echinital spines, induced me to suspect a similarity of substance in both
fossils. To determine this, I broke the fossil spine in two, and was
astonished to find its substance exactly agreeing with that which is con-
stantly found in belemnites : — a dark brown spar, with striae radiating
from the centre, and intersected by concentric circles.

Having thus got rid of this erroneously assumed mark of distinc-
tion, the brown radiating spar, and ascertained that a body, indis-
putably an echinital spine, had, by its mineralization, been rendered

similar in its substance to belemnites; and having thereby established the
position of Klein, that every body possessing a similar structure with the
belemnite is not therefore to be considered as one of those fossils, we
are absolutely left without any distinctive character, by which, in many
instances, these fossils can be separated. It is true, that we sometimes
have, on the one hand, as in the specimen just spoken of, not only
the articulating termination, but so much of the colpur and surface
preserved, as determines its echinital origin ; and, on the other hand,
we have the concamerated shell, or the alveola, which contained it,
evincing the fossil to be a belemnite. But much more frequently
we meet with fossils, in which, from having been broken, rubbed
down, or otherwise injured, these parts are entirely removed, and their
figure so altered, that it is no longer possible to determine in which
class of fossils they are to be placed. The discovery of this speci-
men induced me to examine, with more care, those fossils in my
possession, which had been hitherto regarded as belemnites; and I was
much pleased at soon perceiving that many, which I should before, with-
out hesitation, have termed belemnites, were in all probability spines
of echini. In three specimens, this origin was indubitable. Plate IV.
Fig. 4, shows a hard and heavy spathose specimen ; which although,
from its form, I had often suspected to be a fossil sudes, 1 never could
before assert it, in contradiction to the opposite opinion of many very
excellent fossilists. Its triquetral form, extending through three fourths
of its length, and insensibly gliding into the rounded conical termina-
tion, with something more than a fancied resemblance in colour, deter-
mined it, in my opinion, to have been originally an echinital spine,
although the further proof of its articulating termination is, by accident,
destroyed. Plate IV. Fig. 19, represents a small specimen, in chalk,
which appears to be a fossil spine of the same species with the preceding,
but more rounded and fusiform : a small annular mark, at one end,
shows, indisputably, its point of articulation.

The spine, . Plate IV. Fig. 14, hitherto supposed to be a belemnite, ii

of a species, not, I believe, described. The inferior extremity, though
somewhat crushed, still yields marks of. its having there had its articula-
ting surface. It is rendered very different from any belemnite or echinital
spine which I have ever seen, from its surface being pierced with nume-
rous small, but distinct, and somewhat regularly disposed foramina.

Of the class Spatkula, in which are comprised small flattish spines,
dispersed, in some species of echini, among the larger and more cha-
racteristic spines, I do not know of .the existence of any fossil species ;
neither do I find any information respecting any fossils of the fourth
class, Radiolus coronatus, figured by Klein, Tab. xxxu. K. ; and by
Scheuchzer, Physic. Sacr. Tab. LVI. The figure, indeed, of this spine,
gives rather the idea of its being a spine of the genus Sudes fortalitio-
rum, which has suffered injury, and has been repaired by the powers of
the animal.

The very curious spine, Plate IV. Fig. 12, from the neighbourhood
of Verona, is referable, I conceive, to this class, or to Sudes villarum
serrate compress^. I am entirely ignorant of the echinus to which it
belongs.

The class CLAVICULA contains many spines, which are exceedingly
interesting in their forms. The first species, termed Glandaria, from
the supposed resemblance of these bodies to acorns, are divided into
those which are smooth and those which are granularly striated. Two
of the latter, of different sizes, are represented Plate IV. Fig. 9 and 11.
No echini, recent or fossil, have been found to which these large glan-
diform bodies are known to belong.

Plate IV. Fig. 1, 18, and 21, may be regarded as those varieties of
this species, which formerly were considered, from their figure, as
petrified olives, or Lapides Judaici. Their recent analogue is still un-
known ; nor was it, until of late years, that it was known to what genus
of fossil echini these bodies belonged.

This circumstance was first ascertained and made known in the highly
interesting travels of M. De Luc, who discovered one of these clavated
spines attached to a portion of the shell. Tom. iv. p. 4(57, Tab. xii.

The echinite found by M. de Luc was calcareous, but filled with
and imbedded in flint. Another specimen, very nearly similar to
the foregoing, is figured and described by Andrea, Lit. Helvet. p. 267.
This specimen was found in the mountain named Randerberg, . in Swit-
zerland. A specimen of this kind, in flint, from Kent, is represented
Plate IV. Fig. 21, with one of the spines lying close to the papilla on
which it had been fixed. In this specimen may be seen the characters
of the echinus. This, it is evident, is a species of Cidaris papillata ; but
differing from any which has been described, in having the articulations
of the assulse much more concealed by the granular surface, which is
extended from papilla to papilla. In another specimen, Plate IV. Fig. 1,
in chalk, four of the spines are still adherent; and in another, in which
several spines and two of the larger arese are imbedded in chalk, the
particular character of this shell is also plainly manifested. In another
flint specimen from Pangbourn, in Berkshire, the spine is somewhat dif-
ferent, the longitudinal grooves being deeper, and the denticulse more
distinct.

The origin, therefore, of the Lapides Judaici, or petrified olives, as
these stones were formerly considered, is therefore now determined ;
and the species of echinite also, to which they belong, is completely
ascertained.

I am indebted to that accurate observer of nature, Mr. Sowerby, for
a very ingenious suggestion, as to the cause of a peculiar variety of
figure which sometimes occurs in these spines. They are sometimes seen
more than usually tumid and irregularty rugose : this he imputes, and I
am assured of his being right, to the spine having suffered from disease.

The second species, Cucumerina, is divisible into several varieties, in
which, although the cucumber form is preserved, very considerable
differences are observable. In some, the surface is neither striated nor
granulated ; but irregularly and slightly nodular. But the surface in
general possessed by these bodies, is formed by small granular or denti-
culated projections, disposed in regular rows. Plate IV. Fig. 2, 6, 8, 15,
16, and 17.

Plate IV. Fig. 15, is one of the cucumerine species of the largest size;
and at Plate IV. Fig. 2, is one of the larger areae of one of the mam-
millated echinites, with a narrower spine of this species attached to it.
These bodies, whose origin was so long a subject of such vague con-
jecture, that by some they were supposed to be wrhite pepper in a state
of petrifaction, may also now be considered as belonging to this genus of
echinites.

The cylindrical and longitudinal sulcated body, Plate IV. Fig. 13, is
sometimes found among the fossils of Shepey Island. Its figure is
undoubtedly ambiguous, it having some appearance of a small branch
of a tree; I, however, entertain very little doubt of its being part of an
echinital spine.

The small bones and teeth of the echini are sometimes found among
the fossil remains of these animals. This has been doubted by some ;
but I have no hesitation in saying, that I have some of these fossils from
Switzerland.

LETTER VI.

FOSSIL SHELLS ARRANGEMENT OF LAMARCK ADOPTED CHI-
TON PATELLA. ...FISSU RE LLA EMARGINULA CREPIDULA

CONCHOLEPAS CALYPTRJEA CONUS CYPRJEA OVULA

TEREBELLUM OLIVA ANCILLA VOLUTA MITRA......CO-

LUMBELLA MARGINELLA CANCELLARIA NASSA. PUR-
PUR A... .BUCC I NUM ....EBURNA TEREBRA DOLIUM HARPA

CASSIS STROMBUS PTEROCERA ROSTELLARIA.....MU REX

FUSUS PYRULA FASCIOLARIA PLEUROTOMA.

IN OTWITHSTANDING the great degree of judgment displayed by the
illustrious Linnaeus, in his systematic arrangement of shells, it does not
appear to be proper to adopt his divisions in the present work. It must,
I believe, be admitted, that many of his genera are too comprehensive ;

added to which, since the forming of his classification, several shells have
been discovered, possessing characters which will not allow them to be
placed under any of his genera. The latter circumstance has indeed
taken place to such an extent with respect to fossil shells, as to have
rendered the formation of a new classification absolutely necessary.

This task the celebrated Lamarck has accomplished, with such inge-
nuity and care, as to give him a strong claim on the gratitude of every
lover of science : and, as was exceedingly desirable, he has, by his clas-
sification, secured the admission of all those shells which are found in a
mineralized state*.

The genius and accompanying zeal, possessed by this philosopher, has
led him fully to avail himself of every opportunity of extending his obser-
vations; and, happity for science, these opportunities have been afforded
him in a most singular degree. His situation, as professor of zoology,
and particularly in the departments of insects, shells, madrepores, &c.
with the superintendance of, and unrestrained access to, the Museum of
Natural History, must have furnished him with unparalleled opportu-
nities of information.

The fossil riches of the country too, surrounding Paris, particularly
as to shells, exceed those, perhaps, of any other tract of a similar size.
At Courtagnon, near Rheims, an enormous bank of fossil shells is open,
in different parts ; among which are very few that were known, or that
had been described, until they had been subjected to the examination
of Lamarck. At Grignon, about seven leagues from Paris, fossil shells
are so exceedingly abundant, that M. Defrance, by his indefatigable
industry, has collected at least five hundred distinct species, more
than three fourths of which have never been before described. These
fossil shells, discovered by M. Defrance, are most correctly copied,
under the directions of the professors of natural history, and the drawings
are carefully preserved in the Museum, for the purpose of ready exa-
mination.

* This part of Lamarck's labours commences in Les Annales du Museum tfllistoire
Naturdlt) Tomei. p. 308, and is continued through the succeeding volumes.

It is true that this bank of shells appears to be exactly correspondent
with that which exists in Hampshire, the fossils of which have been so
well illustrated by the labours of Brander and Solander. But, whilst
the Hampshire fossils are generally broken, from the very soft and fragile
state to which they are reduced by the mud in which they are involved,
the fossil shells of France are found in the highest state of preservation :
and hence numerous species, which can in this island be hardly ever
obtained, are there found in a perfect state. How assiduously and suc-
cessfully M. Lamarck has employed these several advantages, will be
manifested by the arrangement he has formed, and the important obser-
vations which he has made.

Of the testaceous molluscae he considers the cephalous, from being
the most perfect, as being proper to form the first order. With the
exception of the chiton, all the other cephalous conchyliferus molluscae,
he observes, are simply univalves, whilst the acephalous are inclosed in
two or more valves.

Genus I. Chiton. An oblong-elliptical, convex, multivalved shell ; with
transverse valves, partly lying over each other, in a row, on the back
of the animal.

The only notice which I find taken of the fossil remains of this ani-
mal is by Lamarck, who states, that the separated valves only are found
at Grignon. From this separation of the valves he finds it difficult to
determine to what species these fossil remains belong, but conjectures
that it is to C. octovalvis. I am happy in possessing a very perfect spe-
cimen of the fossil testaceous covering of this animal from Grignon, and
in its confirming the opinion of M. Lamarck, as to the number of its
valves, which are eight.

This fossil is in so high a degree of perfection, as to have made me at
one time suspect its being only decomposed by exposure to the air ; but,
an examination with a lens, showed not only the adherent matrix, but
two species of extremely minute fossil serpulae fixed on its convex surface.

VOL. III. H

, 50

This fossil is represented Plate V. Fig. 5, and by its side are sketches of
the minute adherent serpulae.

Lamarck, adopting certain constant characters, which seem to war-
rant the separation, has divided the shells forming the Linnaean genus
Patella, into the five next following genera.

II. Patella. A shield-formed or subconical, and not spiral univalve,
without perforation or marginal fissure.

It appears that nine species have been found, in a fossil state, in the
neighbourhood of Paris : P. dongata, P. dulcis, P. scutatella, P. dilatata,
P. Cornucopia, P. spirirostris, P. retortella, P. Pennata, and P. squamte-
formis.

The patellite, Plate V. Fig. 21, for which I am indebted to the kind-
ness of John Hawker, Esq. of Dudbridge, in Gloucestershire, is from
the stone quarries near Minchinhampton. It is nearly circular, rising
obliquely into a depressed distorted cone, and is marked with longitudinal
radiating undulated rugae, intersected by transverse lines of growth.
It is now completely spathose. Its matrix is a light calcareous stone,
formed chiefly of Oolithi, mixed with numerous minute shells.

In the immense shelly cliffs of Harwich and of the neighbouring coast,
I have found an acuminated, slightly striated patellite, in every respect
resembling P. ungarica, Linn. The longest diameter of a beautiful and
perfect specimen of this fossil, is full two inches and a half. In the same
cliff 1 find a patellite, which appears to correspond very closely with
P. lavis fusca, List, and another which approximates to P. spirirostris,
Lam.

P. cornucopia, Lam. is a beautiful species. Among the specimens
which I possess is one which, although it has the general character of
this species, is much narrower than those depicted by Lamarck ; but I
am not competent to determine whether it should be considered as a
distinct species, or only as a variety.

Among the specimens I have from Grignon is P. dilatata. Lam. and

another, resembling it in form, but very distinctly marked with longi-
tudinal and transverse rugae, much like the Gloucestershire limpet. I
observe the same characters in another fossil patella from the valley of
Ronca, in the Veronese.

This genus presents the best place in which I can notice the remark-
able limpet-like shell described by Da Costa, who never saw but four
that were entire, or nearly so. He places it among the patellae; and
says : " These limpets are very large ; and, like the Concholepas, resem-
ble a single shell of a bivalve. They seem to be of two kinds, and are
more irregular than that shell ; and, instead of being sulcated length-
wise, are circularly wrought, or in a transverse manner, with very high
irregular ridges, not thickly, but rather thinly, set. The shells are very
thick : one sort is high or copped, the other is broad or flattish." Ele-
ments of Conchology, p. 142. The specimens which I possess of this fos-
sil are not sufficiently illustrative of its form. I have however given a
figure of one of them, which was found at Pangbourn, in Berkshire,
Plate V. Fig. 3.

III. Fissurdla. A buckler formed univalve, without spire : the ver-
tex perforated, with an ovate or oblong opening.

The species which I have obtained from the Essex cliffs nearly resem-
ble the F. labiafa, Lam.

IV. Emarginula. An obliquely conical univalve, the vertex inclined,
and the posterior margin slit or notched.

I have repeatedly found a species of this genus in, the Essex cliff,
which, in its elegantly reticulated or cancellated surface, its reclined
vertex, and its size, agrees with P. fissura, as figured by Pennant,
PL xc. Fig. 152 ; and by Lister, Tab. DXLIII. Fig. 28, who describes
it as Patella exigua, alba, cancellata, fissura notabili in margine.

Three species are described by Lamarck : E. costata, E. Clypeata, and
E. radiola.

V. Crepidula. An oval or oblong vaulted univalve, with its apex in-
clined to one end, and its cavity partially divided by a horizontal plate.

VI. Concholepas. An oval vaulted univalve, the apex inclined to the
left side, with two teeth and a sinus at the base of the right edge.

No shell of either of these genera appears to have been found
fossil.

VII. Calyptrea. A conoidal univalve, with the apex erect, entire, and
rather pointed, the cavity furnished with a spirally convoluted lip or
diaphragm.

It is to this genus, as Calyptr&a trochiformu, that Lamarck refers the
fossil which Solander, in consequence of its possessing a kind of spire,
has considered as a trochus, denominating it Trochus aptrtus; and in
another state, tuberculated and more depressed, Trochus opercularis.
Fossil. Hautoniens. Tab. ix. Fig. 1,2, 3. These are found in the Hamp-
shire cliffs, with the other fossils, figured in the work of Brander,
just referred to. They are also found, in a very fragile state, between
Woolwich and Blackheath, in the parish of Plumstead, in Kent. La-
marck also describes another shell, found with the former at Grignon,
which he considers as a distinct species, C. crepieularis, from its not being
completely orbicular, and from its having its spire bent downwards, as
in the crepidute.

Another species of this genus, Plate V. Fig. 10, found in the Essex
cliffs, appears exactly to agree, in its form, with Patella sinensis, Lin. as
figured by Lister, Tab. LXLVI. Fig. 39. It forms a depressed cone,
with a circular base and mammillary apex, and should perhaps be distin-
guished as Calyptr&a sinensis. Some specimens of this shell, which I have
obtained from the neighbourhood of Harwich, have their upper part
completely invested with a mineralized spongy, or alcyonic mass.

VIII. Conus. A turbinated, convoluted, inversely conical univalve :
the aperture long, narrow, toothless, and not contracted at the base.

Of the genus Conus, Lamarck describes four species, as found at Cour-
tagnon and Grignon : — C. Antediluvianus, C. deperditus, C. turritus, and
C. Strombo'ides.

C. deperditus, distinguished by its channelled spire, I have also ob-

tained from the Veronese territory. From this place I also obtained
the fossil shell, Plate V. Fig. 1, which very nearly accords with C. Strom-
boides, Lam. being subfusiform and transversely striated, with a nodular
spire : the nodules, however, appearing to be more projecting, and
turns of the spire more acute, than in the shell described by La-
marck.

IX. Cypr&a. An ovate convex univalve, with the margins involuted;
spire small, and nearly covered over ; the opening long, narrow, and
toothed on both sides.

When we consider that the markings of the recent shell of the genus
Cypraa frequently determine the species, and that these markings are
lost in the mineralization of the shell ; and when it is also considered,
that even the forms of the shells are considerably different, at different
periods of their growth, we must see how difficult it will often be to
determine whether any specific analogy exist, or not, between the
recent and the fossil shell.

Lamarck describes three fossil species : C. pediculus, C. inflata, and
C. Sulcosa, as being found at Grignon.

I have found several of this genus in the Essex cliff, which I am dis-
posed to refer to C. pediculus. The striae must, however, be acknow-
ledged to be finer and closer than in the recent shell. They are per-
haps nearer allied to C. Costata, Linn.

The sulcated specimen, Plate V. Fig. 24, from Verona, appears to
merit, from its size, the being considered as a species distinct from any
at present known. Other species, with a smooth surface, are also
obtained from the Veronese territory.

X. Ovula. A tumid univalve, more or less elongated in a point, at
the ends; the edges involuted, and the opening longitudinal, and without
teeth on the left side.

Bruguiere separated from the genus Bulla, of Linnaeus, the Bulla
ovum, volva, &c. those shells which, having their edges rolled inwards,

being elongated at their extremities, and not being dentated on their
left side, seemed to constitute a distinct genus : these he has, therefore,
collected under this genus, of which I do not know that any have been
found fossil.

XL Terebdlum. A convoluted univalve, with an acute apex. The
opening longitudinal, narrow upwards, notched at the base, and tooth-
legs. The columella truncated.

Bulla terebellum of Linnaeus is also separated from the genus Bulla by
Lamarck, who observes that it approaches nearer to Strombus than to
Bulla ; it differing from the latter in the notch at the base of its opening,
and by the columella being, as it were, truncated at its lower part, as
in Strombi.

A fossil shell of this genus is figured by Brander, Fossil hauton. Tab. i.
Fig. 29, a. and Tab. vi. /. 75, as one of the Hampshire fossils, and
named by Solander, Bulla sopita et volutata. It is a thin subcylindrical
shell, with no spire. A shell of the same species, named by Lamarck
Terebellum convolutum, is found in considerable number at Grignon ;
and, notwithstanding their very fragile nature, many are found in a per-
fect state, proving that they must have lived in the region in which they
are found. The recent analogue of this shell is not known. Another
species, T. fusiforme, is also found in the environs of Paris.

XII. Oliva. A subcylindrical univalve, notched at its base. The
turns of the spire separated by a channel. The columella striated
obliquely.

The genus Valuta, of Linnaeus, comprehends many shells, the cha-
racters of which certainly require their separation into other genera.
This has been accomplished by Lamarck with much care. Oliva is
a genus which he found necessary thus to form, Linnueus having consi-
dered all the olives as only varieties of one species of volute, which he
named Voluta oliva.

Lamarck describes three species of this genus found in the neighbour-

hood of Paris : O. canaUfera, O mitreola, and O. Laumontiana. Shells of
•this genus, but not in a state to allow of their species being determined,
are also found in the Vincentine territory.

XIII. Ancilla, An oblong subcv'indrical univalve, with a short spire,
not channeled : the aperture efiused, and its base slightly notched. A
thick oblique fold at the base of the columella.

The separation of these shells from those of the genus Olivet, appears
to be hardly necessary ; the only material difference being, that those
which he places under the latter genus have not the turns of the spire
separated by a channel, as is the case with those which are allotted to
the former genus. Four species of these shells are found at Grignon.
and Courtagnon : A. buccinoides, A. subulata, A. olivula, and A. ca-
nalifera.

The characteristic of the genus Voluta, of Linnaeus, the folded colu-
mella, is doubtlessly much too general, and belongs to many shells
which require to be arranged under separate genera. Bruguiere, in
the first place, separated those shells which were not notched at their
base : since which, Lamarck has taken from this Linnaean genus such
shells as appeared to him to be capable of forming the new genera,
mitra, colombella, marginalia, cancellaria, and turbinclla.

XIV. Voluta. An ovate subventricose univalve; the apex papillary,
and base emarginated. The columella plicated : the inferior plicae
being largest or longest.

In this genus are comprised, Voluta Cithara, Lam. Encyc. T. 384,
Fig. \.\-Citharadits, Chemn. Vol. xi. p. 297, Tab. 212, Fig. 2098,
2099 This shell is remarkable for the beautiful polish which; it retains.
V. Spinosa, Lam. ; S trombus Spinosus, Linn. ; S. luctator, Brand, Foss.
Fig. 65, List, Tab. 1033. This shell is singularly beautiful, retaining
not only its perfect form and its polish, but its orange-coloured trans-
verse stripes, V. Mwcialis, Lam. is Sir. luctator, Brand. Fig. 65. In
V. muricina and V. Costaria, of Lamarck, is instanced the ambiguity so
frequently observable in fossil shells : the general form of murex in the

former, and of fusus in the latter of these shells, are discoverable, but
blended with the generic characters of Valuta. V. bicorona, Lam. is
Strombus ambiguus, of Brarider; and V. crenulata, Lam. is Brander's
Murex suspensus. Lamarck describes seven more species, which are
found in the vicinity of Paris : V. lyra, V. harpula, V. labrella, V. bulimia,
V. depressa, V. variculosa, and V. mitreola.

The most rare shell of this genus, found in this island, is, I believe,
the fossil volute of Harwich, Plate V. Fig. 13, which I have chosen as
a specimen of this genus. No corresponding recent shell appears to
be figured. Langius gives the figure of a cast, Hist. Lapid. Fig. p. 1 12,
Tab. xxxin. Fig. 3, which certainly bears a very close resemblance to
this fossil. A very faithful representation of a very imperfect specimen
of this shell is given in the Appendix to Dale's History of Harwich,
PL x. Fig. 14, p. 289, excepting that the plicse are too large.

The ovate fusiform figure of this shell gives it an appearance some-
what resembling some recent shells, but by no means sufficient to
warrant the supposition of an identity of species. A shell apparently
of this species, invested with pyrites, has been found in Mr. Trimmer's
grounds, at Brentford.

A very fine fossil shell, bearing much of the form of this volute, is
found in some parts of Yorkshire, I believe in the neighbourhood of
Whitby. This shell is so perfect, and its colours are so well preserved,
that a specimen of it, having fallen some years since into the hands of
Mr. George Humphries, he was deceived into the opinion of its being a
dead shell ; and being satisfied that it was of a species which was en-
tirely unknown, he cleaned it and polished it as a recent shell : and was
not undeceived, until at a subsequent period he saw another specimen,
by which he was enabled to ascertain its being really a fossil.

XV. Mitra. A subfusiform univalve, with a pointed apex, a notched
base, and no canal : the columella plicated ; the inferior plicae being the
smallest.

The lower plicae being smaller than the others, and the apex pointed,

distinguish these shells from the volutes. Lamarck describes thirteen
fossil mitres as having been found in the neighbourhood of Paris : M. cre-
bricosta, M. monodonta, M. marginata, M. plicatella, M. labratula, M. mixta,
M. cmcellma, M. terebellum, M. fusellina, M. graniformis, M. mutica,
M. el'ongata, and M. Cithardla.

XVI. Columbella. An oval univalve, with a short spire; the base of
the opening more or less notched, and without canal. A swelling on
the inner part of the right side. Folds, or teeth, on the columella.

This genus is exemplified in Voluta mercatoria, Lin. List. Condi,
t. 824, /. 23. No shells of this genus have been found fossil by La-
marck, nor am I aware of any having been found in this island.

XVII. Margindla. An ovate-oblong, smooth, univalve, with a short
spire. The lip thickly marginated on the outside. The base of the
opening but slightly notched ; the columella plicated.

Lamarck particularizes three fossil species : M. eburnea, M. dent if era,
M. ovulata. Plate V. Fig. 14, represents M. eburnea, from Grignon.
I am not aware of any of this genus having been found fossil in
England.

XVIII. Cancdlaria. An ovate or subturrated univalve, with the lip
sulcated internally. The base of the opening slightly channeled ; and,
in some, almost entire. Sharp, but compressed plicae, on the columella.

The compressed, but sharp plica?, on the columella, distinguish these
shells from those of Nassa and Purpura ; whilst the corrugated lip detaches
them from the mitra, marginella, &c.

Plate V. Fig. 8, represents a very interesting shell of this genus, from
Courtagnoh. An ovate shell, with a long spire; with thick angulated
ribs, muricated about their centre, and divided by fine transverse striae ;
the columella with three plicae; the opening nearly entire, being con-
tracted rather than notched at its base.

The observations made by Lamarck on another species of this genus,
C. volutdla, a turreted varicose shell, having numerous longitudinal ribs,
with nearly obsolete transverse striae, and a short, scarcely notched, tail,
in a great measure apply to the shell here figured. This shell, he says,

VOL. III. • I

is so singular, that 1 hesitated in determining its genus. It has the pro-
minences of a murex, the folds of a volute, and the general appearance,
with the notch, of a huccinum ; and yet, its other characters and agree-
ments, determine its place to be among the cancellariae. He describes
two species of this genus as fossils : C. costidata and C. volutdla.

XIX. Nassa. An oval univalve, the opening terminating inferiorly
witli an oblique notch, a little channelled ; the base of the columella
hiding the notch, in part, and appearing to be obliquely truncated.

It does not appear that any fossil shells of this genus are known.

XX. Purpura. An ovate univalve, its surface being rather rough
with spines or tubercles ; the aperture notched, and slightly channeled
in the lower part; the columella naked, flat, depressed, and terminating
in a point at the base.

Purpura lapillus, Buccinum lapillus of Linnaeus, is the only species found
fossil by Lamarck.

XXI. Buccinum.. An ovate elongated univalve ; opening oblong,
notched in the lower part, and with no canal ; columella convex, full
and naked.

Bruguiere reduced the Linnsean genus Buccinuin, by taking from it
the genera terebra and cassis. Lamarck has carried this reduction still
further, by forming, with some of the shells, the genera tonna, harpa,
nassa, &c. Those shells only are now disposed by Lamarck, under the
genus Buccinum, as possess the above characters.

Buccinum Stromboides, Lam. from Grignon, is distinguishable by its
full slightly ribbed lip, which forms somewhat of a stromboidal sinus at
its attachment to the spire. This shell in general possesses a considerable
polish : and, as in this specimen, Plate V. Fig. 20, it frequently shows
some of its original colour. It appears that six species have been found
in the environs of Paris : B. stromboides, B. striatulum, B. terebrale, B. de-
cussatum, B. bistriatum, and B. clavatulatum.

B. bistriatum, and B. decussatum, of Lamarck, are, I suspect, both
found in the Essex cliff.

XXII. Eburnct. An oval or elongated univalve, the right edge very

entire ; the opening oblong, and notched at the bottom ; the columella
umbilicated, and slightly grooved at its base.

Buccinum glabratum, Linn. Lister, Tab. 974, Fig. 9, is given as the
type of this genus by Lamarck, who mentions this genus only in his
Systeme dcs Animaux sans vertebres, not noticing it at all among the fossils
of the environs of Paris. A shell, however, exists among the Essex
fossils, which, except in having the columella hardly umbilicated, seems
very nearly to approximate to this genus, and to the particular shell
B. glabratum, which is given as its type.

This shell, which I will venture to call E. glabrata, is figured
Plate'V, Fig. 25.

XXIII. Terebra. A turreted and subulated univalve : the opening short,
and notched in the lower part. The basis of the columella twisted.

Two species of this genus are found in the environs of Paris : T. pli-
catula and T. scalarina. T. plicatula is represented Plate V. Fig. 7.

XXIV. Dolium. A subglobular ventrose univalve, ribbed circularly
across; the right lip dentated or crenulated through its whole length.
The opening oblong, ample, and notched at the bottom.

No shell of this genus appears to have been found fossil.

XXV. Harpa. An ovate, ventricose univalve, with longitudinal
compressed ribs, terminating superiorly in an angle or a point; the
opening notched in the lower point, and with no canal; the colu-
mella smooth, with an acute base.

This genus comprises those shells which had been referred by Lin-
naeus to the genus Buccinum, and entirely to the species Biiccinum harpa.
These shells, like most of those which have been already mentioned,
are sea shells, and are inhabitants of the warmer climates. The only
shell which I have' of this genus, is one which, although it possesses suf-
ficient characters to mark its genus, is too much injured and involved in
pyrites, to allow its species to be determined. Its parallel compressed,
and obliquely inclined ribs, with the pointed angle at their summit, and
the smooth columella, completely, however, determine its genus. This

shell was found in a stratum of dark pyritous clay, at Brentford, on the
premises of Messrs. Trimmers.

Lamarck describes but one fossil species, H. mutica, as found near
Paris.

XXVI. Cassis. A gibbose ventricose univalve ; the aperture longi-
tudinal and subdentated, and terminating in a short reflected canal.
The columella plicated in its lower part; and the left lip flattened, and
forming a ridge on the body of the shell.

Cassis cari?iata, Lam. ; Buccinum nodosum, Soland. and Brander ; is a
beautiful fossil species of this genus.

A very beautiful fossil shell is found in a hill in Arragon, at above a
hundred feet in height. The nodulous rugae, on the left side, at the
lower flattened part of the columella, the dentated right lip, the re-
verted sinus, and the globose cassideai form, determine its genus ; whilst
its transverse rounded ribs, and nodular risings on the upper part of the
body of the shell, mark its species as different from any recent shell with
which I have been able to compare it. It is about two inches and a half
in length.

The hills of Tuscany also yield some fine specimens of this genus.
One of these, about half the size of the preceding fossil, possesses most
of its characters ; but its spire projects more, and is formed of six turns ;
and the mouth contracts, in its upper part, into a sinus, between the
body of the shell and the right lip. The surface of this shell is smooth.
A second of these Tuscan cassidites is still longer in its spire, which is
formed of seven turns> and is characterized by regular transverse circu-
lar markings. In a third, the surface is marked by lines similarly dis-
posed, but alternately larger and smaller ; and the teeth of the right
lip are very prominent and distinct. ,. The general characters of these
shelfs very much accord with Buc. recurvirostrum, Linn, as figured by
Lister, PL 1016, No. 75.

These shells were found by Mr. Strange in the sandy hills of Tus-
cany; and were introduced, with some other curious fossils, in two

plates, engraved for him by Antonio Gregorio, from drawings of Giu-
seppe Menaboni. In the description of these plates he designates these
shells as Bucdno-cassides.

In one of the plates, and under the same designation, is the uncom-
mon shell represented Plate V. Fig. 17 and 19. This also was found in
the Tuscan hills ; and, according to Knorr, it has also been found in
Piedmont. The last turn of this shell is extremely large, when com-
pared with the other four' turns. The spire projects but very little.
The body of the shell is smooth, slight traces of transverse striae only
being observable. The right lip is of considerable thickness, and den-
tated on its inner surface. The left lip is extended along the body of
the shell, up to the termination of the right lip. The aperture in the
middle part is oval, but terminates upwards, in a considerable groove,
which runs between the right lip and the body of the shell ; and down-
wards, in a short reflected canal. A thick projecting fold runs up from
nearly the middle of the lip, and is inserted into the middle of the next
spiral turn.

Three species have been found in the environs of Paris : C, harpa-
formis, C. cancellata, and C. carinata.

The fossil shell, I believe from France, Plate V. Fig. 23, is perhaps
one of the most singular with respect to its mixture of characters.
Viewed at its back, it has the general appearance of a shell of the genus
Harpa; but in its front, its summit, its long slightly dentated aperture,
plaited columella, and widely extended left lip, show its most proper
place to be under the genus Cassis, notwithstanding that the inferior ter-
mination of the aperture, is that of a buccinum, instead of the short
reflected canal of cassis ; and that it has the flat broad columella of Buc-
cinum patulum, Linn, or Pur pur a patula, Lam.

This shell agrees, in some of its anomalies, with the description of.
Valuta depressa, Lam. ; but it seems to differ from that shell, which, how-
ever, I have not seen.

XXVII. Strombus: A slightly ventricose univalve, terminating at its

base in a short notched or truncated canal. The lip enlarges with age,
appearing like a plain, entire, and single lobated wing, with & groove
in its lower part. This last circumstance appears to be particularly cha-
racteristic of this genus.

Lamarck describes but one shell of this genus as found in the neigh-
bourhood of Paris. This is Strombus canalis, resembling, in many re-
spects, the rostdlaria fisturella of the next genus, but differing from it in
having a groove on its right edge.

Fossil shells of this genus are very rare. Some of extraordinary pre-
servation have, however, been found in the mountains of Arragon. In
the Veronese, also, are found small alated strombi, in very excellent
preservation, although very much changed in colour, apparently from
ferruginous impregnation.

XXVIII. Pterocera. A ventricose shell, terminated inferiorly, by an
elongated canal ; the right edge dilating with age into a digitated wing,
and having a sinus towards its base.

Strombus lambis, Linn, is the type of this genus, none of the species
of which are known to me to exist in a fossil state.

XXIX. Rostellaria. A slightly turreted or fusiform univalve, termi-
nating at its base in a lengthened canal, similar to a sharp beak. The
lip whole or dentated, and dilated with age ; with a groove contiguous
to the canal.

This genus is distinguished by the sinus of the inferior part of the
right edge being contiguous with the canal in the beak of the shell, which
does not take place in the Pterocera and Sirombi.

The most remarkable fossil shell of this genus is, Rostellaria macroptera,
Lam. ; Styombus ampins, Brander. Brand Foss. p. 34, PL 6, Fig. 76 -,
found in Hampshire, and at Courtagnon, St. Germain en Laye, &c. in
France. This large and handsome fossil, so finely displayed in Bran-
der's work, is remarkable for the size of its right lip, which is formed
into a wide, round, and rather thin wing, extending from the canal at
the base, over the body of the shell and a great part of the spire. AH

the superior part of this wing forms, at its union with the spire, a lon-
gitudinal channel-like fissure.

o •

A fragment of a fossil shell which I possess, which from its surface
appears to be from France, resembles the spire, with part of the fissure,
of Rostellaria subulata, Lam.; S 'trombus fusus, Linn. The rriost common
fossil shell of this genus is, Rostellaria fissurclla, Lam. ; Strombus fissurella,
Linn. It is very abundant at Grignon. The wing is but small ; it
however is continued in a channeled ridge, over nearly the whole length
of the spire.

Under this genus may be placed Strombus pes pclicani, Linn. Of these
I possess some from Mr. Strange's collection, apparently French fossiis,
in a very good state of preservation, and which do not appear to differ
materially from the recent shells.

In the Essex cliff, 1 once met with a shell of this family, but which
differs from the preceding in having only one spur-like process passing
out of the alated side. My worthy friend Mr. Francis Crow, of Faver-
sham, has, since that, presented me with a similar, but more perfect
shell, in a silicious state, which he found near that town. This shell has
been also found in the Devonshire whetstone-pits, in the same silicious
state ; and it is remarkable that, both in Devonshire and at Faversham,
these shells are accompanied by a bivalve, Cucullaa decussata, a shell
which, I believe, has not yet been found in any other part of this island ;
but which is found in both these places, in the same silicious state. A
representation of the Devonshire silicious rostellarite, imbedded in its
matrix, is given Plate V. Fig. 1 1 .

Among the very interesting fossils of the whetstone-pits is the minute
shell, now entirely flint, represented Plate V. Fig. 2. This shell not
only differs from the R. pes pelicani, in its having only one spur-like pro-
cess; but seems to differ from the preceding species, both in the length
of its spire and of its spur. The number of turns in its spire shows that
it is not a young shell of the preceding species, but that it is rather a
perfect shell of, a distinct species.

Lamarck describes only three species of this genus as found fossil in
the neighbourhood of Paris : R. macroptera, R. columbaria, R.fissurella.

XXX. Murex. An ovate or oblong univalve, with a channeled base
and varicosely tumid ; rough, spinous, or fringed longitudinal and pro-
jecting sutures.

By confining the murices to the shells thus characterized, shells are
excluded, with which Bruguiere and Lamarck have formed the genera
cerithium, fusus, pyrula, pleurotoma, and fasciolaria. In the murices, the
canal, neither suddenly truncated nor abruptly turned back, the colu-
mella with no fold, and the left lip of the opening always more or less
apparent, always determine the genus.

Murex tripterus, ofBrander, Born, and Lamarck, is found frequently
fossil in Hampshire, and at Grignon, in France; Brander, Foss. PL in.
Fig. 79 and 80. Lamarck informs us, that its recent analogue exists in
the sea, in the neighbourhood of Batavia.

M. Contabulatus, Lam. is doubtless a variety of the preceding species.
M. tricarinatus, Lam. M. asper, Brand. Fossil hant. Fig. 77, 78, is very
remarkable for the spinous projections proceeding from its frondose
ridges.

The shell, Plate V. Fig. 16, is rather a rare shell in the Essex cliff.
It is fusiform. The turns of its spire, which are generally six, are thinly
set with not very prominent rugae, which, with faint transverse striae, are
also observable on the body of the shell ; the opening is smooth on each
side, and the canal is rather patent. The rugae, continued to the body
of the shell, induce me to term this shell Murex rugosus.

A fossil murex is much more frequently found in this cliff, which
seems to agree exactly with M. comeus, Linn, as figured by Lister,
Anim. Angl. t. 3, /. 4, who says it is found, but rarely, 'on the Scarbo-
rough coast.

The shell represented Plate V. Fig. 22, is a shell from the same cliff,
of very curious structure; it appears to be M. Erinaceus, Linn. Its
specific characters are,* an oblong ovate form ; the spine, formed by five

or six angular turns ; rather obtuse longitudinal ribs, appearing as if
interwoven with transverse, close, squamose, cord-like ridges; the colu-
melia slightly umbi Heated, with a very small tooth-like projection ; and
the right lip rather denticulated.

Murex 'tubifer, Lam. Murex pungens, Brand. Foss. hant. Fig. 81, 82.
An oval shell, terminating in a point at each end, and furnished with,
generally, four ridges, beset with hollow, bent, and pointed spines, and
with short tubes ; and not, as thev appear to be, broken spines, disposed
between the spinous ridges. The fistulous spines and short tubes with
which this shell is beset, render it very remarkable, and distinguish it
from every other shell. It is found both in Hampshire and Grignon. A
very fine specimen of this shell is represented Plate V. Fig. 15. It is
said by Bruguiere, that the recent analogue of this extraordinary shell
was in the late Dr. Hunter's Museum.

In this genus must be also placed the shell which is so well known by
the appellation of the Essex reversed whelk, the twirls passing from the
right hand to the left. This shell is figured by Lister, Histor. Conchyl
Tab. 950, Fig. 44, b and c ; and by Dale, History of Harwich, Plate x.
Fig. 6 ; and is considered as a murex, M. contrarius, by Linnaeus, Sys-
tem. Natur Tom. i. p. vi. p. 3564. Considerable variety occurs in the
surface of these shells : some are strongly marked with longitudinal linear
markings, and are without any transverse markings; whilst in others
transverse linear markings, single or double, are plainly seen, and no
longitudinal rugae exist. In some few I have observed these markings
so determined and distinct, as almost to authorize the regarding of them
as specific characters. Plate VI. Fig. 1, represents one of these shells,
of rather a small size.

This shell, which sometimes reaches to full three inches in length, has
six or seven turns in the spire ; the last, or body-whirl, is large and glo-
bose: the left lip sometimes rising in a strong ridge; and is, as well as
the right lip, very smooth on its inner side : the columeJla is disposed to

VOL. III. K

be umbilicated, and the aperture is nearly oval, terminating in an open
canal.

The original shell, with the twirls passing from the left to the right,
of which the one just spoken of may be considered as a variety, has not
been yet mentioned as having been found in the Essex clifK Dale, in-
deed, queries whether Buccinum roslratum, out of Harwich cliff, thus
mentioned by Woodward, Catalogue, Part n. /?. 37, e. 115, may not be
referable to this shell : but this can hardly be supposed, from so general
a designation ; since, having so strongly particularized the reverse shell,
it is not likely that he would have omitted to point out this as being the
same shell, turning in the ordinary direction.

In the many visits which my late respected friend, Dr. Menish, paid
to this cliff, he discovered two specimens of this shell, with the whirls in
the ordinary direction. My repeated researches having been always
unsuccessful, I purchased these shells from Dr. Menish's collection.

One of these seems to differ from the heterostrophe in not having its
whirls so obliquely disposed, in the spire not being so long, in the
aperture being every way larger, and in the left lip rising higher, and
being larger and more detached. The other is a very old shell, and
measures full five inches in length, and three in width.

A shell, which has been supposed to resemble this last-mentioned fos-
sil, has been found on the coast of New Holland ; but the columella, in
this shell, is so nearly naked, as, I think, renders it specifically different.
A recent shell is however found on the Essex coast, turning the right
way, which very nearly, if not exactly, agrees, in its specific characters,
with the heterostrophe.

Lamarck describes seventeen species of this genus as found fossil in
the neighbourhood of Paris : M. tripterus, M. tricar inatus, M. contabulatus,
M. calcitrapa, M. crispus, M. frondosus, M. clathratus, M. cingulatus,
M. striatulus, M. cancellinus, M. pyraster, M. textiliosus, M. colubrinus,
M. Viperi?ws, M. nodularius, M. reticulosus, and M. tubifer.

XXXI. Fusus. A subfusiform univalve, ventricose in its middle or
lower part, with a canaliculated base, arid no varicose sutures ; an elon-
gated spire, a smooth columella, and the lip not slit.

This genus is formed by Lamarck of shells which were comprised in
the genus Murex of Linnaeus, and in the genus Fusus of Bruguiere, who
had also retained in it pyrula, fasciolaria, and pleurotoma, with which La-
marck has formed separate genera. Murex long&vus, Brand, is very
properly disposed under this genus, by Lamarck, as Fusus longavus.
Mure.r deformis, Brand, is also brought here as Fusus clavellatus. Fusus
rugosus he considers as the same shell as Murex porrectus, Brand.

Lamarck has discovered, in the environs of Paris, thirty-three species
of this genus which he has so much diminished : F. rugosus, F. Noa,
F. longavus, F. clavellatus, F. aciculatus, F. subulatus, F. hordeolus, F. zw-
tortus, F. polygonus, F. abbreviatus, F. excisus, F. minutus, F. asperulus,
F. plicatus, F. scalaroides, F. coronatus, F. alligatus, F. marginatus, F. no-
dulosus, F. angulatus, F. uniplicatus, F. funiculosus, F. heptagonus, F. sub-
carinaius, F.ficulneus, F. bulbiformis, F. terebralis, F. citharellus, F. lavi-
gatus, F. striatulatus, F. biplicatus, F. variabilis, and F. truncatulus.

XXXII. Pyrula. A somewhat pyriform univalve, swelling in the
tipper part, with no variciform sutures, and having a caudated canali-
culated base and a short spire. The columella smooth, and the lip
not slit.

P. l&vigata and clathrata, Lam. approximate to Bulla ficus, Linn.
P. subcarinata^ Lam. has much of the form of Valuta labrella, but has no
fold on the columella. P. nexilis, Lam. is Murex nexilis of Brander.
P. Itevigata, Lam. also agrees, I think, with No. 54, of Brander.

Six species of this genus have been found fossil by Lamarck : P. l<svi-
gata, P. subcarinata, P. tricarmata, P. elegans, P. clathrata, and P. nexilis.

XXXIII. Fasciolaria. A subfusiform univalve, channeled at its base,
without any projecting sutures, and having two or three very oblique
folds on the columella.

This genus is represented by Murex tulipa, Linn. List. Conch. T. 910,

/. 1. et 91 1,-/.. 2. No fossil shells appear to have been found, which
can be referred to this genus.

XXXIV. Pleurotoma. A fusiform, or somewhat turreted univalve,
with the lower part of the opening channeled, and the upper part of the
lip notched.

The shells of this genus had been separated from the .murices; and,
on account of their form, had been disposed by Bruguiere in the genus
Fusus. But the notch in the lip, resulting, necessarily, from a peculiar-
organization in the animal, fully authorizes their arrangement in a dis-
tinct genus. This separation of Pleurotoma from Fusus, as is justly
observed by Lamarck, appears, indeed, to be indicated by the con-
siderable number of species which each of these genera contains. Of
this genus only, he obtained twenty-five species from the neighbourhood
of Paris : PL fiiosa, P. lineolata, P. davicularis, P. glabrata, P. marginata,
P. transversaria, P. catenata, P. dentata, P. undata, P. tmdtinoda, P. crcnu-
lata, P. bicatenata, P. costellata, P. plicata, P. sulcata, P. curvicosta, P. fur-
cata, P. nodulosa, P. ventricosa, P. terebralis, P. granulata, P. in/leva,
P. twrella, P. striarella, et P. decussata,

Plate V. Fig. 26, represents a beautiful species of this genus, from
France.

LETTER VII.

TOSSIL SHELLS CONTINUED. CERITHIUM TROCHUS ....... SOLA-
RIUM TURBO MONODONTA DELPHIXULA C YCLOSTOM A....

SCALARIA TURRITELLA PUPA JANTHINA BULL A BU-

LIMUS ACHATINA PHASIANELLA LYMNJEA PYR A MI-
DELL A MELANIA AURICULA VOLVAR1A AM PULL ARIA

PLANORBIS HELIX HELIC1NA NERITA NAT 1C A TES-

TACELLA....STOMATIA....CARINARIA HALIOT IS STGARETUS....

ARGONAUTA.

XXXV. CERITHIUM. A turreted univalve, with an oblique opening;
the base terminated by a short truncated or recurved channel, and end-
ing upwards in a channel more or less distinct.

This genus, so plainly marked by the oblique opening, with, as it were,
a reversed groove in its superior part, was formed by Bruguiere from
shells possessing these generic characters, and which had been retained
*by Linnaeus in the genera Murer, Strombus, and Trochus.

It is well observed, by Lamarck, that, since the extreme diversity of
the protuberant parts on the surface of these shells, as well as the regu-
larity and elegance in which they are disposed, leaves hardly any pos-
sible form of which nature does not here show a pattern, one may be
permitted to say that architecture might receive from the species of
this, and indeed of the preceding genus, a choice of models which
might be well worthy of being employed for the embellishment of co-
lumns, &c.

In the neighbourhood of Paris only, this assiduous investigator has
discovered sixty species of this genus.

C. interruptum, C. he.ragonum, C. serratum, C. tricarinatum, C. vittatum,
C. clavatulatum, C. echidnoides, C. angulosum, C. cristatum, C. calcitrapoides,
C. denticulatum, C. umbrellatum, C. lamellosum, C. thiara, C. mutabilc,
C. semicoronatum, C. cinctum, C. plicatum, C. conoideum, C. confluens,
C. clavusy C. baccillum, C. scabrum, C. asperellum, C. turritdlatum, C. mitra,
C. pleurotomoides, C. involutum, C. tubercnlosum, C. bicarinatum, C. trochleare,
C. trochiforme, C. muricoides, C. purpura, C. conoidale, C. subulatum, C. la-
pidorum, C. petricolum, C. spiratum, C. columnare, C. substriatum, C. qua-
drisulcatum, C. umbilicatum, C. perforatum, C. clavosum, C. cancellation,
C. semigranosum, C. acicula, C. terebrale, C. inversum, C. melanoide, C. larva,
C. gracile, C. incertum, C. emarginatum, C. rugosum, C. giganteum, C. nu-
dum, C. unisulcatum, and C. turritdlatum.

Observing on the numerous species of this fossil, M. Lamarck says,
we may with reason be exceedingly astonished at seeing so many spe-
cies of one genus, almost all of which are unknown to the naturalist, and
by far the greater part found in one spot ; and adds, that we are hence
authorized, in some degree, in believing that the remains of fossil shells,
which are found inland, are there more abundant than the shell-fish
which now inhabit our seas. Annales du Museum, &'c. Tome in. p. 441.

The specimen of C. spiratum, Plate VI. Fig. 6, is particularly inte-
resting, from its substance being completely calcedonic. At first view
it might be supposed to be merely a cast ; but this is not the case ; the
whole substance of the shell being now a very transparent calcedony,
displaying distinctly the minutest characters of the species. A row of
large tubercles, placed over the middle of each winding, renders the
spire knobbed, and almost spinous. Striae are seen crossing each other,
over the whole surface ; the transverse striae being larger than the
others, and rather tuberculated, having the appearance of minute chains.
Three of these, distinct and separate, are plainly visible on the last turn.
The notch in the lip is also seen nearly contiguous to the last turn

but one. This curious fossil I extricated from a calcedonic mass from

France.

Among the Veronese fossils which I possess, is one which, though
somewhat mutilated about the aperture, bears not only sufficient proofs
of its belonging to this genus, but strong marks of its species, C. inter-
ruptum. It is of a remarkable size, being nearly four inches long.

In the stratum of fossil shells running through Plumsted and Wool-
wich, and appearing at Bromley, in Kent, shells of this genus are fre-
quently found ; but in so brittle and so injured a state, as not often to
allow of their species being made out. I have however, I think, discovered
C. tuiritellatum, C. denticulatwn, C. serratum, C. davatulatum, C. mutahile,
and C. cinctum.

In the whetstone of Blackdown Hills, Devonshire, a turreted shell
exists in considerable numbers ; but it is very difficult to extricate them
from the matrix, with their mouth perfect. I think, however, that I
am right in considering these as belonging to C. turritellatum. They are
completely silicious; and many of them, with their included matrix,
are transparent.

The most extraordinary shell of this genus is, C. giganteum. It is tur-
reted, extremely long, and transversely striated: the turns, in their
upper part, are tubercular, and the columella has one fold. These
enormous shells are generally a foot in length. One of the specimens
which I possess, and which has lost at least an inch or two of its length,
still measures fourteen inches. They are found at Grignon, and are
not very rare : they are however, in general, very much injured, very
seldom indeed having the lip and sides of the opening perfect. Their
form is that of a winding turriculated pyramid, with in general twenty
turns, beset on their upper part with a row of nodular tubercles, and
having the general surface lightly and transversely striated. The open-
ing is oblong and oblique, and terminates in the lower part in a canal,
the extremity of which is moderately recurved ; and the superior part,

72-

instead of forming a canal, is laterally extended, in the manner of an
ear-like process. There is only one fold on the columella. This is,
undoubtedly, the largest uniiocular univalve shell that is known.

Mr. J. C. Delametherie, Journal de Physique, &V. Tome LXV. Nov.
1807, says, "I have a gigantic fossil cerite, cerites gigas, Lam. which
Mr. Maclure, of the Philosophical Society of Philadelphia, found at
Grignon, in a mineralogical tour which we made there in the month of
July. It is the largest which is known. Its circumference, near the
mouth, is from twenty-two to twenty-three inches, or about seven inches
and a half in diameter. The thickness of the lip is about seven lines.^
Its complete length should be about thirty inches ; but it is broken, and
the piece which I have is but about ten or twelve inches long."

In addition to this statement of the learned author of La Theorie de la
Terre, I have the pleasure to state, that I am in possession of a nearly
corresponding specimen, a cast, which I purchased out of the Leverian
collection, and which in all probability was obtained from Grignon. It
is a lime-stone cast, in which six turns, with the mouth, is so well pre-
served, as decidedly to determine it to have derived its form from a shell
of this genus. This shell must have exceeded in size that of M. Dela-
metherie ; since, independent of the thickness of the shell, its greatest
circumference, near to the mouth, is nearly twenty-four inches ; its dia-
meter being, of course, about eight inches. This specimen is about
sixteen inches in length ; and its weight, there being no externally
adhering matrix, is full twenty-one pounds and a half. M. Delame-
therie concludes, from his fragment, which is from ten to twelve inches
in length, that the shell must have been thirty inches in length ; but I
think, from the proportions of rny fragment, which, being nearly six
inches longer than that of M. Delametherie, gives better grounds of
calculation, that he may have over calculated the original length of the
shell ; since I cannot believe that my specimen, if perfect, although larger
than his, would have attained more than twenty-eight inches.

Different species of this genus are found, in delicately beautiful cal-
careous masses, in the neighbourhood of Courtagnon. But among the
most interesting and extraordinary masses, containing shells of this
genus, are the calcedonic masses, which are ajso found in some part of
France.

The latter specimens are rendered particularly interesting, from the
circumstance of the shells themselves appearing to be converted into a cal-
cedonic substance. The matrix is opaque, and of a pale greyish colour;
whilst the shells themselves are nearly transparent, and of a yellowish
brown colour. A close examination seems to show, that the matrix was
composed chiefly of a gritty, calcareous, or silicious mass, which has
had fluid silex diffused through it, and most probably at the time when
the change in the substance of the shells was effected. But to ascertain
the real nature of the change, and to form a rational opinion as to the
mode in which the carbonate of lime has been removed, or so changed
as not to prevent the transparency of the fossil shells, I confess myself
entirely incompetent.

XXXVI. Trochus. A conical spiral univalve, with a transversely
depressed and rather quadrangular opening ; with an oblique axis.

Lamarck has separated from the genus Trochus, of Linnaeus, those
shells which possess such peculiar characters as warrant their being
arranged under two new genera, which we shall presently notice ; So-
larium and Monodonta.

At Grignon is found the remarkable carrier trochus, T. agglutinans,
Lam. T. conchyliophorus, Lin. distinguished by its curious property of
attaching and agglutinating to its surface small shells, pebbles, fragments
of coral, &c. M. Lamarck gives the figure of one of these fossil shells,
loaded with small bivalves ; but none of the specimens which I possess
are loaded : they, however, show sufficient marks of the attachment of
numerous foreign bodies, and even retain the impressions of the very
minute markings of small shells which had been affixed to them. A
specimen of this species of shell which I possess, from Verona, is re-

VOL. in. L

markable for its size ; the diameter of the base, and of the side of the
cone, each measuring above three inches.

T. monilifer, Lam. T. nodulosus, Brand, is an elegant shell, and in the
French specimens has its markings exceedingly well preserved. T. sul-
catus, Lam. extremely like to T. granulatus, of Born. Tab. xn. Fig. 9
and 10, was obtained by Lamarck from the neighbourhood of Pontchar-
train, as well as from Grignon. I found one specimen of this shell among
the Harwich fossils, but which 1 have since broken. T. alligatus, Lam.
is distinguishable by six transverse ribs, some of which are cord-like,
and others crenulated. I have likewise found small specimens of this
shell in the Essex cliff.

Among the Veronese fossils is one which has a singularity of appear-
ance, proceeding from a slight convexity in the sides of the cone. It is
formed of six whirls, on which are three rows of closely set, but distinct
beads; the base, which is circularly striated, possesses a considerable
degree of concavity. From this circumstance it has been named T. con-
cavus; but as this property is very common, I should prefer the name
T. convents, from the convexity of its sides. .

Lamarck describes six fossil species of this genus : T. crenularis, T. mo-
nilifer, T. sulcatus, T. alligatus, T. ornatus, T. subcarinatus, T. bicarinatus,
T. agglutinans.

Very large casts of this genus are found in different parts of Oxford-
shire, Gloucestershire, and Somersetshire ; those in the neighbourhood
of Bath being sometimes beautifully adorned with brilliant pyrites.

XXXVII. Solarium. A depressed conical, nearly discoidal, umbili-
cated univalve shell : with the umbilicus crenulated or denticulated
at the margins of the windings. The opening approaching to qua-
drangular.

The shells placed by Lamarck in this genus, were included by Lin-
nseus in the genus Trochus ; and are sometimes difficultly distinguished
from the shells of this genus, as well as from those of the genus Planorbis.
They are however, in general, plainly characterized by their large urn-

bilicus, crenulated or denticulated at its sides. One species of this genus
is found among the Hampshire fossils, Solarium canaliculatum, Lam.
Turbo, Brand. Foss. limit, p. 10, /. 7 and 8. This shell is distinguished
by its being marked, both on the upper and under surface, with trans-
verse granulated headings. The umbilicus large, funnel-shaped ; crenu-
lated and canaliculated on the internal edge of each turn.

Lamarck describes nine species : S. patulum, S. sulcatum, S. canalicu-
latum, S. plicatum, S. spiratum, S. ammonites, S. patellatum, S. disjunctum,
S. bipons,

XXXVIII. Turbo. A conoidal or slightly turreted shell, the opening
complete, rounded, and not toothed ; the margins always disjoined in
the upper part ; the columella smoothed at the base.

It is from this latter circumstance, the end of the columella smoothly
blending with the right margin, and not forming a projecting tooth, that
this genus is separated from Monodonta. Some of the shells of this genus
very much resemble those of the genus Helix; but are to be distinguished
from them by the roundness of their opening not being broken, by the
projection into it of the last turn but one of the spire, which is the case
in the helices. Young specimens of cyclostoma may also be confounded
with turbines ; since, in their young state, they also have their margins
disjoined, like the turbines ; but, in their full-grown state, they become
circularly united, which the turbines never do.

Lamarck gives four species of this genus : T. squamulosus, T. radiosm,
T. helicinoides, and T. denticulatus. The latter he has found fossil at
Grignon.

XXXIX. Monodonta. An oval or conoidal shell, the opening entire,
roundish, with the two margins disunited : the truncated base of the
columella forming a tooth, projecting into the opening.

This genus, of Lamarck, may be exemplified in Trochus labio, Linn.
This shell is not among the Paris fossils ; nor do I know of its exist-
ence among the fossil shells of this island : species of it are, however, to
be found in the cabinets of collectors.

XL. Delphimda. A subdiscoidal, or short conical, solid, pearly, um-
bilicated univalve, with rather rough turns. The opening round ; the
margin circular and uninterrupted.

This genus is formed of shells, which were included by Linnaeus in his
genus Turbo: a genus which he formed merely on the character of the com-
plete roundish opening of the shell. Lamarck, for the sake of greater ac-
curacy of distinction, has separated from this genus those shells, in which
the two edges of the opening are circularly united ; and has left to the
genus Turbo only those sea shells, which, possessing a rounded opening,
have the two edges of the opening constantly disjoined near the colu-
mella. With the shells which have been thus withdrawn from the genus
Turbo, he thought it necessary to form the genera turritella, scalaria, pupa,
and cydostoma. But even thus, some confusion would exist ; since
cydostoma would contain both sea shells and land shells. To avoid this,
the present genus is formed for the reception of the sea cydostoma, whilst
the land cydostoma are all reserved for the genus so named. In the del-
phinulse the edge of the opening is not reflected outwardly, nor is the
point of the columella visible.

Turbo testa umbillcata convexa, aufractibus, terctibus striatis : striis crenu-
latis inaqualibus. Apertura omnino orbicularis. Foss. Hant. Tab. i. Fig. 7
and 8, may be taken, as exemplifying this genus. I am not acquainted
with another British fossil of this genus; whilst, of those found in the
environs of Paris, Lamarck enumerates eight species : D. calcar, D. lima,.
D. conica, D. turbinoides, D. marginata, D. striata, D. sulcata, D. canalifera.

With respect to the fossil shells to which I now call your attention, I
must acknowledge my inability to determine precisely in what genus
they should be placed. Their characters, however, approaching the
nearest to those of this genus, I have placed them here, until more
illustrative specimens have pointed out for them a more appropriate
situation.

Plate VI. Fig. 1, is the upper side, and Fig. 3, the under side, of a
limestone fossil, not very uncommon, I believe, in the neighbourhood of

Bath. It is somewhat of a discoidal, or rather of a plano-concave form,
and is in general from two to three inches in breadth. Its spiral convo-
lutions, which are from four to five in number, are strongly carinated, in
the direction of the turns, on nearly the middle of the upper side, and
become slightly grooved towards the next inner turn. On the under
side, they are of a roundish form, and marked with slight but frequent
oblique rugae ; the turns being so disposed as to form, in the under part,
a tolerably smooth funnel-formed cavity. In one species, distinct nodu-
lar projections exist on the lower side of the spiral turns.

None of the specimens which I possess are in sufficiently good preser-
vation to allow me to speak decidedly respecting the aperture of this
fossil. I am only enabled to observe, that none of the preceding whirls
project into the hollow of the next; as, from my specimens being frac-
tured in several places, I am able to perceive that the ridge on the
upper part of the shell is a solid external projection, which no ways
affects the circular cavity of the shell. Hence, there is reason to con-
clude, that the mouth is round, and not diminished by the projection
into it of the preceding whirl, as takes place in the planorbiles.

This fossil was first described by Mr. Walcot in these words: " De-
pressed, volutions three, a sharp ridge runs in the centre of the upper
surface of the volutions. Lime-stone." Descriptions and Figures of Petrifac-
tions, Sfc. Fig. L. and JLVI.

As far as I am able to judge, from such parts as have not suffered
injury, or are riot concealed by the adhering matrix, the fossil repre-
sented Plate VI. Fig. 7 and 8, is another species of the same genus, in
which the preceding fossil should be placed. It is discoidal; but the
central projecting termination of the spire is elevated in a peculiar man-
ner, so as at first sight to give it the appearance of being detached
from the next turn. On closer examination, this is, however, found
riot to be the case ; since a connection is formed by an expansion from
the next turn, the rugae of which are continued very closely and regu-

larly up this central projection, to where it has been broken off: this is
formed by two flattish turns, which, on their upper surface, are marked
by slight longitudinal rugae, which terminate in two ridges, disposed on
the inner and on the outside of each turn. These turns, on the lower
side, are roundish, and are very thickly set with sharp and irregular
rugae, and seem to form a concavity nearly corresponding to the eleva-
tion on the other side ; but in this concavity an irregular shelly body
exists, which appears riot to be accidental, but a part of the original
shell. Fig. 7 represents the under part, with this irregularly formed
bod}r, and Fig. 8 represents the upper surface, with its projecting cen-
tral termination. An endeavour is made to give a representation of the
aperture of this shell, of which description could hardly have given a
satisfactory idea ; indeed, it is so much obscured by the surrounding ma-
trix, as to prevent a correct figure of it being obtained. The matrix of
this fossil is a yellowish lime-stone, with which the hollow of the shell is
completely filled.

The fossil, Plate V. Fig. 18, which appears to be of the same genus with
the two preceding, is so figured, as to show a portion both of its upper and
under part. On the former, the turns of the spire are seen covered with
closely-set transverse ribs, the spire terminating in a roundish projection.
The turns of the spire are ribbed in the same way on the under side ; and
here a projecting shelly body is seen in the concave part, answering, in
its situation, to the irregular formed body in the preceding fossil ; and
to the projecting superior termination of the spire in the same fossil, in
having the markings of the spiral turns continued upon it.

It would be premature, to attempt to establish a genus for the. recep-
tion of these fossils, until more particulars are ascertained respecting the
original size and real nature of the projecting bodies which appear to
belong to both the upper and under surface of these fossils. Should the
appearance of these be found to be constant, that alone would, of course,
form a generic distinction.

I am not acquainted with the habitats of either of these two last men-
tioned fossils; but imagine, from the appearance of the matrix, that
they are from the neighbourhood of Dudley, in Worcestershire.

XLI. Cydostoma. A discoidal or convexo-conical, nearly transparent
univalve, with cylindraceous turns. The opening round, with a cir-
cularly continued margin, suddenly and widely thrown back.

The cydostoma, in their adult state, have their margins always re-
flected, which is not the case with the delphinula ; but they are more
certainly distinguished from each other by the thinness of the shell of
the cydostoma, and by their never having any nacre, which is always
possessed by the delphinula. Cydostoma spiruloides, Lam. is a minute
species of this genus, the form of which may easily be comprehended
without a figure ; since it is formed by three turns, spirally disposed, in
the same manner as in the planorbes : the last turn being so 'detached
from the rest, as to give it the appearance of a young nautilus spirilla.

It must be observed, that there are some shells, not yet classed, whose
openings are round, and whose margins are united like the cydostoma;
but in which, unlike the cydostoma, the margins are not dilated nor
reflected, and which are of an elongated or turriculated form.

Lamarck describes six fossil species : C. cornu pastoris, C. spiruloides,
C. planorbula, C. macrostoma, C. mumia, C. Turritdlata.

XLI I. Scalaria. A turreted univalve, with acute longitudinal raised
ribs. The opening nearly circular; the margins uninterrupted, bor-
dered, and reflected.

The raised ribs sufficiently distinguish the shells of this genus from
those of delphinula and cydostoma.

I am not in, possession of any fossil of this or of the two pre-
ceding genera; nor do 1 know of any having been found among our
English fossils, Lamarck has discovered five species of this genus
among the fossils of Grignon and Pernes : S. crispa, S. decussata, S. denu-
data, S. monocyda, and S. plicata.

XLIII. Twritella. A turreted univalve shell; the opening entire^

and rounded; with the margins disjoined in the upper part; and a
notch in the right lip.

As it appeared to be necessary to separate the genus Vis from Bucci-
num, in consequence of the turriculated shape of the former shells, so it
is necessary to separate Turritella from Turbo, Cydostoma, Pupa, and Sea-
laria ; the shells of the genus Turritella having all a notch at the right
side of their opening, which is not the case with any shell of the other
four genera.

Turritellites perforatus, Lam. Plate V. Fig. 12, is a very curious
species of this genus, the columella being perforated through the whole
axis of the shell. This peculiarity exists in the shell here figured : but
it does not exactly agree with that which is described by Lamarck ;
since its turns are smooth, while those of the shell which he describes
have three or four transverse striaB. The difference may be only that of
a variety ; or the surface, in my specimen, may be somewhat altered
by decomposition or friction.

In a large fossil shell of this genus, now before me, a very curious cir-
cumstance is observable. The shell has been completely fractured
across, and afterwards united by that astonishing power of reparation,
which is perhaps possessed by all shell-fish.

Some species of this genus are found in Hampshire, particularly T. te-
rebellata, Lam. Turbo terebra, Brand. T. imbricataria, Lam. and Turbo
editus, Brand. This latter shell has been found, very fine, in the neigh-
bourhood of Selsea, with several other of the same shells as are found in
Hordwell Cliff, by Mr. J. Hplloway, of Portsmouth. This gentleman,
to whom I am obliged for this information, and for several of these spe-
cimens, relates that he also found this shell, with others which I shall
have occasion to notice, in a blue mud at the base of Stublington Cliff,
between Stoke's Bay and Southampton.

Among the pyritical shells of the Isle of Portland are frequently found
shells of this genus. Impressions of shells of this genus, as well as of
the genus -Cerithium, are frequently seen in the Portland free-stone.

Shells of this genus are also frequent among the Veronese and Vinceq-
tine fossils.

Lamarck enumerates ten species among the fossils of Grignon, Chau-
mont, &c. : T. imbricatarla, T. sulcata, T. subcarinata, T.fasclata, T. mul-
tisulcata, T. terebdlata, T. perforate, T. unisulcata, T. uniangularis, T. me-
l&noides.

XLIV. Pupa. A somewhat cylindrical univalve ; the last turn of
the spire, which is somewhat produced, not being larger than the pre-
ceding : the aperture irregularly roundish or oval : the margin continued
circularly.

Turbo uva, Linn. Born. Vign. Fig. E. is the type of this genus, which
does not appear to be known fossil.

XLV. Janthina. A subglobose diaphanous univalve: the opening
triangular, with an angular sinus on the right edge.

Helix janthina, Linn. List. Tab. 572, Fig. 24, is of this genus ; *io
shell of which has, I believe, been found fossil.

XL VI. Bulla. An ovate, gibbous, and somewhat cylindrical uni-
valve : the spire not standing out, but concealed within : the opening
the length of the shell : the lip acute.

Bulla aperta, Linn, and Bulla lignaria, Linn, are contained within the
membranous part of the molluscse by which they are produced, so that
these molluscae appear naked, or without any external shell ; but the
lively colours, and the repeated convolutions of other species, as Bulla
ampulla, Linn. &c. show that these have not been contained within the
soft part of the animal. Lamarck, apprized of this circumstance, has
separated the former animals from the genus Bulla, and has formed with
them a genus of the naked molluscse, and named it Bull&a , leaving in
the genus Bulla those species, the shells of wbich, possessing the above-
recited generic characters, form the external covering to the animal.

I do not know of any .English fossil shells of this genus. Respecting
Bulla sopita, Brand. Fossil Hanton. Fig. 29 a. and Bulla volutata, Brand.
Fossil. Hanton. Fig. 75, another, and apparently a more appropriate

VOL. III. M

place has been allotted them, in a former part of this volume (Let-
ter VI. p. 54 ; ) and with respect to Bulla simulata, Brand. Fossil Han-
ton, Fig. 61, it certainly can have no claim to be considered as a Bulla,
the spire being acutely pointed, the cauda produced, and the columella
plicated.

The bullites of the environs of Paris appear to be divisible into four
species : B. ovulata, B. striatdla, B. cylindrica, B. coronata.

XLVII. Bulimus. An ovate or oblong, subturreted shell : the open^
ing entire, oblong, and longitudinal, having, in adults, an external
reflected margin : the columella smooth, the base entire, not spread
out.

The oblong and longitudinal opening of the shell is, according to Bru-
guiere, the chief characteristic of this genus : Lamarck, also, adopts
this distinguishing mark ; and, by the assistance of other essential cha-
racters, has formed from the genus Bitlima, of Bruguiere, not only this
genus, but those of Agathina, Lymnea, Melania, Auricula, and Pupa.

The shells of this genus are inhabited by an animal much resembling
that which belongs to the genus Helix. The shells of the two genera,
however, differ, in the opening of the Helix being wider than it is long,
whilst that of Bulimus is always longer than it is wide. The snail, too,
has a round or orbicular shell, and that of the Bulimus is oblong, conical,
or turriculated. The margins, in Bulimus, are separated in the upper
part; but in Helir, the last turn but one of the spire projects into, and
thereby contracts, the opening. The shells of Bulimus are distinguished
from those of Melania by their having no widening at the base of their
opening; and from those of Lymnea by their not having a distinct and
very oblique fold, which is seen in the shells of the last-mentioned
genus. Bulimus is a land shell; but, Lymnea and Melania are fresh-
water shells.

I do not know of any British fossil species; but Lamarck describes ten
species decidedly of this genus : B. alhidus, B. citherella, B. terebellatus,
B. acicularis, B. nitidus, B. sextomis^ B. conulus, B. clavulus, J5, striatulus.*

and E. nanus. He also speaks of live more species, respecting the classi-
fication of which he is less certain.

XLVIII. Achatina. An oval or oblong univalve : the opening en-
tire, and longer than wide; the columella smooth, and truncated at
its base.

Bulla achatina, Linn. List. Tab. 579, Fig. 34, is of this genus ; no spe-
cies of which is known fossil.

XLIX. Phasianella. A solid ovate. or conical univalve : the opening
longitudinal, ovate, and entire ; with a sharp plain lip : the columella
smooth, with an attenuated base.

The opening of the shells of this genus is almost the same as that of
the shells of the preceding ; but the shells of this genus are sea-shells, and
are not transparent, but thick. Lamarck describes two species of this
genus, which are found among the fossil shells of Grignon : P. turbi-
noides and P. scmistriata.

L. Lymn&a. An ovato-conical, or turreted univalve : the aperture
entire and oblong ; the right lip joined to the left, in the lower part rising
on the columella, and showing internally an oblique fold.

The character by which these shells may be distinguished from the
Bulimi, is, the very oblique fold on the columella. Helix stagnalis, Linn.
List. Tab. 123, Fig. 21, is of this genus. The fossil remains of these
shells are very rare. Lamarck has only discovered those of one species
in the neighbourhood of Paris, which he names Lymn&a palustris.

LI. Pyramidella. A turriculated univalve : the opening entire and
semioval : the columella projecting, with three transverse folds, and
perforated at its end.

Trochus dolobratus, Linn. List. Tab. 844, Fig. 72, is of this genus;
no species of which have been described fossil.

LII. Melania. A turreted univalve : the aperture entire, ovate,
or oblong, and spread out at the base of the columella, which is
smooth.

The shells of this somewhat resemble those of the preceding genus ;

but are easily distinguished from them by the widening at their base>
and by the columella being smooth.

I do not know of any English fossil of this genus; but they appear to
be frequent in the environs of France ; since Larnarck enumerates and
describes twelve species : M. costellata, M. lactea, M. marginata, M. hor-
dacea, M. canicularis, M. corrugata, M. semiplacata, M. nitida, M. semi-
striata, M. cochlearella, M.fragilis, and M. dubia.

M. marginata, represented PL V. Fig. 9, judging from the specimens
in my possession, exists in a very unimpaired state.

LI II. Auricula. An ovate or oblong pyramidal univalve, with the
spire extruded : the opening entire, oblong, and narrowed upwards ;
the columella plicated, with different plicae in the opposite lip.

Those volutes of Linnaeus, which are not notched at their base, Bru-
guiere, without considering their plicae, placed under the genus Buli-
mus. Lamarck has, with great propriety, placed those shells whose
openings arfe entire, but whose columelltfe are plicated* under this genus,
Auricula.

One of the most interesting shells of this genus, is Auricula ringens,
Lam. acutely ovate, rather turgid, transversely ribbed, with minute
longitudinal striae, the edges of the opening thick and bordered, the
right lip dentated, and the columella with three plicae. This shell is
found at Grignon and in the neighbourhood of Bourdeaux. The spe-
cimen which is represented Plate V. Fig. 4, and which appears to be
A. ringens, is nearly transparent. It is one of those extraordinary sili-
cious fossils which are yielded by the Blackdown whetstone-pits, and for
a supply of which I am under great obligations to R. H. Clarke, Esq.
of Bridwell, and the Rev. J. R. Cleeve, of Kentisbeare, who have
kindly assisted me with the interesting fossils of their respective neigh-
bourhoods.

LIV. Volvaria. A cylindrical convoluted univalve : the spire not
extruded : the opening narrow, the length of the shell : the columella
plicated at its base.

This shell, for Lamarck knows but of one species, V. bulloides, which
is fossil, approaches very near to Bulla cylindrica, or Bulla solida\ but
differs from the genus Bulla, in having its columella plicated.

LV; Ampullana. A ventricose subglobose univalve, with an um-
bilicated base : the opening oblong and entire, with no thickening on
the left lip.

The Ampullana is a river shell of the warm climates. Its spire, which
always projects a little, distinguishes this genus from Planorkis ; and
there being no thickening on the left lip, distinguishes it from Natica.

Ampullaria patula, Lam. is Helix" mutabilis, Brand. Foss. 57. Tab. iv.
In Brander's figure the back is only seen ; and the patulous opening,
the specific characteristic, is not shown. A. sigarttina, Lam. differs
from the preceding, chiefly in having no umbilicus.

From the greatest part of these shells, answering to the preceding
description, being marine shells, and somewhat approaching in charac-
ter to the genus Natica, Lamarck is disposed to think that they belong
to a genus not yet established. Twelve species appear to exist among
the fossils of the environs of Paris : A. pygmtea, A. e.rcavata, A. conica,
A. acuta, A. acuminata, A. spirata, A. depressa, A. canaliculata, A. patula,
A. sigaretina, A. crassatina, and A. hybrida.

A. spirata, I find among my Veronese fossils ; and A. conica, and a
shell much resembling A. rugosa, I have found among the shells of the
Essex cliff.

LVI. Planorbis. A discoidal univalve. The spire depressed, hardly
at all prominent, the turns conspicuous on both sides. The opening
entire and oblong; the margin never reflected.

The shells of this genus are fresh-water shells: their inferior face is
known, by its being more sunk in than the upper; and from the gra-
dual diminution of the turns towards the centre, forming a funnel-
formed cavity.

From the original delicacy of structure of these shells, from the cir-

cumstances under which they have become buried, and from the slight
degree of mineralization which they have undergone, it is difficult to
obtain their fossil remains in tolerable preservation.

Lamarck has met with three species among the fossils of the environs
of Paris : P. nitidula, P. subangulaia, and P. bicaiinata.

LVII. Helix. A globular or orbicular shell, with a convex or co-
noidal spire : the opening entire, wider than long, and diminished
in its upper part by the projection of the last turn but one of the spire.

Shells of this genus, as well as other land and fresh-water shells, are
rarely found in a state of petrifaction. The circumstances of conserva-
tion in which they are found are, generally, such as are explicable on
the supposition of their having become involved in the gradually acre-
ting tufaceous matter, which is deposited by certain streams and rivers ;
or in the stalactitic concretions forming in the cavities of limestone rocks,
of comparatively modern formation.

Instances of the former kind are to be met with in various parts of
this island, as well as in numerous other parts of the world ; but the
most remarkable instance of the latter kind is in the rock of Gibraltar,
in which shells of this description are sometimes found.

LVIII. Helidna. A subglobose univalve, with no umbilicus : the
opening entire and semi-ovate ; the columella callous, depressed at the
lower part, and flattened.

The analagous recent shell on which, I believe, Lamarck founds
this genus is trochilus, labro protenso, fasciatus, List. Hist. Conchy I. PL 61,
Fig. 59. It differs from Helices in its callous columella, and in a little
angle, which the base of the right edge forms, before re-uniting itself
with the base of the columella. This ingenious naturalist finds only one
fossil shell which he can place, even with hesitation, under this genus.
This incertitude, he candidly acknowledges, and even implies it, in the
name which he has affixed to this species, Helidna dubia. 1 know of no
fossil shell of this genus.

LIX. Nerita. A semi-globose univalve, depressed beneath, and
having no umbilicus : the opening entire and semicircular ; colu-
mella nearly transverse and flat, with an acute, and generally dentated
edge.

The shells of this genus differ from those of Natica, in never being at
all umbilicated.

Nerita conoidea. Lam. Nerita perversa, Gmelin, is, as well from its
form, as from the extraordinary magnitude which it sometimes possesses,
a very remarkable fossil. It is conical, with a very broad base; the
apex of the spire is inclined, and the columella is furnished with eight
teeth.

Chemnitz, and other naturalists, have thought that this was a reversed
shell ; but Lamarck has shown that its turns are in the ordinary direc-
tion, from the left to the right. It acquires, however, a peculiar ap-
pearance, from the top of the spire being inclined to one side, as if the
axis of the spire had been broken or bent in its upper part ; hence the
shell is irregularly conical. The upper part is smooth, or only slightly
striated, in a transverse direction, agreeable to the successive addition of
new matter to the shell. The opening, which is nearly semicircular,
possesses about one third of the base. The size of some of these fossils
is very considerable. Lamarck observes that the width of the largest spe-
cimen is seven centimetres (about two inches Fr. and seven lines.) One
of the specimens 'which I possess is hardly more than an inch across its
widest part; whilst another, which I purchased from the collection of
M. de Calonne, measures in the same direction full three inches and three
quarters, and exceeds two inches in height. These gigantic proportions
widely distinguish it from any recent shell of this genus. These fossils
are from Retheuil and Courtagnon. I am not acquainted with the dis-
covery of any shells of this genus among our English fossils.

Plate VI. Fig. 4, is a curious fossil, being a calcedonic cast of the
hollow of a nerite of this species, displayed by the removal of the top of
the shell,

The under side of this fossil, showing the mouth and dentated lip of
N. conoidea, is represented Plate VI. Fig. 6.

This, with another specimen, in which the cast is entirely detached
from the shell, was purchased from the Callonnean collection, and is from
Courtagnon.

I have the N. conoidea, in very good preservation, from the Valley
of Ronca.

Lamarck particularizes three species of this genus as being found
among the French fossils : N. conoidea, N. tricarinata, N. mammaria.

LX. Natka. A nearly globose umbilicated univalve : the opening
entire and semicircular ; the columella transverse, without teeth, and
callous externally ; the callosity narrowing, or even covering, the um-
bilicus.

These shells bear considerable resemblance to Nerita, in the form of
their opening ; but they obviously differ from the shells of that genus,
in always being umbilicated, and never having their columella dentated.

Natica cepacea, Lam. is a species remarkable for its flattened roundish
form, and still more for the large thick callous mass, writh which the
umbilicus is covered, in the adult specimens. N. canrena is a frequent
fossil in the Essex bank of fossil shells. Another species of this genus is
also frequently found in this bank, which is figured by Dale, History
and Antiquities of Harwich, Sfc. PL x. Fig. 16, and by him referred to
Cochlea sublivida orefusco, ad basin atjusque orbis velut funicuius depingitur,
Lister, Hist. Conchy I. PL 508, Fig. 19. The shell there depicted is
evidently N. canrena ; but the Harwich fossil shell has a simple umbi-
licus, and not an umbilicus intersected by a callous process, as is the case
in N. canrena. This fossil seems more nearly to resemble N. glaucina, as
represented by Lister, PL 562, Fig. 9, of the same work.

Among the most rare of the Blackdown fossils, is a Natica, approach-
ing in its character to N. canrena, Linn, and N. epiglottina, Lam. except
that the callosity lays in the contrary direction to what it does in those
species. The only one I know of was extricated from a mass of the

whetstone, which still fills its matrix, Plate VI. Fig. 2. It is so tho-
roughly silicious, as to be transparent, where the matrix is not interposed,
Plate VII. Fig. 2.

Lamarck describes three species of this genus as French fossils : N. la-
bellata, N. epiglottina, N. cepacea.

LXI. Testacella. An obliquely conical formed univalve, with the
summit a little turned spirally ; the opening oval, with the right edge
turned inwards.

LXII. Stomatia. An oval auriform univalve, with a prominent spire :
the opening ample, and longer than wide ; the disk imperforate.

LXI II. Carinaria. A very thin univalve, in the form of a cone flat-
tened on its sides, the apex terminating in a very small involuted spire,
and the back having a dentated keel : the opening entire, oval-oblong,
contracted towards the angle of the keel.

No remains of any shells of the three preceding genera have, I be-
lieve, been found fossil; nor are the inhabitants of the two latter shells
known.

LXIV. Haliotis. A flattish, ear-formed shell, with a depressed spire,
and a row of round holes along the right edge. The opening very large,
and much longer than wide.

M. Bosc observes that these shells are often found fossil in France and
Italy. On this point I am obliged to observe, that, from the informa-
tion which I have gained, from the sight of different collections, and
from the examination of different authors, I conceive the contrary of
this to be the fact. Indeed, of the seventeen species which M. Bosc
enumerates, he mentions but one species, Haliotis plicata, as having been
found fossil. I do not indeed, therefore, hesitate in saying, that the
shells of this genus are among the rarest fossils.

The nearest approach to this genus is a shell which is sometimes
found among the fossils of St. Peter's Mountain, and has been hitherto
considered as a Haliotis, but which certainly belongs to the following
genus, which differs from Haliotis, in being without holes.

VOL. III. N

LXV. Sigaretus. A depressed oval, nearly auriform shell, with a
short spiral columella : the opening entire, very wide, spread out towards
the summit of the right lip, and longer than wide.

The shell, for the reception of which Lamarck formed this genus, is
the Venus's ear ; Sigaretus, of Adanson ; Helix haliotidea, of Linnaeus ;
and Eulla velutina, of Muller. This is an exceedingly rare fossil. The
only specimen which I have seen is one which I obtained at the sale of
the Museum of Mr. Strange ; and which, I afterwards discovered, by
the purchase of some of Mr. Strange's manuscripts, had been thought of
sufficient consequence to be the subject of a plate engraved by Antonio
Gregori, from a drawing of Gaspero Massini. This is a Tuscan fossil.

A fossil shell of this genus, but apparently not of this species, is found
in St. Peter's Mountain, Maestricht, and is figured by Faujas St. Fond,
Hist. Nat. de la Montagne de St. Pierre, P. 166, PL xxvm. Fig. 3.

Plate VI. Fig. 9, is a magnified representation of a shell of this
genus, which is shown of its natural size, Fig. 10. This microscopic
fossil was found in the calcareous sand contained in the cavity of a
gigantic cerithites.

LXVI. Argonauta. A very thin involuted boat-like univalve; the
spire turning into the opening ; with a double, tubercular keel.

I have no knowledge of any shells of this genus having been found in
a mineralized state.

LETTER VIII.

NEARLY STRAIGHT OR IRREGULARLY TWISTED SHELLS, WITH SIM-
PLE OR DIVIDED CAVITIES PENICILLUS DENTALIUM

VERMICULARIA SERPULA......SILIQUARIA.

*»

HAVING now arrived at those shells which are formed into nearly
straight, or partly spiral and partly straight, or irregularly contorted
tubes, some of which are inhabited by vermes and not by mollusca, I
have concluded it to be better to introduce these shells together here, than
to separate them according to the difference of their inhabitants. This
seems to be particularly proper, since several of these shells, as will be
seen, are known only as fossils, and consequently we can form no deter-
mined judgment respecting the animals which formed and inhabited
them. Besides, as several of these shells are concamerated, their exami-
nation will very naturally precede that of the shells of the next division.

LXVII. Penicillus. A tubular shell, narrow, and rather spirally
turned at its origin, dilating into a club-form at the other end, which
terminates in a convex disk, beset with small tubular perforations.

This shell, which is Serpula penis, Linn, has not been seen fossil ;
nor is the nature of its inhabitant known.

LXVIII. Dentalium. A tubular, conical, slightly bowed univalve,
open at both ends.

Mr. Brander found, among the Hampton fossils, two species ; the one
of which he considered as D. dephantinum, and the other D. entails. A
specimen before me, of the latter fossil, seems in no respect to differ

from the recent shell. Another of my Hampton fossils seems to possess
the characters of D. dentalis.

The fossils which I possess of this genus are chiefly Italian. Among
these I perceive, ]. D. fossile, Linn, approaching, by its numerous small
longitudinal decussated striae, to D. striatulum ; but differing from that
shell in not being angulated ; and in the cone, which it forms, diminish-
ing more slowly towards its apex. 2. D. sexangulum, Linn. In this shell,
the minuter striae, interposed between the large angular ones, vary in
their number from one to three. Some of these fossils possess all the cha-
racters of this species, but have their longitudinal striae interrupted by
obliquely-disposed, transverse, or annular striae, placed at various dis-
tances. These, perhaps, should be considered as D. annulatum.

In the collection of Mr. Strange were some silicious casts, formed in
the cavities ofdentalites. These, being partly transparent, and partly of
the whiteness and opacity of china, have a very beautiful appearance.
I am totally uninformed, as to the place in which they were found,
but suspect them to have been formed in the fossils above described,
from Italy.

This shell is filled by one of the Vermes, possessing exterior organs,

LXIX. Vermicularia. A tubular shell, turned spirally at its begin-
ning, but continued more or less contorted : the sides entire, through
its whole length, and the opening simple and round. The inhabitant a
cephalous mollusca.

Fossil specimens of shells of this genus appear to be by no means rare :
silicious specimens are found in the green sandy stratum in Wiltshire. I
have also specimens, from the collection of Mr. Strange, which were ob-
tained by that gentleman from the hills of Tuscany. To one very fine
fossil, which Mr. Strange considered worthy of being made the subject
of an engraving of Gregori, after a drawing of Bonati, a piece of lace
coral is attached, with a tubular shell, having the appearance of being
formed by a series of funnel-formed bodies, the narrow parts of the supe-
rior being inserted in the wider parts of the inferior.

These fossils were at one time supposed to be the fossil remains of
earthworms: a supposition not now requiring to be further noticed. I
do not know a more appropriate place to dispose of the fossils repre-
sented Plate VI. Fig. 12 and 13, than under this genus. These vermi-
culites are found in the fissile stone of Pappenheim and Gunsterhausen ;
and have, I believe, no recent prototype. In some, as in Fig. 12, the
covering itself of the animal is left, intertwined in a remarkably tor-
tuous manner. In others, as in Fig. 13, the impression only is left.
Bodies of a similar kind are sometimes formed on the Veronese fossils.
Similar bodies are sometimes found in the Devonshire Whetstone ; but
less contorted, and laid more lengthwise. Plate VII. Fig. 2.

LXX. Serpula. A tubular adherent univalve, variously twisted or
grouped, and sometimes divided by entire septa.

The definition which I have here adopted for this genus, and which is the
Linnsean, with the addition of the form of the shell, will for the present
comprise several shells, which, as has been already observed, may, .when
more fully known, be found worthy of forming distinct genera. I

The common small tortuous and intertwined serpulae, S. glomerata,
are very frequently found amongst, and attached to, the fossils of this
and of other countries. Several different varieties; or perhaps species,
of these shells, result from the different external forms which they
derive from the longitudinal or oblique rugae which exist on their sur-
faces. Hence their external figure is trihedral, tetrahedral, and even
hexahedral, according to the number of these rugae. Plate VII.' Fig. 1,
represents a portion of a trihedral serpula, and the polished slab.
Plate VII. Fig. §, shows the appearance produced by a section, chiefly
in the transverse direction of the shells of a species which is outwardly
tetrahedral.

The serpulite, Plate VII. Fig. 5, seerns to merit the term columnar.
It is formed by a very small tube, disposed in contiguous turns, placed
one on another, in nearly a horizontal direction, so as to constitute a
small columniforrn body. The last and upper turn of the shell is

duced in a perpendicular direction; the termination, containing the
aperture, which is round, standing upwards. It is from the neighbour-
hood of Verona.

Plate VII. Fig. 4, is a small serpulite, the turns of which are spi-
rally disposed on a horizontal plane, excepting the last ; which, as in
the preceding fossil, turns upwards.

The Kentish chalk fossil, Plate VII. Fig. 11, is a serpulite of a
very curious form and character. It is formed of four spiral turns, the
last of which is carried out a little way in a straight line, and then appears
to have had its termination marginated. From its aperture another
tubular body appears to have proceeded, the inferior part of which
closely imitates, in its general appearance, the fringed, rugous, flat
disc, serving as the foot of the snail. This also terminates with a
marginated ring, forming a round aperture. The whole surface of
the shell is marked by very fine transverse striae ; and at distances,
increasing as the shell has grown, distinct annular projections are ob-
servable.

The extraordinary form of this shell, and particularly the appearance
of that part, which, though it must always have been oi a shelly
hardness, bears so close a resemblance to the soft rugous part of the
snail, led me very anxiously to seek for opportunities of examining its
internal structure. I at last obtained two other specimens; and then
found, on carefully breaking them, that at each of these annular pro-
jections, and at that part where the shell seems to commence anew, a
close internal septum existed, which presented externally a concave
surface, and which prohibited any communication of the chambers with
each other, or with the animal, which doubtlessly lived only in the last
formed chamber.

In this fossil we first observe a peculiarity of formation, which, as far
as my knowledge extends, has not yet, although known to exist in
several instances, obtained that attention which it seems ta demand.
In the nautilus, it is generally believed, that the division of the shell

into chambers, into each of which a part of the animal is extended,
gives to the animal a power of raising or of lowering itself in the water,
as its will directs. But in this shell the posterior chambers are shut up
distinctly separate from each other, and of course have no communica-
tion with the last, or anterior chamber, in which the animal resides.

A slight attention, only, being paid to this fossil, it is probable, that
the first idea excited respecting it may be, that its original construction
was deficient in that astonishing adaptation of means to the ends pro-
posed to be accomplished, which always exists in the works of nature.
Cut off from all communication with the closed apartments which he had
quitted, but to which he was still adherent, the animal could have had
no power in influencing its librations in the water, and consequently seems
to have been fastened to an useless and ungovernable incumbrance.

But here, as in every other apparent deficiency of design in the works
of nature, only a further extension of our inquiries is necessary, to dis-
cover the wisdom of the Almighty Creator. The conformation of the
inferior part of this shell shows it to have been adherent to the shell of
some other animal: a circumstance, indeed, which at first thought seems
to add little to our information; since the parasite, depending on the
shell which supports it, for its loco-motion, seems to need no other pe-
culiarity of conformation, than that which secures its firm adherence.
But the shell to which it was attached might have been likely to be im-
peded in its own librations by an unlimited increase of the weight which
was accumulated on it.

To prevent the occurrence of this circumstance, the structure of this
appendage appears to be admirably well calculated ; since the animal,
with its shelly appendage, was, in all probability, thereby constantly kept
at the same degree of specific gravity, through all the stages of the
animal's growth. The formation of these several chambers doubt-
lessly resulted from the animal increasing the size of its receptacle, by
lengthening and widening it at its anterior part, quitting, as it advanced,
the posterior part; and having finished its chamber for that period,

shutting and sealing up so much of the hinder part of the shell as it had
then quitted. To enable it to do this, by forming a transvere septum of
an appropriate form, it needed only to possess, at its .posterior termina-
tion, an organization calculated for the secretion, deposition, and mo-
delling, of shelly matter.

The absolute weight of the animal must necessarily have increased
with its growth ; but if with this increase of growth an additional chamber
of air was produced, the animal and its appendage would preserve the
same degree of specific gravity. It is evident, that whilst a due proportion
was preserved between the solid part of the animal and these testaceous
air-vessels, the animal to which they were attached would not be at all
affected by their weight, let the number or size of those which were accu-
mulated on it have been ever so considerable.

It seems to be a characterizing property of the animals belonging to some
ofthe shells of this genus, to close or fill up all that posterior part of the shell
which they do not inhabit : and in some of these we have seen, that
by leaving these chambers empty, the shell and animal have probably
preserved the same degree of buoyancy through their whole growth. But
in another very curious species, the Serpula heliciformis, known only in a
recent state, the whole dwelling of which appears to be not testaceous,
but actually spathous, the posterior seeming snail part is gradually filled
up, so as to become a solid mass of apparent spathose matter.

To account for this difference, it only seems to be required to consider
that this shell does not attach itself to light bodies, whose buoyancy it
would affect, but that it is always found imbedded in fixed masses of
madrepore, and in general of Madrepora meandrites, Linn, where, from
the body being fixed, in which it inhabits, no regulation of its weight is
necessary.

The fossil, Plate VII. Fig. 7, formed by almost horizontally disposed
spiral turns, flattish, but rather rounded and slightly carinated on each side,
the last turn being a little produced, and terminating in a round and dis-
tinctly marginated aperture, is, as well as the following, introduced in this

place with much doubt of the propriety of thus disposing of them. The
fossil, Plate VII. Fig. 8, is from Shepey : some, still larger, are
found at Bognor. Its spiral turns are placed partly one on the other,,
so as to form a nearly smooth convex upper and concave under surface :
the turns themselves being nearly round, and beset with slight longitu-
dinal ridges. The last turn, of this fossil is very much produced, and
terminates in a round distinctly bordered aperture.

The produced or extended turn of these and the preceding fossils,
with the completely round and distinctly marginated mouth, have in-
duced me to place them together: and, in consequence of the peculiar
organization of the rugous part of the species, Fig. 11, I have no
hesitation in considering it as an adherent shell, and of placing, it among
the serpulae.

But with respect to the other two species, agreeing as they do with
this fossil, as to their peculiar termination, I must acknowledge that I
have no reason for supposing them to have been adherent shells. I have
however ventured to assume this situation for them, until more correct
observations shall allot them one more appropriate.

LXXI. Siliquaria. A tubular shell, spiral at its beginning, continued
in an irregular form; being divided laterally, through its whole lengthy
by a narrow slit, and formed into chambers by entire septa.

This is Serpula anguina, Linn. Rumpf. Tab. XLI. Lit. n. Baron Born
has figured, Born. Mus. C<es. T. 18, Fig. 16, two species, or, according
to Linnaeus, two varieties, of this shell, one of which is very strongly
muricated. The animal itself is not known.

This shell is found frequently fossil at Grignon. M. Faujas observes,
that these fossils have, on their outer surface, many rows of small protu-
berant striae, which are more or less rough, and which run the length-
ways of the shell. A narrow slit, more or less open, runs along the
whole of the circumvolutions in some specimens ; whilst in others its
place is supplied by small narrow openings, separated from each other
by intercepting points. This naturalist has discovered that these fossil

VOL, in, o

shells are chambered, by the interposition of thin hemispherical plates,
without any syphon, at a little distance from each other. He has also
ascertained, that these septse, not only are not always at equal distances,
but that sometimes they are fixed to the sides of the tubes, and com-
pletely preventing any communication between these chambers ; and
that, at other times, on the contrary, they are not adherent to the sides,
and may, of course, be easily removed.

The two specimens which I possess, of this fossil, are only two small
fragments. In the one represented Plate VII. Fig. 3, is seen the na-
ture of the change which the shell here undergoes. Through more
than one half of its length the fissure is partially closed, evidently by the
approximation and augmentation of the denticular processes, with which
its sides are beset ; and, through the remaining part of its length, the
union of the sides of the fissure is complete. In the other specimen, the
fissure has been completely closed, a slight tubular excavation of the
outer surface showing where the fissure had formerly existed. No septae
exist in either of these specimens.

In this shell, the fissure seems to fill up as the animal proceeds; the
sides of each of the chambers being filled up, perhaps, before the portal
is finally closed, by fixing the septa.

-LETTER IX.

MULTILOCULAR SHELLS .NAUTILUS FOSSIL SPECIES OR-

THOCERA.

W E shall now proceed to the examination of the fossil remains of a
family of shells, which, whether we consider the greatness 'of their num-
bers, the peculiarity of their structure, or the little agreement which
exists between the greater part of them and known recent shells, cannot
fail strongly to excite our interest and engage our attention.

These shells are multilocular, being divided into chambers by transverse
pierced septa. A communication through the septa distinguishing these
shells from those multilocular shells, which have been just examined.

Very little is known with respect to the animal which inhabits even
the recent shells of this description. There is, however, sufficient reason
for supposing that the animal resides in the last formed chamber of the
shell, and is of the family Cephalapodes. We are indebted for much of
this knowledge to M. Peron, who was so fortunate as to obtain the ani-
mal of Nautilus spirula in connection with its shell, and brought it, in
that state, from New Holland. This animal, which appeared to be
analagous with the sepia, had the shell riot only attached to, but so let
into its posterior extremity, as to leave a part of it only in view.

The near agreement of the internal structure of the shell of N. pom-
pilius and indeed of most of these many-chambered shells, with that of

100

N. spirula; and the circumstance of the Argonaut a being inhabited by a
mollusca of this class, leave but little doubt that all these shells have
been the solid appendages of similar animals.

The representation given by Rumphius,d'AmboimcheRar. Tab. 17, Fig.c.
of the dead animal of the N. pompilius, al though />f an animal which was
much injured, not only gives the idea of a similar animal, and shows the
appendage by which it was connected with the siphunculus of the shell ;
but also seems to bear that figure which authorizes the supposition, that
part of the shell had been let into the body of the animal. This partial
envelopement of the shell by the animal is also confirmed, as is justly
observed by Lamarck, by the blanched appearance, which extends
some little distance from the edge of the mouth of the shell of the
N. pompilius, and which differs so widely from that which is yielded by
the other external part of the shell, wtiich is beautifully marked by
transverse orange-coloured stripes.

LXXII. Nautilus. A spiral, many-chambered, discoidal univalve,
with smooth sides. The turns contiguous, the outer side covering
the inner. The chambers separated by transverse septa, which are con*
cave outwards, and perforated by a tube passing through the disk.

The different chambers of these shells are very shallow, when com-
pared with the last, which forms the opening, and which is, doubtless,
the residence of the animal.

Whilst examining these shells, it is necessary to pay particular atten*
tion to that particular organization, by which a communication is kept
up between the animal and the most interior part of the shell ; since we
shall not otherwise be able to judge of the peculiar modifications of these
parts, which occur in the fossil remains of this and of other genera of
this family.

Some have supposed the siphuncle of the nautilus to have been a
rigid testaceous tube : thus M. Bosc says : " Toutes ces cloisons sont
traversees par un petit tuyau cylindrique, epais, creux, imperfore late-
ralement, qui paroit composoit de petits tuyaux plus evases d'un cote, et

implantes les uns dans les autres, et grossissant avec les cfcisohs/' 'Hist
Nat. des Coquilles, Tome V. p. 164.

But that the tube in the nautilus was partly a membraneous tube, was
known so long ago as the time of Hooke, who believed it to be a tube
dilatable or compressible at pleasure ; and that, like the air-bladders of
fishes, it served, by its expansion or contraction, to render the animal
buoyant or not.

In the representation given by Rumphius of the dead animal which
had inhabited the shell of N> pompilius, a round membraneous process is
seen in the posterior part of the animal, which exactly agrees with, and
had evidently been separated from, the siphunculus; and serves to
show, that a connection existed between this part and the body of the
animal.

In the dried recent shells of the nautilus, the membraneous part of
the siphunculus is, I believe, seldom found, it being either removed by
decay, or by the process of slitting the shell, to obtain the display of its
internal structure: but I am pleased in being able to say, that frequently,
in fossil specimens, not only is the existence of a continued siphunculus,
extending through every chamber of the shell, proved, as in Plate VII.
Fig. 12 ; but, that it is sometimes to be seen so much larger than the shelly
part of the tube with which it is joined, as gives reason for supposing it
to have been capable of a considerable degree of dilatation. This I am
able to demonstrate in several specimens, as at Plate VII. Fig. 10, in
which even the anatomy of this part may be ascertained.

It may be there seen, that the testaceous part of the tube, extending
through about one fourth of the chamber, is formed by an elegant sinu-
ous turning of the septum. It also there appears, that the mem-
braneous tube which has proceeded from the animal is extended over
4he internal surface of the testaceous tube, is reflected a little on
the exterior surface of the tube, and then returns and passes on to
the inner surface of the next testaceous tube, and may thus be traced

102

oii,; in -a similar manner, through all the compartments; it appearing
to be a continued membrane, beginning with the animal, and extend-
ing to the first and smallest compartment; the end of each testaceous
tube seeming to be included in a duplicature of this membrane, and
placed on its outside, somewhat in the manner in which the abdo-
minal viscera are involved in the duplicatures on the outside of the peri-
toneum.

We have thus, I trust, by the fossil remains of this genus, obtained a
confirmation of the opinion of Hooke, and established the fact of a con-
tinued tube, capable of dilatation and contraction, passing through all
the chambers of the shell. From what source the gaseous matter is de-
rived with which this tube was filled, and in what manner the animal
effected those modifications of the tube and its contained air, on which
the variation of its buoyancy depended, are subjects of inquiry still de-
manding the assiduous attention of the naturalist, and on which I will
not pretend to hazard a conjecture.

The power of raising or sinking the shell appears, from the observa-
tions just made on the siphuncular membrane, to depend on this organ
alone : some other use remains, therefore, to be found for the closed
cavities of the chambers. With these it is observable, that the animal
preserves no communication, except for the passage of the siphunculus;
he closing each chamber, and completely excluding himself from them,
as he extends the siphunculus, and, as agreeable to the increase of his
growth, he forms himself a new dwelling. Hence it appears, I think*
highly probable, that the only use of the vacuities formed by these nu-
merous chambers, is to counteract the weight of the increasing mass of
the animal, and of the thick shell ; and thereby to render the whole so
nearly of the weight of the water, that the difference arising from the
siphuncular membrane being contracted or dilated, may occasion the
mass to swim or sink. It will, I trust, appear, in confirmation of this
opinion, that in another genus of the multilocular shells, the belemnite,

103

another contrivance is adopted, apparently for the production of this
effect — the rendering the weight of the mass so near to that of water,
that a very slight change may occasion or destroy its buoyancy.

Should the opinions here offered be found to be objectionable, it may
be considered, in excuse, that the economy of the animal has hitherto
undergone but little investigation. So little, indeed, has the structure
and the nature of the siphunculus been understood, that even De Bosc,
the latest writer, perhaps, on the subject, points out no other use of
this tube to the animal, that of its serving to conduct its tail to the
beginning of the spire. " II n'y a pas de doute que ce tuyau ne serve
a conduire la queue de Panimal a Porigine de la spire ou elle s'attache."
Histoire naturelle des coquillcs, Tome V. p. 1 64.

We at present know, in a recent state, and of a size sufficiently large
to allow of an examination of the structure, without the aid of a micro-
scope, but one species of nautilus, N. pompilius. There is, however, no
doubt of several distinct species existing in a mineralized state.

In Shepey Island, in the corresponding stratum of Brentford, in
some parts of Somersetshire, particularly near Bath, and, I doubt
not, but in several other parts of this island, a fossil nautilus is found,
which, from the roundness of the back part of the shell, may be con-
cluded to approach exceedingly near, at least in its form, to N. pompilius.
Some of these, which have been found at Shepey, where they are
mostly imbedded in septaria, as well as those which have been found at
Brentford, are of very considerable magnitude, and seem to resemble
N. pompilius in their internal structure.

The outside of these fossils are frequently resplendent, with a1 pearly
coat. This circumstance demands some little consideration ; since, as
this is not the case with the outside of the shell of N. pompilius, it seems
to point out the fossil as a different species, as the nacre does not exist
on the outside of the shell of the recent species. Future observations
will determine this question more decidedly; but at present, I am dis-
posed to imagine, that, in the fossil specimens, the external part of

104

the shell may have been removed by decomposition; whilst the na-
cre, which has remained, in consequence of some peculiarity of struc-
ture or of composition, assumes the appearance of being the real
external shell.

The nautilites of Sheppey particularly engaged the attention of the
late Mr. William Jones, who, speaking of those which are imbedded in
septaria, observes : " When this shell (Nautilus) is found lodged in the
waxen vein, a phenomenon is observable in some of the specimens,
which seems the most surprising and unaccountable of any that occurs
in this branch of philosophy. The stone is quartered irregularly into
tali or cubes, by seams of a coarse yellow spar, of the colour of beesr
wax, which intersect the stone in many directions : and what is won.-
derful to see, these seams of spar pursue their course through the sub-
stance of the nautilus, as if nothing had been interposed, though the
shell is nearly as impenetrable as a flint. The case is very difficult, if
we consider it as a penetration of the shell : but perhaps, when the shell
was detained within the stone, it was obliged to part and crack, by the
subsequent shrinking of the stone; so that when the spar filled the
seams of the stone, it filled up the crevices of the shell at the same time.
The insinuation of the spar through the siphunculus, and its forming a
column within the chambers of the shell, is another remarkable cir-
cumstance. Upon the whole> the nautilus, thus inclosed, and affected
by the waxen vein, is one of the most curious fossils in the world *."

In the neighbourhood of Whitby, situated on the sea-coast, in the
North Riding of Yorkshire, a species of nautilites is found, which dif-
fers from the preceding in the back part of the shell, or of its turns
being flat instead of round : so that the sides go off almost at a right
angle from the back of the shell.

Between Bath and Bristol, in the neighbourhood of Keynsham, there
is sometimes found another species, in which the back of the shell is

* Physiological Disquisitions, &c. by William Jones, F.R. S. p. 392, 1781,

105

actually depressed in its centre. A specimen of this species, which I
possess, is a German fossil : the siphunculus, in this specimen, runs
about midway between the middle of the chamber and its inner side.
The line, Plate VII. Fig. 13, is that which is described by its posterior
surface.

Breynius had observed, that all nautili did not agree in the form of
their septa; and hence divides them into two orders: 1st. Those with
concavo-convex semilunar diaphragms; and, 2dly, Those with jagged
or sinuated diaphragms. Dacosta also, in his " Elements of Con-
chology," says, " I have seen fossil kinds with foliaceous sutures, like the
ammonitse; which implies, that all the species have not such regular
roundish partitions." P. 168.

The fossil shell of this description which appears to be the most
uncommon of those which I have seen; differing the most widely of any,
not only from the recent, but from the other fossil nautili, is one, of
which I purchased the remains at the sale of Dr. Menish's collection.
Of the place where this fossil was obtained, I have no information : its
striking characters are, its great size, the situation of its siphunculus, and
the peculiar form of its septa, and of course of its chambers. Plate VII.
Fig. 15, is an outline sketch of this fossil, one third of the size of the
original.

The outermost septum in this specimen, which is not that which was
the last, and consequently the largest, of the original shell, measures
full nine inches in its longest, and seven inches in its shortest diameter.
But the most striking character which it offers to our observation is, the
form of the septa ; since these, instead of having a regular rounded
sweep, as in the recent nautili, and in most of the fossil species, have
an undulated form. This results from each septum forming a deep
lobated process, extending backwards, on each side, over which process
is hollowed out a deep sinuous notch, for the reception of the cor-
responding lobated process of the next anterior septum.

VOL. III. P

106

From the peculiar form of the chambers and septa in this fossil, an
undulating or ibliaceous suture is formed, which necessarily approxi-
mates it to the genus Ammonites, and prevents our regarding any longer
this simple suture as one of the generic characters of Nautilus.

The siphunculus in the recent nautilus, I believe, always passes
through nearly the middle of the septa. This is the case also with
those nautilites of Shepey, which bear the general form of N* pompilius ;
and with those found at Brentford, one of which, impregnated with
pyrites, is represented Plftte VII. Fig. 12. But in other specimens, as in
the one just noticed, it passes much nearer to the inner part of the shell.
In others, again, it passes nearer to the outer part of the shell ; and in
one specimen which I possess, from Yeovil, Plate VII. Fig. 16, it is seen
to run along the back of the shell. The septa, in these last specimens,
frequently have an undulating direction : the fossil approximating, both
in the situation of the siphuncle and form of the septa, to the Cornu
ammonis.

It should be remarked, with respect to the size of the siphunculus,
that, independent of the difference which may perhaps take place in the
degree of dilatation of the tube, at the time of its becoming involved
in its matrix, considerable difference may result from the section of
a specimen by which the tube is displayed. Thus, if the longitudinal
section of the siphuncle is made directly along its middle, it will neces-
sarily display a wider opening than if the section had been made more
to either side.

I am perfectly unacquainted with the nautilite without distinct cham-
bers, or visible concamerations, mentioned under the article nautilite,
by Bourguet, in his dictionary, on the authority of Spada, who describes
it : " Nautilites unius aufractus, dorso subrotundo, squameo, reliqua
corporis parte palmata." Spada, Cat. Lap. Agri Veron. p. 20. I am
also ignorant of the fossil which the inhabitants of Maltha call Capo di
gatto\ and which Lhwydd describes as Nautilita articulus, Lithoph.

107

No. 303. I should however suppose it not to be the cast of a chamber,
but a disengaged septum ; some of which I have, I believe, from She-
pey ; and others, which I have reason to suppose to be foreign.

Plate XI. Fig. 25, is a minute fossil shell found on the Appennines,
near to Sienna, by Thomas Meade, Esq. of Chatley Lodge, near Bath,
whose kindness I shall have repeated occasion to acknowledge. This
shell appears to be N. crispus, Linn, having lateral spires, with about
twenty flexuous crenated joints in the exterior whirl, marked by elevated
striae; outer edge caririated ; inferior volutions occult; aperture clasping
the body, semicordate, furnished Avith a small perforation or syphon.
Testae. Britan. />. 187. Plancus observes, that none of these beauttful
fossils are found on the yellow sand of Bologna; but that they are very
abundant in the sand of the mountain Covignani, in Rimini.

To the kindness of the same gentleman I am indebted for the oppor-
tunity of laying before you the minute fossil nautilus, Plate XL Fig. 26,
which is perhaps one of the species alluded to by Colonel Montague, as
a very minute non-descript species, found with the other minute Sienna
fossil shells. This is spiral : the inner turns concealed ; the outer turn
is wide toward the middle of the shell, where it is umbilicated; but very
narrow at the back, and is formed of about fifteen chambers. I have
but one specimen of this fossil, and am unable to discover any thing
respecting its siphuncle. This shell is more minute than the preceding
fossil, and in its general form very much resembles a reduced N. pom-
pilius.

Considering the genus Nautilus of Linnaeus as too comprehensive,
and that Nautilus should contain only those spiral multilocular shells,
whose inner turns are concealed, and whose siphuncle is obvious; and that
Ammonites should include those whose turns are apparent on both sides,
but whose siphuncle is concealed ; no genus is left for the reception of
those minute shells which were discovered by Beccarius and Plancus, in

108

which the characters of Nautilus and Ammonites are blended, the turns being
apparent on both sides, and the siphuncle obvious ; but which have been
generally considered as recent Cornua ammonis.

It is true that Lamarck says : " Les discorbes seroient de veritable
nautiles, si leur tours de spire, au lieu d'etre tous entierement apparens
et a decouverts, etoient caches par la dernier tour enveloppant les
autres ou les recouvrant par sa paroi exterieure, et si elles ne man-
quoient de syphon. Si ces memes coquilles ayant leur tours de spires a
decouvert et bien apparens, avoient leur cloisons perfbrees par un sy-
phon, elles seroient alors des spirolines *, " But on referring to the
genus Spirolina, this genus is found to have been formed for the recep-
tion of those minute shells, which, being partly spiral and partly
straight, differ from those of the genus Spinda, only in having their
spiral turns contiguous.

It therefore seems necessary to make a still farther separation, and to
dispose of these shells, in which the characters of Nautilus and Ammo-
nites are blended, under a distinct genus. This is the more requisite,
since thus the error would be more plainly shown of considering these
shells as ammonites, of which genus none have been yet found in a
recent state. The characters of such genus — a discoidal, multilocular
spiral univalve, with all the turns visible on both sides, arid the septa
pierced with an obvious siphuncle — seem to me sufficiently strong and
distinct to authorize the formation of a separate genus, which might be
marked by the term Ammonautilust expressive of its mingled characters.

I shall not, however, presume on such a change ; but having made these
suggestions, will leave them under the genus Nautilus.

N. Beccarii, Linn. Plane. Conch, min. not. Tab. I. Fig. i, claims the
first notice, in consequence of its being the first discovered shell of this
family, and that which gave rise to the supposition of the existence of
recent Cornua ammonis.

* Annales de Mus. d'Hist. Nat, Tome V. p. 182.

109

The existence of these shells, in a fossil state, was known to Beccarius
and Plancus, who found them in considerable numbers in the moun-
tains not far distant from Rimini and Bologna. Plate XL Fig. 27, is
one of these fossil shells, brought from the Appennines, in the neighbour-
hood of Sienna, by Mr. Meacle. The matrix is a yellowish spathose
concretion.

The reversed variety of this species, or, as it is in general considered,
the reversed species JV. beccarii reversus, is also found in considerable
numbers on the Appennines, along with the former. This reversed fossil
shell is represented Plate XI. Fig. 28. The opposite side of the shell is
here represented ; but, being of a reversed shell, it runs in the same
direction as Fig. 27.

Among the minute shells which Plancus considered as recent Cornua
ammonis. were some which he distinguished as being bordered; since
many of them, especially those which were whole, possessed a wide pel-
lucid margin, which was spread round the whole shell. Whether all these
shells were naturally thus bordered, and lost this border by the violence
of the waves; or whether those which are bordered are of a distinct spe-
cies, he attempts not to determine. De Conch, min. notis, Cap. iv.
Similar shells have been found fossil in the hills of Bologna and of Pied-
mont ; and both the recent and fossil ones, he observes, are sometimes
found as large as small lupins. App. i. p. 85.

One of these fossils, through the kindness of Mr. Meade, is repre-
sented Plate XL Fig. 30. It appears to accord very nearly with Nau-
tilus subarcuatulus, Supp. to Test. Brit. PL xix. Fig. 1, the separated con-
voluted portion of which had been taken for N. calcar.

LXXIIL Spirula. A multilocular shell, partly spiral and partly
straight, the turns being disposed in a discoidal form, and separate
from each other; the last turn being elongated, and continued in a
straight line. The septa are transverse, regularly concave outwards,
and pierced with a shelly tube : the opening circular.

This genus is very properly separated from Nautilus by Lamarck;

110

since, except in the form of the septa, and the disposition of the siphun-
culus, there is no concurrence of character. The fossil shells of this
genus appear to resemble Spirilla J'ragilis, Larn. Nautilus spirulus, Linn,
very closely, except in size. In this respect the difference is so very
considerable, the fossil shells being so much larger, as almost to warrant:
a specific distinction, founded on this circumstance alone. The fossil
shells of this genus have hitherto been named Lituites, from their resem-
blance, in form, to a bishop's pastoral staff; but, in these pages, I
shall denominate them Spmilites, in concordance with the name of
the genus.

The siphunculus, in the recent specimens of this shell, differs from
that of the nautilus, in being formed by one continued shelly tube, or
by the smaller end of each anterior one terminating in the larger end of
each posterior one ; but whether this is constantly the case or not, in
fossil specimens, I am unable to decide ; since, in those specimens, in
which I have discovered such appearances as would lead to a suspicion of
the siphunculus being partly membranous, I have not been able to ascer-
tain whether they were fragments of the spirulites or of orthoceratites.
The very great length of the straight part of shell, in the spirulites,
will necessarily occasion this ambiguity, until some decidedly distinguish-
ing marks of the orthoceratites and of the straight part of the lituites can
be discovered. As in the nautilites, so in the spirulites, the situation of
the siphunculus, varies in different specimens, and perhaps in those
which are in every other respect similar.

We have seen that, in the nautilus, the siphunculus is partly mem-
branous and probably elastic ; whilst, in the shells of this genus, we
find that the whole siphunculus is of shell, and consequently unyielding.
From this difference of organization, a considerable difference must ne-
cessarily exist, as to the influence which the introduction of water or of
air must have on the buoyancy of the several shells: a difference
depending on the greater quantity admissible in a dilatable than in a rigid
tube. A more intimate knowledge of the nature of these shells must he

Ill

obtained, before we can form any opinion respecting the circumstances
in the economy of the animals inhabiting them, which have demanded
these particular modifications.

The fossil shells of this genus are, 1 believe, always found imbedded
in a matrix, excepting those fragments of the straight part, which are
perhaps not to be distinguished from orthoceratites, the genus which
must next employ our attention. Spirulites are found in chiefly a red-
dish marble, in Mecklenbourg, in some parts of Normandy, and, it is
also said, in Switzerland.

But they are obtained, by far most frequently, from Gothland and
Oelarid : the latter place affording the finest specimens : those in which
the spiral part of the shell is preserved are very rare. The one which
is figured Plate VI. Fig. 11, is from Oeland, and was purchased from
the Calonnian collection. In this specimen, not only are the spiral turns
of the shell seen, but traces of the continuous shelly siphunculus also
are evident, Plate VII. Fig. 18, in a dark red lime-stone, evidently
containing a large proportion of iron ; in which is displayed the spiral
termination,, and a small part of the straight portion of the last turn
of one of these shells. Plate VII. Fig. 19, represents another of these
fossils, imbedded in grey marble, from some part of Germany.

LXXFV. Orthocera. A straight or slightly bent, rather conical, mul-
tilocular shell ; the chambers separated by transverse curved septa,
pierced by a tube.

The shells of this, as well as those of the former genus, were
placed by Limiaeus under the genus Nautilus; the considerable dif-
ference, which is observable in their external form seems, however,
fully to warrant their separation. Most of the shells, which, though
straight, have been considered by Linnaeus, and other naturalists, as
nautili, are minute and even microscopic shells ; and, when sufficiently
examined, some of them may be found to possess characters distinctive
even from both those of Nautilus and Orthocera. These are N. jugosus,
N. costatus, N. radicula, N. subarcuatulus, N. semilituus, N. rectus, N. spi-

112

tiulosus, N. legumen, and N. raphanus. But, obliged to observe certam
limits, I shall not dwell, in this work, on those fossils which are so small
as to be microscopic objects, except where it is required, for the sake of
particular illustration.

In reviewing the history of these fossils, we find many instances of
the perplexity and confusion proceeding from an endeavour to ascertain
the nature of a body, which cannot be referred to any known recent
animal, as strictly analagous. Gesner. de Figuris Lapidum, cap. xiv. p. 167,
and Aldrovandus, Museum Mctallicum, pag. 732, considered them as the
petrified tails of crabs; the former naming them Cauda cancri, s, astaci fluvia-
tilis ; and the latter, Cancrita. But as the knowledge of fossils advanced,
their resemblance to the alveolus of the belemnite was perceived, and they
were considered by many as the alveoli .of large belemnites, and there-
fore obtained the name of cylindrical alveoli. Some of these fossils were
even considered as part of the vertebral spine of some marine animal :
an excuse for which may be found in the particular forms possessed by
some of these bodies. Our countryman, Lhwydd, did not make much
progress in developing the nature of these fossils; he was satisfied with
naming them Alveoli; and, of course, with considering them as the
alveoli of large belemnites.

Scheuchzer, although not informed of the real nature of these fossils,
very properly separated them from the belemnites. No correct know-
ledge, however, was obtained respecting them, until Breyn and Klein
made them the objects of their investigations, and were led to the con-
clusion, that they were the remains of some marine, univalve, cham-
bered shell. This opinion was soon confirmed by the discovery, by
Plancus, of minute recent shells on the shores of Rimini, which appeared
to possess the characters of orthoceratites: but no recent shells of this genus
are known, except those which have been found in the sea sand of dif-
ferent parts, and which are so minute,' as to be microscopic objects.

The shells of this genus, Plate VII. Fig. 14, like the nautili, are
divided into chambers by septa, through which passes a tube or siphun-

113

culus, varying much in its form, situation, and size, in different spe-
cimens.

The surfaces of these fossils vary so considerably, as to form very
striking differences, on which may be grounded their separation into dif-
ferent species. In some their surface is smooth, and in others marked
by longitudinal or transverse striae. The parts possessed by the cham-
bers are in some marked, externally, by a considerable depression;
whilst in others, these corresponding parts are distinguished by a slight
degree of protuberance. They differ, also, with respect to their form ;
some being straight, while others are described as slightly curved at
their smaller end.

Their size varies, from being, as has been just observed, so small as
to be a microscopic object, as to equal the thickness of a man's arm.
M. Walch observes, that they are sometimes nearly four inches in dia-
meter, and more than an ell long, possessing nearly seventy chambers.
A specimen now before me is full four inches in diameter. Dr. Wright
describes an orthoceratite in marble, two feet four inches in length, in
which were sixty-six partitions. Phil. Trans. Vol. XLIX. p. 670.

Some care is however necessary, before we determine on the actual
form of such of these fossils, as, being imbedded, have had their parts
displayed by section. If we suppose a spirulite thus imbedded, and a
section commenced at its straight part, should the section not happen to
be made on the same plane with that on which the spiral part is dis-
posed, a part only of the last turn may be cut through, by which the
straight part may be separated from the spiral, and the part of the last
turn left with the straight part, might lead those, who did not take this
circumstance into consideration, to consider it as a bent orthoceratites.
Indeed, so easy it is for mistakes to have been thus made, that I should
be disposed to look with suspicion at all the sections of orthoceratites
bearing this bent figure, were it not that analogy authorizes the belief
that such is sometimes their natural form; since this form is observable

VOL. III. Q

114

in many of the different species of the minute recent concamerated
shells.

In none of the multilocular shells are such differences observable, with
respect to the size of the siphunculi, as in this genus. In some the
siphunculus does not equal one tenth, whilst in others it exceeds a third,
and is sometimes nearly one half, of the diameter of the orthoceratite
itself. It generally assumes that tumid form, which a membraneous
part might be expected to assume, when dilated between the septa : as
may be seen in the large siphunculus, Plate VIII. Fig. 2, and in Fig. 7,
where the siphunculus is seen intersected by the septa of the orthoce-
ratites ; the whole being imbedded in a mass of whitish marble.

The siphunculus, or rather the cast of the siphunculus, of this shell,
very often yields a striking appearance, from an obliquity in its
form, as in Plate VIII. Fig. 2, and Fig. 6. This appearance has
contributed somewhat to the degree of error which has existed, re-
specting the original nature of tbese bodies; since, even those who
might be disposed to consider them as deriving their form from the
siphunculus of an orthoceratites, might expect to find a corresponding
obliquity of form in the orthoceratites itself. But a slight investigation
will show, that there exists no reason for supposing, from this circum-
stance, that the shell to which it belonged possessed any particular
degree of obliquity of form.

The septa, by which the siphunculus is intersected, being a seg-
ment of a hollow sphere, the divisions of the siphunculus must neces-
sarily vary with the direction with which the siphunculus passes through
them. If the siphunculus passes through the centre of the septa, and in a
line nearly parallel with the parieties of the tube, it will be marked by
segments of a hollow sphere, the sections of which are disposed in
nearly transverse lines, as at Plate VIII. Fig. 3. But if the siphun-
culus does not pass through the centre of the septa, and yet keeps a line
nearly parallel with the parieties of the tube, it will be marked by seg-

115

ments of a hollow sphere, the sections of which will be disposed Fn
oblique lines, as at Plate VIII. Fig. 4 : the obliquity of the lines
increasing with the increase of the distance from the centre. This obli-
quity, however, may not always depend on this circumstance ; since,
in some species, the septa themselves are disposed in an oblique, or
rather undulating direction.

When it is considered, that of the recent spirula, very few are found
with more than three or four concamerations of the straight part of the
shell attached to the spiral, it is not to be wondered at, that the straight
is .so seldom found connected with the spiral part, in the fossil speci-
mens. In consequence of this circumstance, some difficulty arises in
determining which of the straight concamerated fossils are to be con-
sidered as having been of that form, whilst existing in their complete or
perfect state, and therefore belonging to the genus Orthocera\ and which
are to be considered as having originally terminated in a spiral form,
and which may consequently be considered as the remnant of shells of
the genus Spirula. An instance of the confusion thus occasioned may
be seen by comparing the representations, Plate VII. Fig. 14, and
Fig. 19, a. The first of these figures, Fig. 14, represents a fossil, which
has always been so much regarded as an orthoceratites, that if any one,
who had studied these fossils, had been desired to point out one which
was most decidedly an orthoraceratite, and not a spirulite, he would
have immediately referred to this fossil.

But the acquisition of the slab of marble from which the fossil repre-
sented Fig. 19, a, was taken, has determined, that such an opinion should
be adopted with some reserve. It is a slab of light-coloured Oeland
marble, in which the fossils are seen on one side, in their natural state,
in relief; and, on the other side, their internal structure is displayed,
in numerous sections, by the cutting of the marble. By an examina-
tion of the fossils on the rough part of the marble, as well as by exa-
mining some of the sections, it will be seen that they bear not only the
exact form of the preceding fossil, Figure 14, but possess also a surface

116

striated exactly in a similar manner. The correspondence is indeed so
very close, as to render it a subject of future inquiry, whether these fos-
sils are not of the same species. If this question were decided in the affir-
mative, then would it unexpectedly turn out that the fossil, Plate VII.
Fig. 14, which has always hitherto been regarded as an orthoceratite,
is really a spirulite ; since, in another part of this slab, Fig. 19, b, an
oblique section is seen, of one of these fossil bodies terminating in spiral
convolutions. It is here proper to remark, that the spirulite in red lime-
stone, Plate VII. Fig. 18, also has its surface marked in a manner very
much resembling that of the assumed orthoceratites, Plate VII. Fig. 14.

These fossils are far from being very abundant; nor are they very
generally diffused, being known, at present, to exist in very few places.
They are said to be found in greatest numbers in Mecklenbourg, and
sometimes in the neighbourhood of Francfort, where they seldom exceed
the ordinary belemnite in size. They are also said to be found, though
but rarely, in Switzerland. M. Gmelin ibund them in Siberia, and
M. Zukert mentions them as existing in the marble quarries of
Blankenbourg ; but the greatest quantities of them are discoverable in
the marble of Oeland, which, being of a reddish colour, and variegated
by the different colours of these bodies, and of the spathose matter which
fills their chambers, and being also susceptible of a fine polish, very
often yields an extremely beautiful appearance.

Some of the pavement of Chelsea College, and of Hampton Court,
is paved with slabs of this, and a grey marble ; in which, when wetted,
numerous sections of this fossil are discoverable. The grandest specimen
which is, I believe, known, of this kind, is a slab, now in my possession,
and which originally formed a part of the museum of Mr. Strange. In
this specimen, a square slab of eighteen inches by thirteen, are contained
more than fourteen longitudinal, besides numerous transverse sections,
of different orthoceratites; showing, by the different directions in which
the sections have been formed, the various structure of the several
parts of these fossils.

117

I am not, of my own knowledge, able to speak of the existence of
these fossils in Great Britain. They appear, however, from Lhwydd's
catalogue, to be by no means rare, in different parts of Gloucester-
shire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, &c.

It is exceedingly gratifying to me, to be able, through the kindness of
Mr. Meade, to place before you a representation of a beautiful minute
orthoceratite, brought by him from the Appennines, near Sienna.
Plate VIII. Fig. 16, is the fossil of its natural size ; and Fig. 17 is
the representation of the same fossil, magnified by a single lens, for
the purpose of obtaining a more distinct view of its structure.

Colonel Montague, alluding to a recent, minute, straight, chambered
shell, varying in some respects from N. costatus, Linn, gives the follow-
ing description of this fossil, which I take the liberty of introducing, not
merely on account of its perspicuity and correctness, but because I could
not myself have subjected a sufficient number to real inspection, with-
out trespassing further than I wished on Mr. Meade's kindness.

" A most elegant shell of this kind is found fossil upon the Appen-
nines, near Sienna, several of which we have been favoured with by
Mr. Meade and Mr. Higgin-sori. These vary a little; but the most per-
fect are an inch in length, completely cylindric, except at the last
joint, which is rather larger, and terminates conically, ending in a small
protuberance, nearly half as long as the joint to which it belongs: the
anterior end of those which appear perfect, is a little contracted round,
and smooth, or projecting beyond the ribs ; in the centre is placed the
aperture or syphon, whose margin is finely crenated.

" They vary also as much in the number of chambers as in that of the
ribs; possessing from ten to fifteen of the former, and from nine to
twelve of the latter: the joints are not much raised, but usually two or
three at the anterior end more than the rest. The shell is extremely
thick in proportion ; and we found, by dividing several down the mid-
dle, that the septa were equally strong, and each furnished with a small

118

crenated perforation in the middle, but not a continued syphon : the
cells are not round, but in the section appear rather concavo-convex.
The colour is of a pearly white.

" May not this be a variety of the N. costatus of superior growth, occa-
sioned by a more southern climate ? But whether it is found at present
in a recent or living state, we are ignorant." Testae. Brit. Sup. p. 85.

LETTER X.

HIPPURITES DALMATIAN AND VERONESE FOSSILS OF A SIMILAR

APPEARANCE BELEMNITES, OPINIONS RESPECTING SPECIES

DESCRIBED.

LXXV. .HippujiiTEs. A straight or conical shell, furnished in-
ternally with transverse septa, and with two lateral, longitudinal,
obtuse, and converging ridges; the last chamber being closed by an
operculum.

The Baron Picot de la Peirouse first noticed these bodies, <n a tour
through that part of the Pyrenees which is in the neighbourhood of
Monferrand and Jougragne, in the department of Aude, where they
are known to the inhabitants by the name of Horns. He found them
chiefly in a loose brown earth, and in the adjoining lime-stone rocks,
grouped with a new species of fossil oyster, and various fossil coralline
bodies. In consequence of observing that they were concamerated
shells, he was induced to consider them as a new species of orthocera-
tites, notwithstanding that he discovered that they were furnished with

119

opercula, and that their internal structure was materially different from

that of anv orthoceratices which had been hitherto described *.

These shells, Plate VIII. Fig. 1 and 5, undoubtedly require to be
considered as of a distinct genus from orthoceratites. Like orthoceratites,
they are fossil, testaceous, conical tubes, more or less approaching to a
cylindrical form, being sometimes straight and sometimes curved, and
internally divided into numerous chambers by horizontal septa : but,
unlike the orthoceratites, they do not appear to be provided with a
syphon ; the functions of this part having been perhaps performed by
two converging ridges, which, at no great distance from each other,
proceed from the sides of the cavity along its whole length. Soon after
their origin, these ridges suddenly contract ; and then, gradually be-
coming more tumid, terminate in rounded edges, at about a third of an
inch from the sides. The gutter which is formed between these ridges
is generally, like the rest of the cavity, divided into chambers by nume-
rous transverse septa. Picot describes what he conceives to be the
remains of a siphunculus, in two specimens; but the appearances do
not appear to be such as to warrant the supposition. The representa-
tion of this specimen is, however, here copied from Plate II. Fig. 2, of
Picot's work ; Plate VIII. Fig. 5, a, marking the part in which the
siphunculus is supposed to have existed.

The Baron Picot observes, that in several specimens the gutter,
or space between the ridges, is entirely empty, or free from septa; but
very properly remarks, that this must not be relied on as a specific
distinction; since it is probable, that in its original state, it was furnished
wiih septa. Having very fortunately obtained some specimens of this
curious and interesting fossil, and having amongst them two specimens,
in which this part was thus empty, I carefully examined them, and was
surprised at not finding the least trace of the adhesions of septa on its

* Philippi Picot de la Peirouse cle novis quibu&dam OrthoceratUum, &c. Disscvta-
tiuncvila. Page 4.

120

side. A further examination with a lens, assisted in explaining this cir-
cumstance ; since I thereby discovered, that the whole internal surface
was beautifully frosted over with minute crystals of calcareous spar,
which had most probably concealed the lines of attachment.

The operculum is sometimes convex, but in general it is concave.
It is for the most part firm and solid, except on its upper part,
where innumerable foramina are observable; being the openings of
minute tubuli, which appear to enter into the composition of its
superior part. Two larger openings are also observable, which, in their
figure and situation, appear to correspond with the two internal ridges.
Picot examined numerous specimens, with the hope of ascertaining the
mode in which this operculum joined the mouth of the shell, not doubt-
ing that it was attached to the animal, who possessed the power of open-
ing and of shutting it at pleasure. He found in every instance, that
the edges of the opercula were so exactly adapted to the openings, as to
allow of their being thus completely closed. In one instance only he
found two projecting pieces on the lower surface of an operculum, which
had somewhat of the appearance of the remains of an hinge; but never
having observed any thing similar, on any other specimen, he is disposed
to conclude, that this appearance was accidental.

Of the particular economy of the animal which inhabited this shell,
we cannot form any correct opinion from the specimens which have
been yet made known : nor can any satisfactory opinion be formed
respecting the action of the operculum, or the use of the lateral ridges,
until more perfect specimens have been discovered. Until then, also,
must be deferred, the attempt to determine the specific distinctions of
these fossils.

The Abbe Fortis appears to have met with some fossil bodies in Dal-
matia, which might, perhaps, be classed among the hippurites. " Walk-
ing," he says, " about the habitations of Rogosniza, I happened to disco-
ver, in the hard marble rock, a curious fossil, very much resembling
horns; and recollect to have observed, in the public Museum of Natural

History at Padua, a piece of the same species, under the denomination
of Cornu vacdnum. I am, however, of opinion, that the ceratomor-
phous fossil of Rogosniza, as well as the other at Padua, are Orthoceratiles,
of which the species are now lost, or are the produce of more distant
seas. You will probably say, that the name of Orthoceratites is but ill
suited to a recurvous fossil, and I agree with you; so you may call it,
if you please, Campilocerates." Travels into Dalmatia, p. 159.

Fossils, which I conjecture are of this genus, but of a different species
from those described by Picot, exist in the neighbourhood of Verona,
The figures of these fossils, given by Spada, in his Catalogi Lapidum
Veronensium Mantissa, Tab. i. and n. agree very closely with some of
those given by Picot. They are thus described by Spada : " Lapides
monstruosi — basi subrotunda, in medio concava ; margine piano, latitu-
dine unc. v. longitudine unc. vn. eras. unc. n. jumenti ungulam reprae-
sentantes, in conum fastigiati, tribus praesentim fasciis antiqua parte
horizontaliter distmcta, quarum unaquseque verticalibus lineis striata est,
postica vero lineis pariter verticalibus donata."

" Reperiuntur etiam alii lapides supradictis fere similes truncati, et
ungula destituti, fasciis lineisque horizontalibus insigniti."

The former of these, in Spada's figures, bears a very close resem-
blance to a horse's hoof; and the latter very nearly resembles the largest
of the hippurites figured by Picot. /

The specimen, Plate VIII. Fig. i, copied from Picot's work, P.ate vn.
fig. i, shows one of these fossils of a frequent form, but of a smaller
size than common, some of these fossils being at least four times the
size of this specimen. In this figure the operculum is also seen, with its
two openings. Some of these fossils are more of a cylindrical form, as
in Plate VIII. Fig. 5, from Plate n. Fig. 2, of Picot's work. In this
figure are shown, not only that part which is considered by Picot as the
siphunculus, a, but the septa, in nearly their natural situation, and the
ridges which project into the cavity.

We shall now proceed to the examination of the belemnite — a fossil
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122

body, whose form, structure, and composition, have all contributed to
render it one of the most perplexing puzzles which have engaged the
attention of oryctologists.

LXXVI. Belemnites, a conical or fusiform stone, of brown radiating
spar, generally terminating at the small end in a point, and having, at
the larger end a conical cavity, naturally retaining a conical testaceous
body, divided into chambers, and pierced by a siphunculus.

Various names have been assigned to this fossil ; many of which,
derived from the ridiculous notions entertained by the vulgar, in the
early ages, need only be mentioned. Such are, devil's fingers, Spectro-
rum candda, and id&us dactylus, from their having somewhat of the form
of fingers, and from being found on Mount Ida ; and Lapides lyncis, from
their supposed origin from the urine of the lynx. Ovid, alluding to
this notion, says :

Victa racemifero lynces dedit India Baccho :
E quibus, ut memorant, quidquid vesica remisit,
Vertitur in lapides, et congelat acre tecto.'

METAMORPH. Lib. xv. v. 413.

The colour of this fossil is generally brown, in different shades, but it
varies much in its degree of opacity, in different specimens ; some being
so transparent as to allow the rays of light to pass through very freely,
whilst others are nearly opaque. In their forms they display a still
greater variety. Some are cylindrical, some pyramidal, and others
fusiform. The smaller end of some are pointed, of some rounded, and
of others rounded in a certain degree, but terminating in an abruptly
projecting point. Some writers have spoken of bent belemnites, but I
do not believe that this form naturally exists. The supposition of their
existence has, I believe, been founded chiefly on a belemnite figured by
Lhwydd, LithophyL No. 1683 ; but Lhwydd describes the specimen as
being compressed, and of course its bent form may be fairly attributed
to violence. Some belemnites, and particularly the fusiform, have a

123
longitudinal sulcus, and others have been seen with two ; but what has

£j

been the use of these sulci is not known.

So perplexed were the earlier writers on this fossil, respecting its
nature and origin, that they were even puzzled to ascertain under which
of the natural kingdoms to place it. Not only the earliest writers on
mineralogy considered it as originally belonging to the mineral kingdom,
but even Woodward supposed it to be a stone, sui generis. Langius
considered it as a stalactite; Libavius believed it to be indurated
amber ; and even Mr. de Costa supposed it to be a natural fossil, or lapis
sui generis, composed of talc and spar, and compared its cavity to that of
stalactites; adding — " As for that marine body, the alveolus, I cannot
think otherwise than it is of the Nautilus kind, which, at the concre-
tion or formation of the belemnites, became accidentally lodged in its
cavity, in the same manner as all other marine bodies, became lodged
in the various fossil substances we now find them in." Phil. Trans.
1747. Stobaeus and Hellwing were of opinion that it was of vegetable
origin.

Among those who conceived it to be of animal origin, we find no
small discordance of opinion; some believing it to have been the horn,
and others the tooth, of an animal. Of those who entertained the lat-
ter opinion, some supposed it to be the tooth of a crocodile, and others
of a physeter; Lhwydd believing it to be the tooth of a particular spe-
cies of the whale, resembling the narwhal. Some were of opinion that
it was the spine of a particular species of echinus. M. Titius conjectured
it to be one of the extremities of a species of Stella marina. M. de
la Tourette believed it to have been a species of Polype; and Waller and
others a species of Holothuria.

Later oryctologists, particularly Rosinus, Erhart, Breyn, Klein, and
Linnaeus, have agreed, that this body must be considered as the remains
of the chambered shell of a marine animal, the recent analogue of
which is unknown. With this opinion M, Walch perfectly agrees,
believing it to be supported by the circumstance of the nacre having

124

been discovered on the outside of some of these fossils, and by the marks
having been seen of such a laminated structure, as is frequently observed
in shells, whilst in a state of decomposition.

Targioni Tozzetti, as well as M. Fermin, both conjectured, that
they had seen an animal which might be considered as the recent ana-
logue of the belemnite. But the animals which have been described by
these naturalists differ materially from each other, and neither of them
appears sufficiently to agree with the belemnite to allow us to consider
it as being analogous with it.

The opinion formed by Mr. Walch respecting the nature of this fossil,
or rather of its original state, displays a considerable degree of ingenuity.
According to his opinion, the larger and exterior part of the belemnite
was a shell containing a viscous and gelatinous fluid, now rendered a
spathose body; that to the superior part of this conical shell was
attached the exterior part of the shell of the concamerated alveolus, in
the upper chamber of which the animal lived, as in the Nautilus and
Cornu ammonis. Through the septa dividing the chambers passed a
siphuneulus, which was connected with a small tube passing through
the centre of the fluid contained in the external shell, and terminating
in a small round projection, which existed at the point of the belem-
nite, but which in general is destroyed. Monument des Catastrophes*
Tome III. p. ii. p. 212.

Some very ingenious conjectures on the growth of the belemnite were
proposed by a very ingenious and active promoter of these inquiries,
Mr. Joshua Platt, of Oxford, Philos. Trans. Vol. LIV. p. 38, in a paper
which he named, " An Attempt to account for the Origin and Formation
of the extraneous Fossil, commonly called the Belemnite. " The conical
cavity and its nucleus (Mr. Platt observes), are always proportioned to
the bulk of the belemnite,. but not to its length : some are four times
longer in proportion to the alveolus than others. The apex of the conical
cavity, where the alveolus is first formed, in some, runs up about half the
length of the whole belemnite ; in others, not a sixth part of the whole :

but the upper chamber is equally proportionable to the bulk, or circum-
ference of the belemnite, of whatsoever size or shape, and is the seat OF
dwelling place of the animal that forms the belemnite.'

Whoever (Mr. Platt says) considers the seam or sulcus in the belem-
nite, will, I think, conclude with me, that the outward lamina is
formed latest, as in the cowree, and that the seam or sulcus is caused

by the several additional coverings or laminae terminating there.

As the oyster strengthens its shell,, and excludes its first habitation, by
additional laminae formed within, the belemnite incloses its dwelling, by
adding new laminae without. Mr. Platt supposes, that the animal growing
larger, when in its first formed cell, forms then a second cell or cham-
ber, and at the same time covers the first cell, by forming the appen-
dage or guard, which is the first stage of the belemnite. In forming the
third cell, fresh laminae or coverings are carried on, and so of the
rest, the body of the belemnite gaining an increase of volume with each
additional chamber.

The siphunculus of the belemnite, he observes, is always upon the
verge of the chamber or cell ; and, in this siphunculus, is a little gut or
ductus, proceeding from the body of the animal, by dilating or contract-
ing of which, the animal, it should seem, may go out or in to its cell at
pleasure. This is the only stay which the animal has to secure its
retreat. But I cannot agree (he says) with the learned Dr. Hooke,
" that the gut, or ductus, passes through all the cells to the end of the

spiral cone, either in this shell or the nautilus. 1 am apt to think,

(Mr. Platt says) that this gut, or ductus, as well as the body of the
creature, is capable of being extended very considerably, to serve all
the uses of forming the belemnite, without leaving the siphunculus ; and
that the gut serves for the same purposes as the tendons of the oyster i
the latter to open and shut the shell, the former to allow the animal to
go out and in at pleasure. And as the oyster feeds altogether m the
shell, by opening the verge, the belemnite (whose residence is in the
great deep,, which is seldom disturbed) very likely goes out in quest of

126

food, but travels only upon the guard or rampart, leaving a trail behind,
as all land-snails do; which, hardening into a testaceous substance,
increases the dimensions of the outer walls, both in length and thick-
ness, from the cell or chamber, to the bottom, or point of the whole
belemnite. The animal, in its progress and return, clasps the whole
guard, as a snail does a small branch of a tree in the gardens ; and
where the two sides meet, there the sulcus is formed."

An objection offers itself to this opinion of Mr. Platt, which is, that
the conical concamerated part is sometimes much wider than the spa-
those part of the belemnite : a circumstance which by no means agrees
with Mr. Platt's conjecture. According to his opinion, the upper cham-
ber should agree, in its circumference, with the upper, or widest part of
the belemnite ; the body of the belemnite acquiring a proportional
accession of bulk on the formation of each superadded chamber. But,
as may be seen, Plate VIII. Fig. 8, specimens exist, in which the cir-
cumference of the later formed chambers exceed, in their circumference,
that of the widest part of the body of the belemnite : an incongruity
which militates much against Mr. Platt's opinion, as to the formation
and increase of this body.

Having now placed before you the opinions of these respectable natu-
ralists, we will proceed at once to the examination of this fossil, and of
the several parts which enter into its formation.

But few observations offer themselves respecting the concamerated
shell of this fossil. That its first chamber was the testaceous receptacle
of an animal, which in all probability was enabled, by its connec-
tion with the siphuncle, to vary its situation in the water, appears to be
universally admitted. The siphuncule, in the specimens which I pos-
sess, pass through the side of the septa ; and this is, I believe, always
the case.

With respect to the enclosing brown spathose part, which is formed
by radiating crystals, intersected concentrically, this is found to vary in its
figure so much, as to authorize the assumption of such specific dif-

127

ferences as will lead to the formation of three species : B. fusiformis,
-B. cylindriformis, and B. coniformis. The first of these, B. fusiformis^
Plate VIII. Fig. 13, is by no means a common fossil, except in a very
mutilated state. Its general figure is fusiform. A receptacle for the
alveolus exists in the upper part, in the form of a reversed cone, from
the point of which the body of the fossil again swells, and continues of
a compressed roundish shape, with a longitudinal sulcus, for an inch or
two, when it terminates with a tapering point. The figure which is here
given is from a specimen, which is perfect only as far as the shading is
carried, the upper part in outline being added from a fossil in the pos-
session of Mr. George Humphries, of Leicester-square. I believe this
species is chiefly found near to Stonsfield, and in the adjoining parts ot
Oxfordshire.

B. cylindriformis, Plate VIII. Fig. 10 and 14, is, I suspect, very
rarely found in a state so perfect as the other species are. Fig. 14 is a
fragment of one of this species, so split, as to give a very fair view of
the alveolus, which is filled with white spathose matter : the belemnite
itself is formed of the darkest spar that I have seen in any specimen of
this fossil. Fig. 10 is part of one of the cylindrical species; but roundish
at both ends ; I suspect, from being rolled by the water. This fossil is
here shown chiefly for the purpose of your noticing a very small linear
channel, which is continued from the point of the alveolus, longitu-
dinally through the rest of the spathose substance. This is the pipe, or
canal, of which M. Walch speaks, in his account of this fossil.

B. coniformis. Plate VIII. Fig. 15, shows the most common form of
this fossil : the specimen is so broken, as to show also the form and
situation of the concarnerated shell, in its alveolus. The chief varieties
observable in this species are those depending on their colour, and their
being more or less suddenly pointed, as Figures 11 and 12.

They are found of various sizes ; from less than that of a goose-quill
to a foot in length, and two inches in diameter. Baier says : " Maximi
belemnitae raro deprehenditur integri : habeo autem ingentia fragmenta^

128

ex monte Heimburgensi, quae evidentur arguunt, lapidem ejusmodi, si
integer esset, octo uncia fore longiorem, cum interim summa crassi-
ties in ambitu quatuor uncias cum dimidia omnino expleat" Oryctogr.
Noric. p. 35.

A specimen which I possess, in two fragments, the superior of which is
represented Plate VIII. Fig. 8, measures nearly twelve inches, and must
have been, when perfect, upwards of fifteen inches in length : its cir-
cumference, in the thickest part, is five inches and a half, and the Oon-
camerated cone is nearly six inches in length.

Frequently, on one side of the belemnite, a slight and narrow groove
is observable, as in Fig. 13 : and in some specimens two, and even
three of these grooves, are seen. How far these may be considered as
giving a claim to specific distinctions, or whether they should be
regarded as only the marks of varieties, cannot perhaps be at present
determined.

The structure of the concamerated part of the belemnite leaves
not a doubt that, like the nautilus, it was sunk or raised in the water
by the different modifications of an appropriate organization. But
it yet remains to endeavour to determine the original stale and nature
of that organization, and particularly of that spathose body of which
the belemnite is chiefly constituted.

The opinion of M. Walch, that it was originally a gelatinous fluid, is
the only conjecture that I am aware of, which has been hitherto
hazarded respecting the nature of the substance of which it was com-
posed originally. To confirm this opinion, it would be necessary to
show that there had existed a shell, or some covering, by which this
fluid had been inclosed and kept together. This circumstance has
been supposed by several, and has indeed been assumed by M. Walch;
but a close attention to the several statements which have been made
on this subject, and a careful examination of every specimen which has
come within my reach, has convinced me that no solid reason appears
in support of its existence.

129

Delusive appearances are undoubtedly frequently observable, from
which the presence of the remains of shell may be likely to be in-
ferred. But these, on close examination, will be found to be entirely
occasioned by the decomposition and successive exfoliation of the laminae
of the spathose substance, of which this body is composed ; and which,
in many parts, will be found assuming even somewhat of the iridiscent
appearance of mother-of-pearl. Not finding reason for believing in the
existence of the shell, or of the supposed contained fluid, I anxiously
endeavoured to discover in what other state this part of the belemnite
was most likely to have existed, during the life of the animal.

Satisfied that the use of the closed chambers, in all the multilocular shells,
was to bring the animal to which they were appended, with its shell, to a
degree of specific gravity, so near to that of water, as to render it capable
of being raised or sunk with facility by the apparatus of its siphuncle, I
concluded that this part of the belemnite must have existed in such a
state, as by its lightness, it must, like the closed chambers, have served
as a float to the animal. I had long entertained this opinion, before I
had made those examinations into the nature of the spines of echini, and
into the mineral changes of which they were susceptible, by which I
learned how much the crystallization of the impregnating matter would
be affected by even a small difference in the nature of the substance
mineralized. Thus I learned, that a spine of an echinus of one species
became a mass of opaque, white, rhomboidal crystals ; and one of an-
other species became a mass of dark brown crystals, of considerable
transparency, appearing, at the transverse fracture, to radiate from the
centre, the radii being divided by concentric intersections.

The general appearance of the crystallization of this latter species of
spines appearing to be exactly that of the belemnite, it seemed to be
fair to suppose, that there must have been a close agreement between
the substance of this species of spine, and that of the belemnites, in their
original state.

On examining the recent specimens which accorded with this fossil

VOL. III. S

1:50

spine, and which, as has been already mentioned, were of the palisadoe
kind, the substance of which they were composed was found very much
to resemble cork in its general appearance, and even in its structure,
being so light and porous as not to allow them to sink in water. This,
it will at once be seen, would be the kind of substance which would be
particularly 'well calculated to perform those offices which we may pre-
sume would belong to the supposed corresponding substance in the
belemnite. Hence I feel little hesitation in concluding, that the spa-
those part of the belemnite was originally a light pithy substance, by
which the animal and its appendage were so poised in the water, as to
be readily susceptible of those occasional changes in situation which
the organization of the siphunculus seems to have been capable of
producing.

It is in favour of this opinion respecting the original structure of the
belemnite, that on immersing a belemnite in a very weak mixture of mu-
riatic acid and water, in the proportion of about twelve drops to a pint,
several exceedingly delicate membranous^oa-w/* became evident, hang-
ing from the mass, and waving with the fluctuations of the fluid. The
notion, then, which we seem to be authorized in forming, respecting
the previous state of the belemnite, is, that it was a conical conca-
merated shell, imbedded in a light porous body : a siphunculus passing
through the septa, and perhaps terminating in the cellular part : the
ascent or descent of the animal, with its dwelling, depending on
the admission of air or of water into the siphunculus, arid perhaps into
the cellular part of the light body itself. This connection of the siphuncle
with the light porous body is however assumed, on the existence of the
tube passing through this body, as described by M. Walch, and which is-
discoverable in the specimen represented Plate VIII. Fig. 10.

It is hardly necessary to observe, in favour of the marine origin of
the belemnites, that they .sometimes have other marine bodies, such as
oysters, serpulae, 8cc. attached to their surface. This circumstance isr

131

however, worthy of notice ; since it serves to show, although perhaps
not decidedly, that the belemnite is not a nucleus, which was contained
in a shell, but that it now possesses the same surface which it did in its
recent state. This is however more plainly evinced by the specimen,
Plate VIII. Fig. 9, in which this substance has been eroded, and
apparently by some insect, to a considerable depth. That this was
effected previous to its existence in a spathose state, cannot be denied
to be most probable ; and if the substance had been gelatinous, and con-
tained in a shell, these erosions could only have been of the shell, and
consequently exterior. This circumstance, therefore, is strongly in
proof of this part of the belemnite having been a solid substance, ca-
pable of admitting the attacks of an insect, and of bearing the marks of
the injury.

De Luc and Lamarck very -ingeniously suppose, that the belemnite
itself was contained within the body of the animal, in the same manner
as the bone of the sepia or cuttle-fish. This opinion is far from being
without probability ; but it does not appear that, at present, we possess
any means of forming a determination on this point.

The Belemnite deserves to be placed among the earliest fossils, not
only from the recent belemnite being, in all probability, lost; but from
the fossils with which it is in general associated, the Cornu ammonis,
Encritius, &c. having also outlived their recent analogues.

M. Walch doubts the existence of silicious nuclei of the belemnites.
He says : " Que la noyau pierreuse de la belemnite puisse parvenir a
un si haut degre de durete qu'elle donne du feu lorsqu'elle est frappee
avec 1'acier, c'est du quoi nous doutons beaucoup. Worm, Lange,
Brukman, et d'autres 1'ont soutenu, mais probablement ces naturalistes
ont confbndu avec les belemnites une sorte du pierre a feu, qui leur
resemble parfaitement et que Ton trouve dans la craye. Monumens des
Catastrophes, Sfc. Tome n. p. 229. That the cast of the conical cavity
of the belemnite may be of such a degree of hardness, there can, how-
ever, be no doubt. I possess one, which is completely silicious; and

132

which bears, externally, the ridges corresponding with the conca-
merated structure of the shell.

I have never yet seen any other part of the belemnite in a pyritous
state, except the concamerated part. In one specimen, the spathose
part of the belemnite is imbedded in a mass of pyrites, with a pyritified
Cornu ammonis ; but it does not appear to have undergone any change,
by metallic impregnation.

The matrix, in which these fossils are found, is generally calcareous ;
sometimes chalk, but most commonly limestone. Some of the marbles
of AltdorfF are chiefly formed of these bodies, and is thereby rendered
of a dark brown colour. In a specimen before me, formerly in the
Leverian Museum, the marble appears to be chiefly composed of these
bodies, mixed with a few other marine remains : and in one part of the
polished marble, a section is displayed of the concamerated part, show-
ing distinctly the several chambers and partitions. Sometimes, but
much more rarely, the belemnite is found transfixed in common flint, a
specimen of which is figured Plate IX. Fig. 1.

That these animals must have existed, in very considerable numbers,
in the former world, is very reasonable to conclude, from the very wide
extent over which their mineralized remains are now found. Lhwydd
appears to think, that in England they are so abundant, that Cam-
bridgeshire only is destitute of them. Besides the proof of their general
diffusion, from the various parts of the world from which those have
been obtained which we find in the cabinets of the curious, we have
particular descriptions, in the writings of different oryctologists, of the
several fossils of this description which have been found in Saxony, Swa-
bia, Franconia, Brunswic, Salzthal, Goslar, Calenberg, Hildersheim,
Potsdam, Niendorp, Lubec, Angerbourg, Francfort, Switzerland, Spain,
France, and Great Britain ..

133

LETTER XL

AMMONITES BACULITES HAMITES SCAPHITES

TURRILITES.

LXXVII. Ammonites. A discoidal, spiral, multilocular shell, with
turns contiguous, and all apparent on both sides : the chambers
divided by sinuous septa, pierced by a siphunculus, difficult to be
traced, and never passing through the middle of the septa.

The shells of this genus are distinguishable from those of Nautilus, by
the difficulty of detecting the siphunculus, but chiefly by their turns
being all apparent on both sides.

These are among the fossils, which, from their extraordinary forms,
and the frequency with which they have been found, have particularly
excited the curiosity of the vulgar ; to gratify which, superstition has
lent its aid, by furnishing the tale of their being petrified snakes. Thus
the nuns of Whitby

" told

How, of thousand snakes, each one
Was chang'd into a coil of stone,

When holy Hilda prayed ;
Themselves within their holy bound,
Their stony folds had often found.

Nor did Saint Cuthbevt's daughters* fail
To vie with these in holy tale.

* The Nuns of Lindisfarn, or of Holy Island Monastery.

134

, on a rock, by Lindisfarn

Saint Cuthbert sits, and toils to frame
The sea-born beads* that bear his name.
Such tales had Whitby's fishers told,
And said they might his shape behold,

And hear his anvil sound :
A deaden' d clang, a huge dim form,
Seen but and heard, when gathering storm,

And night were closing round.

MARMION, Canto II. v. 13 and 14.

Among the notions which have been entertained respecting these
fossils, none is more curious than the following : " The country people
retain a conceit, that the snakes, by their breathing about a hazell
wand, doe make a stone ring of blew colour, in which there appeareth
the yellow figure of a snake ; and that beasts which are stung, being
given to drink of the water wherein this stone has been soked, will there-
through recover. There was such a one bestowed on me, and the
giver avowed to have seen a part of the stick sticking in it : but Penes
author em sit fides*" The Survey of Cornwall, written by Richard Carew, of
Antonie, Esq.

These, and various other idle tales, had long supplied the place of
rational conjecture, respecting the original mode of existence of these
fossils, until, by the investigations of Lister, Buttner, Scheuchzer, and
particularly of Breyn, their real nature was discovered ; and it was fully
ascertained, that they were the mineralized remains of a shell, the
recent analogue of which was unknown.

Plancus indeed discovered, in the sand of the Riminian shores, micro-
scopic, spiral, multilocular shells, which he considered as minute recent
shells of this genus, and which have been considered as such by almost
every writer on these subjects, since his discovery. Similar shells have
been found in several parts of the world, and even on the shores of this

* Trochites.

135

island : but all these minute shells differ so essentially from the fossil
shells of this genus, as to fully authorize the arranging of them under
distinct genera.

The number of species in the genus Ammonites must have been
exceedingly great. Langius and D'Argenville, indeed, are very re-
stricted in their enumerations : the former giving fifteen, and the latter
only fourteen, as the amount. Bromel ascertained the existence of forty
species, and Scheuchzer extended the number to a hundred and forty-
nine; whilst the assiduous Rosin us was led, by his inquiries, to believe
them to be not less than three hundred.

To form a fair opinion on this point would require the examination of
several collections, where these fossils had been collected with a parti-
cular view to this investigation. I am however satisfied that Rosinus's
number is that on which we may with most safety depend ; for, inde-
pendent of the vast differences observable as to size, the various mark-
ings on the sides of these fossils are sufficient to characterize a great
number of species. Thus we have smooth, knobbed, striated, and
grooved. Those which are ornamented with* knobs, vary according ta
the intermixture of these, or the order in which they are disposed.
Those which are striated, as well as those which are grooved, derive a
vast variety of embellishment from the striae or grooves being straight
or undulating, or partly straight and partly waved, from being bifur-
cated, trifurcated, &c. ; or partly simple, and partly furcated. The
species resulting from each of these must, it is evident, be very nume-
rous ; but from the several intermixtures of, or changes among, these dif-
ferent markings, the number must necessarily become exceedingly great.
But besides the numerous species which are thus formed, a prodigious
number more may be reckoned from the different markings and forms
of the backs of these shells, on which are also exhibited every embellish-
ment, almost, of which such a surface is susceptible. When it is con-
sidered that each of the modifications of form, of the sides^ of the shell*
may be combined with every different form which is assumed by the
back ; and that the number of species thus yielded will be the

136

of the different forms of the sides, multiplied by the number of different
forms of the back, the number of species will be found far beyond
expectation.

The number of species is, however, not confined by even these
limits ; since colour, another source of change, and of multiplication of
species, remains yet to be considered. It is true, that of this source we
cannot avail ourselves in the enumeration of fossil shells; but it is cer-
tainly fair to examine how far it may have b^en likely to have multi-
plied the number of species of this shell, in a recent state, which, in a
fossil state, and without this addition, we have seen to be so very
numerous. In the genus Conusy Linnaeus admits seventy-one species ;
and in the genus Cypr&a, one hundred and fourteen species : and, in
both these genera, the figure of the shells so approximate to uniformity,
as to allow it to be said, that the chief of the specific distinctions which
have been had recourse to in them, have been those of colour, varying
in its hues, arid in the forms in which it has been disposed. Reckoning,
therefore, upon the still further multiplication of the species of this
genus, by distinctions arising from the various differences, as to colour,
combined with the numerous distinctions as to figure, it may be con-
cluded, that the number of species comprised in this genus, in a recent
state, must have been immense ; although at present we know not of
the existence of a single individual !

Besides the markings observable on these fossils, which may be
thought worthy of being regarded as specific distinctions, there is ano-
ther kind, which is common to the whole genus, suffering some little
variation in different species. These are the elegant undulating mark-
ings on the surface, which are named foliaceous sutures, and which are
seldom observable but where the external shell is removed. Unlike the
septa of the Nautilus, the septa in the shells of this genus are always
extended in a peculiar sinuous form ; so that, on the removal of the
external shell, those edges of the septa, which terminated in the
parieties of the shell, appear in very elegant forms, similar to those of
a beautiful foliage, as is represented in the pyritous specimen, Plate IX.

157

Fig. 7, from Folkstone. The internal arrangement of these septa
will be understood from Fig. 9, where a section of the same fossil is
shown.

From this sinuous disposition of the septa, the chambers necessarily
derive a very peculiar form : a form hardly to be described ; but of
which a correct idea may be obtained from the figure Plate IX. Fig. 3,
which is a representation of one of the casts which are sometimes
formed in the chambers of these shells ; the surrounding shell having
been removed by decomposition, subsequent to having been filled with
the matter of which these casts are formed. These casts of the cham-
bers of the Cornu ammonis are distinguished by the name of Spon-
dylolithcs.

In the quarries of Wet and Dry Sandford, in Oxfordshire, are fre-
quently found fossils of a very curious appearance, being the series of
casts, in the chambers of this shell, formed of spathose matter, the shell
itself having been totally removed. In these fossils, which bear the
general form of the shell, the casts of the chambers, though actually
distinct, are so closely locked into each other, as frequently to render
their separation very difficult. They are known among the quarrymen
by the name of jointed snake stones.

I have two specimens from Wiltshire, in which the Cornu ammonis has
been imbedded in flint, and in which the terminations of the septa are
still to be seen, now formed of flint.

The terminations of the septa are very beautifully preserved, in snow-
white filaments, in some of the silicious specimens from Blackdown.
Some of these specimens are rendered particularly interesting by the con-
servation of the outer shell, now a white silicious substance, and appa-
rently the thickness of the original shell. A species of Ammonites, found
at Yeovil, which is filled with a very fine white lime-stone and spar,
yields a very beautiful appearance,, when the outer surface is so far
rubbed down, as to show the elegantly meandering lines of the sutures,
as they reach to the surface,

VOL. III. T

138

The part of the Cornu ammonis which next particularly demands our
attention, is the siphuncle ; and which has hitherto been so rarely made
out, as to have led many to doubt whether it existed or not. Its ex-
istence being, however, proved in several specimens, analogy leads us
to conclude that it really exists in all ; and that it served the same pur-
poses as the siphuncle in the Nautilus, the enabling of the animal to
regulate/ its ascent and descent in the water.

The sporidylolite, Plate IX. Fig. 3, strongly proves the existence of
the siphuncle, by the deeply-sunk circular cavity which exists on the
outer side of this fossil body, where, doubtlessly, the siphuncle had
passed. In the very rare specimen, Plate IX. Fig. 4, which formed a
part of the Leverian collection, the siphuncle itself is seen, in situ.

The situation of the siphuncle is not always the same, in every spe-
cies: in some, it runs along the back of the shell, as in the specimen
Fig. 3 ; in others, it runs along the inner part of the whirl, as in the
specimen represented Fig. 4 ; and, unless I am very much deceived, a
siphuncle runs along both the outer and inner side of the whirls of the
specimen, Fig. 5.

The exact figure of the siphunculus is not, I believe, yet known. I
have destroyed many specimens, with the hope of obtaining information
in this respect ; but without decided success. In general, it appears to be
formed by a uniform cylindrical tube, regularly increasing in size as it
proceeds from the central to the outer whirls. 1 think, however, that
in some parts of the specimen, Plate IX. Fig. 5, the siphuncle seems to
be a little contracted in those parts where the septa unite with the
outer shell ; but that, in other parts, the septa appear to be formed of
two shelly plates, which, separating as they approach the outer shell,
seem to admit a duplicature of the siphuncle to dip in between them.
Some of this appearance may however be a deceptio visits, proceeding in
some measure from the direction in which the parts are divided.

Bertrand, Diction, des Fossiles, p. 175, and others, who have been
aware of the existence of this siphuncle, have yet supposed that this

139

animal has been always obliged to remain, with its shell, at the bottom
of the sea. But if this were the case, it would seem as if the animal had
been supplied, in the siphunculus, with a useless organ. But it is
most probable that, as in the Nautilus, the weight of the shell and of
the animal, was so nearly balanced by the numerous cavities of the
shell as to allow the animal, which, like the nautilus, filled the first
chamber, to raise or sink itself at pleasure, by the alteration of the
gravity of the mass by occasionally filling the siphuncle with air, or
perhaps with water. Those who doubted of the Cornu ammonis having
possessed this power, have been chiefly misled by a mistake respecting
the weight of the shell ; and seeing shells of this genus of the size of the
fore-wheel of a chariot, and weighing upwards of a hundred pounds
weight, have supposed that they must necessarily have always remained,
whilst living, at the bottom of the sea. But from every specimen which
I have examined, it appears, that the shells of this genus must have
been so thin and light, as to give no difficulty to the supposition,
that with so many closed cavities, and the siphuncle itself contain-
ing air, the shell, with the animal, would float, and would only sink
upon the admission of water into the siphuncle, or upon its close con-
traction.

The shells of this genus, like those of Nautilus, had a covering of
nacre, or mother-of-pearl, on their internal surface. But this nacre
appears to have differed from the mother-of-pearl of those shells, of
which recent analogues exist, in manifesting a much greater variety and
brilliancy of colour in its mineralized state. It is this pearly coat of the
Cornu ammonis which forms the brilliant flame-like spots, which render
the marble of Carinthia (fire-marble), so resplendent ; and wrhich, with
the various beautiful hues with which they are blended, enables that
substance to vie in beauty with the opal itself. That the nacre of the
Cornu ammonis differed from that of the Nautilus, is, I think, evident,
from the fossil nacre of the latter never displaying an equal degree, nor
indeed a similar kind, of brilliancy with that of the former shell. I have

140

several specimens of fossil mother-of-pearl from the Nautilus; but, where the
colours are not entirely lost, the appearance is exactly similar to that of
the recent substance.

Specimens of the Cornu ammonis, on which the brilliant nacre still
exists, are sometimes found. At Broad Marston, as we are informed by
Dr. Maton *, a stratum was found, in 1778, containing a congeries of
Cornua ammonis, on which the nacre is still visible : and indeed, on some
of these, the brilliancy of colour possessed by the nacre is very consider-
able. The finest British specimens of this kind, which I have seen, are
in the valuable collection of Mr. Harcourt, of Stapleton.

But the specimens which display the naost vivid colouring, are those
which are found near the river Moscorcica, about a league from Moscow.
In one of these specimens, which I obtained from Mr. Heuland, the colours
are not less splendid, nor less beautifully changeable, than those which the
fire-marble itself displays, and are finely disposed over the whole of the
shell. In another specimen, either from France or from the neighbour-
hood of Moscow, the colour is the richest blue I have ever seen.

Such of these shells as are found in schistose strata have generally
suffered from compression; as is mostly the case, indeed, with all
organic remains which have been thus preserved. This is particularly
the case with the ammonites which are found at Watchett. In these spe-
cimens, it often happens that the whole substance of a large shell is com-
pressed into the thickness of a quarter of an inch. In ammonites which
have been thus preserved, the shell is sometimes of a dead opaque
white, whilst in others it reflects the most beautifully-coloured rays.

The specimen represented Plate IX. Fig. 8, and which is, I believe,
foreign, is very interesting, not only from its figure, but from its retain-
ing a considerable portion of the original shell. Specimens of this kind
are extremely rare ; for, in general, those which exhibit brilliant co-
lours have only the internal nacre of the shell adherent; and not as

* Dr. Maton's Tour to the Western Counties of England, Vol. I. p. 21.

141

in this, and in one other calcareous specimen, which I possess, the
whole substance. In some small specimens with which I have been fa-
voured by the Rev. J. R. Cleeve and Mr. Clarke, the cavities are filled
by a transparent calcedony; whilst the external opaque silicious sub-
stance yields every appearance to warrant the supposition of its being
the shell itself, thus changed by impregnation with silex ; for, although
the change is such, as to have given transparency to the mass, the
smooth shelly surface is evident.

Plate X. Fig. 6 and 7, are the lateral and front views of a beautiful
fossil, which the late Mr. Martin, in his admirable work, Petrificata
Derbicnsia, PL 40, Fig. 1, 2, gives, rather hesitatingly, as a nautilites,
with this description — " A fossil shell. The original a Nautilus. Invo-
luted, somewhat globose, im perforated, striated; the striae close, acute,
transverse, but oblique on the sides, and united by a single, narrow,
dorsal line, at the ambit. The mouth or aperture large, and somewhat
extended on each side. The form and situation of the dissepiments
unknown. Now and then found in our lime-stone, but not frequent."
I have rubbed down this fossil at the mouth, but without being able
to ascertain any thing with respect to either septa or siphunculus ; and,
of course, without being able to determine its genus.

Plate X. Fig. 8, is a fossil shell of a very rare form. It is rather
globose, and marked with numerous transverse furcated lines, and three
deep grooves, which surround the whirl, and terminate on each side in
a small, but deep umbilicus. It possesses the character of Ammonites, in
having small and frequent foliaceous sutures, with, of course, sinuous
septa, and the character of Nautilus, in the outer turns, involving the
inner. With the habitat of this shell I am unacquainted.

In another fossil from Italy, six times the size of the preceding, and
much flatter, an exact agreement with the preceding exists, except that
it is flatter.

Plate X. Fig. 9, is a fossil, which is also of an ambiguous appear-
ance. The whirls are narrow, but deep, and marked with frequent

142

transverse ridges, which bifurcate at their origin: a deep rounded
groove seeming to terminate the first whirl. A similar termination of
the first whirl is observable in the fossil, Fig. 10, to which fossil it
somewhat approximates.

Different opinions have been entertained with respect to the ammo-
nites assuming naturally an oval shape. Whilst this has been said to be
the case by some, who have adduced specimens of this fossil in this form,,
in proof of their assertions, others have contended, that the oval figure
has proceeded from compression. The only specimen in this form, which;
I for some time possessed, was entirely pyritous ; and by observing that
a part of the specimen retained the appearance and proportions of a
round specimen, I hesitated at admitting the proof of the fact, from
that instance. Since then, I have seen oval specimens, indubitably
possessing their original form, from Wiltshire ; and have lately obtained
one myself from Steyning, which is represented Plate IX. Fig. 6, and
proves, undoubtedly, that shells of this genus existed originally in this
shape.

LXXVIII. Baculites. A straight, cylindrical, or slightly conical
shell, divided into chambers by transverse, sinuous, and imperforated
septa; the articulations, or sutures, being indented in the manner of the
battlements of a tower.

The fossil, the characteristics of which are here given, was found by
Faujas St. Fond, among the fossils of St. Peter's Mountain, and was by
him considered as a straight Cornu ammonis. Histoire Naturelle de la Mont,
de St. Pierre, p. 140. The propriety of forming with it a distinct genus,
as Lamarck has done, is obvious; since, on the same principle that
St. Fond would name it Ammonites rectus, we ought to place the ortho-
ceratites under the genus Nautilus, and name it Nautilus rectus, as has.
been done by Baron le Hupsch, who has given a figure of this fossil
(Baculites) accompanied with observations on its structure, and on the
relationship which it bears to the Cornu ammonis. Nouvelles Dccouvertes
de quelques Testacees Petrifies rarcs et inconnus, pour servir a, I Histoire Na-.

143

turelle de la Basse Allemagne, PL iv. This fossil was figured by Langius,
Hist. Lap. Fig. Helv. PL 21, Fig. 4; and the figure of Langius has
been copied by Bourguet, Traite des Petrifications, Fig. 316.

Both the specimens of this fossil, discovered by Baron de Hupsch and
by Faujas St. Fond, are merely casts of the chambers of the shell, Spon-
dylolithes ; and such also is the specimen which I have also had the good
fortune to obtain from Maestricht, and which is represented Plate IX.
Fig. 2. This fossil, it may be observed, approaches nearer in size to
that of Langius, than to that figured in Faujas St. Fond's elegant work.
I must here remark, that the absence of a siphuncle, assumed by La-
marck, cannot be proved from the mere casts of the chambers, which is
the only state in which we have yet seen this fossil.

It is about five years since I first met with the fossil represented
Plate X. Fig. 1, with some others, at the shop of Mr. Heslop, who
had received them from the coast, not far from Dover. Since that
time I have been favoured, by my friend Mr. Herbert, with other spe-
cimens, from the same coast, on some of which are remains of the ori-
ginal pearly part of the shell. From a comparison of these fossils with
the baculites of Lamarck, it appears that the chief difference is, that the
septa of the baculites are disposed in a straight transverse direction, whilst
in these fossils they are placed in an oblique transverse direction. Among
these fossils were some which were slightly bent at their smaller end, as
at Plate X. Fig. 2 ; and others so much so, as to show that this was their
natural form, and not the effect of accident.

For fossils bearing a character so completely distinct, the necessity of
forming a new genus seemed to be obvious, and analogy appeared to
support the arrangement. As there is a genus (Orthocera) of straight
multilocular shells, with plain septa; so there appears to be a corres-
ponding genus of straight multilocular shells with sinuous septa, forming
the genus Baculites. And as there are two more genera in those shells
with plain septa, one spiral (Nautilus), and another partly straight and

144

partly spiral (Spirilla) ; so, of these shells with sinuous septa, we have
the spiral (Ammonites), and the partly straight and partly bent, which
have not been yet noticed, and which I shall venture to place under the
following genus.

LXXIX. Hamites. A multilocular hook-formed shell, with sinuous
septa, with no evident siphunculus.

The uniform figure of these fossil shells sufficiently separate them from
every other genus ; and undoubtedly this separation would have been
made long before this, if sufficient attention had been paid to the real
forms which the fragments of this fossil possessed ; and if a sufficient
number had been obtained to have allowed the making of the necessary
comparison.

One circumstance has particularly tended to mislead those who may
have been induced to make any inquiries on this subject. All the casts
of the fossils of this genus which I have met with, except one in sand-
stone from Wiltshire, are formed of a pyritous clay, which, when the
shell has been entirely removed, so readily gives the idea of having
been in a soft state, that the hooked form of the specimens have been
attributed to their having been bent and distorted whilst in that state.
Such an idea might even be readily excited by the specimen, Plate X.
Fig. 5, found in the stratum of green sand in Wiltshire. Plate X. Fig. 2,
shows a specimen, in which the first approximation to the hooked form
is observable. Plate X. Fig. 4, represents a specimen, in which the
turn of the hook is completely made ; and evidently in such a direction,
as could not have allowed of the formation of a spiral turn. In this spe-
cimen, enough of the smaller end of the fossil is left to show, that it
was continued in a straight direction from the bend. This, it may be
observed, is the termination in which alone we could have expected the
spiral turn ; but which, going off in a straight line after the bend, deter-
mines the hooked form to belong to this fossil.

The specimen Plate X. Fig. 3, which I purchased from the Le-
verian Museum, and which had frequently been with me an object

145

of admiration, seems to exhibit nearly the complete form of the shells
of this genus. The particular figure of this fossil had heen, by most
of its observers, attributed to some changes which it had undergone
whilst in a soft mineralized state ; but I had been always satisfied
of its existing in its original shape, from reflecting on the improbability
of its spiral turns having been unfolded without fracture: a circum-
stance, indeed, which an examination of the specimen renders at once
evident. This curious fossil, which is formed of a blueish clay, was
found, as appears by a label, which is attached to it, in Shotover Hill,
near Oxford.

LXXX. Scaphites. A fossil concamerated shell, commencing with
spiral turns ; the last of which, after being elongated, is reflected towards
the spiral part.

I have ventured to form the present genus for the reception of the
very rare and interesting fossil, Plate X. Fig. 10, from Dorsetshire,
there being no genus in which it could be placed.

This fossil is in a very excellent state of preservation : the nacre is
visible on some parts of it, and in others the foliaceous terminations of
the chambers may be discovered. At the termination of the reflected
part, the mouth of the shell, a border is formed, by the edge of a regu-
larly rounded groove, with which the shell appears to have been here
surrounded.

The very wide difference between its form and that of the shells of
the genus Ammonites, to which it approaches the nearest, is sufficient, I
conceive, to show the propriety of a separation. I acknowledge that I
was at first disposed to consider it as a monstrosity ; supposing that the
animal had by some accident been misdirected in its operations of form-
ing its .shell, and had thereby been led to the formation of it in this
uncommon shape. A closer examination of the shell, however, set
aside this opinion ; for I then noticed the tubercles on the sides of the
straight part, which did not appear at all in the spiral, and but faintly
in the recurved part. This seemed to manifest that, at different pe-

VOL. Ill, U

146

riods of its growth, the animal had undergone such certain changes, in
the organization of those parts on which the formation of its shell de-
pended, as fitted them for depositing the shell in this intended peculiar
form. It is true, that although the tubercles might not be perceptible
in the first whirls, yet as the size of the animal increased, so would the
respective parts which formed the shell ; and, of course, so would the
tubercles also, whether the shell was extended in a spiral or a lengthened
form. But under the supposition that this had been the case, and that
these were the labours of the animal of the Cornu ammonis, which had erro-
neously, as it were, continued out its shell in this, instead of the spiral
form, still the parts of the shell would have continued increasing in size
with the animal. But here the reverse takes place; for, after the ani-
mal has made its reflected turn, the nodules begin to lessen, and the
whole of the shell is formed on a diminished scale; from which we may
safely infer, that a change of organization in these parts, appropriate to
the different changes of form in the shell took place naturally in the
animal, and affords sufficient reason for considering it as forming a genus
distinct from that of Ammonites.

This is confirmed by the chalk fossil, Plate X. Fig. 11, which, with,
several others, was found by my friend, Mr. Herbert, in a chalk-pit
near Brighton. Although but little of this shell appeared, and no more
could be traced into the chalk, I was satisfied, when I first saw it, that
it could not belong to the genus Ammonites', and, as several were found
in the same pit, there was no reason for supposing that its peculiar for-
mation was the result of accident. Comparison with the preceding fos-
sil, which I have since obtained, shows plainly that it is of the same
genus, and perhaps of the same species, with it.

LXXXI. Turrilites. A spiral, turriculated, multilocular shell; the
turns contiguous, and all visible. The chambers divided by sinuous
septa, pierced in their disks. The mouth round.

Langius gives the figures of two fragments of two distinct species of
this fossil ; one of which he describes, Turbinites striatus striis transversis

147

densioribus et ex parte superiore in tubercula abeuntibus a dextra ad sinistram
convolutus major pulliis duarum spirantm. Tab. 32, Fig. 6. The other he
describes as Twrbinites striatus striis transversis, et in medio in duplicem papil-
larum seriem divisis a dextra ad sinistram convolutis major pullus unicte spira.
Tab. 32, Fig. 7. These fossils, he informs us, were obtained from the
mountains in the neighbourhood of Baden, in Switzerland. Hist. Lap.
Fig. Kc. p. 111. Two fossils of this species have also been described by
Scheuchzer, in his Physica Sacra, one of which seems to be entirely dif-
ferent from those of Langius ; but the other appears to resemble that of
Fig. 7.

The representations above referred to are mere casts of this shel),
the shell itself not having been discovered until of late years. This dis-
covery was made by M. Denis Montfbrt, who discovered two species in
the mountain of St. Catharine, near Rouen. One of these he distin-
guishes as TurrHites tnberculata; the whirls of the spire being set with four
rows of tubercles, disposed in quincunx order. This shell appears to
have been in such a state of perfection as to allow of its form being
made out completely. It is regularly formed in a spire, the whirls of
which are projecting and articulated, the foliaceous sutures formed by
the edges of the septa being apparent. The opening of the shell is
nearly round; the columella flat, without any folds; and the septa per-
forated, nearly in the centre, by a syphon. The other species has the
whirls of the spire beset with short ribs, beneath which are two rows of
tubercles, and appears to resemble the fossil figured by Langius, Fig. 6.
Journal de Physique, SCc. de rl licrmidor, An 7. A cast of this rare and
extraordinary fossil is represented Plate X. Fig. 12, in the superior frac-
tured termination of which may be seen the traces of its foliaceous
sutures.

148

LETTER XI L

NUMMULITES DISCORBIS ROTALITES LENTICULINA L1TU-

OLA SPIROLINA MILIOLA REN U LIN A GYROGONITES.

LXXXII. Nummulites. A lenticular univalve, with an internal,
discoidal, multilocular spire, divided into numerous chambers by trans-
verse imperforated septa, and covered by several plates; the paries of
each turn being complicated, extended, and united on each side to the
other disks.

The extreme obscurity in which the nature of these bodies has been
involved, almost to the present day, has occasioned the adoption of
numerous vague and even absurd conjectures respecting their origin.
By some they have been supposed to be the sports of nature, and by
others, seeds, the leaves of trees, and even pieces of money, miraculously
converted to stone. A variety of terms have been employed to designate
these substances. Thus, they have been named Helicitcs, from their
spiral structure ; Phacites, from their resemblance to a lentil ; and Sali*
cites, from the supposed resemblance of their sections to the leaf of the
willow. Pliny is supposed to refer to this body, under the name of
Daphniasi when he mentions that Zoroaster employed these substances
in the cure of epilepsy. From their substance and external form, they
have also been termed Lentes lapidea ; and from the appearances dis-
played by their sections, Lapides cumini, frumentarii, &c.

Scheuchzer was the first who concluded that these bodies ought to be
ranked among the mineralized remains of animals, which had lived before

149

the flood. Having reached this point, still but little further progress was
made, for some time, in the knowledge of the real nature of these
bodies. The various descriptions and delineations of them, under the
names of Lapides circulares, mimismalcs, &c. had given rise to the notion
that each of these referred to bodies of completely distinct species ; whilst
•their want of resemblance to the form of any known recent animal, led
to various erroneous conjectures, as to their original mode of existence.
Thus deceived, some, among whom was Stobseus, in Opusculis, p. 8,
placed them among those coralline bodies which were r»amed by the
oryctologists of that period Porpita, naming them Porpita nummulares
and Fungita minimi, pediculo destituti. Bourguet also, misled by simila-
rity of figure, considered them as the opercula of some particular species
of shells, and probably of the Cornu ammonis. Breyn, in 1732, first
showed that they were the mineralized remains of a fossil concamerated
shell, which might perhaps be considered as a species of Nautilus. This
discovery was not, however, supported by evidence sufficiently satisfac-
tory to every one ; since Spada, Catalog. Lapid. Veronensium, p. 46, in
1739, ventured to offer the opinion, that these bodies ought to be con-
sidered as bivalve shells. The opinion of Breyn was however confirmed,
in the same year, by the discovery of recent minute shells on the Ri-
miriian shores, which were evidently of an analogous structure.

Some have concluded this fossil to have been an internal bone of some
animal, similar to that of the sepia ; and even Lamarck was of opinion,
that it was not the shell of an animal. " En effet (he says) je soup9onne
que les nummulites ne sont pas des coquilles, mais des polypiers voisins
des alveolites." Systeme des Animaux sans vertebres, p. 402. But Breyn,
Gesner, Bruguiere, and, lastly, Lamarck, have, npon strict examination,
concluded that the nummulites is a concamerated shell, corresponding
very nearly to that of the Cornu ammonis. Bruguiere remarked, with
astonishment, the extreme smallness of the first chamber of the shell in
which the animal may be supposed to have dwelt : the discovery, then,
not having been made, that in Nautilus and Spirula a considerable part of

150

the animal might overlap and surround the mouth of the shell : a dis-
covery which cannot fail to throw light on the economy of many of the
inhabitants of the minute multil ocular shells. Lamarck considering
that, agreeable to the discoveries of M. Peron, three fourths of the shell
of Spirilla is covered by the animal, and that there is great reason to sup-
pose that one third of the shell of the Nautilus is also thus covered, is of
opinion, that the nummulite was completely inclosed in the posterior
part of the animal by which it was formed ; and that a part of the
extremity of the animal was contained in, and was adherent to, the last
chamber.

Possessing several small masses of these bodies, and having been care-
ful in collecting all the different surfaces and forms under which these
bodies presented themselves, in different specimens, I made a careful
examination of them, with the hope of obtaining some more particular
information respecting their original nature.

The size of the specimens, which I possess, vary in their diameter,
from less than an eighth of an inch to an inch and a quarter; and I am
satisfied, that I once had some which were full an inch and a half in
diameter. In thickness, they vary from an eighth of an inch to half
an inch.

Their figure is in general lenticular. Considerable variations, how-
ever, are frequently observable in this respect ; the lens, from what has
been stated in the preceding paragraph, being much deeper in some
l.han in others : some, indeed, being nearly flat, whilst others are even
almost globular. In some, a considerable deviation appears to have
taken place from their original figure, from their having become bent
in various ways. The surface varies considerably in different specimens ;
being in some nearly smooth, in others rough and scabrous, with nu-
merous small projecting knobs, or undulating lines. Their colour is also
various ; some being white, some of different shades of brown and red,
and others even of a blueish hue; and the difference of colour is certainly
not always dependent entirely on the nature of the matrix in which

151

they have been imbedded. The number of spiral turns also varies con-
siderably in different specimens, and evidently according to the size and
growth of the body. Thus, in those of a quarter of an inch in diameter,
the number of whirls is from three to four; and in those of an inch in
diameter, the number is not less than two dozen. One of these bodies
being split transversely through the spiral, beginning in the centre, and
continued to the circumference, is seen on each of the inner faces.
These spiral turns are divided into numerous chambers, by transverse,
supposed imperforated septa, which are a little obliquely extended
towards the centre of each disk, and become gradually lost between the
approximated plates. An idea of this part of the structure is given
Plate X. Fig. 14. In feet, the external plate of each turn of this spiral
is folded in two, its particular chambers being formed in the angle of the
fold, which then is extended above and below, covering and uniting
itself with the outer sides of the inner plates. The specimen, Plate X.
Fig. 15, will point out this curious mode of structure. Little processes
may be seen going off* from the different fractured edges of the plates in
the centre, to form the septa in their correspondent whirls.

This same specimen will illustrate a part of the structure which does
not appear to have been yet explained. On the surface of the middle
plate of this specimen, small undulating risings are observable : these,
by their attachments to the under side of the plate which laid over this,
connected the two plates together, leaving a vacant space between the
plates, where these risings did not exist. As these seeming irregularly
undulating lines approach the circumference of the plate, they assume
a greater regularity in their direction, and give off, at equal distances,
the septa dividing the chambers which are disposed round the folded
edge of the plates.

In another species, Plate X. Fig. 17, this connection between the
upper and under side of the plates is formed by numerous small and
short columnar projections, the points of attachment of which may be
seen on both surfaces.

152

Considering that the specific differences of these bodies are chiefly
to be found in the markings of their surface and their internal structure,
I shall pursue my examination of these two circumstances, with a view
to the necessary distinction of species; and, since Lamarck divides this
genus into the four following species, N. l&vigata, N. globularia, N. sea-
bra, and N. complanata, which he states have been found in the environs
of Paris, I shall attend to these circumstances, with reference to the
specific distinctions of Lamarck.

N. l&vigata. Lenticular, smooth, and convex, on both sides. Plate X.
Fig. 13. These, he observes, are found of all sizes, from that of a
lentil to that of a twelve-sous piece. With the hope of acquiring some
knowledge respecting the economy of this animal, or at least of the struc-
ture of its concamerated appendage, I rubbed down several specimens
in a perpendicular direction, and gave to the sections as high a polish
as I was able. By this operation a fair view was obtained of the con-
centric parietes of the chambers, with .the short perpendicular septa by
which they were divided. By this section it was also seen, that the
processes connecting the different stories of chambers were placed imme-
diately opposite to each other, forming short straight perpendicular
lines between the upper and under surfaces. Plate X. Fig. 16.
The facility with which these bodies are separated horizontally, also
yielded me several opportunities of observing their internal structure, as
represented Plate X. Fig. 14. It is there seen that the septa, placed
in the spiral whirls, are disposed at nearly equal distances; but the
septa of one whirl maintain no particular order of position with those of
the others.

In every mass, almost, which I have seen, of this species, I have
been struck with the circumstance of several of these bodies being split
horizontally through their centre, so as plainly to show the spiral turns
continued to the very centre, as represented Fig. 14. I have one de-
tached specimen, thus split, and showing the correspondent whirls and
septa on each internal face.

153

_
A7, globularia. This species is smooth and subglobose, and is described

by Lamarck as being of the size of a full-grown pea. The specimens
which I have, answering to the definition of Lamarck, are so very small,
that although I have broken several, to obtain a view of their internal
structure, I have not yet completely succeeded. It however appears to
resemble that of the preceding species.

N. scabra. This fossil is lenticular, the surface irregularly sprinkled
with scattered points.

This nummulite, M. Lamarck observes, is rather more convex on
both sides than the smooth nummulite is ; but its surface is not smooth,
like that of the two preceding; species. In some, he observes, the sur-
face is beset with small tubercles, or elevated points; in others, with
short projecting lines; and, in others, both the points and lines . are
observable.

I am not able to assert, what I believe to be the case, that all the
different species of this genus have their outer surface nearly smooth;
but I have sometimes seen nummulites, whose inner plates were sca-
brous, have a tolerably smooth external surface ; and I have repeatedly
seen the smooth nummulite, with internal plates marked with linear
scabrous projections. The fact, I believe, is, that these different mark-
ings are all remains of the processes connecting the plates, and are so
many different variations in the mode of partially connecting these plates;
perhaps by a substance, which, in a living state, possessed some degree
of elasticity, and which would, therefore, allow of some little change in,
the relative position of these plates.

Struck with the peculiar appearance of the nummulite, Plate X.
Fig. 18, it being of an irregular tumid shape, a reddish hue, and a
slightly scabrous surface, I rubbed it down, so as to obtain a polished
surface, in a longitudinal direction. On examining this surface with a
magnifying glass, I was surprised at finding it yielded so very different
an appearance from that which was seen in the section of the preceding

VOL. III. X

154

species. In this specimen, the horizontal plates are much thicker than
in the former species, and are formed of perpendicular fibres, which
give to the section the appearance of finely-cut cork. The chambers,
formed at the folded ends of each plate, do not appear to have their
communication with the spaces between the plates interrupted by septa,
as is the case in Fig. 15, of the preceding species.

In this species there does not therefore appear to be any circumstance to
forbid the opinion, that air, or any other fluid, being introduced into any
one of the cavities,, that which was next to the animal, for instance, might
be diffused through the whole ; and, assuming this to be the case, we
may suppose that the animal had the power of occasionally changing its
degree of buoyancy, by an appropriate change in the contents of these
cavities.

After destroying numerous specimens, for the purpose of ascertaining
the real structure of this fossil, I succeeded in breaking the specimen
from Verona, Plate X. Fig. 17, in such a manner as brought a part of
its internal spiral wreath into view. The appearance of this gave strong
reason for believing, that the communication between the cavities was
without any interruption, no septa being discoverable by a lens, nor even
with the aid of a double microscope. In this specimen the plates had
evidently been connected by short columnar bodies, the points of adhe-
rence of which are plainly discoverable.

Assuming an unity of principle in the economjNof these animals, and
seeing in these specimens no reason to suppose that the communication
between the cavities was interrupted, may there not be some reason for
supposing that a communication may exist in all the species, although
too minute to be discovered?

The wide separation observable along the centre of the specimen,
Plate X. Fig. 19, with other similar appearances, in a less degree,
in other specimens, induce me to make it a question, whether the
animal might, or not, have had the powe*r of approximating, and

155

of separating these plates, for the purpose of increasing or dimi-
nishing its degree of buoyancy. The fibrous structure of the plates,
Fig. 1 8, appears to be rather confirmatory of its possessing this power ;
since, should these have been muscular fibres, their action would have
materially affected the size of these cavities.

N. complanata. This fossil is smooth, round, very broad, and flat, with
an undulating margin.

This species is directly known by its extreme thinness, every spiral
turn and every septum being perceptible even on the surface. One of
•this species is represented Plate X. Fig. 27 ; and Plate X. Fig. 2 1 ,
represents its longitudinal section. By an examination of this section
with a single lens, I could not discover any more than the upper and
under plate.

Possessing a very interesting mass of nummulites, and other marine
bodies, which was presented by the Abbe Fortis to Mr. Strange, I made
it the next subject of my examination. Speaking of the fossils observed
whilst tracing the course of the Duare to its mouth, the Abbe says :
" Further on the road, in the jurisdiction of Slime, are to be seen, in great
quantities, various kinds of flints of different colours, and curious marbly
compositions of marine bodies, susceptible of a fine polish. I have some
specimens, that deserve a place in any museum whatever. One, in
particular, is an aggregate of marble, composed of lenticulares, fragments
of other fossil marine bodies, and white angular pebbles. Among the
small petrified lenticulares contained in this marble, some have their con-
cameratioris distinguishable on the outside. In looking, with the nakfcd
eye, on the superfices of this marble, one discovers a very great variety
of sections of the lenticulares contained in it ; and almost every particle,
when examined with a glass, affords something agreeable." Travels into
Dalmatia, by Abbe Alberto Fortis, p. 294.

Of the flints mentioned by the Abbe, in the former part of this para-
graph, I possess one which is of a light yellowish colour, in which the

156

nummulites are very numerous; and, from the flint bearing a high
polish, they are very beautifully displayed in different sections. But
the most interesting specimen is, a rounded nodule, apparently a bowl-
der, full four inches in diameter, and composed of a dark greyish lime-
stone, thickly beset with different species of this shell, other marine
bodies, and small silicious pebbles. The examination of the outside of
this nodule soon showed me, that it contained species of this fossil, which I
had neither seen nor had read of. This rendering me, of course, anxious
to give it as complete an investigation as I was able, 1 had it slit through
the middle, and thus obtained two polished surfaces also for examination.

On now examining the polished surfaces with a lens, I was struck
with its composition. A mass of grey limestone contained some few
detached angular quartz pebbles, visible to the naked eye, and innu-
merable quartzose particles, which the polishing had manifested, by
giving them a considerable degree of resplendency. Among these
were disposed the animal remains, which were exceedingly nume-
rous, and consisted chiefly of the common species of nummulites, dis-
played in a great variety of sections. Other sections were also seen,
which exhibited such differences of structure, as at once determined
the animals to have been of different species from any which have been
before noticed. Several sections were here shown of N. complanata ; in
which, besides the range of chambers, many exceedingly minute inter-
rupted perpendicular lines were seen between these and the outer plates,
showing that numerous plates existed here, as well as in the other spe-
cies; but that they were in this species of an extraordinary degree of
fineness, as shown Plate X. Fig. 21.

Plate X. Fig. 20, is a section of a body, in which a line passes along
the centre, being a range perhaps of minute chambers, the spaces on
each side of which and the external plates being filled up with inter-
rupted lines, so fine as not to be seen but with a lens of considerable
power. Plate X. Fig. 23, is another section, similar to the last, but

157

having a circular spot in its centre. Plate X. Fig. 24, is another sec-
tion, differing from the two preceding, in having three darker lines
pass through it. The section, Fig. 25, appears to be the same fossil as
Fig. 20, but altered in its form, and, I conjecture, during the life of
the animal.

This is rendered more likely, from the appearance of the section
Fig. 26 ; in which, although the structure differs, the substance being
marked with spots in the place of lines, it agrees in having a line of
separation running through the substance, with apparently a central
cavity, here a similar change of form seems to have taken place.
In the section Fig. 22, the general structure resembles that of Fig. 20,
23, 24, and 25, but differs from them in having a line pass along the
middle ; with two spots of spa those matter nearly at its termination,
marking the previous existence of a cavity along the circumference of
the body, and continuous with the central line.

In the specimen Fig. 26, as well as in several other sections with a
similar central line, an appearance of alcyonic structure is observable.

How far these different species partook of an alcyonic structure, and
how much some of them might possess the power of altering their
general form, cannot perhaps be ascertained from the extent of our pre-
sent observations ; but, in every species which 1 have had the satisfac-
tion of noticing, such a structure evidently exists as must have been well
adapted to give the animals to which they belonged, the power of regu-
lating their buoyancy, according to the circumstances under which they
were placed.. Thus, in the ordinary nummulite, if its substance was un-
yielding, the admission of air or of water into its chambers would have been
sufficient to have produced the effect ; or if of a softer substance, allowing
of a change of figure, then the diminishing or enlarging the capacity of its
chambers, by the approximation or the separation of its sides, might be
sufficient to effect the necessary change of specific gravity. Thus also,
in those which have been last described, should they have been of

158

alcyohic structure, the action of the muscular fibres would have
casioned such changes of form as are here noticed, and as would,
by enlarging or lessening their central cavity, necessarily affect their
buoyancy.

These fossils are found in prodigious quantities, in mountainous masses,
in different parts of Hungary, Transylvania, Switzerland, France, and
Italy. But perhaps these fossils exist no where in more abundance than
in Tuscany; where, according to Targioni Tozzetti, they are to be
found, particularly in the mountain of Parlascio, forming strata three
yards in thickness, and mixed with all the several minute shells which
have been figured by Bianchi, in his work, De Conckis minus notis, &c.
Voyage en Toscane, £fc. Tome n. p. 148.

To my kind correspondent, Mr. J. Holloway, of Portsmouth, I am
very much obliged for being enabled to ascertain the existence of these
fossils in this island. This gentleman furnished me with several of
N. tavigata, from Stublington Cliff,. between Stokes' Bay and Southamp-
ton Water.

Although from the minuteness, as well as the imperfect state of the
few specimens which I possess, I may be unable fully to dev elope the
structure and determine the nature of the fossil now placed before you,
Plate X. Fig. 28, it is yet hoped, that sufficient will be shown to ren-
der it interesting. An examination, with a powerful lens, was neces-
sary, to discover most of those peculiarities, in the structure of this fossil,
which will be noticed in its description.

LXXXIII. Fasciolites. A subcylindrical, shelly, or bony body, about
half an inch in length, rather tapering at the ends, and formed by the spiral
arrangement of perpendicular, concamerated tubes, the tapering end of
each of which is obliquely and transversely folded on that of the pre-
ceding one.

The appearance which this fossil offers to the naked eye is shown.

159

Plate X. Fig. 28. It is rather rough and scabrous ; partly from the
removal of some small portions of its surface, and partly from the adhe-
rence of some of its calcareous matrix. On being viewed with a lens,
it presents the appearance Plate X. Fig. 30. The tubes are seen to be
distinct ; and, where the outer surface has been removed, the conca-
merations are perceived, resulting from the interposition of very nu-
merous and minute septa, transversely disposed. These tubes narrow
as they approach to their terminations, and as may be seen in Fig. 29,
which represents one of the ends of the fossil magnified, the end of each
tube overlaps that of the preceding. That this is the case, and that
these tubes are placed perpendicularly round the centre, is evident, from
the appearance of the longitudinal section, Fig. 31, in which a section
is seen of the central and surrounding tubes, divided into compartments
by their small and numerous septa.

From this examination it appears, that round the small first-formed
tube, or chamber, successive increasing columnar tubes were disposed,
folding over each other at their ends. Whether these several tubes
were, as it is most probable, internally connected with each other, or
not; or whether the chambers communicated, or not, with each other,
by a siphuncle ; are questions, which must remain to be answered by
the examination of some more illustrative specimen. Like some of the
nummulites, this body, when polished, has more the appearance of bone
than of shell. From this circumstance, as well as from the number and
appearance of its septa, I am disposed to consider this body as approxi-
mating nearer to the nummulite than to any other fossil.

LXXXIV. Discorbis. A spiral discoidal univalve ; the turns all con-
tiguous, uncovered, and perceptible. The septa transverse, whole, and
frequent.

Lamarck, who has seen these shells only fossil, supposes them to be
known only in that state, and wishes that circumstance to be pointed
out by the termination of the name of the genus, Discorbites. It is said

160

to have been found fossil about Senam, in Etruria. Mr. Montague dis-
covered this fossil among the Sienna minute fossils also.

The same gentleman has also received it, in a recent state, from the
shores of Kent and Devonshire; and he has found some specimens of
Sertularia abktina, taken in the deep by trawling, covered with them.
In the Linnean Transactions, and by Mr. Fichtel, these shells have
been considered as nautili ; but Mr. Montague observes, that, "not-
withstanding such respectable authority, he cannot assent to that opi-
nion. No Nautilus is ever sessile; whereas this is never detached but
by accident, and then the animal dies. Besides, nothing can be more
irregular in structure, and the Linna?an characters of the Serpula admit
of its being chambered." Supp. to Test. Brit. p. 160.

It is necessary to observe, that a very close agreement will be found,
on comparison of the figure given by Lamarck of D. vesicularis, which
I have Copied Plate XI. Fig. 1, with Nautilus inflatus, Plate 18, Fig. 3,
o£ Testacea Eritannica ; the latter being a non-descript species of Nautilus,
found by Mr. Montague among sand on the coast of Devon.

LXXXV. Rotalites. A convex, conical, spiral, multilocular uni-
. Valve, slightly radiated beneath; the opening marginal, trigonal, and
rather turning downwards.

Lamarck divides this genus into four species : R. trochidiformis, R. len-
ticnlina, eadem sinistrorsa, R. depressa, and R. discorbula : all of which
are found at Grignon ; and none exist, he believes, but in a fossil state.
Plate XL Fig. 2, represents the lower radiated surface of R. trochidi-
formis; the upper surface being spiral, and rather conical. Plate XI.
Fig. 3 , represents the upper surface of R. discorbula; the form of
which shell, together with the circumstance of the mouth of this genus
turning downwards, out of the line of the preceding whirl, and the
frequent occurrence of heterostrophes, would make them approximate
to Nautilus beccarii, but that no mention is made of their possessing any
siphuncle.

161

LXXXVI. Lenticulina. A sublenticular, multilocular, spiral univalve ;
the external margin of the turns being complicated, the septa reaching
to the centre on each side : the , septa entire, curved, and standing out,
on the upper and under surface, like rays. The aperture narrow, and
projecting beyond the penultimate turn.

These shells are distinguished by Lamarck from those of Nautilus, by
their having no syphon ; and from those of Discorbis and Rotalites, by
the septa reaching to the centre on each side. He states, that the
recent shell has been found in the .sea, near Teneriffe, at the depth of a
hundred and twenty-five feet. Three species are found fossil in the
environs of Paris : L. planulata, L. variolaria, and L. rotulata. The last
of these I have represented from Lamarck, Plate XI. Fig. 4, being
entirely unacquainted with this genus.

LXXXVII. Lituola. A multilocular univalve, partly spiral, the last
turn being straight at the end : the chambers irregular : plain transverse
septa, the last having several openings.

The chambers of this shell appear to be very irregularly disposed, and
the orifices in the last septum are generally from three to six; but the
other septa do not appear to be pierced by any siphunculus.

Lamarck describes two species, both fossil, not knowing of their exist-
ence in a recent state. Plate X I. Fig. 5, is a representation of Lituo-
lites nautiloidea. Fig. 6, is L. difformis ; and Fig. 7> is the same shell,
rubbed down, to show the internal structure.

I have suspected the former of these shells to be, perhaps, N. semi-
lituus, or subarcuatulus, and the latter to be N. carinatulus, Fig. 73, of
Walker ; but there is no agreement in the openings.

LXXXVIII. Spirolina. A multilocular univalve, in part spirally con-
voluted : the turns contiguous, the latter ones straight : the septa trans-
verse, perforated by a tube.

These minute shells are so alike in their general form to those of the
genus Spirula, that Lamarck, who has discovered several species and

VOL. III. ' Y

162

varieties of them at Grignon, was much disposed to place them under
the same genus, until he adverted to the circumstance of the spiral
turns in these shells being contiguous, whilst in Spirula they are se-
parate.

They in general form one or two spiral turns in a horizontal direction,
and then become elongated in a straight line. In some species there is
only a little curvature, instead of the spiral turns; and, in others, the
whole shell is entirely straight. Some have their spiral turns flattened,
others have them cylindrical ; but the chambers in all form some degree
of projection externally, which gives the shell the appearance of being
divided by transverse ridges. May not the straight species be the Nau-
tilus radicula of Montague? Plate XI. Fig. 8 and 9, represent the dif-
ferent species particularized by Lamarck ; S. depressa and S. cylindracea,
Fig. 10, being supposed to be a variety of S. cylindracea, Fig. 9.

LXXXIX. Miliola. A transverse, ovato-globose or elongated, mul-
tilocular univalve, with transverse chambers, involving the axis alter-
nately, and in three directions : the opening small and circular, or oblong,
at the base of the last chamber.

The frequency of these fossils, in the neighbourhood of Paris, is such,
that some species of them form the principal part of the masses of stone
in some of the quarries. Lamarck describes seven species : and gives
figures of live of these species, which are here copied. These figures
are considerably magnified, the actual size being about that of a grain
of sand, Plate XI. Fig. 11, is Miliolites ringens ; Fig. 12 and 13, are
of M. Saxorum ; Fig. 14, 15, and 16, of M. cor anguinum ; Fig. 17, 18, and
19, of M. trigonula; and Fig. 20, of M. opposita. The other species men-
tioned by him are, M. planulata and M. birostris.

It is also mentioned by this author, that he possesses recent specimens
of these animals, which were taken on focus, near the Island of Corsica.
Agreeable to this account of Lamarck's, of these animals having been
found in a "recent state, are the discoveries of the late Mr. Boys and of

163

Mr. Walker, who found on our shores, in a recent state, three, and
perhaps four, of the species which have been just shown to exist, as
fossils, in the neighbourhood of Paris.

Miliolites Saxorum, Lam. appears to agree with the hollow oval worm-
shell, Serpula subovalis intorta, of Mr. Walker, Testae, minut. rarior. PL I.
Fig. 1. Mr. Montague, who separated from the genus Serpula those
shells of this family which are independent, or not attached to other
bodies, and placed them under a new genus, which he names Vermi-
culum, considers this shell as V. intortum ; and very justly observes,
agreeable to the observations which I have myself made on the fossil
shells in the sand from the neighbourhood of Paris, that it is so variable
in its formation, that, without great attention, it might be formed into
several species. Testae. Brit. p. 521.

Miliolites opposita, Lam. Plate XL Fig. 20, is undoubtedly the same
shell as the bellied semilunar worm-shell, Serpula bicornis ventricosa of
Walker, Testae, min. rar. Plate i. Fig. 2. The difference which exists
between the representations of Lamarck and Walker, is very satisfac-
torily explained by the observations of Mr. Montague, who, previously
to the same shell having been figured as a fossil, suggested such altera-
tions in the figure given by Mr. Walker, as would make it agree per-
fectly with that of Lamarck, and names it Vermiculum bicoj-ne, Testae.
Brit. p. 519. Serpula bicornis umbilico perforate, Testae, min. rar, Plate I.
Fig. 3, appears, in Mr. Montague's opinion, to be no other than a mu-
tilated specimen of the former shell. The recent shell was found at
Sandwich and Reculver.

Miliolites cor anguinum, Lam. Plate XI. Fig. 14, 15, and 16, exactly
corresponds with Serpula subrotunda dorso elevato, of Walker, Test. min.
rar. Plate i. Fig. 4, Vermiculum subrotundum, of Montague.

M. trigonula, the different sides of which are shown Plate XI. Fig. 17,
18, and 19, is an inflated body, of an ovato-trigonal form: its recent
analogue does not appear to be known.

XC. Renutina. A flat, sulcated, reniform, many-chambered shell:

164

with linear chambers, adapted to the curves of the shells; the last being
longest. The axis marginal.

The fossil which is represented from Lamarck, Renulinites opercularia,
Plate X. Fig. 21, is the only species of this genus with which he
appears to have been acquainted, and is about six lines in length.

Whilst viewing this shell, he remarks, we might conceive that it was
a very thin, fragile, flat, semilunar operculum, with the surface co-
vered with parallel bowed grooves ; but, on examination, it will be
found that it is composed of two plates, placed close against each other,
with their inner surfaces hollowed out in contiguous bowed grooves,
which, as the plates are applied to each other, form distinct chambers.
This, it is justly observed, is not the kind of structure observable in any
operculum whatever.

Notwithstanding the different appearances exhibited by Lamarck's
figures of M. opposita, Plate XL Fig. 20, and the figure of Renulinites, I
am very much disposed to believe them to be of the same genus, if not
the same species. This notion I have been led to, by observing the
figure of Walker's bellied semilunar worm-shell, which indeed seems to
unite the two figures of Lamarck, by possessing the general form of
M. opposita, and the contiguous bowed grooves of Renulinites. To illus-
trate what I have here said, I have introduced Walker's figure, at
Plate XL- Fig. 22.

XCI. Gyrogonites. A sphaeroidal hollow shell, composed of linear
curved pieces, slightly grooved at the sides, where they are joined ; by
the joining of which grooves, linear chambers, following the direction of
the pieces, appear to be formed. At these joinings, on the external
surface, are carinated ribs, disposed transversely about the middle, and
spirally at each pole of the shell. At one of the poles there is sometimes
to be seen a circular opening, which sometimes appears to be closed by
a particular valve or operculum.

This shell is represented magnified, Plate XI. Fig. 23, its natural
size being that of a small pin's head. It is found in silicious stones, not

165

possessing transparency, at Montmorency, Erappes, &c. Lamarck
observes, that it has the form of a very small seed of some species of
lucern ; and, hesitating at determining it to be really a multilocular shell,
only assumes it as such for the present. At Fig. 24 is represented one
of its detached carinated ribs,

LETTER XIII.

BIVALVES WITH EQUAL VALVES, AND REGULARLY FORMED

PINNA MYTILUS MODIOLA ANODONTA UNIO NU-

CULA PECTUNCULUS A RCA CUCULLCEA TRIGONIA

TRIDACNA HIPPOPUS C AUDIT A ISOCARDIA CARDIUM

CRASSATELLA PA PHI A LUTRARIA MACTRA ERYCINA

I'ETRICOLA DON AX TRIGON ELLITES VENUS....C YTHERE A....

VENERICARDIA CYCLAS LUCIN A.....TELLINA CAPS A SO-
LE N SANGUINOLARIA GLYCEMERIS MY A. ...PANOPEA.

W E now proceed to the examination of the fossil remains of bivalve
shells, the dwellings of acephalous molluscae, having no distinct head,
and therefore unprovided with eyes, ears, &c.

Bivalves, with equal valves.

XCII. Pinna. A cuneiform, longitudinal bivalve, with an acute base,
gaping in the upper part : the hinge without a tooth, lateral, and very
long : the valves coalescent.

One species only, P. margaritacta, Lam. is found in fragments, at
Grignon. Specimens which may be referred, perhaps, to the same
species, are found in the cliffs in the neighbourhood of Bognor : these

166

are casts of stone, and sometimes bear the complete form of the shell,
although the internal margaritaceous part alone is remaining. Mr. Mar-
tin found specimens which he at first thought were P. nobilis in the neigh-
bourhood of Buxton, but he was afterwards satisfied that it was some
unknown species. One of these is represented in Plate vi. of his inte-
resting work on Derbyshire petrifactions.

Plate XI. Fig. 31, is a magnified representation of a minute fossil
pinna, resembling Pinna saccata, which I lately discovered in sand from
Grignon.

It is observed by Bosc, that the texture of the Pinna is different from
that of any other shell. Instead of possessing any thing of the laminated
structure, the shell of the Pinna seems to be formed by the juxta posi-
tion of calcareous molecules — perhaps by a species of crystallization.
The fracture of these shells, when viewed by a lens, shows exceedingly
fine striae, perpendicular to the surface of the shell. This structure, he
is of opinion, is sufficient to distinguish this shell, even in ever such
small fragments, and in a fossil state. Histoire naturelle des Coquittes,
Tome in. p. 123.

This, however, is not strictly the case ; since fragments of other shells,
of a similar structure, are frequently found, especially in chalk. Such
are, Trichites pactilis undulatus cretaceus, and Trichites pactilis cretaceus,
lamellatus, ofUiwydd,Lith.Brit.Ichnogr. Nos. 1751 and 1752, which
are the remains of the remarkable shell, of which I have already spoken,
under the genus Patella, Letter vi. page 51, of this volume. A similar
structure I shall also have to notice, in a fossil oyster. This astonishing
secretion by an animal, of calcareous spar, in a crystallized form, appears
to be a circumstance highly deserving the attention of the physiologist, as
well as of the admirer of crystallography.

The pinnite is rather a rare fossil. It is however sometimes found, with
the Oolites, in the lime-stone of the northern parts of Wiltshire, in Somer-
setshire, and in the lime-stone of Gloucestershire. I have two of these
specimens; but sufficient of the shell is not visible, to allow of an opinion

being formed as to their specific characters; excepting that, neither of
them seem to accord with any of the species particularized by Linnaeus.
The remains of a shell belonging to this genus is- sometimes found among
the Devonshire Blackdown fossils.

XCIII. Mytilus. A longitudinal bivalve, with an acute base; the
beaks straight, subacute, and terminal ; the hinge, in most, without a
tooth : only one muscular impression.

Bruguiere separated from this genus the avicute and anodontte, with
such oysters as Linnaeus had included in it; and Lamarck has rendered
the genus more precisely determined, by abstracting from it also the
shells with which he forms his genus Modiola.

Lamarck describes two species of fossil muscles, M. rimosus and
M. dentiadatus, found at Grignon and Long-Jumeau. Dr. Woodward
mentions several shells of this genus found in different parts of England,
Catalogue, Part n. p. 62.

I do not know that I can introduce the following extraordinary fossil,
Plate XL Fig. 32, in a more appropriate place than under the genus
Mytilus, agreeable to the label attached to it, which thus describes it:
Muscolo petrefatto rappresmtante unafoglia e di ughezzano net Veronese non pi
ancora descritto efigurato da alcun litologo. I have however met, in Cata-
logi lapidum Veronensium mantissa, with two figures of this fossil, and
the following remarks on it: — " Abunde hi lapides occurrunt in Valle
vulgo tfAnguilla agri Veronensis, qui etsi aspecto suo, folia demonstrare
videantur, nihilominus minime ad folia; sed potius ad tegumentum
cujusdam piscis armati eos pertinere puto, quam tamen opinionem
aliorum judicio pennitto. Egre e multitudine horuin lapidum, quadra-
ginta bene impressos sejunxi, nam ceteri, qui nuncusque inventi fuere,
nullius momenti sunt" P. 11. — The great number of these bodies exist-
ing in one part, affords a strong argument against either their figures, or
their markings, having depended on any accidental circumstance : and
their spathose substance, as well as their thickness, determine them not

168

to have been of vegetable origin. There is, I think, very little reason
for doubting its being a bivalve shell ; and its general form induces me
to place it under this genus. I obtained it at the sale of Mr. Strange's
collection ; and am disposed to consider it as remarkably interesting,
from the singular markings which it bears.

XCIV. Modiola. A subtransverse inequilateral bivalve ; the posterior
side being much the shortest, and the beaks lying towards the shorter
side : the hinge without a tooth, having only a marginal, linear, carti-
laginal groove : only one muscular impression.

This genus is exemplified in Mytilus modiolus, Linn. The modiolae
are separated, by Lamarck, from the mytili, on account of their width
allowing them to be considered as transverse shells, of their beaks not
terminating the shell, and of their not attaching themselves by a bys-
sus, as the muscles do. He figures five species, as found in the envi-
rons of Paris : M. subcarinata, M. sulcata, M. pectinata, M. arcuata, and
M. cor data.

Dr. Woodward describes specimens of this genus, as found in Glou-
cestershire, Catal. p. ii. p. 62, No. 660, &V. whence I have obtained
M. subcarinata.

XCV. Anodonta. A transverse shell, having three muscular im-
pressions: the hinge plain, without any tooth.

Mytilus anatinus is of this genus ; but I know of no fossil shell which
can be referred hither.

XCVI. Unio. A transverse shell, having three muscular impressions :
an irregular callous hinge-tooth, prolonging itself on one side beneath
the ligamental slope, and articulating with that of the opposite valve.

This is a river shell, which does not appear to be known fossil.

XCVII. Nucula. An inequilateral, equivalved, subtrigonal bivalve :
the hinge on a line, bent at an angle formed by numerous, alternately
inserted teeth ; the beaks approximating, and turned backwards.

Lamarck divides the Area of Linnaeus into three genera : Area, having

1(39 •

the hinge on a straight line ; Pectunculus, having the hinge arched ; and
Nucula, having the hinge on a line bent at an angle. The shells of this
genus are marine shells.

Nucula margaritacea, Lam. Area nucleus, Linn, are found at Grignon,
Courtagnon, &c. I have also found shells of this species, with their fine
comb-like teeth, and their pearly coat, quite perfect, in the Essex bank
of shells; and in a perfect state, and of a microscopic size, at Plurnsted.
I have also disengaged one or two minute calcedonic specimens of this
delicate shell, in a perfect state, from the Devonshire whetstone.

Lamarck describes two more species of this genus among the Parisian
fossils : N. striata and Ar. ddtoidea. In a minute fossil-shell of this last spe-
cies, not larger than a small pin's head, which I found in a Ceritkium
gigds, the original margaritaceous lustre still exists ; and in one of the
former, of the same size, the striae are very evident.

XCVIII. Pectunculus. An orbicular, subequilateral 'bivalve, with an
arched hinge ; with numerous teeth, alternately inserted in a single row.

Lamarck enumerates five species: P. angusticostatus, P. pulvinatus, P.
terebratularis, P. granulatus, P. nuculatus.

The shells of this genus are easily known by their rounded or lenti-
cular form. Their teeth are larger, and less closely set, than those of
the arks, and disposed in an arched line, which becomes very narrow, or
is even interrupted, under the beuks. The muscular impressions are
two, and strongly marked ; each forming a callous projection^ the -edge
of which is sharp.

In the Essex bank, numerous shells of this genus are found, which
seem exactly to agree in character with P. elvcemeris, Lam. Arca&bN-

v O C* , -^ ./

cemeris, Linn. The species of this genus are, rrom their general agree-
ment, difficult to separate ; but I believe that the skihul concholo^jst
would be able to make further divisions of these Essex she j is. Sheik of
this genus, and chiefly, I believe, P. august icostaius, L^m. are freqpent in
the Bognor rocks.

In the whetstone sand-pits, at Blackdown, a small species of this ge-

VOL. III. Z

170

nus is found, in which the shell is very thick, and the teeth of the hinge
few and large. These pectunculi, with several of which I have been
favoured by the Rev. Mr. Cleeve and Mr. Clarke, are so much impreg-
nated with silex, that. some of them possess a considerable degree of
transparency.

XCIX. Area. A transverse inequilateral shell: the beaks distant;
the hinge with many teeth, disposed in a straight line ; the teeth lamel-
lated, close, and alternately inserted between each other : a subrhom-
boidal smooth area, between the beaks, on which the cartilage was
disposed.

These are marine shells ; and are easily recognised by their general
form. They frequently gape along their superior edge, and have two
marks of attachment on each valve. Lamarck particularizes seven spe-
cies, which are found fossil in the neighbourhood of Paris : A. diluvii,
A. biangula, A. barbatula, A. angusta, A. interrupta, A. scapulina, A. qua-
drilatera.

Shells of this genus are frequently found fossil in this island. One cast
from Bath seems to be of A. Note.

At Plate XI. Fig. 29, is represented an ark of an uncommon form,
the valves terminating in an alated form. This is a German fossil, and
is attached to some oysters, with serrated margins : a sufficient portion
is, however, visible, to allow of the drawing to have been fairly taken,
although not sufficient to allow of particularizing its specific characters.

C. Cucullaa. A nearly transverse, inequilateral, ventricose bivalve,
with distant beaks: the hinge formed of many teeth, disposed in a
right line, and terminated at each end by three or four transverse
parallel teeth : a flat and sulcated area, for the reception of the car-
tilage.

The shells of this genus differ from the arks, in the teeth at the end of
the hinge, which are placed in a transverse direction, directly contrary
to that in which the row of small lamelliform teeth are disposed. Area
cueullata of Chemnitz, Tom. vn. Tab. 53, Fig. 526—528.

171

The largest shell of this genus is Cucull&a crassatina; a ventricose shell,
of considerable thickness, three inches and a half in length, and four in
width ; the external surface smooth, except from fine transverse striae,
marking the growth of the shell, and faint traces of longitudinal sulci.
This shell is found in the neighbourhood of Beauvais, and is the only
species mentioned by M. Lamarck.

Among the beautiful fossils yielded by the Devonshire whetstone-pits,
is a shell belonging to this genus, with specimens of which I have been
kindly favoured by Mr. Cleeve. This shell, which, if it has not been
already otherwise designated, may be named C. glabra, is a thick^ ob-
long, transverse shell, nearly smooth, being marked only by the fine
transverse striae formed by its growth. The beaks are separated by a
large flat rhomboidal area, with markings, which, when the valves are
united, assume a lozenge form. The line of the hinge is finely crenu-
lated, as well as the three transverse teeth, which terminate the hinge
at each end. Mr. Francis Crow, who, as has been mentioned, found,
in a field at Faversham, a silicious specimen of Strombus pes pelicani, ex-
actly agreeing with that which I had been favoured with from the
Devonshire whetstone-pits, found, in the same spot, several silicious shells
of this genus also. This coincidence deserves particular notice, since it
points out a singular agreement in the strata. The shell of this genus
found by Mr. Crow, though not unlike that of Devonshire in its general
form, is specifically different. This shell, if not already named, might
be designated as C. decussata. It is a thick oblong transverse shell, with
flattish longitudinal ridges, decussated "by fine transverse striae. The area,
separating the beaks, large, with slightly undulating markings in the
form of half a lozenge. The long line, as well as the transverse teeth
of the hinge, which in the preceding species were crenulated, appear,
in this, to have been smooth. Among the shells which I was favoured
with by Mr. Crow, is a single valve, which, from its extraordinary thick-
ness and great obliquity, I am disposed to consider as of different species
from either of the preceding : it is, however, in a state which will not

172

allow of this being determined. A representation of the inside of this
shell is given Plate XIII. Fig. 1.

CI. Trigonia. A trigonal or suborbicular inequilateral bivalve. On
the right valve are two oblong, flat, diverging hinge teeth, transversely
grooved on each side : on the left valve, four flat hinge teeth, transversely
grooved on one side only, disposed in pairs, each pair diverging and ex-
actly, receiving those of the opposite valve.

These shells have been long known and admired in their fossil state,
both in this island and on the continent. The first notice that I find of
them is that of Langius, who gives a figure of one of these shells, Hist.
lap. fig. Helv. Tab. 44, Fig. 5, and speaks of it as Conchites Helvetica visu
prodigiosus, triqueterus striatus, and thinks it resembles Concha indica, visu
prodigiosa, Bonanni, No. 91.

Our English naturalists very early noticed this curious fossil. Dr. Plot
gives to a cast of this genus the name of Hippocephaloides, Hist, of Oxford-
shire, Plate vu. Fig. I.; and Lhwydd, who gives to these shells the
name of Curvirostr<e, mentions several ; such as, C. rugosa clavellata major,
from Garsington ; rugosa minor, ctavis aut millis, aut paucissimis <eg?'£ con-
spicuis donata, from Buckinghamshire ; rugosa major non clavata, sen levibus
rugis exsculpta, from Bullington, Lithol. No. 700, &c. From these no-
tices of Lhwydd it appears, that, at least, three species of this genus
were known to him to have existed in this island. Da Costa speaks only
of these shells, to express his doubts, whether to place them under Cunei
or Area, no knowledge having then been obtained as to the kind of hinge
which they possessed.

M. Walch, who was very much at a loss in what genus to dispose of
them, was disposed to place them among the Veneres impuberes, of Lin-
naeus. Of these shells, he saw three species : complete shells of T. cla-
vellata and T. costata, and a fragment of T. aliformis ; but, being unac-
quainted with the hinge, he does not appear to have been fully aware
of their relationship. Speaking of the latter of these fossils, he makes
the following remarks on the curious circumstance of the characters of

173

shells, of different genera, being combined in this one shell : — " Une
espece de coquilles des plus rares dans le regne des fossiles, qu'on ne sait
encore sous quel genre elle pourroit etre convenablement rangee, vu
qu'elle tient en meme terns, beaucoup du musculite, de Parche et de la
conque de Venus. Elle approche fort du musculite par le raport de sa
longueur a la largeur ; elle ressemble a un arche, par une petite emi-
nence, ou une espece de petite plate forme qui se trouve entre les deux
bords de la charniere : et les bords, qu'elle a un peu convexes d'un cote,
lui donne la ressemblance avec la conque de Venus." Monument des
Catast. Tome n. p. 66.

Notwithstanding the combination of the characters of the muscle, ark,
and Venus, as observed by Walch, and to which may be added those
of the cockle and the tellen, these shells vary so much from every other,
as to render their description difficult. On first view, the shell appears
reversed : the anterior end, on which, particularly in the Veriuses, the
area surrounding the cartilaginal depression k disposed, and which is in
general flat, as if it were truncated, is, in these shells, considerably ex-
tended out; whilst the beaks of the shell are turned towards the anterior
side, leaving the posterior side with no cordiform impression, but having
all the appearance of the anterior side, in the shells of the Venus kind.

Bruguiere has, I understand, described, in V Encyclopedic Methodique,
four species of this genus ; but, being unable to obtain this work, I am
uninformed with which of the species he is acquainted.

The first information which I gained respecting the generic character
of these shells, was from a fossil purchased from Mr. Strange's collec-
tion ; in which the left had so slipped from the right valve, as very fully
to display the structure of the hinge. Bruguiere having been so fortu-
nate, as, by clearing a valve, to discover the kind of hinge which it pos-
sessed, found it necessary to form a genus for the reception of these
shells, and named it Trigonia, from the form which generally belonged
to the species then known.

But, as in my specimen, so in Bruguiere's, it was the hinge part of

174

the right valve which was shown, from which, alone, the real nature of
the hinge could not be determined. This information was however ob-
tained by the discovery, by M. Peron, of a complete recent shell of this
genus, on the coast of New Holland, on Capt. King's Island. Some
separate valves of the same shell, a little injured by the air and by fric-
tion, have also been picked up at Maria's Island, and at the island of
Kanguroo's*.

Trigonia Margaritacea is the name given by Lamarck to this recent
shell. It is somewhat of an orbicular form; appearing, when the valves
are closed, not unlike a cardiurn, with hardly any cartilaginal area.
Twenty-two longitudinal ribs, crenulated through their whole length by
crescent-formed and granular tubercles, diverge from the hinge to the
margin. The internal surface of the shell is covered with a brilliant, sil-
verish, and slightly iridiscent nacre. The muscular impressions are two,
and are placed laterally, near to the teeth of the hinge.

In this specimen, the real nature of the hinge was ascertained. On
the right valve are two flat teeth, which are rather thick, and trans-
versely grooved on each side ; and on the left valve are four, or rather
two, double teeth, which, as well as those in the left valve, diverge from
each other in their upper part. These teeth are only grooved on their
inner side, in the cavity formed by each double tooth : this cavity, and
the small transverse grooves, being fitted to receive the teeth of the op-
posite valve, and to correspond with their alternate ridges and grooves.
A view of the hinge of this shell is given Plate XII. Fig. 1, showing the
structure of the part of the hinge belonging to the right valve ; and
Fig. 2, the corresponding part of the hinge belonging to the left valve.

At about the time when this discovery was made, Dr. Menish, who
had obtained some of these shells, as well as some masses of the Black-
down sandstone, containing shells, from his friend Mr. Clarke, of Brid-
well, was so fortunate as to remove the matrix from the inside of the

* Ann. du Mus. Tome IV. p. 35 I.

175

left valve,, and to find the two doubled teeth, so disposed and so grooved,
as exactly to receive the teeth of the opposite valve : he was also ena-
bled, by the same aid, to extend the number of species. Having, through
the kindness of Captain Gardiner, been favoured with many of the
Doctor's specimens, and having been also kindly assisted by Mr. Clarke
and the Rev. Mr. Cleeve, I am able to place before you nine species :
T. clavdlata, T. costata, T. eccentrica, T. aliformis, T. dadalea, T. spinosa,
E. sinuata, T. rugosa, and S. rudis.

T. clavdlata curcirostra rugosa clave Hat a major *. Luid, A trigonal shell,
beset with nodular projections, disposed on the disk of the valves in rows,
in a transverse curved direction : on the anterior side, a sloping, slightly
rugose surface, widening from the beaks to the anterior point of the
valves, and ornamented with three crenulated ridges ; the innermost of
which enclose a long oval area, faintly marked with longitudinal striae,
and reaching from the beaks nearly to the anterior termination of the
shell. Beneath the beaks is a small sulcus, apparently for the reception
of the cartilage. Plate XII. Fig. 3.

T. costata. A trigonal shell, with frequent rounded transverse ribs,
passing from the posterior margin to a crenulated ridge, which separates
the disk of the valves from the anterior or inferior sloping surface, on
which are, longitudinally disposed, three crenulated ridges, with six
smaller interposed ; the inner, of the larger crenulated ridges, enclosing
a flat long oval area, in the upper part of which is the depression for the
cartilage. Plate XII. Fig. 4.

The preceding species have been long known on the Continent. The
person who first found them being a collector, contrived, by exchanging
them, to obtain a handsome collection of fossils.

T. eccentrica. A transverse ovate-oblong shell, with transverse, obtuse,
rugose ribs, eccentrically disposed, and obliquely intersected by the lines
which mark the growth of the shell. Plate XII. Fig. 5. Specimens of

* Curvirostra a Cardine (si in piano posueris) dextrorsum vel sinistrorsum reflexo, nomen
ohtinuit.

176

this shell I was favoured with by the Rev. Mr. Cleeve, and by Mr-
Clarke.

T. aliformis. A wing-shaped ribbed shell. The first ribs, which com-
mence at the beaks of the shell, are transverse, but acquire a slanting
direction as they fill up the posterior part of the disk, until those which
terminate in the superior margin, become longitudinal, and are thus
continued to the anterior termination of the shell. The ribs of the pos-
terior side augment in size as they proceed to the margin .; but those
which are disposed on the anterior side, are of the same size through
their whole length. On the inferior, or rather anterior side, is a wide
excavated area, on each side of the cartilaginal depression and the mar-
gin of the shell, on which transverse ribs are disposed. Plate XII. Fig. 9.
This specimen, which was in Dr. Menish's collection, I was presented
with by Captain Gardiner.

T. d&dalea. Of this shell I only possess the fragment Plate XII.
Fig. 6, from which it is impossible to speak of the form of the shell.
The anterior side and cartilaginal area appeal- to have been very wide.
The disk is ornamented with granular and nodular projections, disposed
in daedalean windings, so peculiar in their dispositions, as to willow the
assuming of this as a specific distinction.

T. spinosa. A suborbicular shell, the whole of the disk covered with
ribs formed of spinous tubercles. The ribs curved, commencing at the
beaks in a transverse direction, passing over the middle of the disk in an
oblique, and at the superior margin, approaching to a longitudinal direc-
tion. The area on the anterior side of the shell is also covered with
curved transverse ribs, formed of small tubercles. Plate XII. Fig. 7.
This specimen I was favoured with by Captain Gardiner, from Dr. Me-
nish's collection.

It is true, that in this specimen the appearance of the projections is
more that of tubercles than of spines; but, on inspection with a lens, I
find that most of these are broken ; and, on examining another speci-
men, a part of a valve of indubitably the same species, I discover that at

177

least, towards the superior margin, these projections are carried out as
spines, to a considerable length, and in a rather curved direction, as
may be seen in the very slightly magnified view of them, Plate XII.
Fig. 8.

T. sinuata. This is the smallest known shell of this genus. It is a
transverse, oblong, ovate, sirbventricose shell, with transverse winding
ribs, making an obtuse angle, and changing their direction both at the
anterior and posterior sides of the shell. Plate XII. Fig. 13. I am in-
debted to Mr. Clarke for specimens of this species.

T. rudis. The form of this species is oblong, approaching to the cir-
cular : the cartilage slope is very indistinct : the shell, in its general
external appearance, very much resembles an oyster; it having a good
deal of that rudeness of surface which oysters in general possess. It is
also beset with round nodules, like those of T. davellala ; but, in this spe-
cies, these nodules are very irregularly disposed. Plate XII. Fig. 10,
shows the character of the shell ; the dotted outline, obtained by the
kindness of Mr. Clarke, from a fine specimen in his possession, giving
the form.

The preceding five shells are found in the whetstone-pits of Devonshire,
are completely silicious, and possess different degrees of transparency .

T. rugosa. Of the form of this shell I cannot speak decidedly, since a
fragment of it only remains. This is imbedded in a grey lime-stone, but
I am ignorant where it was found. The whole of its disk appears to
have been covered with transverse rugous ribs. Plate XII. Fig. 11.

Shells of this genus have abounded in the Portland free stone : the
shells are, indeed, now decomposed and gone, but a prodigious number
of their lime-stone casts are found in these quarries. At Tilsbury, in
Wiltshire, are sometimes found calcedonic casts of this shell. One which
I possess, and with which I was favoured by that highly respectable gen-
tleman, Mr. Cunjiington, of Heytesbury, is rendered very interesting,
by numerous included minute bivalves being discovered in the transpa-
rent calcedony. The casts of these shells having been so long known as

VOL. III. A A

fossils, under the name hypocephaloidcs, a representation of the calcedqnic
cast, from Tilsbury, is given Plate XII. Fig. 12.

One circumstance respecting the shells of this genus demands parti-
cular mention. Lamarck has figured, in the recent shell T. margaritacea^
two marks of attachment, one at the bottom of each tooth of the hinge;
but I have not been able, in any of the ibssil shells which I possess, to
discover more than one mark of attachment, which is on one side ; a
considerable cavity behind the hinge-tooth, on the other side, at a, Tig. 1
and 2, seems to be well calculated to receive a part of the animal, which
might be attached to the posterior part of this cavity.

CII. Tridacna. A subtransverse inequildteral shell : the hinge formed
of two compressed and entering teeth ; the crescent, or posterior de
pression, gaping.

The shell, to which this genus is appropriated, is, Tridacna gigas, Brug.
or Chama gigas, Linn.

Fossil shells of this genus are, I believe, very rare. They have been
said to exist in the neighbourhood of Verona, and of a very considerable
size; but I have not known of the existence of such lossils in uny Mu-
seum. I have one, which is very small, from Mr. Smm^e's collec-
tion. A similar shell is figured by Wolfart, Hist. Nat. II ass. inf. Tab. x.
Fig. 1, 2.

CIII. Hippopus. A subtransverse inequilateral shell : the hinge formed
of two compressed entering teeth; the crescent, or posterior depression,
closed.

This genus includes the Chama hippopus, Linn. I do not know of any
fossil shell of this genus having been found.

CIV. Cardita. An inequilateral bivalve. The hinge with two unequal
eeth: the hinge tooth the shortest, beneath the beaks; the other longi-
tudinal, beneath the insertion of the cartilage.

Chama calyculata, Linn. Cardita variegata, Brug. List. Tab. 347, /. 84,
*nay be taken as the type of this genus.

These shells are irregular in their forms, and have two marks of
attachment.

179

C. aspera, and C. avicularia, are the only species noticed by Lamarck,
as found fossil near Paris.

CV. Isocardia. A heart-formed shell, with separated, involuted, and
diverging beaks. The hinge formed by two flattened cardinal inserted
teeth, and an isolated lateral tooth under the cartilage slope.

This genus includes the Chama cor, Linn. I am not acquainted with
any shells, decidedly of this genus, having been found in a fossil state ;
casts, however, of shells very similar, are frequently found, and have
been distinguished as bucardites.

CVI. Cardium. An equivalved subcordated bivalve, the valves den-
tated or plicated on their internal margins. The hinge formed by mid-
dle and lateral teeth : the middle ones, two, oblique and approximating,
those in each valve, crucially receiving each other, by mutual insertion ;
those of the side, remote and inserted.

The shells of this genus are strongly characterized by the teeth of their
hinge, and by the projection of their beaks ; the latter giving them a
cordiform appearance. They are generally ornamented with longitu-
dinal ridges, more or less prominent ; and frequently with striae, scales,
or spines. The marks of attachment are two in number, and are but
faint.

Specimens of a cardium, resembling C. aolicum. Linn, figured by
Lister, Tab. 314, No. 150, are sometimes found among the interesting
fossils of the whetstone pits, completely silicized; and still retaining,
very distinctly, the striae, disposed longitudinally, in the fore part, and
transversely in the posterior part.

Among the fossils of Plumstead is found a cardium, striated exactly in
the same two directions as the preceding ; but the striae, especially the
transverse ones, are much more minute and faint than those of C. <eoli-
cum; agreeing in this respect, and indeed in all its characters, with
C. discors, Lam. Plate XIII. Fig. 3, is a representation of the silicized
shell of Devonshire, resembling C. aolicum.

In the Harwich or Essex cliff, a shell somewhat like to C. mtcricatum,

is very frequently found. Among the Hampshire fossils is a very curious
cardium, C. porutosum, Brand, on the longitudinal costae of which are
disposed thin, carinated, and crenulated plates, which are perforated at
their base. C. discors, C. porulosum, C. asperulum, C. calcitrapoides, C. ob-
liquum, C. granulosum, C. li?na, and C. heteroclitum, are given by La-
marck as the species found in the environs of Paris.

CVI1. Crassatella. An equivalved inequilateral, close bivalve. The
hinge teeth, two, wjth an adjoining pit : the lateral teeth obsolete. The
cartilage inserted in a pit formed in the hinge.

The genera Crassatdla, Lutraria, and Mactra, agree in having the car-
tilage of the valves interior, and attached to the hinge-pit of each valve ;
but this genus differs from the other two, in there being no gaping when
the valves are shut.

C. tumida, Plate XIII. Fig. 2, much resembles a recent species of this
genus, which was found at King's Island, in the South Seas, by M. Pe-
rpn. The shells of this, as well as of some other species of this genus,
acquire a considerable degree of thickness with age. One specimen
which I possess, from Grignon, which is about three times the size of
that which is here delineated, weighs nearly half a pound. C lamellosa,
Lam. has been supposed to be the same shell which is figured by Bran-
der, among the Hampshire fossils, as Tdlina sulcata, Fig. 89 ; but the
English shell differs, in its form, from the French one, according to the
specimens in my possession: the English one terminating, at its anterior
side, in a more determinately pointed rostrum than the French one does.
This, however, may be only the difference of a variety. C. compressa,
Lam. resembles the species just mentioned, except in being less elon-
gated transversely, and in its ridges being much smaller and closer.
Four more species, C. sulcata, C. gibbosula, C. l&vigata, and C. triangularis,
are found in the neighbourhood of Paris

CVIII. Paphia. A subtransverse inequilateral shell, with close valves,
and having the cartilage internal. The pit for its insertion is under the
beaks, between or beside the teeth of the hinge.

181

Venus divaricata, Linn, illustrates this genus, of which I do not know
that any fossil specimens are known.

GIX. Lutraria. A transverse inequilateral shell, gaping at the extre-
mities ; two oblique and diverging hinge-teeth accompanying a large pit
for the cartilage. No lateral teeth.

Lutraria elliptica, List, conch, t. 415. /. 259, is taken by Lamarck to
illustrate this genus, which is, I believe, unknown.

CX. Mactra. An equivalved, inequilateral, transvere bivalve, a lit-
tle gaping at the sides; the hinge-tooth complicated, with an adjacent
little pit ; the lateral teeth rather remote, compressed, and inserted :
cartilage internal, inserted in the pit of the hinge.

The mactrse are marine shells, and do not appear to have been fre-
quently found fossil. Lamarck describes but one species, M. semisulcata,
as found fossil in the neighbourhood of Paris. The only English fossil-
shell of this genus, with which I am acquainted, is one which is found
in the Essex bank of fossil shells.

Two circumstances served to give some degree of ambiguity to this
shell : the great width between its strongly projecting transverse ribs,
and the structure of its lateral teeth ; which, as in those of the genus
Trigonia, were transversely sulcated : the two flat diverging teeth of the
left valve on their outsides, and the flat receiving teeth on their inside.
But Mr. Pennant, British Zoology, No. 43, A, observes, that in dead
shells of M. solida, the striae appear like high ribs; and I was surprised to
find, on examining the teeth of the recent shells of this species, that a
similar structure with that observed in the teeth of the fossil specimen is
perceptible — a circumstance which has not been generally noticed.

CXI. Erycina. An equivalved, inequilateral, transverse bivalve. The
hinge-teeth, two, diverging upwards, with a small intermediate pit; the
lateral teeth compressed and oblong. The cartilage inserted in the
hinge-pit.

The cartilage of these shells is inserted interiorly, as in the mactrae,

182

lutrarise, crassatellse, &c. ; but a generic difference, in the opinion of
Lamarck, exists in these shells : the cartilage is inserted in a pit between
the hinge-teeth. He believes that the shells of this genus are o-ilj found
fossil, and enumerates eleven species found in the environs of Paris:
E. l&vis, E. peliucida, E. trigonia, E. in&quilatera, E. fragiiis, E. elliptica,
E. imdulata, E. pellucida, E. obscura, E. miluiria^ and E. radio la fa. Plate
XIII. Fig. 13 and 14, are representations of the inner and outer sides of
E. l&vis, copied from Lamarck.

CXIL Petricola. A tranverse inequilateral shell, gaping a little at
both ends, and having two muscular impressions: two hinge-teeth on
one valve, and a bifid one on the other. The cartilage external.

Venus litkophaga, Linn, is given as a species of this genus, which has
not been described in a fossil state.

CXIII. Donax. An equivalved inequilateral bivalve : the fore side
the bluntest. The hinge-teeth two, either in one or both valves : the
lateral teeth one or two, rather distant.

The shells of this genus are strongly characterized by their nearly tri-
angular figure, derived chiefly from the obtuse, and, as it were, trun-
cated form of the fore side. When they have two lateral teeth, they
are situated one on each side, with the hinge-teeth between them. The
hinge-teeth themselves are sometimes two on each valve, and sometimes
there are two on one valve, and but one on the other.

Lamarck describes the following species as having been found in the
neighbourhood of Paris : D. retusa, D. incompleta, D. tellinella, D. nitida,
D. lunulata, and D. obliqua.

Plate XIII. Fig. 6, is a very small specimen of a fossil-shell which is
very frequently found in Gloucestershire and Somersetshire, near to Bath.
I have introduced it in this place, not knowing one more appropriate, and
trusting that its form may excuse a temporary disposal of it here, until
a more satisfactory examination may detect its real characters, which,
I think, will be found different from those of any known recent shell.

183

The sacrifice of a great number of these shells, large and small, in
search of the hinge, has been without success, excepting that, in one
specimen, I have ascertained the presence of a lateral tooth, beneath the
depression for the cartilage, on the truncated side.

These shells are sometimes found of a prodigious size — eight or nine
inches long, and as many in width. One before me, which I purchased
from the collection of the Marquis of Donegal, and which is, I believe,
from the neighbourhood of Bath, weighs, with the inclosed lime-stone,
nine pounds and a quarter.

Here we must also place the thick fossil shell represented Plate XIII.
Fig. 7, which is also chiefly found in the counties just mentioned. This
specimen is interesting; as it shows, from the valves having slipped from
each other, the strong, boldly-projecting, lateral teeth, one of which is
to be seen on each side. I had the mortification of destroying many
good specimens, without gaining any further information respecting the
hinge of this shell. But after obtaining the specimen which is here
figured, I renewed my endeavours, and at last succeeded in separating
two valves : by which 1 ascertained the existence of two lateral teeth,
mutually entering, in each valve, and two thin cardinal teeth, converging,
tinder the beaks of one valve, between which a single tooth in the other
valve is inserted.

Here I will also, for the present, dispose of the curious and anomalous
shell, Plate XI IT. Fig. 8. The imperfect, and perhaps delusive view,
in which this shell, the only specimen I have seen, is presented to my
view, makes me hesitate at the endeavour to point out its apparently
peculiar characters. It is a transvere inequilateral shell : the valves
thinly beset with transverse linear ribs; and at little nearer to the base
of the shell than the middle of the valve, on each side, is a flat ear-like
process, by the continuation from which the superior part of the valve
gains more than the eighth of an inch in width on each side. There
is not any tooth discoverable beneath the beak ; but the hinge appears
to have been formed, at least in one valve, by a groove formed in an

184

arch, comprising the whole of the lower margin of the shell, with two remote
projecting lateral teeth. Whether there exists in the other, as I believe,
a ridge corresponding with the groove in this valve, or whether it was
opposed by a corresponding groove, must remain to be ascertained by
the examination of some more illustrative specimen.

CXIV. Trigondlites. A slightly-rounded, trigonal, thick shell, gaping
on each side. The anterior margin nearly on a straight line ; the pos-
terior in a gently waving, and the upper side in nearly a circular direc-
tion. The outer surface of each valve thickly pierced by foramina,
which, passing nearly through its substance, gives it the cancellous ap-
pearance of bone : the inner surface smooth, but marked with striae,
concentric with the upper margin. The hinge completely linear, with-
out teeth ; there being only an appropriate surface, on the anterior mar-
gin of each valve, for the attachment of the cartilage externally. No
appearance of muscular attachment.

This shell, which I have presumed thus to name and to dispose of, is ex-
ceedingly anomalous in every respect : it is of an extraordinary degree of
thickness, being, in some specimens, full three-eighths of an inch thick;
and, even in young specimens, full a quarter of an inch thick. A fbs-
sula, or at least a greater degree of concavity, is observable just beneath
the beak, and which is the only part which bears the least appearance of
the animal having been attached to it. Possessing both valves, I have care-
fully sought to discover the state in which they would be, if united ; but
can only ascertain, that if brought into contact at the angular points, by
approximating first the anterior sides of the valves, the shell gapes on
each side, the rotundity of the shell occasioning a separation as the shell
closes, of even the anterior margins, which are formed nearly on a
straight line ; and which, when the valves are widely open, lay in a line
with each other, as at Plate XII L Fig. 10 and 11. If the superior
margins, which alone can be thus brought into contact, are placed toge-
ther, the shell is very widely separated at the beaks.

This shell was first noticed by Scheuchzer as Concha fo&silis tdliiwdes.

185

porosa lavis, and is thus spoken of by this writer * :— " Ex plurimis conehis
lapideis atque conchitis in Helvetia passim reperiundis, quorum descrip-
tionem Operi ipsi Historico-Helvetico-Naturali reserve, aliquos duntaxat
sisto, rariores scilicet, et ab aliis non, vel obscure descriptos, quos inter
primum commemoro Concham fossilem Tellinoidem, ita mihi nuncupatam
quia cava est, sui similem marinam, plane repraesentans, et Tellinse for-
mam rhomboidalem exprimit ; ab una cardinis parte, eaque nunc dex-
tra, nunc sinistra (un.de non univalvem, sed bivalvem quoque dari, vel
primitus fuisse conjicio) longius excurrit alterutrum latus, idque recta
prorsus linea, dum latus brevius nunc sese incurvat, nunc, et plerum-
que, rotundat. Structuram quod attinet, est ea rara admodum, porosa,
Tro^urpjjT^, poris non in superficie tantum eonspicuis, sed totam eamque
insignem crassitiem perforantibus, eo plane modo, quo astroitarum pori
et stellulae totam, plerumque massam penetrant. Cavitas interna est
lievis, et tamen lineis ab uno latere ad alterum transversim excurrentibus
notata. — Caeterum friabilis est et ita fragilis ut rarissime reperiatur inte-
gra, nunquam prorsus bivalvis, et ideo lapidis nomen vix promereatur,
nisi porosioribus et mollioribus accensere illam velis. Habeo et frustulum
conchse violentia quadam contortse sen compressae. Color plerumque
est cinereus, aliquando subpurpureus, et rubiginosus."

M. Walch says very little respecting this curious fossil. M. Bertrand,
with M. Davila, suspected these fossils to be the valves of a shell resem-
bling Lepap anatifa ; forming their conclusions on the accordance of their
figure with that of the valves of the Lepas, and on the two valves not
being ibund together, as they think would be the case if the shell was a
bivalve. Baier, however, has engraved six or seven specimens in which
the two valves have been found together, although open. Monum rer.
pctrif. Tab. xiv. This author considers these shells as Chanue and Tel-
lens; even referring one species to T. rostrata, Linn. Neither Lamarcl^:
nor Faujas St. Fond have made any mention of this shell.

* Specimen Lithog. Helvet. p. 21.
VOL. III. 3 B

186

From the figures given by Baier, two distinct species of this genus
may be made out; each of which I have been able to identify with
specimens in my possession. The first of these, of which I have given
a representation of the appearance of the outer surface, Plate XIII.
Fig. 12 ; and of the inner, Fig. 9, and which is by far the most common
species, I will distinguish as T. lata. The breadth of this shell is riot
much exceeded by its length, and its outer surface appears to have been
quite smooth, the pores seeming to show themselves only where the ori-
ginal surface has been removed by attrition or decomposition.

The specimen represented Plate XIII. Fig. 10, which may be named
T. lamdlosa, is particularly instructive. More anxious to ascertain its spe-
cific characters than to preserve the specimen, however curious, I suc-
ceeded, with much care and time, in removing a sufficient portion of the
lamellae of its calcareous matrix, to enable me to discover the structure
on the outer surface, which I found exactly to agree with that which is
shown in Fig. 11, and which of course evinced that both these shells
were of the same species.

Whilst attempting the removal of the matrix from another specimen
of this species, I was surprised at finding in the stone a spathose sub-
stance ramifying from the upper margin of each valve, near to the pos-
terior margin, and extending nearly half an inch from the shell. On
applying the muriatic acid to this substance, the odour soon convinced me
of the presence of animal matter. Hence I was led to endeavour at the
removal of the matrix in the present specimen, Fig. 10, with a hope of deter-
mining whether it possessed a similar appendage. My exertions proved
so successful, as to allow of the exposure of this substance proceeding
from both valves, as shown in the same figure. A more rigid examination
of the valves of the preceding species, T. lata, after this discovery, showed
that, on the correspondent part of the valves, a scabrous surface existed,
which, in all probability, had been the surface of attachment for this
peculiar substance. But whether this extraordinary substance should be
considered as extraneous, or as actually belonging to the shell, is a point

187

on which I am unable to give a decided opinion : the determination
must, therefore, be left to those who may have better opportunities of
pursuing the inquiry.

A specimen is figured by Baier, resembling T. lata in form, but which
is much smaller, and appears to be marked externally with transverse
striae. Whether this is only a young one of the species T. lata, is
difficult to say ; but in one of my specimens, is an impression of the
two opened valves of a small shell, in which I observe an exact agree-
ment with the proportions of the valves of that species. In this speci-
men I also observe traces of the impressions of a similar appendicular
substance with that already noticed.

CXV. Venus. An equivalved, rather inequilateral bivalve, with three
hinge teeth in each valve, converging at their base towards the beaks.
The middle tooth, which is sometimes bifid, is placed straight, and the
one on each side obliquely.

Lamarck particularizes six fossil species, which are found in the neigh-
bourhood of Paris : V. mutabilis, V. obliqua, V. callosa, V. texta, V. scobi-
nellata, V. pudlata. Of the first of these, V. mutabilis, he observes, that
it is the most singular shell which he knows, with respect to the variety
which it exhibits in its hinge. It is a roundish, elliptical, transverse,
compressed shell, bearing only very fine striae on its surface, the marks
of its increase ; the hinge, in old shells, without teeth. In the young
specimens, the three teeth, characteristic of the genus, are generally
observable ; but, even among these, one or two of the teeth are some-
times effaced. On viewing the older specimens, the teeth are so fre-
quently absent, that it might be supposed, that none belonged to the
species. On the inside of the valves are very fine serrated and radiat-
ing striae ; but which, not reaching to the edge, leave it smooth.

Among the admirable silicized shells of Devonshire is found a fossil,
which appears to be undoubtedly referable to Venus castrensis. In a spe-
cimen with which I was favoured by Mr. Clarke, the shell is perfectly

188

silicized ; and, in the transparent parts, the angulated tent-like charac-
ters are beautifully shown in white and opaque markings.

In the Essex bank I met with a fine specimen, which exactly agrees
with V. Scotica, described by Dr. Maton and Mr. Racket, in the Lin-
nean Transactions, Vol. vm. p. 81, t. 2, f. 3, except being double the
size of the recent shell. Like that shell, it is thick, subcordated, sub-
compressed, with many regular, parallel, transverse ridges : umbo re-
clined: cordiform depression lanceolate. Inside glossy; teeth strong,
oblique: margin plain. Length full an inch; breadth nearly an inch
and a quarter.

Among the fossil shells which I obtained from the collection of Mr.
Strange, are specimens which are marked Maryland ; and which appear
to agree very closely in their characters with V. Mercenaria.

At the sale of Dr. Menish's collection, I purchased a very large shell
of this genus, measuring four inches and a half in length, and four inches
three quarters in width. Its approximation, in form, to the preceding
shells; but having no cordiform depression, and a plain margin, are
circumstances which seem to allow of its being considered, at least, as
very like to F, islandica. I am unacquainted with where it was ob-
tained.

I was favoured by Captain Gardiner, from the same collection, with
a shell exactly agreeing, in its specific characters, with the preceding,
but being of rather a less size. This shell is one of the Blackdown fos-
sils : it is nearly perfect, and, although its outer surface has suffered some
little decomposition, by which it is rendered of a dead white ; yet the
whole substance of the shell being now a clear calcedonic substance, the
thickest part of the shell is in some degree translucent.

The lateral teeth do not, I think, exist with sufficient distinctness in
either of these shells, to warrant their removal to the genus Cyclas.

CXVI. Cytherea. An equivalved and rather inequilateral bivalve.
The hinge with two or three approximated teeth, converging at the base;

189

with a distant one under the cordiform depression, in one valve, and a
little pit for its reception in the other.

The general form of these shells agrees with that of the shells of the
preceding genus ; but the isolated tooth, and the corresponding pit, afford
characters certainly sufficient for disposing them under a distinct genus,
under which Lamarck places V. meretrix, punctata, lusoria, Iceta, pectinata,
tigerina, chione, and indeed all those which have a tooth distinct from the
cardinal ones. He particularizes nine species found fossil in the neigh-
bourhood of Paris : C. scute llaria, C. demisulcata, C. nitidula, C.polita, C. l&-
vigata, C. teliinaria, C. elegans, C. deltoidea, C. corbulina.

In the Essex and Suffolk bank is a fossil shell of this genus : it appears
to resemble, in its specific, as well as in its generic characters, Venus exo-
leta, Linn. List. Conch, t. 292, Fig. 128.

CXVII. Cyclas. An ovato-transverse bivalve, not inflected on the fore
part : the hinge with three hinge-teeth and two lateral ones, compressed
and rather remote.

The shells of this genus are chiefly river shells, some of which have hi-
therto been placed under the genus tellina, and others under Venus : but
having no fold on their anterior part, they are not referable to the former ;
arid having two lateral teeth, they cannot be placed under the latter
genus.

Lamarck describes the Cyclades of Europe as small, thin, and, as it
were, horny, with the hinge-teeth not very distinct. It is from these
shells that Linnaeus has taken his species Tdlina cornea. The exotic
Cyclades, and particularly those of Asia, are very large,v and have their
hinge-teeth very distinct, and very often bifid. Amongst these he places
Venus coaxans, V. islandica, and several other shells, which have been
hitherto placed under the genus Venus.

Very few other bivalves are to be found in that vast stratum of shells
extending so widely from Woolwich, except a shell, which I think is
decidedly referable to this genus, and perhaps to the species C. deperdita,
the only fossil species mentioned by Lamarck. Like this species, the

190

Woolwich shells are ovato-transverse, and marked with very small trans-
verse striae, indicating the stages of growth. They have three teeth at the
hinge, and two compressed lateral teeth in one valve, with grooves for
their reception in the other valve. Like the French fossil shells of this
genus, the Woolwich also are entirely white, being without epidermis or
animal matter.

Having obtained a mass of shells of this genus, imbedded in py-
rites, from the Isle of Wight, I was surprised at finding that their
lateral teeth, like those of the Mactra solida, were transversely grooved,
the penetrating teeth on the out, and the receiving teeth on the in-
sides.

Plate XIII. Fig. 5, represents the valve which is furnished with the
penetrating grooved lateral teeth, from the Isle of Wight.

CXVIII. Venericardia. An equivalved, inequilateral bivalve, ribbed lon-
gitudinally on the outside, with two thick hinge-teeth, disposed obliquely,
and in the same direction.

In some species, deserving, perhaps, as Lamarck observes, to be con-
sidered of another genus, there is but one tooth on one valve, and two
diverging teeth on the opposite valve.

These shells are strongly characterized, by their having longitudinal
ribs, as in the cockles and scallops. They are marine shells, and have
two muscular impressions.

The most beautiful species of this genus is V. planicosta, a remarkably
thick shell, obliquely cordated, with flat smooth longitudinal ribs, and which
Lamarck describes as being sometimes three inches and a half in length.
The shells of this species are found in the neighbourhood of Paris, but are
there but small. At Piedmont, and in the neighbourhood of Florence,
they are found of the largest size : one specimen 1 have, which mea-
sures full four inches and a half. These fossil shells are found of a very
handsome size on the Hampshire coast; Mr. Holloway, of the Custom-
house, Portsmouth, has kindly favoured me with specimens from Selsea,
one of which measures nearly three inches and a half in width.

191

F. acuticosta differs from the preceding chiefly in having its ribs some-
what carinated ; Lamarck, indeed, suspects it to be merely a variety.

V. senilis. Lam. is a thick obliquely cordated shell, about an inch and
a half in length, with large convex, rather imbricated, but not rough,
ribs. The specimen possessed by Lamarck, he believes, was obtained
from Courtagrion. It is frequently found among the Harwich shells, and
in very good preservation. Its thick valves, with large smooth ribs, give
to it a very antiquated appearance. The outer and inner side of one of
these shells are figured Plate XIII. Fig. 15 and 17. Lamarck particu-
larizes two more species, V. multicostata, V. pectuncularis ; besides four
more, V. cor avium, V. squamosa, V. decussata, and V. elegans ; in which
only one hinge-tooth is apparent in one valve, and which is received by
two corresponding but diverging teeth in the opposite valve.

CXIX. Lucina. A round, or ovato-transverse equivalved bivalve,
with the beaks bowed backwards. The hinge teeth, one or two, varia-
ble ; the lateral teeth one or two, and sometimes hardly any.

These shells differ from Venus's, in having lateral teeth ; from Tellens,
in having no fold ; and from Cyclades, in not having three hinge-teeth.
Lamarck reckons twelve species as found in the neighbourhood of Paris:
L. lamellosa, L. concmirica, L. circinaria, L. sa.wrum, L. divaricata, L. gib"
bosula, L. rcnulata, L. albella, L. sulcata, L. squamosa, L. undulata, L. com-
planata.

This genus was instuted by Bruguiere for the reception of those shells
which, with only one or two cardinal, had one or two lateral remote
teeth, which in some species were hardly apparent. Tellina pectinata,
Linn. Conchy L Listen, PL 300, Fig. 137, is one of this genus: V.fim-
briata, Linn. V. Pensylvanica, Linn, with T. lactea, Linn, and T. diva-
ricala, have been also placed in this genus.

A small shell, resembling V. gallina, found among the Harwich fossils,
seems to have the characters of this genus.

CXX. Tellina. An orbicular or ovate-transverse, equivalved bivalve,

192

with a fold on the anterior part, and short beaks. One or two hinge-
teeth and remote lateral teeth.

The shells of this genus are chiefly known by the inflexion or irregular
fold on their fore part. The hinge-teeth are either one on each valve ;
two on one, and one on the other ; or two on each valve : and the late-
ral teeth are most frequently two, which are compressed.

Lamarck particularizes the following, as being the species which are
found in the neighbourhood of Paris : T. patdlaris, much resembling
T. rcmies, Linri. T. scalaroides, T. carinulata, T. sinuata> T. donacialist T.
rostralis, T. corneola, T. pusilla, T. rudis.

The habitat of the rostrated shell represented Plate XIII. Fig. 4, I
am not acquainted with ; nor, though I have placed it here, am I satis-
fied of this being its most appropriate place, being entirely unacquainted
with its hinge.

CXXI. Capsa. A transverse shell, with two cardinal teeth in one
valve, and one entering double tooth on the other.

This genus is* exemplified by Venus deflorata, or Capsa rugosa, Linn.
List. Conch. Tab. 425, Fig. 273. The shells of this genus are not, I
believe, known fossil.

CXXII. Solen. An equivalved, transversely elongated bivalve, gaping
on each side; the hinge-teeth single, in each valve, or double in one
valve ; the beaks exceedingly small ; the ligament external, and most
frequently near to the extremity of the shell.

The wngumolari<z are distinguished from the Solcns by having two
hinge-teeth in each valve ; the glycemeres, by having no hinge-teeth ; and
the my&, by having an inner ligament, and by their projecting com-
pressed tooth in the left valve, to which the ligament is attached.

Lamarck describes five fossil species of this genus, as found in the environs
of Paris : S. vagina, S.fragilis, S. ejfusus, S. strigilatust S. appendiculatus. Of
S. vagina he remarks, that he found none more than three inches in their
transverse length. S.fragilis approaches very nearly to S. cultellus, Linn.

193

S. effusus bears some resemblance (o S. vespertinus, Linn. S. strigilatus
appears to be similar to the recent shell of the same name. S. appe?i-
diculatus is a small smooth elliptical shell, the recent analogue of which
is unknown. It derives its name from a little process which projects
near the beaks.

Fragments of shells of this genus are found in the Essex cliff. From a
considerable number of these I have been able to make out only two
species resembling S. siliqua, Linn, and S. e?isis. It is remarkable, that
in the fossil shell agreeing in the characters of its hinge with S. siliqua, a
proportionate shortness in its transversal length is observed with that of
the fossil S. vagina, described by Lamarck. In one valve of this species,
which I am able to say must have measured nearly an inch in its length,
from its inferior to its superior edge, the breadth from the anterior to the
posterior termination is only two inches and three quarters. The fossil
resembling S. ensjs, appears to vary from it only in not being quite so
much bowed as the recent shell.

CXXIII. Sangumolaria. A transverse bivalve, arched on its superior
edge, and gaping a little at its extremities. Two hinge-teeth, approxi-
mate and articulating, on each valve.

This genus is exemplified in Sanguinolaria rosea, Solen sanguinolentum,
Linn. List. t. 397, Fig. 236. The shells of this genus are distinguish-
able from those of Solen, only by their having two teeth in each valve.
I am not aware of their having been found fossil.

CXXIV. Glycemeris. A transverse shell, gaping at both extremities :
hinge callous, without tooth. This genus is exemplified in G. incrassata,
Lam. Mya siliqua, Chemn. ; but Iain not acquainted with any species
of it as a fossil.

CXXV. Mya. A transverse bivalve, gaping at both ends; ligament
internal. The left valve with a hinge-tooth, compressed, rounded, per-
pendicular to the valve, and giving attachment to the ligaments.

Lamarck has not met with any shell of this genus, in a fossil state, in

the environs of France.

VOL. in. c c

194

A very handsome fossil shell, apparently of this genus, is found in the
cliffs at Bognor ; hut as I have never been able to view the interior part,
although I have destroyed several specimens for the purpose, I am una-
ble to speak decidedly with respect to it. Fragments of the hinge part
of a shell of this genus are sometimes found in the neighbourhood of
Norwich.

CXXVI. Panopaa. A transverse inequilateral bivalve, gaping une-
qually at the ends. The hinge similar in both valves, having a large
elongated tooth placed under the cartilaginal depression, running along the
interior edge in a raised blunt margin, and projecting posteriorly ; a coni-
cal hinge-tooth, rather flat and bent; and on the right valve, a little
pit, which receives the tooth of the opposite valve. The ligament exte-
rior ; the beaks but little projecting ; the depression large. Two mus-
cular impressions in each valve, towards the extremities.

This genus was formed by M. Menard de la Groye, on a shell found
in Mount Pulgnasco, in the commune of Diolo, in Parma, in a fine-
grained quartzose sand, mixed with a greyish clay. Of this shell, some
beautiful specimens have been collected by M. Cortezi, of Parma. On
clearing the hinge from one of these, which had been presented to
M. Faujas, M. Menard was very much surprised to find that it was a
shell of a mixed genus, resembling both Mya and Solcn. This shell is
about three inches and eight lines in length, and six inches and three
lines in width. The outside is smooth, being only transversely grooved by
the successive additions of new shell. On the inside, along the edge, and
particularly the upper edge, is a callous smooth kind of border ; and,
further into the cavity of the shell, is another surface, more or less ru-
gose, which marks the parts where the animal was attached. Annales
du Mm. Tome ix. p. 131.

A recent shell of this genus, but. undoubtedly of a different species
from the fossil shell described by M. Menard, has long been known to
the conchologists. It was first figured by the indefatigable Aldrovandus,
who gave to it the name ofChama glycemeris, Testae, lib. in. p. 472. The

J95

figure of Aldrovandus has been copied by Bonanni, Gualtieri, Klein, and
others. Lister has given a cppy from Aldrovandus, Hist. Conch. T. 414,
Fig. 258 ; and Baron Born has given a correct figure from a shell in the
cabinet of Vienna, Mus. C<es. Vind. test. T. i. /. 8. Aldrovandus relates
that the shell which he described was found in the Mediterranean, on
the coast of Spain.

This shell is exceedingly rare : M. Menard observes, that it is not in
any of the Parisian collections, not even in the Museum of Natural His-
tory ; and that he knew of but one in the possession of M. Pech, whose
cabinet was sold to the Emperor of Austria. The particular characters
of this shell demanding its being placed in a new and distinct genus,
were fully noticed by Baron Born, who says " Ob extrernitatem utram-
que hiantem Solenibus affinis, a quibus dente exserto crassissimo differt."
Mus. C<es. p. 20.

M. Pech, on comparing the characters of his recent shell with those
of the fossil one, was of opinion that, in general, they agreed ; and par-
ticularly that the hinge was the same. But he found that the recent shell
was wider and less tumid, in proportion to its size, than the fossil one,
and that it gaped at both ends, but less at the posterior than at the ante-
rior part; whilst, in the fossil shell, the opening in the posterior part was
hardly discoverable. From this comparison, M. Menard concludes, that
the recent and fossil shells are of distinct species : the propriety of which
conclusion will at once be seen, on a view of the figure given by Born,
and of that given by M. Menard. The species to which the recent shell
belonged he named Panopea Aldrovandi ; and that to which the fossil shell
was referable, Panopea Faujas.

Among the fossil shells which I had purchased from the collection of
Mr. Strange, was a valve, which I had valued from its resemblance to
the shell of Aldrovandus; but of the habitat of which I could obtain no
other information than the word Maryland, which was written on its
inner surface. On reading M. Menard's account of the Parrnese fossil,
I again examined this valve. A slight view of its characters; evinced that

196

it belonged to the same genus : its hinge, its broad surface on the inner
margin, and the broad, rougher surface to which the animal adhered, all
agreed.

Its much closer agreement with the Panopea of Aldrovandus than with
the Panopea of Faujas, was directly manifest. The closed valves must
have gaped widely at both ends, and could not have made that approach
to the cylindrical form which is observable in the latter shell. That it
did not belong to a shell of the same species with the fossil shells of
Mount Pulgnasco, is certain; and that it is a valve of a small individual
of the species P. J/flfrwwzd/, is highly probable : there would, indeed,
exist no doubt on this point, but that a little difference exists in the out-
line of the two shells, which however may depend on their different
stages of growth. A representation of this fossil valve is given Plate XIV.
Fig. 1. It has suffered a greater degree of decomposition than the fos-
sils, of. Parma, and has lost the point of the smaller tooth.

The fossil shell represented Plate XIII. Fig. 16, is particularly inte-
resting from the very uncommon manner in which it is marked. It is
little more than* a cast; being formed of a dark grey lime-stone, to which
it appears that some of the inner plate of the shell has adhered, and has
acquired a film of yellow pyrites.

The valves having slipped before the forming of the cast, and hardly
any of the shell itself remaining, it is impossible to determine under wjiat
genus this fossil should be placed.

It is a transverse, regular formed, and, apparently, an equivalved
shell, which has been marked with round, closely-set grooves, passing
obliquely from the anterior and posterior sides ; the nearest to the centre
meeting and forming an angle, the others terminating in the upper
margin of the shell.

I was favoured with this fossil by the Reverend Mr. Marsh, of Fel-
tnersham House, Bedfordshire, who found it in that neighbourhood.

197

M. Walch describes a similar fossil, Supp. PL v. c. p. 151, as a very
rare shell, which was found at Guntershofen, and which, he thinks,
might he very well placed among the tellenites. A similar fossil had been
previously found at Neustrelitz, in Mecklenhourg, in a grey lime-stone,
and described and figured in Magazin dc Berlin, 1. 1 v. This shell M. Walch
describes as having the point of the hinge elongated ; and striae, or raised,
elongated, and rather oblique ribs, of which, those which are nearest the
hinge unite and form an angle. The analogue of this shell, he observes,
has not yet been found. M. Martini observes, with respect to this shell,
that he has riever seen any recent or fossil shell resembling it, having
these converging striae, in the form of a bow, with cordiform interstices.

LETTER XIV.

PHOLAS FISTULANA TEREDO DICER AS ACARDO RA-

DIOLITES CHAM A SPONDYLUS PLICATULA GRYPH^A.....

OSTREA.

LAMARCK, in his Systeme des Animaux sans vertebres, had placed Pholas
at the end of the equivalved shells, and characterized them as having
accessory pieces ; and the genera Teredo and Fistulana he placed at the
head of the inequivalved shells, and distinguished them as having the
principal valve tubular.

Since that period, in his Suite des Memoires sur les Fossiles des Environs
du Paris, under the article Fistulana , he says, that he was for a long
time perplexed, whilst endeavouring properly to characterize this sin-
gular kind of shell, because he considered, as all other naturalists had

198

done, the tubular sheath which enclosed the animal and its real shell, as
the shell itself. But making further researches, he perceived a consi-
derable agreement between the valves of Modiola and those of Fistulana;
and learned that some fistulanae passed out of their proper tube, and lived
in the tubular cavities formed in stone and other solid bodies, those cavi-
ties supplying the place of their own. Hence he concluded, that the
two equal valves which adheres to the animal, formed the true shell of
Fistulana ; and that the shelly tube should only be regarded as an acces-
sory piece, forming the cavity in which the animal was to reside.

On this principle, he thinks that the tube of the Fistulana, Teredo, and
Periicillus, as well as the accessory portions of shell of the Pholas, should be
considered as objects independent of the general character which should
be employed in the classing of these animals, and therefore should be
used only in the distinction of their genera*.

Agreeable to this arrangement, we will proceed to the consideration of
cquivalved bivalves with accessory pieces.

CXXVII. Pholas. A transverse gaping shell, composed of two large
principal valves, with many small accessory pieces placed on the liga-
ment or at the hinge.

Among the Essex fossils are frequently found fragments of P. crispata;
but, from the extreme brittleness of the shell, the fragments are in gene-
ral but small. I have, however, on a late trip to Walton, been so suc-
cessful as to obtain a fragment or two, possessing the recurved tooth,
which, together with the crinkled surface, leaves little room for doubting
it to be of the species P. crispatus. I also obtained a small perfect shell,
which from its form, and the fineness of the striae with which it is marked,

* Agreeable to this last decision of Lamarck, Penicillus should be placed among the
bivalves instead of among the tubular shells, as it will be found in the eighth Letter. But
one circumstance seems to render the propriety of its removal to this place doubtful — the
valves in the genus Penicillus are incrusted in it, and form a part of it ; consequently, as
they cannot perform the office of valves, the dwelling of the animal may be rather coosi-
as a tubular than a bivalve shell.

I am disposed to consider as P. campecliensis, List. Conch. Tab.
Fig. 275.

C XX VIII. Fistulana. An equivalved bivalve, gaping, nearly tooth-
less shell, included in a club-formed testaceous tube, open at the smaller
end.

The bivalve of the Fistulana, as may be seen by its representations,
Plate XIV. Fig. 2 and 4, bears a considerable degree of resemblance to
the valves of Modiola : and it should be recollected, that some of the
Modiola, Mytilns Lithophagus, Linn, for instance, are found in cavities
formed in stone. The tube of the Fistulana is completely closed at its
larger end; whilst the smaller end is open, and has sometimes one side
of it formed by one of the valves adhering to it.

We are much indebted to M. Faujas St. Fond for his researches re-
specting these fossil bodies, and for ascertaining the existence of these
bivalves in their proper tube among the fossils of Grignon.

Lamarck describes four species of this genus as found fossil in the
neighbourhood of Paris : F. ampullaria, F. tibialis, F. echinata, and F. per-
sonata.

The first of these, F. ampullaria, the tube of which is of the form of
•an elongated pear or bottle, and covered by a calcareous sand, has two
ridges in the inside of its smaller part ; and in this part is found the bivalve
shell, resembling one of the modiolae, and with a shining surface. The
shell is sometimes found loose, and at other times united to the tube by
interposed spathose matter.

Mr. Meade very kindly favoured me with the two shells of this genus,
detached from their tubular parts, the representations of which have been
just referred to. The same gentleman also obliged me with a mass of
spathose lirne-stone, in which several of these fossils are imbedded, with
their containing ampullaceous tube. Plate XIV. Fig. 6.

The fossil which is figured Plate XII. Fig. 1, of the second volume of
this work, to show its coralloicl investment, as well as the ampullaceous
bodies in Fig. 2, of the same plate, belong to this genus, and doubtlessly
contain the two valves composing the shelly but here, as in many other

200

specimens, the included valves are most probably involved in spathose
matter, which has crystallized within the tube.

Plate XIV. Fig. 7, is a very instructive specimen of this shell : the
valves being there seen partly denuded of their including tube. This
specimen I purchased from the Museum of Dr. Menish. It was found
at Bradford, Wilts, in the white clay which covers the great Oolite rock.

1 have now before me a fossil of this species from Malta, of which I
have opened one side so much, as to give a pretty fair view of one of the
valves, which is very nearly two inches in length, and has a very smooth
surface. This shell evidently differs from the Bradford shells, Fig. 2 and 3,
which again differ from each other, they forming, as it were, sub species.,
I have been favoured witfr calcareous masses, in which these fossils are
imbedded, from Bedfordshire, by Mr. GoodhaM and the Rev. Mr. Marsh;
and from Wiltshire, by Mr. Cunnington.

In the F. tibialis, which is much larger than F. ampullaria, one of the
valves is found adhering to one side of the tube. This valve is marked
with unequal transverse striae, which a magnifying glass shows are decus-
sated by longitudinal, and sometimes punctuated striae. The lower part
only of this tube has been seen by Lamarck ; and this seems, to bear some-
what of the general form of the preceding species, although much larger.

In F. echinata, the bulbous end of the tube is irregularly beset with
tubular points. On one part of its surface, which is bounded by a fringe
of these spines, there occurs a small smooth space, and then another sur-
face, beset with spines. On the other side, one of the valves is detected,
set in the side of the tube. This valve, though apparent^ smooth, is
discovered, by the glass, to be beset with minute scaly points, disposed
in rows,x directed towards the beaks. This fossil, as well as the other,
was found at Grignon.

F. per sonata is very remarkable for the form in which its larger, or
clubbed end/ terminates. The tube, which is cylindrical in great part
of its length, is seldom more than two or three inches long-; becoming
small at its open end, and being somewhat rounded at the other. At
this larger termination it is closed, rounded, and very obtuse ; and on

201

one side shows three conical lobes, the central one having a pyramidal
form, the point terminating upwards, between the points of the two
others, which meet like the beaks of a bivalve, yielding somewhat of the
appearance of a grotesque mask, or of the figure which is assumed by
some chrysalides : and on the point where these conical bodies unite is
found, in some specimens, a piece of a particular form, disposed like the
rotula of the knee. The opposite side of the tube is rounded like the
back of the human head, and is marked by two oblique suture-like^ lines,
which descend, and, uniting, seem to mark the termination of the head
in the neck.

Plate XIV. Fig. 10, represents one of the largest-sized fossils of this
species which I have seen, and the most contorted in its form. This,
it is seen, has lost the rotula, which in the specimen, Fig. 8, is preserved.
It is somewhat of a triangular form, disposed between the lateral lobes,
and connected with the posterior surface by a narrow, and apparently
corrugated process.

Whether the larger end of this shell was always closed or not, is very
difficult to determine. It appears, however, not probable, that so com-
plicated a form should have been without some use ; and the rotula, it
is very likely, might have been employed by the animal in a manner
somewhat similar to* that in which the spatula-formed opercula.of the
teredo was used.

In Plate XIV. Fig. 12, a, and 12, b, are represented two specimens of
shells of this genus, from France. In the specimen Fig. 12, a, the sides
of the tube are so removed, that the outer sides of both the valves are
seen; and in Fig. 12, A, the inner side of one of the valves is shown, set
in the side of the tube. So much of the outer part of the tube is removed,
in these specimens, as to render it difficult to speak of the species to
which they should be referred.

At first view, the echinated surface which they display leads to the
supposition, that they should be considered as being of the species F. echi-
nata, Lam, ; but, on examination with a lens, it is discovered that the

VOL. Ill, D D

202

appearance of tubular points proceeds from the remains of an1 inves-
titure with that curious madreporean substance, which was figured, as
forming a similar covering, in Plate XII. Fig. 1 and 2, of the se-
cond volume of this work. That this was the substance which gave the
echinated surface in Lamarck's F. echinata, the accuracy of that natu-
ralist prevents our supposing. A very remarkable circumstance, how-
ever, here presents itself for our attention — a similar fossil body, the
tube of different species of fistulanse, is found in different parts of Wilt-
shire and Somersetshire, in Germany, and in France, covered by the
peculiar madreporean labours of an insect, traces of whose existence,
elsewhere, are very rarely to be found.

CXXIX. Teredo. A bivalve shell, contained in the lower end of a
cylindrical tubular shell, generally open at both ends, two opercula being
adapted to the upper end.

Having already, in the first volume, dwelt upon the appearances
yielded by the wood which has been subjected to the ravages of the inha-
bitant of this shell, and which has afterwards undergone the change of
petrifaction, I shall only now place before you the very interesting obser-
vations of Mr. Home, on the anatomy of the Teredo navalis, and on that
of the Teredo gigantea, of Sumatra, another species which has lately been
discovered.

After a violent earthquake at Sumatra, in the year 1797, these shells
were discovered in a small sheltered bay, with a muddy bottom, sur-
rounded by coral reefs, on the Island of Battoo, distant from the coast of
Sumatra about twenty leagues.

The length of the longest of the shells obtained by Mr. Griffiths, who
brought them to England, was 5 feet 4 inches, and the circumference at
the base 9 inches* tapering to 1| inch at the point. The large end of
the shell is completely closed, and has a rounded appearance : at this part
it is very thin. The small end, or apex, is very brittle, and is divided by
a longitudiaal septum running down for eight or nine inches, forming it
into two distinct tubes, enclosed within the outer one, from whence the

203

animal throws out tentacula. The body of the shell has an appearance
resembling stalactites, and was found filled with a soft gelatinous flesh ;
but there appeared no indication of the animal having adhered to any
part of the internal surface of the shell, which was in general smooth.

Rumphius has figured one species of this shell ; but his figure exhi-
bits two long jointed tubes, issuing from the upper part of the exterior
tube ; and he describes them to be found in shallow water, among the
mangrove trees. The shell of Rumphius differs from that of Mr. Grif-
fiths, in having the two tubes through which the tentacula pass, of con-
siderable length, and entirely separate.

Sir Joseph Banks, on seeing this shell, had no doubt of its being a
Teredo ; and the truth of Sir Joseph's opinion has been since established
by the discovery of the two boring shells and the two flattened opercula,
which form the decided character of teredines : these, Mr. Home states,
were found enclosed in one of the specimens. This shell is therefore con-
sidered by Mr. Home as belonging to a new species of Teredo, which he
names Teredo gigantea *.

On examining the Teredo navalis, whilst preserved in sea-water, Mr.
Home found that the animal threw out sometimes one and sometimes two
small tubes : one of these, about I of an inch long, the other only half
that size. In examining the shell, while in the wood, its external orifice is
very small, just large enough to give a passage to the two small tubes.
The sides of the cylinder are thickest near its origin, becoming thinner
towards the head of the animal.

The head of the animal is enclosed between the two boring shells, which
are united together by a digastric muscle. From the middle of the
exposed part of the head projects a kind of proboscis, which there is rea-
son to believe acts as centre bit.

.The body of the worm is enclosed in one general covering, extending
from the base of the boring shells, with which it is firmly connected, to

* Description of a rare species of worm-shells, discovered at an Island lying off the North-
West coast of the Island of Sumatra, in the East Indies. Philosophical Transactions^ 1806.

204

the root of the two small tubes, which appear out of the wood: It ter-
minates in a small double fold, forming a cap, on the inside of which
are fixed the long small stems of the two opercula, which become broad
and flat towards their other extremity. These, when brought together,
shut up the shell, and enclose the two contracted tubes within it : not
one operculum corresponding to each tube, but in a transverse direction.
In the Teredo gigantea, the opercula are similarly situated, each shutting
up one half of the bifurcation.

The Teredo gigantea is found imbedded in a different substance from
that in which the Teredo navalis is found, and may have many other cha-
racteristic differences; although it appears, from comparing the shells
in which they are incased, that they are formed of exactly the same
materials.

The Teredo gigantea, when arrived at its full growth, closes up the end
of the shell. This, the Teredo navalis does also. In some of the speci-
mens of Teredo gigantea the shell is just covered in, and that part close
to the termination is extremely thin, but in others it is increased in thick-
ness twentyfold : in others, again, the shell has not only become thick,
but the animal has receded from its first enclosure, and has formed a
second three inches up the tube, and afterwards a third two inches on ;
and has made the sides thicker and thicker, to diminish the canal in pro-
portion to the diminution of its own size.

These facts prove, that the Teredo giganteat when arrived at its full
growth, or whenever prevented from increasing its length, closes up the
end of its shell, and lives a long time afterwards, furnished with food
from the sea-water it receives, like the actinia. The Teredo navalis closes
up its shell in the same manner : it must, therefore, after that period, be
supplied with food entirely through the medium of sea-water *.

Whilst treating of serpulse we found, that in those shells a similar pro-

* Observations on the Shell of the Sea-worm, &c. by Everard Home, Esq. Philosophical
Transactions, 1806.

205

eess was sometimes performed with that which Mr. Home ha& here
shown takes place in the shell of the teredo, and by which the size of
the immediate residence of the animal is adapted to the size of the ani-
mal itself. But since the publication of the first volume, 1 have had the
opportunity of ascertaining, that this concameration of the shell of the
teredo occurs so closely, and with so much regularity, in some spe-
cimens, as to give reason for believing that it may become the character
qf a species. A specimen of this kind, in a piece of wood from South-
end, Essex, is represented Plate XIV. Fig, 11 ; and I know that, among
the specimens of the British Museum, is a much larger specimen, pos-
sessing the same character.

A Veronese fossil in my collection is rendered deserving of notice by
the very close resemblance which it bears to T. gigantca, in the markings
and in the stalactitic appearance of its surface: it is about an inch and
a half in diameter. Plate XIV. Fig. 9, is a small fossil of a curious
structure, the single tube bifurcating, and bearing somewhat, in minia-
ture, of the appearance which is exhibited by the large teredo figured
by Rumphius, in which two long tubes proceed from the exterior one.

The next subdivision of fossil bivalves, which requires our attention, is
that which comprises inequivalved and irregularly formed shells.

CXXX. Diceras. A ventricose, transversely subrugose bivalve : the
beaks distant, shaped like horns, and contorted in irregular spires.

The valves of this fossil shell are unequal, tuberous, and conical, and
somewhat resemble two cornucopias, turned spirally but irregularly,
with their openings applied together. In the larger valve is the hinge-
tooth, obtusely conical and very large and thick, resembling an ear with
its cavity. This tooth is articulated, with a corresponding tooth in the
other valve. Two lateral muscular impressions seem to point out its
greater degree of relationship to the chama3 than to any other shells.

This curious fossil was found by M. Saussure, in the mountain Saleve,
in a calcareous stratum, Voyage dans ies Alpcs, Tome i. p. 190, PL u. Fig. 1
a 4. It was also found by M. de Luc, at about one third of the height
of the mountain. But one species of this shell is known, D. arietina.

206

CXXXI. Acardo. A shell formed of two flattened and nearly equal
valves, having neither hinge nor cartilage, but a muscular impression in
the middle of the valves.

This genus, which has been adopted by Bruguiere and Lamarck, was
formed by M. Commercon, from a shell he discovered during his voyage
round the world. The shell seen by M. Commercon was somewhat cor-
difbrm, and its substance appeared to be intermediate between shell and
bone. Being attached to the centre of the two valves, the animal was
able thereby to separate the valves, and in a parallel direction. Bru-
guiere reported that he had seen a shell of this genus in the Isle of France,
the shape of which was nearly square. No fossil shell of this genus is
known. Hist. Nat. des Coq. par Bosc. T. n. p. 325.

CXXXII. Radiolites. An irregular inequivalved shell, striated out-
wardly. The inferior valve in the form of a reversed cone : the superior
convex. Neither hinge nor cartilage.

These fossils agree with the shells of the preceding genus in the absence
of hinge arid cartilage, but differ essentially in their figure. Bruguiere
had united them in one genus, but Lamarck made the warrantable sepa-
ration. These fossils were first noticed by M. Picot de la Peyrouse,
Description d'Orthoceratites, £fc. who considered them as a particular spe-
cies of 'oyters. Plate XVI. Fig. I, represents one of these fossils, as
engraved in the work of Picot, Tab. 12, /. 4.

These fossils were obtained from that part of the Pyrenees which is
named Les Corbieres, and chiefly from that part which extends from
Monferrand to Sougragne.

CXXXIII. Ckama. An icequivalved, adhering bivalve, with unequal
incurvated beaks. The hinge with one thick, oblique, and sometimes
crenated tooth. Two muscular impressions.

Bruguiere, properly limiting this genus to those shells possessing one
hinge-tooth; those shells in whose hinge were two or three teeth, and
which used to be placed under this genus, are now disposed under Car-
dita, Tridacna, Hippopus, and Isocardia.

The fossil chamae of the neighbourhood of Paris appear to correspond

20?

exactly with those of Hampshire. Chama lamellosa, of Lamarck, is evi-
dently the same shell as chama squamosa, of Brander, foss. Hant. No. 86;
Chama calcarata of Lamarck, with distant transverse plicae, the superior
of which is echinated with long canaliculated spines, he says, may per-
haps be the same with the chama, No. 87, of Brander. Plate XIV.
Fig. 13, represents one of these species which I possess, from Grignon.

Lamarck observes, that Bruguiere was acquainted with . C. lamellosa,
and that it is that which he speaks of under the name of C. rugosa; but
that he confounds it with a chama which is not fossil, and which is figured
in Lister and in Gualtieri.

It is however probable that Lamarck is here mistaken. I find, among
my chamae, one which certainly shows that there exists a fossil chama,
to which the name C. rugosa is perfectly applicable. I also find one,
which I believe to be fossil, and which exactly agrees with the recent
shell figured by Lister, Tab. 217, Fig. 53, which has been considered as
C.foliacea by Gmelin, and, perhaps, as C. rugosa by Bosc.

It is to the kind communication of Robert Scammell, Esq. of Ply-
mouth, that I am indebted for an account of a stratum of fossil shells
which he discovered at Haldon, or Hall-down, in the County of Devon.
Haldon is a hill, very nearly 850 feet above the level of the sea, and is,
from its northern to its southern point, about six miles in length, and
nearly three in breadth.

On the sides and summit of the hill, along with the vegetable mould
are numerous flints : beneath these is, in some parts, a yellow, and
in others a white clay, with a mixture of sand arid silicious pebbles of
various sizes, to the depth of three or four feet. In some parts is found
a light brown sand, which, at the depth of about four fathoms, becomes
a firm concretion. The substratum of Haldon is, in some places, chalk,
and in others an extensive range of lime-stone.

These strata terminate in others of various formation. Towards the
river F^x, they unite with a long range of amygdaloid : they descend
into the schist of Ashton ; which is here, as in many other instances, sue?-

208

ceecled by granite. In another direction, they are lost in the lime-stone
rocks of Ghudleigh.

The stratum qf shells, Mr. Scammell observes, exists in a stratum of
greenish yellow sand, about five feet below the surface ; and he is able,
from repeated and careful observation, to state that these fossil shells
extend upwards of four miles.

The shells, from their extreme brittleness, are almost all in small frag
ments. Mr. Scammell having, however, kindly furnished me with some
of the largest, I was enabled to ascertain that they were the remains of
several species of Pectens, of a small oblong oyster, and of a shell, in
which, although the characters of a chama were predominant, only one
mark of attachment was discoverable.

The general form of this shell is very much like that of the chamse we
have been just describing : the outer surface is pretty smooth, being only
marked by faint transverse striae. The hinge is formed by an oblique,
moderately sized, and slightly crenulated tooth, on the flat valve, which
is received by an oblique groove, with correspondent crenulse on the
convex valve.

CXXX1V. Spondylus. A rough, slightly-eared, inequivalved bivalve,
with unequal beaks; the inferior more produced, truncated upwards,
and with ene groove. The hinge with two thick recurved teeth, with
an intermediate pit for the reception of the cartilage. One muscular
impression.

Lamarck describes only one species, S. radula, as found in the environs
of Paris. A fossil shell of this genus, which, from the appearance of its
matrix, I suspect to be from Worcestershire, agrees, except in its size
being one third larger than the French fossil, with the species described
by Lamarck. It is slightly eared, and the inferior valve is marked with
rough longitudinal striae. It is rough, oblique, and of an oval orbicular
form. The stronger and most raised of the striae of the lower valve have
small spinous squamse placed at about half an inch distant; these strise
being separated by from six to nine small granular strise.

209

Very fine fossils of this genus are found in Tuscany : an upper valve
of one of these, which I possess, and which is in very good preservation, is
nearly five inches in length, and four inches in breadth.

CXXXV. Plicatula. An inequivalved shell, not eared, with unequal
beaks, and having the margins plicated : the hinge formed by two strong
teeth on each valve, and an intermediate pit for the cartilage : one mark
of attachment in each valve.

This genus is formed from Spondylus plicatus, Linn, figured by Lister,
Conch. Hist. Tab. 210, Fig. 44. The shells of this genus are not, I be-
lieve, known fossil.

CXXXVI. Gryphaa. An inequivalved bivalve; the lower valve con-
cave, terminated by a beak, and curving upwards and inwards; the
upper valve much smaller, like an operculum ; the hinge toothless, the
pit oblong and arched : one impression in each valve.

Linnaeus was induced, from the curved beak of this shell, to place it
among the anomiae, as Anomia gryphus. Brnguiere disposed it under the
genus Ostrea ; but Lamarck considered the termination of the beak of
the under valve sufficient to allow of its being placed under a distinct
genus. He notices nine different species; among which is Gryphcea angu-
lata, an individual shell of which, in a recent state, is at Paris.

Fossil shells of this genus are found in considerable numbers in different
parts of England, particularly in Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Bedford-
shire, Wiltshire, Nottinghamshire, and Warwickshire.

Plate XV. Fig. 3, represents one of these fossils from the banks of the
Severn, not far distant from Framilode, in Gloucestershire. In this
specimen, which is of the most common species found in this island, the
rugae of the lower valve are exceedingly numerous, and consequently
arranged very closely together. In the fossil shells of this genus, found
in Warwickshire, a considerable difference is observable : the general
surface is much smoother; which, indeed, may have proceeded from
their having suffered by bowldering. But, besides this circumstance,

VOL. in. E E

210

another is observable : at nearly equal distances, four or five rugae are
disposed, as if the consequence of different periods of growth.

On viewing the different specimens of ostracites and gryphites, in my
collection, I cannot help doubting as to the propriety of the formation
of a distinct genus for this shell. I there find specimens in which the
beak and the body of the valve possess various degrees of curvature, in a
series of gradation, from the complete curve of the gryphites to the slight
turn of the edible oyster. ,

CXXXVII. Ostrea. A rough adherent inequivalved bivalve ; the hinge
without a tooth. The pit of the hinge increasing with age, in the larger
valve. The cartilage, half internal. One muscular impression.

The genus Ostrea, of Linnaeus, was doubtlessly much confused, he
having introduced in it several shells, which, like the Pectens, had a full
claim to a distinct genus. Bruguiere very properly separated from this
genus the genera Pecten and Ptrna, and introduced into it several shells
really belonging to this genus, but which had been placed by Linnseus in
the genus Mytilus. Lamarck proceeded still further, and seems to have
reduced this genus within its proper limits, by withdrawing from it those
shells with which he has constituted the genera Vulsella and Gryphea.

Lamarck describes eighteen species of this genus, as found fossil in the
environs of Paris : O. bellovacina, O. hippopus, O. deltoidea, O. bimmculata,
O. vesicularis, O. pseudo-chama, 0. linguatula, O. cochleariu, O. longirostris,
O. canalis, O. crenulata, O. cyathula, O. spathulata, O. deformis, O. uncinata,
Q.flabdlula, O. cymbula, O. pectinata.

Several species of this genus are also found in different parts of the
continent, as well as of this island.

The most extraordinary shell of this genus, for size, is the large fossil
oyster, the recent analogue of which, from Virginia, appears to be de-
picted by Lister, Hist. Conch. PL 200, Fig. 34, and PL 201, Fig. 35. It
is chiefly found at Heutlingen and Aristorf, in Switzerland. The shell of
this ovster is sometimes from two inches to two inches and a half in thick-

211

ness ; and, of necessity, of a considerable weight : the cavity which had
been left for the dwelling of the animal being, in proportion, but small.
The shells appear evidently to be formed of laminae, so placed on each
other, that their several projecting edges terminate with much irregula-
rity, and give a considerable degree of asperity to their external surfaces.
Their size varies considerably ; some being hardly five inches in length,
and about an inch and a half in width ; whilst others attain to the length
of twenty inches.

In the mountain of Heutlingen there existed a considerable stratum of
these fossils, the uppermost of which had both their valves united; but
these were in so fragile a state, that very few indeed could be removed.
An under valve which I possess, which is more than thirteen inches in
length, and three in thickness, weighs four pounds. To this species may
be perhaps referred, O. canalis of Lamarck.

The broad flat oyster, from Shotover Hill, Oxfordshire, is a very
remarkable fossil. It differs in its form, even admitting that it may
have suffered some degree of compression, from any oyster, recent or fos-
sil, which has been hitherto described.

Both valves are equally flat ; their form subtrigonal, but very irre-
gular. The external surface is smooth, with the exception of the fine
transverse striae resulting from the terminations of the different laminae,
which do not prevent its resembling a plate of roofing slate. On the
internal surface, the very shallow cavity for the oyster, the muscular
impression, and the broad pit of the hinge, are very accurately pre-
served. They differ considerably in size, having been found from two
to more than six inches in diameter.

1 am happy in being able to place before you an account of the situa-
tion in which these fossils were found, about forty years ago, as given in
a letter from that assiduous inquirer in this department of natural history.
Mr. Joshua Platt, of Oxford, to Mr. Strange.

The depth of the pit, from the surface to. stone, is about twenty-
seven feet.

212

1 foot, Vegetable earth.

2 feet, Brown loamy earth, containing spines and plates of echini.

11 Strong blue clay, with no animal remains, except a few of

echini.

If Bed of large white lime-stone nodules, in the upper part,

containing anomiae striatue, cockscomb oysters, auricu-
larke plotii (gryphites), and small ammonites.

12 Blue clay, of an unctuous feel, which terminates on the

bed of stone.

Mr. Platt says, " In this clay, about four feet above the stone, lie the
broad flat oyster, with some belemnites and vertebrae of fishes. I was
present at the falling of more than a hundred tons of this clay, by under-
mining it at the surface of the stone ; and was much entertained by see-
ing the pretty appearance which the broad oysters made in their num-
ber and different sizes, all lying horizontally : some as broad as my two
hands, others small as a shilling."

O. deltoidea, of Lamarck, possesses those characteristics which mark
the Shotover Hill oyster — flat, like a placuna; a deltoidal form; car-
tilaginal pit shallow, oblique, conical, and transversely striated ; and trans-
verse irregular striae on the edges of the valves, on each side of the pit.

At Woolwich, in the pyritous clay, among the cyclades and ceri-
thia, already mentioned, oysters are frequently found ; but, from the
great changes they have sustained, and from their extreme brittleness,
I am unable to speak with any -precision as to their specific differences.
They however appear to be of two species : one, long and narrow ;
about four inches in length, and about an inch in width ; and the other
semiglobose, and of about three inches diameter. But all the specimens
which I have seen, of this, as well, indeed, of the other species, appear
to have lost their external laminae, and with them, of course, an impor-
tant distinguishing character, that of their external surface.

In the adjoining parish of Plumstead, however, and at little more than

213

a mile distance, among the same species of cyclades and cerithia, is
found an oyster, which, in its general form, bears a considerable resem-
blance to the round oysters of Woolwich. But here, though extremely
brittle, the surface of the shell is well preserved; the matrix being a fine
white sand, intermixed with round pebbles. The specimens which are
here obtained, appear to be a variety of O. edulis, somewhat resembling
our celebrated Milton oysters, in the delicacy of the shell and the regularity
in which the rugae are disposed : the larger shells manifesting a similar ap-
proach to globosity of form toward the base of the shell. At Sundridge
Park, near Bromley, the delightful seat of Claude Scott, Esq. about five
miles to the South-west of Woolwich, is another astonishing quarry of
oysters, my examination of which was aided by every possible attention
on the part of the polite and liberal possessor. This stratum has been dug
into, about the depth of eighteen feet, and is formed of the same species of
cyclades, cerithia, and oysters, which I had before seen at Plumstead and
at Woolwich. But here the matrix, as well as the matter which filled the
hollows of the shells, is of a stony hardness, as if from an impregnation
with a dissolved carbonate of lime. Many of the shells have their valves
still united, and are filled with stone ; and many also are still attached,
by the globose part of their under valves, to large round pebbles. Some
of these oysters are about three inches and a half in length ; but many
of them, like those of Plumstead, are much smaller.

So strong is ' the degree of coherence in this curious mass, that very
large entire blocks may be separated. The tasteful possessor of this
charming spot has very ingeniously availed himself of this circumstance,
by employing this stone, for various ornamental purposes, about his
grounds. From the ruggedness of the stone, it exceeds every other sub-
stance in composing an imitative ruin. In one part of the grounds walls
are therefore constructed with it, on which various exotics are allowed to
wildly spread themselves ; and in others, arches and alcoves are entirely
formed of irregular masses of it ; so skilfully, though apparently so negli-

214

gently disposed, as to have every good and illustrative specimen, in such
a situation as shall best allow of its examination.

We have thus seen the same roundish oyster at Plumstead, Wool-
wich, and Bromley ; but I was not able to find, either at Plumstead or
at Bromley, the long oyster, the remains of which were discoverable at
Woolwich. On Bexley Heath, however, about three miles from Wool-
wich, in a south-east direction, a species of oyster is found, at two or
three feet beneath the surface, in the mould, which seems to be similar
with that of Woolwich; and is, at the same time, in a much better state
of preservation.

The Bexley oyster is from two to three inches in length, and from one
to one and a half in breadth. The outer surface is rough. The impres-
sion, is rather large ; and the cartilaginal pit, which is finely striated in
a transverse direction, is formed on a vaulted surface of half or three
quarters of an inch in length, beneath which vaulted surface a part of
the animal must have been disposed.

The shell, which seems, more than all others, to deserve to be termed
O. fornicata, is one which, from the appearance of the adherent matrix,
I suspect to have been found on the Hampshire coast. It is about two
inches in length, and one and a half in breadth. Its outer surface is pretty
smooth. On its inner surface, the margin is seen, finely striated, con-
centrically, by the added lamellae of growth. The mark of adhesion is
about the middle of the shell, and there is no appearance of any pit. But
the circumstance most interesting, in this shell, is a vaulted floor, sunk
rather more than the eighth of an inch below the margin, and extend-
ing from the beak to the middle of the shell. A part of the animal must,
of course, have existed beneath this floor, as the mark of adhesion is
formed just beneath its edge.

I have a single valve of an oyster-shell, from Carshalton, which is about
four or five miles south-west of Bromley : but this valve is larger, longer,
and flatter, than those belonging to the shells already described. The

215

Carshalton oyster seems to approach much nearer to the form of the fos-
sil oysters found near Reading, in Berkshire, being about four inches and
a half in length, and about two and a half in width.

Dr. James Brewer, in the Philosophical Transactions for the year
1700, relates the following particulars respecting the bed of oyster-
shells found under ground, near Reading, in Berkshire : — " The circum-
ference where these oister-shells have been digged up and found, con-
tains between five and six acres of ground. The foundation of these
oister-shells is a hard rocky chalk, and above this chalk the oister-shells
lie in a bed of green sand, upon a level, through the whole circumfe-
rence, as nigh as can possibly be judged ; this stratum of green sand and
oister-shells is (as I measured) nigh two foot deep. Now immediately
above this lay re or stratum of green sand and shells, is a bed of a bluish
sort of clay, very hard, brittle, and rugged : they call it a pinny clay,
and is of no use. This bed or layre of clay, I found to be nigh a yard
deep ; and, immediately above it, is a stratum of fuller's earth, which is
nigh two foot and a half deep — (this earth is often made use of by our
clothiers) — and above this earth is a bed or layre, of a clear fine white
sand, without the least mixture of any earth, clay, &c. which is nigh
seven foot deep ; then immediately above this is a stiff red clay (which
is the uppermost stratum), of which we make our tiles. The depth of
this can't be conveniently taken ; it being so high a hill, on the top of
which hath been and is dug a little common earth about two foot deep,
and immediately under appears this red clay." The doctor dug out several
whole oysters, with both their valves, but found them very brittle.

I have only to observe on these oysters, that they appear to be a
variety of O. edulis ; and that, from their long continuance in a subter-
ranean situation, without any lapidifying impregnation, they have become
so extremely friable, as to render it very difficult to obtain or preserve a
good specimen.

I have found, among the Essex fossils, besides one very much resem-
bling the Bexley oyster, three other species. The one Plate XIV.

216

Fig. 3, seems to agree with O. deformis, of Lamarck. Its irregular and
deformed figure is not capable of being described. It is from one to two
inches in length, and half as broad. The under valve is much more
ventricose than the upper.

The oyster, the lower valve of which is represented Plate XIV. Fig. 5,
is very remarkable. It is rather more than an inch and a quarter in
length, and nearly an inch in breadth. Its base is transversely extended
and truncated, so as to form a straight line: the cartilaginal pit, which is
trigonal and very obliquely disposed, somewhat resembles that of a Pec-
ten : at the same time, that an obtuse, tooth-like ridge, lying obliquely
across the hinge-pit, gives it much of the appearance of a Chama. This
shell very much accords with O. biauriculata, Lam.

The fossil oyster represented Plate XIV. Fig. 14, is highly interesting.
This minute shell, of which I possess two valves, one only of which is
perfect at the hinge, is from Verona. It but little exceeds half an inch in
length, and three eighths of an inch in width. The cartilaginal pit extends
high up into the shell, and is very finely striated. The circumstance which
most particularly claims attention, in this curious little fossil, is, that its
thickness is nearly a third of its length, and that its substance is composed
of a striated spar, the columnar crystals forming which are disposed per-
pendicularly to the plane of the shell. Other instances of this striated
structure, in fossil shells, have been already shown.

A fossil oyster before me, from the neighbourhood of Maidstone, in
Kent, is remarkable for the great depth of its under valve, which is
nearly as deep as the shell is long ; being two inches in depth, and only
three in length.

Having now placed before you such of the fossil oysters, with either
a smooth or irregularly rough surface, as appeared to me to be the
most interesting, I shall now call your attention to those fossil oysters,
the surfaces of which are regularly plicated. These I shall divide into,
1st, those which have somewhat of a roundish form, and in which the
plicae radiate from the beak to the circumference of the shell ; and, 2dly,

217

those which are of an elongated form, and have a groove or line running
along the disk of the valve, from which the folds part on each side, like
the teeth of a comb.

Under the first of these sub-divisions may he placed O. diluviana, Linri.
which is a shell as large, and even larger, than the common oyster,
being plicated, and having the margin formed by acute-angled teeth,
like those of a saw, and placed at right angles with the surface of the
shell : the margin being finely striated by the apposition of the different
lamellse. A small specimen of this species is represented Plate XV.
Fig. 1 . Shells very nearly, if not exactly, agreeing with these fossils,
have lately been found in the South Sea. O. crista galli, the fossil cocks-
comb oyster, appears to be of this same species. O. flabdlula, Lam. is
oblong, cuneiform, slightly bent, with long rough plicae : the upper valves
flat. This shell much resembles Chama plicata altera, Brand, and there
also exists a considerable agreement in the hinge ; for, on a superficial
view, the hinge of this shell would be supposed to be that of a Chama :
the cartilage pit is very oblique and deeply sunk, giving much of the
appearance of the receptacle of the oblique tooth of the Chama.

The shells of the second subdivision have very much the appearance of
a leaf. Such is the fossil oyster from France, Plate XV. Fig. 4, in which
the shell, although now perfect stone, retains its original surface and
shelly lustre. This species, O.frons vd folium is known to the continental
oryctologists as Lafeuille de laurier.

Plate XV. Fig. 2, is a beautiful and rare French fossil of this sub-
division, they being hardly ever found in so perfect a state. This shell
is also known as a Crete du Coque, or crista galli ; and it must, perhaps,
be admitted, that this appellation applies better to its form than to that
of any of the preceding shells. This specimen enables us to form a true
notion of the shape of the shell, which has not yet been correctly shown.

VOL. in. p F

218

LETTER XV.

VULSELLA MALLEUS AVICULA PERN A CRENATULA

PL AC UN A HARPAX PECTEN LIMA PEDUM PANDORA

CORBULA ANOMIA CRANIA TEREBRATULA CALCEOLA

HYALJEA ORBICULA LINGULA BALANUS TUBICINELLA....

CORONULA ANAT1FA.

CXXXVIII. Vulsella. A free, longitudinal, nearly equivalved shell,
with a flattish callous hinge, without teeth, projecting alike on each
valve ; and a conical rounded pit for the ligament, terminating in a very
short bent beak.

This genus is formed by Lamarck for the reception of Mya vulsella,
Linn. ; Vulsdla lingulata, Lam. Rumph. Mus. Tab. 46, Fig. A. It is
not, I believe, known fossil.

CXXXIX. Malleus. A free shell, a little gaping near the beaks,
fixing itself by a byssus, and having its valves of the same size. The
hinge without a tooth, rather projecting, . and supplied with a pit for the
cartilage, placed obliquely on the edge of each valve, and separated by
the opening which gives a passage for the byssus.

I am not certain of this shell having been found fossil, although, I think,
I have seen impressions of it in lime-stone.

CXL. Avicula. A free shell, a little gaping near the beaks, fixing itself
by a byssus, and having its valves of unequal size ; the hinge without a
tooth, and rather callous. The cartilaginal pit oblong, marginal, and
parallel to the edge by which it is sustained.

219

This genus receives Myiilus hirundo, Linn, of which I do not know of
any having been found fossil.

CXLI. Perna. A flat irregular bivalve ; the hinge formed of many
parallel linear teeth, not articulating, arranged on a transverse straight
line.

In this genus, formed by Bruguiere, are placed Ostrca perna, O. isogona,
O. ephippium, O. picta, and O. legumen. Linn. Here are likewise placed,
by Bruguiere, two fossil shells found on the borders of the Rhine.

Not having the opportunity of seeing the work in which those fossil
shells are delineated, BerL Naturf. No. 11. Tab. 9, Fig. 9, I am unable
to judge how far they agree with the following shell, which appears to
belong to this genus, This shell is figured by M. Walch, Tome n.
PL D. v. The substance of the shell, which is very thick, is formed of
innumerable thin plates, which are exceedingly brittle, but still possess-
ing a considerable portion of the original colour and brilliancy of the
nacre. The hinge, which is nearly as wide as the shell itself) is flat, and
formed by numerous longitudinal and parallel grooves.

This shell was first found on the mountain Del Sappo, near Bologna,
by Monti; and, since then, a stratum of similar shells has been found in
the mountain Audona, in Piedmont, by M. Allion. A representation
of this fossil is given Plate XV. Fig. 8, from a specimen which I obtained
from Mr. Strange's collection. From a more perfect shell, which was
in the Leverian Museum, I conclude that the valve in this fossil has lost
about half its length.

Lamarck, who, we have seen, has followed Bruguiere in separating
several new genera from the genus Ostrea of Linnaeus, has added the
following new genus, formed from recent shells lately discovered in the
Red Sea and in the Antilles.

CXLIT. Crenatula. An irregularly-formed flat bivalve; closed, not
giving passage to any byssus ; the hinge linear, excavated and crenulated
by a row of small pits, which receive the ligament.

220

In the preceding genus, Perna, of Bruguiere, to which this genus
approaches the nearest, the hinge is also linear ; but it is formed of lonu
parallel grooves, which receive the ligament, and which have between
them parallel linear teeth, which shut against each other. But in Cre-
natula, the hinge shows a row of roundish or oval pits, by which it is
made to appear as if crenulated; and there are no linear teeth in the
interstices.

Lamarck is acquainted with only two species of this genus : C. avicularis,
brought from the Antilles by Captain Baudin ; and C. mytiloides, which
is formed much like a mytilusy and which was found in the Red Sea. Ostrea
picta, Gmelin, he conceives, may perhaps be a variety pf this last shell.

There are very few among the fossil shells of this, or of any other coun-
try, which, at first sight, are more dissimilar from any of the recent
shells, than the fossil represented Plate XV. Fig. 5. This fossil was
obtained by Mr. Strange, from Mr. Joshua Platt, of Oxford, who de-
scribed it on an accompanying ticket — " Impression of an oyster, with
an indented cardo, out of a large nodule on the top of Shotover Hill."

By some it has been considered as an Ostracite, by others as a Pernite ;
but neither by its general form, nor by any of its characters, could its
proper place be determined. The hinge had often been the subject of
my examination ; but the result was never any thing more, than that it
differed very materially from that of any genus with which I was ac-
quainted. The only information which any author yielded me respect-
ing it, was a very correct figure of a similar cast, by Lister, among the
fossil shells of that author, and marked as English, Hist. Conch. Tab. 477,
Fig. 34, b.

A comparison of the hinge of this fossil with that which characterizes
this genus, immediately evinced their perfect agreement ; and showed
that two species are to be found, in very distant parts of the world, of
the same genus with this fossil, nothing analagous to which had been till
now discovered.

221

I have very lately been so fortunate as to obtain another fossil of this
species : it very nearly resembles, in its form, the fossil which is here
figured ; but is rather larger, and is invested with its shell.

Mr. H. H. Goodhall, of the East-India House, whose kind assistance
I have had repeated occasion to acknowledge, favoured me with the
valve of a small shell, which he picked up in a marie-pit near Shefford,
in Bedfordshire. The upper and under side of this valve is represented
Plate XV. Fig. 6 and 7. It is undoubtedly of this genus, and apparently
a different species from the fossil, or from either of the recent shells.

CXL1II. Placuna. An irregular, free, flat bivalve: the internal
hinge formed by two diverging ridges, in the form of a V, and serving
for the attachment of the ligament.

The shells of this genus were placed by Linnaeus in the genus Anomia,
from the shells of which they differ in almost every respect. They are
generally flat and rounded, or nearly quadrangular, thin, fragile, demi-
transparent, and shining. The superior valve is larger and morettumid
than the inferior. The shells described by Linnaeus, which may be
placed under this genus, are Anomia placenta and A. sella ; but Bruguiere
has figured six species. 1 am not acquainted with any British fossil of
this genus.

,CXLIV. Harpax. An adherent, oblong, and somewhat triangular,
inequivalved shell; the hinge formed by two long, diverging, crenulated
teeth in one valve, and four in the opposite, disposed in the form of a V :
the upper valve armed with pointed hooks: one mark of attachment.

The only shells of this genus that I have seen, I found about three
feet below the surface at Leonard Stanley, in Gloucestershire. These
shells are of an oblong, and somewhat of a triangular form. The one
valve, which is convex, is rugously plicated, and divided by slight, trans-
verse, curved ridges ; and the other, which is flat and thicker, is beset
with long pointed and hooked processes, lying longitudinally in trans-
verse rows. The hinge is formed by two long projecting teeth, trans-
versely crenulated on both sides, and diverging in the form of a V. on

the flat valve; and by four diverging raised 'teeth on the convex valve;
the latter being so disposed, and so crenulated on their inner surfaces,
as exactly to receive, as in the Trigonia, the teeth of the opposite valve.

Aware of the danger of unnecessarily multiplying genera, I was at
first disposed to consider this shell as a species of Trigonia : from this,
however, I was precluded, on discovering that, unlike the shells of that
genus, these were adherent — a difference, undoubtedly, sufficient to pre-
vent their being disposed under the same genus.

Plate XII. Pig. 14, represents the internal surface of the flat valve;
and Fig. 16, a magnified view of its hinge-teeth. Fig. 15 is the internal
surface of the convex valve, and Fig. 17 a magnified view of its hinge-
teeth. Fig. 18 is a magnified view of the outside of the flat valve, showing
those strong hooked instruments, from which it has been presumed to
give a name to the genus. One specimen of the upper valve of this
shell manifests a very considerable degree of lustre.

CXLV. Pecten. A regular, eared, inequivalved bivalve, with conti-
guous beaks. The hinge toothless, the pit trigonal, receiving the inter-
nal ligament. One muscular impression.

Of those which are in my collection, I much regret the being totally
uninformed of the locality of most of them. This I particularly regret
being the case with a specimen wrhich has been imbedded in a hard
whitish lime-stone, and which is in every respect analagous with P.jaco-
beus, List. Conch. 165, /. 2, 166, /. 3, having, on the lower valve, four-
teen angulated rays, longitudinally striated : the sulci transversely stri-
ated : the upper valve having the rays rounded and striated transversely.
Thus is it also with a most perfect specimen of P. radida and P. varius,
differing in no respect from O. radula and O. van/i. Linn, except in each
being of a small size.

Lamarck particularizes three species found in the neighbourhood of
Paris : P. plebeius, P. infumatus, P. squamula. In the Harwich cliff are
specimens found, which I think are referable to the two former of these
species.

223

A very beautiful Pecten is found in the green sand of Wiltshire, of
which a very correct representation is given by Lister, Conch. Tab. 470,
Fig. 28.

It is an equivalved, slightly orbicular shell, both valves being rounded:
it is ornamented with about seventy-two roundish radii, which are muri-
cated with tubular squamae : twenty-four larger radii, having two or
more smaller radii disposed on each side. In some specimens, and par-
ticularly in the superior part of the shell, the intervening smaller radii
are more numerous. The ears are marked with oblique, curved rugse.
The beauty of this fossil, derived from the richness of its ornamented
surface, is not all that renders it interesting : the substance of which it is
formed cannot fail to excite a considerable degree of admiration. It is
completely silicious, and even in some parts transparent; and yet the
minutest parts of its markings do not appear to have suffered any altera-
tion in their, form from this change.

One of the most interesting fossils of this genus, which I possess, is the
greater part of a fragment of an upper valve, with angulated ribs, im-
bedded on chert ; and which, although so changed as to be now highly
silicious, still retains a considerable portion of its original colour.

A singular Pecten is found near to Thame, in Oxfordshire, imbedded,
as I have been kindly informed by Mr. Lupton, of Thame, in a green
silicious sand, resting on an indurated clay, at nearly sixteen feet from
the surface. This is an auriculated shell, about three inches in diameter,
and nearly circular : both valves are marked with regular, transverse,
concentric, imbricating ridges, and both convex; but the upper one less
so than the lower. A Pecten, of half the size of the preceding, with
much stronger concentric ridges, is found in the valley of Ronca.

In Gloucestershire is frequently found a Pecten, which, in many spe-
cimens, has attained a considerable size, six or seven inches in diameter.
These shells, at least the specimens which I possess, have twenty-four
nearly smooth roundish radii, with very faint transverse lines of growth
running over them and the intervening sulci. The ears appear to be

224

marked with very fine and light longitudinal striae. In the specimen
before me, both valves are alike gibbous : the shell is consequently equi-
valved, and therefore seems to point out the necessity either of altering
the terms in the definition of this genus, or of forming another genus, to
comprize those shells which, possessing the other characters of Pectens,
are not formed of unequal valves. There is no separation at the hinge,
nor at the sides of this shell, and consequently it cannot be referred to,
the following genus.

CXLVI. Lima. A longitudinal, nearly equivalved, eared bivalve,
with the beaks separated by a cavity. The hinge toothless. The hinge-
pit, which receives the ligament, partly internal and partly external.

These shells are removed from the preceding genus, or rather from
that of Ostrea, by Lamarck, who considers their separation authorized
by the similarity between each valve, and by the ligament being in a
great part external. Ostrea .lima. Linn, is referred by him to this genus,
as L. squamosa. Hither he also refers Ostrea bullata, and five other sup-
posed Ostrex, figured by Chemnitz, Tom. vu. Fig. 649, 650, 652, 653,
654. He also describes five fossil species found in the neighbourhood of
Paris: L, spathulata, L. bulloides, L. obliqua, L. dilatata, L.fragilis.

I find, among my fossils, none which I can positively assign to this
genus. Those which, I think, may be referred hither, are silicious spe-
cimens from Wiltshire, in the neighbourhood of Tilsbury, which are
injured in their lower side, and consequently do not show the hinge.

CXLVII. Pedum. An eared, inequivalved bivalve, gaping at the
lower valve, and having its beaks separated; the hinge toothless, the
ligament exterior, and fixed in a long and narrow groove ; the inferior
valve notched.

Of the shell for which this genus was formed by Bruguiere, and which
has been figured by Favanne, Tab. 80, Fig. K. ; by Chemnitz, T. 8,
Tab. 72, Fig. 669 and 670, and by Bosc. P. x. Fig. 3 and 4, but little
is known. This shell has not, I believe, been found fossil.

CXLVIIJ; Pandora. A regular, inequivalved, and inequilateral bi-

225

valve, with two oblong, unequal, and diverging hinge teeth, in the supe-
rior valve, and two oblong corresponding pits in the other valve : the
cartilage interior, and two muscular impressions.

This shell is thin, and semi-transparent, the dorsal suture straight, pro-
longing and widening itself at one end. One valve is convex, and the
other flat. The inequality of the valves separates this shell from the
Tellens. Tellina inequivalvis, Linn, is referred to this genus, of which
no fossil shell has been mentioned.

CXLIX. Corbula. A subtransverse, inequilateral, inequivalved bi-
valve, with rather prominent and incurvated beaks : a single conical re-
curved hinge-tooth in each valve ; the cartilage internal : two lateral
impressions.

This is exceedingly distinct from every known genus. The beaks of
these shells are particularly tumid and curved inwards, and one of their
sides is much more lengthened and thin than the other. Lamarck refers
the shells Vol. x. Tab. 172, No. 1668 to 1671, in Chemnitz's work, to
this genus. He also describes eight fossil species found in the environs
of Paris : C. gallica, C. rugosa, C. striata, C. angulata, C. anatina, C. argen-
tea, and C. cancellata.

C. gallica is the largest of these, and that in which the characters of
the genus are most decidedly shown : it is generally about an inch and a
half wide. M. Lamarck observes, of this shell, that it is transverse,
oval, tumid; and very singular, from the lower valve being smooth, and
having its hinge-tooth originate beneath the edge, and curve up towards
the beak; whilst, in the upper valve, longitudinal -striae are evident,
and the tooth proceeds from the edge of the valve, is compressed, and
stands up perpendicular. It is not, however, certain whether these may
not be valves of distinct species, since they havQ always been found sepa-
rated.

Plate XVI. Fig. 2, represents the inside of the smooth valve of C. gal-
lica, in which may be perceived the hinge-tooth, approximating to the
beak.

VOL. III. G G

In the Devonshire whetstone-pits, a shell is found, measuring from
three to five inches in width ; and which, I suspect, fronrthe particular
oblique turn of its beak, and from so much of the hinge as I have been
able to expose, belongs to this genus. This shell is very unequal sided
and the upper part of its produced side has been set with minute spines,
regularly disposed.

CL. Anomia. An irregular shell, with unequal valves; the inferior
valve pierced or notched at its beak, which is sometimes closed by a little
operculum, or third valve, attached to a cartilage passing out of the hole
or notch, and serving to fix the animal on other bodies. The hinge
without teeth.

With the shells of the genus Ano?niat as formed by Linnaeus, Bru-
guiere and Lamarck have composed six genera : Anomia, Placuna, Cra-
nia, Terebratula, Calceola, and Hyal<za.

The shells of the present genus differ from others chiefly in possessing
a valve or operculum, with which the animal fixes itself to adjacent
bodies. This circumstance, it is to be observed, can only be ascertained
in the recent shell ; and therefore cannot be called into aid, when com-
paring the fossil shells of this genus with those of Terebratula ; since, each
having an opening in the under valve, there exists no particular dif-
ference in that state ; excepting, that the shells of the genus Anomia are
more rude and irregular than those of Terebratula. I am therefore unable
to point out any fossil shell which shows any proof of having possessed
the characteristic valve or operculum of this genus. Anomia ephippium,
Linn. List. Conch. Tab. 204, /. 38, is instanced as a species of this
genus.

CLI. Crania. A regular inequivalved bivalve : the lower valve flat
and nearly round, and pierced in its inner face with three unequal and
oblique holes; the upper very convex, furnished interiorly with two
projecting callosities.

These shells had been ranged among the Anomiae, and formed the
Anomia craniolaris, Linn. ; but Bruguiere and Lamarck considered the

227

three holes in the lower valve as sufficient to demand for them a distinct
genus. Bruguiere has made out four species, three of which are fossil.
Being unacquainted with these fossils, I have, for their illustration, copied
the representation of the lower valve of C. per sonata, Lain. -Anomia cranio-
laris, Linn. Plate XVI. Fig. 3, from Plate vn. of Hist. Nat. des Coquilles,
par Bosc.

CLII. Terebratula. A regular shell, fixed by a cartilage or short
tube, and composed of two unequal valves, the largest of which has its
beak produced and pierced with a hole, through which the cartilage
passes. The hinge with two teeth.

After having abstracted from the Linnsean genus Anomia, the shells
forming the genera Anomia, Crania, Calceola, and Hyal&a, it was intended,
by Lamarck, to place under the present genus Terebratula, the remainder
of those shells which had been hitherto considered as Anomiae. But con-
siderable difficulty will be still found to exist, as to the classification of
these shells. Mr. Martin, whose accuracy and judgment, displayed in
the division of the shells of this genus, might alone suffice to render his
work highly valuable, and to make every lover of science regret his loss,
has shown that, among these shells, there exist much greater differences
than Larharck is apprized of! He found it necessary, on this account,
to arrange them in the four following families: — 1. Irnperforated, with
one valve flat, and with a straight, extended, and narrow hinge. 2. Per-
forated, both valves convex ; the hinge straight and patulous, with a
large trigonal foramen between the beaks: these are subdivided into
those with a long or a short hinge. 3. Perforated, both valves convex ;
the beak of the larger valve incumbent, with a very small trigonal or
oblong foramen : the hinge close and curved. 4. Perforated, both valves
convex, the beak of the larger valve pierced by a tubular opening; the
hinge close and curved.

It is evident, that, of these four families, the shells of the two last only
can be placed, in strictness, under this genus — the imperforated, and
those with a large trigonal foramen between the beaks, cannot be made
to correspond with the description of the genus Terebratula. The consi-

deration of the two first of these families we shall therefore defer, for a
little, and for the present confine ourselves to the examination of the
Terebratulae only.

In the shells of this genus, a peculiar cartilaginous and bony con-
formation exists, serving for the attachment of the animal, and which
fully warrants their separation from Crania, Calceola, &c. : only slight
remains of this structure can sometimes be traced in the fossil shells ; but
in the recent sbells it may be seen very distinctly. Plate XVI. Fig. 7,
is a representation of this part in a recent shell of this genus, bearing the
general form of A. lacunosa. It is here seen to arise from four points of
the smaller shell, two just under the hinge, and two near to its centre :
these, having united by a transverse process, again divide, branch up-
wards, then turn back, and terminate in a narrow, transverse, and some-
what circular band. In the longer and more oval formed species, having
the general figure of A. terebratula, Linn, this part is of a somewhat similar
shape, but is much smaller, and more delicate, as is represented Fig. 6.

On more particularly examining this part, it will be found still to pos-
sess some degree of elasticity ; which must, of course, have existed in a
greater degree during the life of the animal. But it is obvious that nei-
ther this peculiar construction, nor this elastic state of these parts, could
have been necessary, merely for the attachment of the animal ; and,
with the few opportunities which we possess, of examining into the ha-
bits and economy of this animal, it is difficult to determine what was
the real office in which its powers were employed. Conjecture may,
however, be somewhat aided, by attending to the directions in which
this spring is calculated to act. If its termination be drawn perpendi-
cularly upwards, as with the opening of the shell, it would, when left
to itself, spring downwards; and again, if drawn horizontally towards
the beak of the shell, it would gently spring in the contrary direction.
Hence it may be supposed, that if, contrary to what occurs in other
shells, the animal employed some muscular action in opening the shell,
on this ceasing, this apparatus would immediately assist in bringing the
valves together : and if the animal were attached to any substance by one

229

end of its cartilage, which runs through the beak of the shell, whilst the
other end might be connected with this apparatus, the resiliency would
be increased, and the danger lessened of the cartilage, or of the animal
itself being injured by those shocks which it might receive whilst thus
suspended.

The following are species of this genus which are not, I believe, gene-
rally known.

Terebratulites coarctatus. A nearly heptagonal shell, set with beaded
longitudinal ridges : the larger valve sulcated, with its sides appearing as
if pinched together, and terminating at the beak with a large foramen ;
the hinge small, close, and curved ; and the smaller valve convex.
Plate XVI. Fig. 5.

T. triquetrus. A three-cornered shell : the anterior and posterior sides
compressed ; the superior margin more rounded, but dented in the mid-
dle : both valves convex, and terminating in a point, with a close and
curved hinge ; the large valve having a narrow groove, commencing in
nearly the centre, and extending to an umbilical-formed depression in
its lower part, just before the beak turns, and finishes with a round
foramen.

Two different specimens, both appearing to belong to this species, are
figured Plate XVI. Fig. 4 and 8. In the former, a small portion of the
shell still adheres on the lower part of the larger valve, which is here
shown uppermost; but the latter specimen, which is here shown with
the smaller valve uppermost, has none of the shell remaining. The sub-
stance of these fossils is a very fine close-grained lime-stone. I am unac-
quainted with the habitats of these, or of the former fossil.

The casts of some species of Terebratulae are of a most extraor-
dinary form, and obtained a considerable degree of attention from the
early oryctologists. It appears that these casts were first noticed by Pliny
(Lib. xxxvii. Cap. 57), who describes certain stones, some of which were
white and others brown; the former bearing, in their figures, some
resemblance to the male, and the latter to the female, parts of gene-

230

ration. These bodies were next noticed by Agricola, De Nat. Fossil,
Cap. xi. as having been found whilst digging near the fortress of Ehren-
breitstein, in Treves. After various opinions had been offered respecting
the origin and nature of these bodies, Wolfart, Histor. Natur. Hass.
infer, p. 30, advanced the opinion, that the latter of these fossils were
the casts of a peculiar kind of marine shell. This opinion was, how-
ever, for a time, opposed by Henckell, who even doubted of their ani-
mal origin, but afterwards very candidly acknowledged the force of Wol-
fart's arguments.

These curiously formed fossils are now known to have derived their
figure from the internal structure of shells of this kind: in many of which
I perceive a peculiar conformation entering far into the shell, apparently
adapted to support the termination of the cartilage which the animal
extrudes, and which structure would be a mould, in which a similar body
might be cast. The beak of one of these shells, with this particular struc-
ture, is shown Plate XVI. Fig. 20.

I will now call your attention to those shells which Mr. Martin found
it necessary to place in two families distinct from those which comprise
the shells which we have just examined. The first is, that which com-
prises the imperforated shells, with one valve flat, and a straight, ex-
tended, and narrow hinge.

The most extraordinary, perhaps, of the imperforate shells, is Ano*
mites productus, of Martin, the larger gibbous valve of which is lengthened
out in a cylindric form, and longitudinally striated; the striae close, equal,
and, toward.: the margin, dichotomous : the margin itself somewhat
sinuous and irregular. In many specimens, the upper part, particularly
near the beak and hinge, is set with a few distant tubercles; the beak
small and pointed. The other valve is small, semicircular, and concave,
clasped or surrounded by the larger valve, and longitudinally and some-
times transversely striated.

Its most striking characteristic is, the lengthened cylindric form of the

convex valve. This is always filled with lime-stone, which entirely
conceals from observation the other part of the shell, as long as the spe-
cimen remains whole. With the slightest blow of a hammer, however,
it constantly divides, where the edge of the smaller valves rests against the
inside of the elongated cylindric part of the larger valve, generally about half
an inch or less from the top of the shell ; Fig. 9, a, one side of the valve,
before hidden, then becomes visible, as at Fig. 10.

Thus far is the description of Mr. Martin; but I must here add, that'
my late worthy friend, Dr. Menish, was strongly of opinion that this
was not the whole history of the shell, and that there were reasons for
suspectjng that this shell was a multivalve. I am not in possession of the
particular specimen on which the Doctor rested chiefly the support of
his opinion. I will avail myself) however, of the specimen before us, to
show that the structure of this shell is not such as has been hitherto sup-
posed. In a bivalve, we have one cavity for the habitation of the ani-
mal ; but, in this specimen, there appears to be at least two : one between
the upper valve, Fig. 9, and the lower valve, Fig. 10 ; and another above,
which is shown by the fracture at Fig. 9, c.

I am aware that it may be contended, that I may have been led into a
mistake by the lower valve having split; and that the upper half remains
attached to the bottom of the upper valve at a, Fig. 9, whilst the lower
half adheres to the mass Fig. 10, at b. But I cannot readily admit this
to be the case here ; since, at a, the incumbent beak of the upper
valve is plainly to be seen, and at b is the little pit in the lower valve
for its reception, both of which could not be seen if the valve had split.
It may also be said, that the upper valve might be naturally hollow ;
but, even if this circumstance be admitted, that will, I hope, be allowed
to be an anomaly, worthy of being thus shown. Possessing only this
specimen of fellow valves of this shell, I may have made some mistake,
which those who possess more illustrative specimens may be able to
correct.

232

It becomes here necessary to notice the specimen Plate XVI. Fig. 10 ;
since, in this shell, appear to be traces of such a structure, as would
serve to show, that the animal, in a multivalve shell of this kind, might
not be without the means of supporting a temporary connection, at least,
between these supposed cavities.

This shell is imperforate, one valve convex and gibbous, the other
concave. The circumference is rounded, and the surface of each valve
marked with longitudinal striae, which are decussated by faint transverse
ones. The beak of each valve is small. A little below the beak of the
concave valve, a small, but apparently deep fissure, commences, which,
in one of the two specimens which I possess, extends in a straight line
towards the margin, through nearly three fourths, and in the other
through nearly one half of the length of the valve. This fissure has the
appearance of having been larger, and of having been diminished at
each end. In one of these specimens, the margin of the shell is entire,
and the valves are so exactly closed, as not to admit of any separation
being seen, even with a strong magnifier. In the other the margin is
broken, and has very much the appearance of the upper valve having
been produced.

It must be left to some more successful investigator to pursue this in-
quiry; in- the meanwhile, the conjecture on which we may rest, perhaps,
with most propriety, is, that this structure has taken place for the purpose
of allowing the passage of some part of the animal, by which it might be
enabled to attach itself to other bodies.

The shell, whose extraordinary internal structure I shall now call your
attention to, must .also, I believe, be placed among the imperforate shells,
since I have been unable to discover any aperture in the beak or hinge
of any of those which I have sacrificed to my inquiries ; and since, indeed,
in the specimen Plate XVI. Fig. 1 1 , the beaks are too much inverted
to have admitted the passage of any tube or cartilage ; and I am almost

233

satisfied, from having cleared away this specimen very close indeed to
the beaks, that there was no opening in the hinge between them.

The fossil Plate XVI. Fig. 13, which is a specimen from Mr. For-
ster's collection, first excited my attention to the peculiar structure to
which I have alluded. It is a tubular body, spirally disposed, in the
form of a cone, curved at its apex ; this, being lodged in the remains of
a shell, in tfie angle at the side, where the upper and lower margins
united, a part of this tube going off from the base towards the opening
of the valves at their upper margin. The tube itself is beautifully frosted
over with quartz crystals, and the matrix in which it is imbedded is
chert. From two or three casts, and from several impressions in the
mass, I was convinced that the shell in which this body was inclosed
was of the Linnaean genus Anomia; and, reasoning from the proportions
of that part of the shell which remained, I was surprised at finding that
this body must have filled nearly one half of the shell.

After rubbing down and breaking many different shells without suc-
cess, I found the same structure, but badly shown, in two shells, one of
which was about the size of that in the above specimen. At length, I
was so fortunate as to discover traces of it in a larger shell of the same
species; and, by breaking away a considerable part of the smaller valve,
and of the spathose matter contained in the shell, was enabled to display
it as shown Plate XVI. Fig. 11. With respect to the shell itself, like
A, striata of Martin, it has a hinge straight, extended and patulous, valves
convex, semicircular, and longitudinally striated on every side. In the
smaller valve is a convex wave, which is answered by a scarcely distin-
guishable concave one in the larger valve. In a word, were it possessed
of a large triangular opening between the beaks, it would then possess
all the external characters of that species.

The structure of this particular part seems to point it out as an organ
of attachment, and perhaps of motion. Supposing this to have been a
strongly elastic cartilaginal tube, and that the animal possessed the power
of uncoiling and extending it so as to be able to fix its end to some firm

VOL. III. H H '

234

body, at its utmost length ; it would then be only to leave the tube to
its own powers, when, by its elasticity, it would coil up to its original*
form, and drag the shell to the point to which it was attached. I could
easily devise other uses for this part, but am unwilling to wander too far
into the regions of conjecture.

I must here observe, that as this curious structure filled nearly one
half of the shell, I was anxious to discover whether a similar structure
existed on the other side ; but this side was so completely iilled with spar,
that after having very much injured the specimen, the fear of destroying
it entirely made me desist; not, however, until I had found very great
reason for believing that a similar body did not exist on that side,
although traces of some kind of organization might here be discerned.

By viewing the long patulous hinge of the shell Plate XVI. Fig. 11,
and supposing a large trigonal aperture to exist between the beaks,
you obtain a correct idea of the characters of that family of shells which
Mr. Martin describes as being perforated, having both valves convex,
with a straight open hinge, and a large trigonal foramen between the
beaks. But the different species of these shells differ much among them
selves, and particularly in the depth of the area belonging to the hinge.

The shell represented Plate XVI. Fig. 17, shows this area, spread
out to a surprising extent. This shell was first noticed by Mr. Martin,
in the Linnean Transactions, Vol. iv. p. 4 ; and, since that, in Pefri-
ficata Derbiensia, Plate 46, where he thus describes it : — " A petrified
shell. The original an Anomia. Perforate. Valves convex. Hinge
straight, extended, patulous, triangular, divided down the middle by
a very large perpendicular foramen, in form of an acute isoceles. The
surface of the shell longitudinally furrowed. The furrows strong, about
28 or 30, crossed by a few distant wrinkles, marking, apparently, the
growth of the shell. A deep, rounded sinus, destitute of furrows, in the
larger valve : answered by a convex wave on the other valve, and ter-
minated by a strong curvature at the margin. Perforated valve, pyra-
midal, perpendicular, gradually tapering from the margin to the beak,

235

which is somewhat reflected and cuspidate ; and constitutes, as it were,
the apex or summit of the pyramid : the back, or that part of the valve
proceeding from the margins, rounded : the opposite side flat, consisting
of the hinge and foramen described. The other valve semicircular,
moderately convex, broad ; its beak prominent, pointed, and incurved
over the base of the foramen."

The specimen represented Plate XVI. Fig. 17, differs from that figured
by Mr. Martin, only in the beak of the conic valve not being so much
reflected. On the upper part of this figure is the semicircular valve,
with the convex wave on its back, a, terminating forwards in the pro-
minent, pointed beak, incurved over the base of the foramen. On the
lower part is the conic valve, which has on its back part, but which could
not be here shown, a deep rounded sinus, its base joining the base of the
convex wave on the semicircular valve at a, and terminating in a point at
the bottom, where it meets the point of the perpendicular triangular
foramen at b, in the apex^ or what must rather be considered as a beak,
though not so formed.

This ingenious naturalist observed, that the species A. subconicus united
this species with the more common straight-hinged perforated anomitae;
but added, that in another shell, which he had not yet named or
described, the hinge is still less ; and the beak of the large valve, instead
of being straight, is somewhat incurved, and therefore more strictly
united the species. As Mr. Martin's collection is now dispersed, there
is little reason to expect that the figure of this shell will be published;
it is therefore with pleasure I find myself able to give a representation
of a shell which seems to possess all the characters of that of which he has
spoken.

This shell, Plate XVI. Fig. 16, is of a roundish trigonal form, with
two convex, longitudinally-furrowed, valves ; the furrows being rounded.
The hinge straight, extended, and very patulous, with a large triangular
pit or foramen, between the beaks of the two valves. The beak of the
large valve, at the point of the foramen, at b, unlike that of the preced-

236

ing species, is a little incurved and beak-formed; and its sinus, com-
mencing at this beak, is smooth and rounded, like that Cuspidatus; and
joins with its base, at the back part, the base of the convex wave of the
upper, or smaller valve, at a.

I must acknowledge that the term foramen, or aperture, does not
seem applicable to the triangular cavity in either of these shells; it
appearing to be rather a deep triangular groove, in which might have
been fixed a strong muscle or elastic cartilage, the office of which might
have been to have drawn open the valves. This, however, is only con-
jecture. I shall therefore proceed, acknowledging that I have dwelt
longer on these two last species, from the expectation that it might lead
to the better understanding of the following genus.

CLIII. Cnlceola. A regular inequivalved bivalve : the largest valve
being in the shape of the pointed end of a slipper, and the small one flat
and semicircular. The hinge with a central tooth, and four rugous pro-
jections at each end.

This shell is very thick, and nearly an inch and a half in length. The
back of the large valve is flat, and marked with transverse linear striae,
which are continued over the rounded fore part. The upper valve is
striated concentrically. Plate XVI. Fig. 14, represents the upper, and
Fig. 15, the lower valve of this shell.

It is placed by Gmelin at the end of the genus Anomia, as Anomia
sandalium. To this species, the only one which is known, Lamarck has
given the name of C. sandalina. It was first discovered in the duchy of
Juliers, by M. le Baron de Hiipsch, of Cologne, who gave a particular
description of it in a tract published at Francfort, in 1768, under the title
ef Nouvelles decouvertes faites dans Vhistoire naturelle de la basse Allemagne,
des petrificatiom de quelques animaux testaces rares etpeu connus, K c. M. Hiipsch
kindly distributed these fossils among the more intelligent collectors,
who were thereby enabled to form their respective opinions of these
extraordinary bodies. M. Hiipsch himself was of opinion that it was a
fossil, inequivalved, bivalve shell, the smaller exactly closing up the

237

cavity of the other valve : he also pointed out, on the inner side of the
back part of the larger valve, the remains of a hinge formed of teeth with
corresponding depressions, with an analagous surface on the posterior
edge of the smaller valv^.

M. Guettard was of opinion, from the appearance yielded by the
inner surtace of the larger valve, that it had proceeded from thu labours
of some zoophyte. M. Walch acknowledges that this opinion derived
some support from the appearance of coralline texture ; since, on exa-
mination with a glass, of the two specimens possessed by him, a very
fine texture, formed by intersecting threads, appeared, and which was
similar to that which is seen on some of the Muestricht fossils, but which
he was unable to determine whether it was accidental or not.

This very curious fossil having very much excited my attention, I was
happy in obtaining a very complete specimen, at the sale of the late
Mr. Forster's collection, by which I am enabled to place before you an
accurate representation of both the valves. Plate XVI. Fig. 15, is the
anterior part of the larger valve, in which the superior margin and the
hinge part is in good preservation : at a is a magnified representation of
the tooth in the middle of the posterior margin of this valve.

Plate XI. Fig. 14, is the internal surface of ttfe flat semicircular valve.
To procure a display of the structure of the hinge, in this valve, was
exceedingly difficult; but by the alternate employment of the instru-
ment, and of the muriatic acid, this view of it was obtained. It is there
seen, that in this hinge there are three parts which are particularly
observable : a long beak-formed tooth, in the centre of the posterior
margin, answering to the tooth in the posterior margin of the other
valve, and a protuberance at each end, formed by four or five alternate
ridges and furrows.

The lens discovers the reteporean appearance on the internal surface
of the large valve ; a part of which, thus magnified, is represented at b.
From the circumstance of its occurring in both valves, but particularly

238

from its being exactly confined to the internal surface, I conceive that it
belongs to the original structure of the shell.

On clearing the larger valve, a reddish hue became very evident, and
appeared to be the remains of the original colour of the shell.

When the straight hinge and box-like form of this, shell is considered,
some resemblance will appear between it and the fossils which we have
just been examining. But a more material coincidence is discoverable
in the strong resemblance which exists between the surface of the back
of the larger valve and that of the larger valve of the preceding fossil,
Plate XVI. Fig. 17, both surfaces being remarkably smooth, and formed
by extremely fine transverse striae.

CLIV. Hyal&a. A regular, inequivalved, transparent bivalve shell,
gaping beneath the beak, tricuspidated at the base.

This shell was originally described by Forskal, and named by him
Anomia tridentata, and as such admitted by Gmelin. Lamarck has very
properly placed it in a .distinct genus. It is not known in a fossil state.

CLV. Orbicula. A very small orbicular, flat bivalve. The lower
valve very thin, and adherent to other bodies. The hinge unknown.

This shell, only described by Muller, and named by him Patella ano-
mola, is not known as a fossil.

CLVI. Lingula. A long flat shell, composed of two valves, nearly
equal, truncated anteriorly ; the hinge without teeth : the base or beak
of the valves pointed, and united to a tendinous tube, serving for a liga-
ment of attachment.

Linnaeus, who had seen but one valve of this shell, named it Patella
unguis. Bruguiere ascertained the nature of the shell, and assigned to it
this genus. It has not been yet noticed as a fossil.

In consequence of the similarity of the animals which inhabit the shells
forming the two following genera, Linnaeus disposed them under one
genus, which he named Lepas. But Bruguiere and Lamarck have, with

239

propriety, again separated them, and placed them under two distinct
genera, Balamus and Anatifa, agreeable to the differences which the form
and structure of their shells seem to point out.

CLVII. Balanus. A conical multivalve, fixed by its base, and com-
posed of six articulated valves; the opening being closed by an oper-
culum, formed of four valves.

The Balani are not to be considered among those fossils which are
frequently found. Bayer figures a Balanite found in the neighbourhood
of Nuremberg. In France, agreeable to D'Argenville, these fossils are
of rare occurrence ; nor do I believe they are frequently found in this
country. They are indeed sometimes found, very small, on the Har-
wich fossil-shells ; and I possess one of these, which is detached, and so
small as to be really a proper microscopic object. M. d'Aunone parti-
cularly speaks of some of these fossils found in the neighbourhood of
Basle, and Monti discovered them in the mountains near Bologna. Tar-
gioni also describes those of the hills of Pisa ; and M. Allione mentions
several specimens found in Piedmont. In the hills of Tuscany they are
also found, in very considerate numbers; and even the specimens
which are found there are said to contain more species than have yet
been observed in a recent state. It is worthy of remark, that many of
the Balanites which are found in the arenaceous and calcareous strata of
the Tuscan hills, still retain a considerable part of their colour. The
specimens which I possess, of this fossil, are from Tuscany, Piedmont,
and Maryland ; but none of them are in that state of preservation as will
allow of ascertaining precisely their specific characters.

Lamarck appears to have very properly separated from the genus
Balanus those shells of which he has formed the two following genera,
and which are composed of the shells which, with their inhabitants, are
found deeply imbedded in the fat of whales.

CLVIII. Tubicinella. A regular tubular, not spiral, univalve ; nar-
rowing towards the base, and truncated at each end. The terminal
opening circular, with a four-valved operculum.

240

It is doubtful whether there are more than one specimen of this genus.
This shell has not, to my knowledge, been found fossil.

CLIX. Coronula. A regular subrotund, or subconical shell, divided
into twelve areae, with an opening both in the superior and inferior part;
that in the superior part closed by a four-valved operculum.

Of this genus there appears to be three species known, which may
be distinguished by the same specific names which distinguished them
under the genus Balanus : C. diadema, C. testudinarius, and C. bala-
naris.

The shells of these two genera, with their inhabitants, are found deeply
imbedded in the fat of the whale, so as to leave only the superior surface
uncovered. M. Dufresne, who first gave this information to Lamarck,
obtained it upon viewing two specimens, preserved in the collection of
Mr. John Hunter, in which several of the genus Tubicinella, and of the
species Cornonula baleanaris, were thus fixed in part of a whale. M. Du-
fresne was led by the knowledge thus obtained, to repair to Greenland
Dock, to inquire of persons concerned in the whale-fishery, what they
had observed respecting these animals. He was there assured, by a per-
son of the name of Palmer, that he had caught a whale which carried
more than two hundred of these animals, arranged in groups of twelve
or fifteen families or tribes, on the superior part of the whale. Ann. du
Mus. i. 170.

Whilst placing before you a representation of a rare and unexpected
fossil, Coronulites diadema, Plate XVI. Fig. 19, I much regret at not being
able to inform you where it was found. A view of the figure will show you
its agreement with Gmelin's description of Lepas diadema, Linn, which,
in the words of Linnaeus himself is, Testa subrotunda, sex lobata sulcata.
Gmelin says of it : Habitat — , sordide alba, I pollicis circiter alia, sursum
angustior, apertura superiori infundibiliformi, dimidiam reliqute testa diame-
trum aguante, areis exterius 12 triangulis, quorum 6 excavate striis subtilibus
transversis exarata, sex alters elevata 4-5-6 prominentiis arete sibi accumbentibus,
et striis transversis crenatis exaratis constant. Syst. Natura, p. 3208. — I know

141

but of one more specimen, which was in the valuable collection of Mr.
Donovan, and exhibited in the London Museum.

CLX. Anatifa. A cuneiform multivalve, composed of several unequal
valves, five or more, united together at the extremity of a cartilaginous
tube, fixed at its base. The opening without an operculum.

This shell is in general composed of five principal valves, to which
sometimes several smaller are united by a connecting membrane. These
are all supported by a strong cartilage-membranous, flexible tube, which
is capable of being elongated or contracted at the will of the animal.

A. Itfvis and A. striata are both said by Bosc, Hist, des Coquettes, Tome n.
p. 172 and 173, to be found fossil. The latter of these is also said by
Gmelin, System. Nat. p. 3210, to be sometimes found fossil. Neither of
these statements are, I believe, supported by sufficient authority ; since
all the substances which I find described, as the fossil remains of this ani-
mal, appear to be of a different origin.

Some long and narrow fragments have been found on Mount Randen,
in Switzerland, one of which is figured by Bourguet, Traite des Petrifica-
tions, PI. LIU. No. 355, as Petit os d'Echinite ; and others are figured by
Knorr, who also supposes that they are the teeth of an echinus. These
are supposed by Bertrand, Dictionnaire des Fossiles, p. 156, to be the
fossil remains of a shell of this species ; some of these fossils, which
are in rny collection, have decidedly the appearance of being echinal
remains. Scheuchzer and others have described single valves, which,
from their compressed and triangular form, they have been led to ima-
gine were the remains of a shell of this genus. But these are the valves
which I have already placed before you, under the genus Trigonellites,
not seeing any reason for supposing them to belong to the genus Anatifa,
nor indeed to any other previously formed genus.

The fossils to which I shall now call your attention are particularly
interesting, not merely from the puzzling appearances, which serve, in
a considerable degree, to conceal the origin of the fossil to which they
belong, but also as they serve to account for the peculiar rugose, and stri-

VOL. III. I I

242

ated form observable on several pebbles. I have very little doubt of
tbese fossils deriving their forms from some lost or unknown species of this
genus.

The first specimen of this kind which attracted my notice, is a flint
stone which 1 picked up in the gravel-pits near Hackney-road. This is
represented Plate XVI. Fig. 18. The regularity of the transverse striae
on the rounded trachea-like body which they compose, and the smooth
surface of the valve-like body in which they terminate, gave me at first
an idea, not only of its having derived its figure from animal organization,
but of its affinity to the barnacle.

The opinion which I at first formed, received corroboration from dif-
ferent specimens which I afterwards met with. In some of these spe-
cimens, both the shelly valve and the cartilaginous peduncle are very
distinctly defined. The, form of the valve is distinct ; and the membra-
neous or cartilaginal part of the peduncle, is apparently, I could almost
say obviously, in a corrugated and contracted state ; and the commence-
ment of the valve is bordered by a regular and well-defined line: this,
indeed, is the case with the specimen here represented.

At the sale of the Leverian Museum I purchased a specimen, which I
suspect to be an English flint, although labelled " A pretty coral, from
the East Indies." In this fossil are apparently two distinct peduncular
bodies, with their attached valves : one displayed on the upper, and the
other turned round on the under surface of the stone. In another spe-
cimen, four of these trachea-like bodies appear to have been united in-
one central body, by those ends most remote from ^he part which I have
named the valve. But whether this fossii has belonged to the genus
Anatifa or not, the different states in which the trachea-like bodies are
seen, almost demonstrate that it was a part capable of elongation and
contraction, as circumstances required.

It is evident that many of the rugous and striated pebbles have formed
parts of this fossiS body: others, undoubtedly, owe their rugae to other
fossils ; among which, I believe, the orthoceratites may be mentioned.

Having now concluded the examination of fossil shells, Conchyliolithi,
I must again say a few words in anticipation of the censures which may
await me, from those who may think the classification I have adopted,
with its manifold genera, a too wide and improper deviation from that
of the great Linnoeus. Had I to have treated of recent shells, a slight
deviation might have been sufficient; but when fossil shells are the sub-
jects of our inquiry, this is riot sufficient. Few of these, comparatively,
were known in that classification : many of them Were even without,
names, except such as were derived from some erroneous notion of their
origin ; but, by the classification of Lamarck, there hardly remains any
among the fossil-shells, whose generic situations ape not now clearly ascer
tairted.

LETTER XVI.

FOSSIL FISH. ...OP VESTENA NUOVA, PAPPENHEIM, MAWSFELD, &C

OF ENGLAND.

1 HE examination of the various circumstances which offer themselves
to our observation, whilst contemplating the fossil remains of fishes, can-
not fail of being highly interesting, and is at the same time very likely to
throw some light on the mysterious events by which their deaths and their
subsequent conservation has been effected.

These curious remains exist in various parts of the world; but the
repository most abundant in these fossils appears to be that of the moun-
tain Vestena nova, improperly named Monte Bolca.

This quarry was formerly purchased by the learned Scipio Maffei,
who spared no pains in acquiring the rich specimens which it yielded,
In these researches he was assisted by the celebrated Seguier, who there
formed an inestimable collection, which is now placed in the central

244

school of the department of Gard. But the most important and valua-
ble collection of these fossils is that which was formed, at a vast expense,
by the Count de Gazzola, of Verona, who had a considerable number of
these fishes engraved, many of which he had published, in three parts
of a most splendid work, the continuation of which was prevented by
the successes of Bonaparte, who, in the words of M. Faujas, " se con-
certa avec se savant, pour acquerir de gre a gre ce cabinet unique,"
p. 1 10. In consequence, it now forms a part of the National Museum
of Natural History at Paris.

Near to Schio, in the Vincentino, similar fish are found with echi-
nites and shells, in a grey calcareous stone, mixed with, clay and quart-
zose sand. Small chetodons are also found in a brown bituminous argillo-
calcareous schist, belonging to a coal-mine, .not yet dug, at Monteviale,
near to Vicenzo. At Salzeo, situated at the foot of that part of the Alps
which joins to the Tyrolean mountains, are found similar fish with those
of Monteviale, in a black pyritous fragile schist: in which are also
observable the impressions of marine plants, of polypodies, and of com-
pressed wood. Small fish are also found at Tolmezzo, a small town of
Frioul, and at Cerigo, in the Archipelago, in a fissile stone resembling
that of Vestena Nuova. At Alessano, a province of Otranto, small
fishes are found, in a very white calcareous silt. In the Island of Lesina,
in Dalmatia, fossil fish are also found, with the polish still visible on
their scales, in a hard, sonorous, and foliated reddish lime-stone. At
Scapezzano, and in Monto Alto, in the duchy of Urbin, and in the pro-
montory of Focara, in the same duchy, similar fossils are also found ; and
in the latter place, they are said to be mixed, in a confused state, with
rounded and rubbled porous lava. At Stabia, to the West of Castella-
mare, Scipio Breislak found, in a calcareous fissile stone, impressions of
one particular species of fish only, called at Naples Sbaraglioni, Spams
guarraccinus. And the same naturalist was informed, by M. Fortis, that
the icthyolites of Pietra Roja, near Cerreto, have two particularities :
the one is, that the fish, on splitting the stone, is not divided, but remains

245

on one side, leaving its impression on the opposite ; the other is, that
that the bony parts of the fish are changed into silicious matter *.

At Gijon, in Naples, fish are found in a black fissile stone, and
mostly in a good state of conservation. But the black schist, in which
these remains are found in the greatest number and in the best state of
preservation, is in the neighbourhood of Eisleben, in the county of
Mansfeld, in Upper Saxony. This schist, which is argillaceous, is very
hard and black, and lays over coal. The fish are in various states, some
laying straight, others bent ; but all of them evidently much compressed.
The whole surface of the impression is as if varnished, or, according to
Mylius, as if covered with naphtha ; and many of the scales are entirely
resplendent and variously coloured, from their having become pyritous;
from which circumstance, these specimens often possess a very beautiful
appearance. In a specimen of this kind, from the Leverian Museum,
almost all the scales on one side are in a pyritous state, and the opposite
part of the schist, bearing the exact form of the fish, is covered with a fine
grey pyritous film.

Mr. Knorr observes, that in general we may be able to determine the
situation in which these fossils were placed in the quarry ; since, on split-
ting the stone, the fish is most commonly adherent to the upper plate ;
whilst, on the lower plate, the impression only exists. M. Kruger is of
opinion, that the scales do not exist in these specimens; but, that the
lozenge-formed markings are the remains of the flesh. A white line
or pellicle, he observes, may be perceived to surround the fish, if the
stone is broken across ; and, in this part, he believes the scales to have
existed.

The fossil fish of Pappenheim and of Oeningen, near the lake of Con-
stance, are found in considerable numbers, and in good preservation.
The stratification of the quarry in which they are found is, according to
the celebrated Saussure, 1. one inch of a grey, loose, fine-grained 'sand-

• Voyages Physiques, &c. par Scipion Breislak, p. 20.

246

stone ; 2. four inches of clay, intermixed with lime ; 3. two feet two
inches of a foliated marly clay, with traces of bitumen ; 4. one foot of a
calcareous schist of a yellowish grey, intermixed with flakes of rather
bituminous clay; 5. eight feet of a fissil schist, partly calcareous, in thin
plates, and alternating with beds of friable clay; 6. twelve feet of a hard
fawn-coloured lime-stone, formed in flags and in beds, possessing more
or less thickness; but very thin in some parts, and having the divisions
marked by fine traces of a brown matter, which yields a bituminous
odour with heat. In this stone are found the fish, and with them shells,
insects, some small amphibiae, and the impressions of leaves.

At Aix, in Provence, M. Faujas informs us, fossil fish are found, re-
sembling, in their size and state of preservation, those of Vestena Nuova.
This quarry is formed of 1. a schistose marie, of many feet in thick-
ness, which forms the roof; 2. a white calcareous stone, containing about
one fourth of clay ; 3. a pretty hard calcareous bed ; 4. a schistose marie,
like that of the roof, containing crystals of selenite ; 5. to this succeeds a
fissile stone, a mixture of lime, clay, and bitumen, of a light yellowish
grey colour, detaching in flakes, on which are discovered the remains
and impressions of fish, which are in general well preserved, and are
from six inches to even two feet in length. The extinct volcanoes of
Beaulieu are about three leagues distant.

At Montmartre the remains of fish are also found in a marley lime-
stone, which is over the plaster quarry ; but the bed in which the fossil
fish are found at Aix, is beneath the plaster-stone. From Nanterre,
near Paris, M. Faujas obtained a fossil fish, more than ten inches long,
in solid lime-stone, taken from seventeen feet below the surface. This
fish, he thinks, bears a near resemblance to Coiyphena chrysums, Lace-
pede. M. Faujas himself discovered, halfway up the side of the moun-
tain on which is built the castle of Rochesauve, and beneath more than
twelve hundred feet of what he terms lava of different kinds, surmounted
by vast basaltic masses, a fine and light grey marie, in which existed

247

several leaves of trees and of plants, many of which were, he says, indi-
genous to the South of France, whilst others appeared to be foreign to
the climate. Among these were also found the' remains of fishes, which
he ascertained to be idus, pinna ani radiis 13, -centre pluro.

The following particulars respecting the fossil fish of Monte Bolca and
the circumstances under which they are found, as given by the Rev.
Mr. Graydon, Transactions >vf the Irish Academy, Vol. v. p. 281, are par
ticularly interesting.

Monte Bolca lies on the border of the Veronese territory, about fifty
miles W. N. W. of the Lagunes oi Venice, which is supposed to be the
nearest sea. Its height has not been ascertained, but it is pretty consi-
derable. It forms one of the chain, or ladder, of secondary hills, which,
from some distance from the adjoining Vicentine, rise gradually above
one another, to the Alps of the bishopric of Trent. Great part of this
tract has been considered by many naturalists as being covered with pro-
ductions of extinct volcanoes; but the supposed .compact lava of the
Vicentine and Veronese is wholly of the argillaceous genus, and of the
traph or horn-Wend species, resembling basalt : indeed, the summit of
this hill itself was, many years ago, discovered, by Abate Fortis, to be
crowned with a great mass of tolerably defined columnar basalt.

The whole of the hill, as far as I could observe, Mr. Graydon says,
seems to be composed of similar, or at least of argillaceous matter, except
the quarries in which the fish are found, which are calcareous, and lie
at about halt a mile from the summit. Besides, the dissimilarity of these
to the other materials of the hill, it is further important to remark, that
they do not form a continued stratum, but lie in great and wholly de-
tached and distinct masses, as it were accidentally imbedded in the side
of the hill, set in a loose rubble of argillaceous and the same kind of cal-
careous fragments, the whole, more or less, in a state of decomposition.

What is most remarkable is, that these tish are described as the mo-
dern natives of various seas, most remote from each other, and not of

248

Europe only, but of Asia, the Indian Ocean, the South Sea, Africa,
North and South America ; and, in addition to these, some few of fresh
water.

M. Bozza, the original proprietor of the soil, speaking of his collection,
in a paper published by him, says : " In my cabinet, which contained
upwards of six hundred fish of different sizes, all ox' "acted from Bolca,
there are more than one hundred whose kinds are known, which differ
from each other in genus and species, and many others besides, to which
similar living ones have not yet been discovered." In another passage he adds :
" The first decade of fish published by M. Broussonet, has ascertained
to us, that many of these found at Bolca are natives of the South Sea —
of these I have four, which agree exactly in form, in proportions, and in
fins, with four described by M. Broussonet, which are peculiar to the
sea of Otaheite, which are the polynemus plebeius, or Emoi of the Otahei-
teans ; the Gobius striatus, which they call Jaipoa ; the Chatodon triostegust
and the Gobius oscellaris." These perfectly correspond with the fish given
by Sir Joseph Banks to M. Broussonet. *

The stone has been generally termed a marie or marley schist. It is
a whitish, yellowish, or bluish grey, and in general yields easily to the
knife, emitting at the same time, a peculiar fetid smell, differing consi-
derably from the smell of the common lapis suillus.

The forms of the fishes are well defined, and the harder parts are
remarkably well expressed. The dark brown matter composing these
fish remains distinct, and may be picked off from the stone, and projects
in proportion to the thickness of each part in its natural state. It is hard,
brittle, and rather glossy, through its substance, except in some of the
grosser bones, such as the joints of the vertebrae; which, though of this
appearance externally, are found, when broken, to consist internally of
laminar crystallized calcareous spar.

Mr. Gray don proposes a very ingenious explanation of the phenomena
yielded by the fish of Monte Bolca and their surrounding matrix. He sup-

249

poses the fine light-coloured calcareous mass in which they are imbedded
to have been formed by the deposition of carbonate of lime from lime-stone
heated by volcanic fires, and plunged in this state in the ocean. By this
means, he thinks the fish would be destroyed, and would remain in the
calcareous magma, which, as it became condensed, would retain and
absorb the putrid gases evolved from the fish, and would thereby become
a stink-stone, yielding its peculiarly offensive smell by attrition.

The British Isles are not so productive of this class of fbsssils as are
several of the places on the Continent, which have been just particula-
rized. In Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire,
Dorsetshire, and Kent, however, some specimens of entire, or nearly
entire fishes have been found.

In Mr. Donovan's collection is a very beautiful and complete impres-
sion of a small fish on Portland stone. This fish much resembles a smelt
in size and form. In the same collection is a very fair and perfect im-
pression of a small fish, in bluish lime-stone, from Burfbrd, in Oxford-
shire; but which I have never had the opportunity of examining so
closely, as to be authorized in forming an opinion under what genus it
might be placed.

The Hon. Daines Barrington communicated to the Royal Society, in
1755, the figure and description of a fossil, found at Bath, which he
conceived to be part of a fossil beaver's tail. A comparison, however, of
this fossil, with some specimens which were formerly in Mr. Strange's
Museum, and which were found in the neighbourhood of Weymouth,
determines this fossil to be part of a fish.

This is plainly evinced in one of these specimens, in which the form
of the body is observable, and its upper and lower terminations are
nearly preserved. From the comparative thinness and width of the body
it may perhaps be considered as of the family Leptosomes, of Dumeril,
and of the genus Pleuro?)ectes. As neither the fins nor the gills are pre-
served, in any specimen which I have seen, no opinion can be formed

VOL. III. K K

with respect to its generic or specific resemblances. The square scales
with which its body is covered, and which are so large in proportion to
the size of the animal, render it different, I believe, from any recent fish
which has been yet described. A patch of these scales is represented
Plate XVI. Fig. "l2.

Numerous remains of fishes are found in the pyritous clay of Shepey ;
but in so mutilated a state, as not to allow of forming any probable
conjecture as to the relationship which they may bear to any existing
fish.

" Our own country hath lately afforded what (says Mr. Jones) I ap-
prehend to be the greatest curiosity of this sort that ever yet appeared.
Jt is the entire figure of a bream, more than a foot in length, and of a
proportionable depth, with the scales, fins, and gills, fairly projecting
from the surface, like a sculpture in relievo, and with all the lineaments,
even to the most minute fibres of the tail, so complete, that the like has
not been seen before. It was taken from the stone quarries of Barrow,
in Lincolnshire, and is now, by a fortunate circumstance, in the possession
of the learned Mr. Green, Woodwardian Professor of Fossils in the Uni-
versity of Cambridge." P. 41 1;

" Another very fine fossil fish, of a different constitution, was dis-
covered in a block of Leicestershire coal, at the house of the late Sir J.
Robinson, in Northamptonshire. It is a considerable part of the body of
a salmon (or rather the image of what once was its body), in a white
sand-tone, with the lineaments of the scales. The cavity of the body is
filled with coal, which is a very singular circumstance. It was lately
presented, by Sir George Robinson, to Sir Ashton Lever, and is now
.preserved in his Museum *."

We are, however, by no means to admit of the existence of an identity
of species, between fossil and recent fish, in all the instances in which it
has been claimed. Similarity of appearance is by no means sufficient to

* Physiological Disquisitions, &c. by William Jo^es, F. R.S, 1181,

251

warrant a decision in these cases ; the specific, or at least the generic
characters, should be discoverable in the fossil specimen ; which is not
the case, at least, in the figure of the fossil fish considered by Mr. Jones
as a bream. The fossil also, above described, as being part of-a salmon>
Mr. Jones afterwards discovered to be the remains of a vegetable, arid
took the first opportunity to acknowledge his error.

The paucity of fossil fish is attributed, by M. Faujas, to the quickness
with which fish are decomposed after death, and to the vast numbers
which are destroyed by the stronger devouring the weak. But these two
circumstances by no means account for this interesting fact. It is true,
that the flesh may, if exposed to the air, soon run into putrefaction ; but
even then, the bones in the spinous fishes, and the scales and spiculae,
would be left ; the two latter being, as has been observed by Mr. Hatchett,
true bony substances, containing much phosphate of lime, with a greater
proportion of the membranaceous part than in common bone. The
destructive wars between these animals must immediately be seen to
have no bearing on this particular fact; since, if the waters continued to
be well peopled, the number of fossils of this class would not be thereby
diminished.

I should not have noticed the insufficiency of M. Faujas's argu-
ments, but from a fear lest they should have been- too easily admit-
ted, and the further consideration of this important fact too speedily
closed, I am the more anxious to prevent this, since I conceive that
the desired explanation may be more likely to be found in the circum-
stances under which the bed was formed, in which they have become
mineralized.

The same writer conceives that the opinion of the fish of Vestena
Nova having been instantly killed (asphi.iies subitement), is supported by

the position and the horizontal and tranquil situation in which they are
found : Essai de Geologic, p. 107. It may be sufficient, to show how lit-
tle reliance is to be placed on this reasoning, to observe, that the cele-
brated Werner has deduced the same inference from the opposite fact ;
he being of opinion, from the contorted aspect of the fish, in the bitumi-

252

nous slate of Mansfeldt, that the fish have been suddenly killed by an
irruption or instantaneous formation of sulphureo-metallic matter *.

Nor does the particular circumstance which has been so much insisted
upon, as a proof of this opinion of M. Faujas, appear to be at all conclusive.
The circumstance to which I allude is, that which is displayed in one of
the specimens from Vestena Nuova, in the Museum of Natural History at
Paris. In this specimen a pike is seen, which has died, with another
fish of the same species still in his throat ; it having been supposed that
its instantaneous death was produced by a sudden volcanic irruption into
the water, at the moment of its having swallowed its prey.

The fact, however, really is, that fossil fish are found in all the different
quarries in which they exist, in almost every state and position which
can be conceived. Sometimes, with their altered flesh still covering
their bones, and at other times the skeleton only is preserved. Many
are seen laid out in a straight line, but nearly as many are also seen in
various contorted positions.

There are no fossil remains of any class of animals, except, perhaps,
of the Crustacea, which accord so much with the existing genera, and
even species, as those of fish. The proportion, indeed, of fossil fish,
which have existing analogues, is so great, as to render it by no means
improbable, considering how frequently, in the present day, new genera
are discovered, that the analogues of such as are now only known in a
mineralized state may yet be found.

Among the fossil fish, whose living analogues are known, the pike,
the carp, the perch, the eel, the sea-scorpion, the scarus, the mackarel,
the turbot, the sword-fish, lod, gadus mustela, gobius, and several others,
have been mentioned by different authors, among the fishes found in
the neighbourhood of Verona. M. Faujas particularizes a Fistularia,
of Japan ; a pegasus, of the Indian Sea and of Brazil ; and three cheto-
dons of India. M. Lacepede, in the preliminary discourse to the second
volume of his Natural History of Fishes, informs us, that more than

* System of Mineralogy, by Mr. Jamieson, Vol. I. p. 530.

253

thirty Asiatic, African, and American species of fishes, have been here
discovered. M. Fortis also observes, in a letter to M. Faujas, that the
approximation which he has been able to make of these fishes to the
figures of those of Otaheite, published by Broussonnet, has convinced
him, that it is absolutely in that distant sea that the actually living de-
scendants of the ancient generation, now found mummified in the quarry
of Vestena-Nova, are to be sought for: as it is in these same parts that
we find the originals of almost all the 'petrified shells of the mountains of
Verona and of Vicentino *.

LETTER XVII.

PARTS OF FISHES HEAD, EYES, JAWS, TEETH, PALATES, PRO-

BOSCIDES, SCALES, BONES, &C.

IT is sometimes difficult, when- separated from the parts with which
they were originally united, to refer the fossil remains of fishes to the real
situation which they held in the living animal, 6r to ascertain the offices
which they performed. In many of these instances we may, however,
derive considerable assistance from the examination of the analogous parts
in living animals.

The heads of fishes are very frequently found among the Shepey fossils,
and have sometimes been supposed to bear a strong resemblance to known
species, as the pike, gurnard, &c. In some of these, an appearance
is observable, although rarely, which gives the idea of the eye of the ani-

* Essai de Geologic, p» 112.

254

-mal having been petrified : and a careful examination of this part allows
me to suppose that it is, in fact, either the Cornea or the Membrana nic-
titans, which has been thus preserved. I have been led to this supposition,
by discovering, by means of a lens, that in one specimen this part retains
an uncommonly smooth and polished surface, whilst, in another, it has
such a rugous appearance, as might be expected to be found in the mem-
brand ?iictita?is, on being exposed to the action of moisture after death.

In some of these specimens, the branchial operculum, or covering of
the gills, is found in very tolerable preservation ; in others, the bony rays
of the fins are preserved ; and in most, where it is possible to remove the
adherent matrix, which is rarely the case, the bones of the head may be
displayed, in situ, and very interesting fossils thereby obtained.

The jaws of the spinous fishes are also sometimes found in a very tole-
rable state of preservation ; being sometimes closed, and other times
very widely separated. In the British Museum is an uncommonly beau-
tiful specimen of the skin of the under lip of a fish in a mineralized state,
and in perfect preservation. This is the only fossil of the kind that I
have seen; nor can its rarity be wondered at, when it is considered,
that the proneness to decomposition, in this part, can hardly be expected
to give time for the impregnation necessary for its mineralization.

The teeth of fish are, from their nature and structure, among the best
preserved and most numerous fossil remains of these animals. From the
number in which they exist, they particularly engaged the attention of
the early oryctologists, who distinguished them by names chiefly derived
from their forms. Hence we find them spoken of by the names of
Glossopetra, Plectronites, Rostrago, Falcatula, &c. Glossopetra was, however,
employed as the general term, expressive of a tongue converted into
stone : and, from certain differences in their size and forms, these were
supposed to have been the tongues of birds, serpents, &c. Gesner, Keis-
kius, Lang, and others, regarded them as sports of nature ; but Steno
and Fabius Columna at once asserted their animal origin, and pointed
out the animal to which they conceived they had belonged.

These fossils vary considerably in their size and form : some scarcely
exceeding a quarter of an inch, whilst others are full five inches in length ;
some heirig triangular and flat; some long, straight, and conical; and
others very nearly resembling, in form, the beak of a bird. The great
variety in their forms serves to show us, that the animals from which
they derived their origin must have differed materially from each other.

The large triangular glossopetrse, with nearly straight and finely jag-
ged edges, rather an obtuse apex, and a flattish or slightly-forked base,
appears to have belonged to an animal differing, at least in its magni-
tude, from any animal with which we are acquainted, that is furnished
with teeth of a similar form. The specimen Plate XIX. Fig. 11, though
inferior to many in size, must have belonged to an enormous animal : it
is four inches and a half long, and three inches and a half wide at its
base. M. Lacepede has made some very ingenious calculations respect-
ing the size of the shark to which a fossil tooth in the National Museum
had belonged, which tooth was rather smaller than the one here figured;
and he concludes, that it could not have been less than seventy feet nine
inches in length.

These teeth have been supposed to approach the nearest in form to
those of the white shark Squalus carcharias, Linn.; and calculating the
size of the animal, to which some of these fossil teeth have belonged, from
the size of the teeth in the white shark of the present time, it cannot be
doubted that some of these animals must have been at least an hundred
feet in length.

These teeth, from their supposed origin from these animals, have been
named carchariodontes. They have been also called Lfrmiodontts, from
these animals having been named Lamia, by the earlier naturalists. They
have been found in different parts of the world ; but, in the greatest
numbers, in Malta and t^e neighbouring islands.

Teeth of a nearly similar form, but of much less magnitude, are also
frequently found. It is difficult to say whether these have belonged to
young animals of the same species as those which bore the teeth, just

256

described, or to animals specifically distinct. The circumstance, how-
ever, of the vast difference in size, leads me to believe the latter to be the
case. Plate XIX. Fig. 2 and 9, represent some of the smaller specimens
of triangular teeth.

The straight conical glossopetrae, have been supposed to resemble
the tongue or beak of a raven, and have been named Ornithoglossa and
Grazirrhinchi. These appear to have belonged to fish approximating very
nearly to those to which the preceding teeth have belonged. Scilla, who
carefullf examined the fossils of this description, supposed these fossil
teeth to have belonged to that species of shark which the Messinese have
named Stampella, (Squalus zygena, Linn.) the balance-fish, of which fish
he gives a correct figure, as well as three figures of the accordant fossil
teeth, so frequently found at Malta *. A representation of a fossil tooth
from Malta, of this species, is given Plate XIX. Fig. 2.

The fossil tooth from the Kentish chalk- pits, Plate XIX. Fig. 3, very
much accords with the description of the teeth of the Squalus galeus,
Linn. Its length hardly exceeds its width ; and its point is so much
inclined to one side, as to form a notch on that side. The edges are very
finely serrated. The teeth of the Squalas miistelus, according to M. Cu-
vier, agree in form w ith the preceding, but are scarcely at all jagged on
their internal edge. It seems to be to this species that the teeth named
Acanthiodontes, and figured by Lhwydd, No. 1417, may be referred.

The fossil tooth, Plate XIX. Fig. 5, rising into a sharp simple point,
with a small point on each side, projecting immediately from the root,
resembles, in these characters, the teeth of the Squalus dnereus. All the
teeth of the Squalus stdlaris are also long, and pointed with a small point
on each side, at the base, like the last figured tooth. In the Squalus
nasus are similar teeth, but not so numerous as in S. stellaris.

Triangular teeth, with three points, are the Glossopetrte tricuspida faves*
tridentul<R> Luidii. Teeth of this figure are found in the Isle of Shepey, and

* De Corp. Marin. Lap. Tab. xxvin. Fig. n. in.

257

are generally of a dark colour, from ferruginous impregnation, Plate
XXIX. Fig. 5. Teeth of this figure are sometimes, but very rarely found,
with their surfaces covered with close longitudinal striae, and bearing a
very high polish. The specimen, Plate XIX. Fig. 10, is a magnified
representation of one of these, from a mass in which are several other
teeth, which, though varying considerably in their form, are all evidently
of the same fish, and all have similar markings. This mass was found
at the Old Passage, Gloucestershire, by Mr. Johnson, of Bristol, who has
a beautiful mass of similar teeth, but of a larger size, which he obtained
from Charmouth.

In the Squalus squatina the teeth are simply pointed, with a broad base,
but with no lateral points ; somewhat resembling Plate XIX. Fig. 9. In
the Squalus maximus and glaucus the teeth have a sharp cutting edge only,
agreeing nearly with Plate XIX. Fig. 2.

Spallanzani speaks of the very singular dentature of two jaws similar
to that of the Squalus of Messina, which, he thinks, has not been yet
described. These jaws were brought, with a number of exotic fishes, from
Holland, and appear to have belonged to a very large Squalus, but of a
species hitherto unknown ; at least, he says, he does not find;teeth of a
similar structure described by any writer. The opening of the jaws is full
three feet and a half in circuit, and consequently large enough to receive
a man of middling size lengthwise *.

The figures of these teeth, as given by Spallanzani, exactly agree
with those which are given by Scilla, as belonging to the kind of dog-
fish, which have obtained, in the Mediterranean, the name of Colom-
bina, or Vacca, and which he thinks may be, perhaps, the same fish of
which Aldrovandus speaks, Lib. 3, Cap. 52. Scilla gives a representa-
tion of the head and jaws of this fish, in which the agreement with the
jaws described by Spallanzani is very evident. Plate XVIII. Fig. 10,
is a fossil tooth of this species from rny collection, which is very small.

* Travels in the Two Sicilies, Vol. iv. p. 370.
VOL. III. L L

258

Fig. 11, is one figured by Scilla; and each exactly agree, in form, with
those of the recent fish both of Scilla and of Spallanzani.

It is worthy of observation, that the triangular Glossopetrre are never
found attached to any bony substance ; a circumstance confirming the
opinion of their having originally been the teeth of fishes of the genus
Squalus. The teeth of this genus, as has been some time since remarked
by Scilla, and very lately by Spallanzani, not being placed in bony
sockets, but implanted in a hard and fungous flesh ; and which, decay-
ing by putrefaction, allows the teeth to become detached.

Conichthyodontcs striati. These rare fossils are very exactly described,
by M. Walch, as being of a conical form, round on all sides, with the
superior termination, as it were, truncated ; and the whole surface of the
teeth so covered with longitudinal striae, as to give them somewhat of
the appearance of a Dentalite. These are sometimes found in the quar-
ries of Chippenham, and of other parts of Wiltshire and Oxfordshire.
One of these fossils is represented Plate XIX. Fig. 4.

The straight or slightly bent conical teeth, Conichthyodontes recti teretes,
have been termed Plectronit& and Rostragi?ies ; and, indeed, are fre-
quently called birds' bills by the quarrymen who find them. Plate XIX.
Fig. 8.

The teeth of which I have hitherto spoken may be considered as being
of the class of Incisores, and as being of the most decided kinds. There
are others, which differ from these in their forms ; but so little, as not to
require further notice here : such are those, which display little degrees
of variety of curvature, or which have suffered some change of figure
from accident.

The molar teeth, which are placed in the back part of the jaws, and
even on the palate and in the back part of the fauces, are the next
subjects for our examination. These have been long known in their
mineralized state ; and some of them, for their imaginary virtues, have
been held in very high estimation. These are the fossils generally known.

259

as Bufonites, and are also called Serpents' eyes, Batrachites, and Crapau-
dines, from the notion of their having been formed in the heads of ser-
pents, toads, or frogs ; and, on account of their assumed virtues, were
preserved, and set in rings and other ornamental articles. A large spe-
cimen of this kind is represented Plate XIX. Fig. 6.

Their real origin has however been long ascertained. They are the
rounded grinders of the jaw and palate of fishes of the genus Anarhicas,
and chiefly, perhaps, of the Anarhicas lupus. In this fish there are six
and more sharp and conical fore-teeth in each jaw ; and behind these,
in the lower jaw and in the palate, are disposed the round molares, or
bufonites. With these weapons they are able to crush the crustaceous
or testaceous coverings of different marine animals, and thus obtain their
prey. It is even said, they will gnaw, and leave the marks of their
teeth on the anchors of ships. From the considerable size of these bodies^
in the teeth of recent fish, it does not appear that the size of the fishes,
in the jaws of which the bufonites, or fossil teeth, had been formed, had
vastly exceeded that of the wolf-fish of the present day. In part of a
recent jaw before me, these molar teeth are of a very large size in propor-
tion to the bones of the jaw.

It is extremely probable, that some of the smaller bufonites are the molar
teeth offish of the genus Spams ; and particularly S. sargus, S. dente.v, and
S. aurata, or Gilthead, similar teeth existing in the jawrs of these fishes.
In the recent jaws and palates of these fishes, secondary teeth of this
kind may be seen concealed in the cancellous part of the bone, ready to
be propelled, as any of those already in use are broken away. Plate XIX.
Fig. 7, is an interesting specimen, displaying three rows of moderate-
sized bufonitae, imbedded in their original bone. Plate XIX. Fig. 12,
are two bufonitae, attached to a part of the jaw, and supported by their
original columnar bony processes.

Sir Hans Sloane relates, that a"mong some fossils which were shown to
him from Maryland, he perceived one which agreed very closely with
the bony tongue of a fish which he had seen in Jamaica; and on com-

260

parison with a tongue of this kind, found in Mr. Charlton's collection,
from the Pastnaca marina, he found their agreement very exact *.

lam happy in being able to place before you two illustrative speci-
mens of this kind. Plate XIX. Fig. 16, is a fossil from the Isle of She-
pey, which appears to have belonged to some fish of the genus Raia,
being very closely accordant with the recent bony tongue of the fish of
this genus, figured, in outline, Plate XIX. Fig. 13. I have another recent
specimen of this kind, the jointed bone of which is longer, and exactly
agrees with that figured, by Sir Hans Sloane, as the tongue of the Raia
pastinaca.

Another fossil specimen of this kind, in my possession, is considerably
larger than the one which I have here figured : and in my friend, Mr.
Crow's collection, of Faversham, is one which is six inches in length,
and three inches and a quarter in breadth.

The structure of this body, as is most evident in the analogous re-
cent specimen, is singular and interesting. It is formed of two hori-
zontally-disposed laminse : the upper of which is of a very close and dense
structure, and forms the masticating surface; the other is of a more cel-
lular texture. Both these substances are transversely divided into six
plates, which are united to each other by very fine and close sutures,
and have a row of interstitial substances, of a hexagonal form, placed
between their lateral terminations. This body, as appears in the recent
specimen, was attached to the surrounding bones : the masticating sur-
face is placed upwards in the fossil, as well as in the recent specimen.

Plate XIX. Fig. 17, is another fossil from Shepey, the general struc-
ture of which agrees with the preceding, excepting that, in this body,
there appears to have been two rows of hexagonal bodies. As, in the
preceding figure, the masticating surface was shown ; so here the other
surface, the bony base, is shown ; and this chiefly for the purpose of
showing the perpendicular fibres, which, giving to this surface a brush-

'* Phil. Trans. Vol. xiX. N'o. 232.

261

like appearance, induced Lhwydd to give the name of Scapula litoralis to
this fossil.

The comminuting surface of the first of these fossils, Plate XIX.
Fig. 16, is gently convex ; whilst that of the latter, Fig. 17, possesses a
correspondent degree of concavity. From this circumstance I am led to
suppose, that the former has been the lower part or tongue, and the
latter the upper part or palate, of perhaps the same species offish.

Plate XIX. Fig. 14, is another fossil palate, of a different species.
This differs from the preceding species not only in the form of its plates,
but in its structure. The lateral substances are here plates, laying over
each other, like the tiles of a roof, ready to succeed, as the upper plates
are worn or broken away. The substance of the plates, in this speci-
men, when examined by a lens, are seen to be very different from that
of bone ; appearing, indeed, rather deserving a place between enamel
and horn : possessing, with a denseness of structure like that of the for-
mer substance, a small degree of the transparency observable in the
latter.

Those bodies which are called by the quarry men petrified leeches, of
which one is figured Plate XIX. Fig. 15, and which are frequently found
in the lime-stone of Wiltshire and of Oxfordshire, were termed bv Da

«/

Costa Palatum Umax, or the slug-palate. These bodies are of an oblong
figure, and generally a little pointed towards their ends. Their colour is
of a dark brown, and they frequently possess a tolerable polish. On their
upper surface are innumerable fine and slightly undulating rugae, which
commence at the sides, and sometimes unite in a fine irregular line,
which passes longitudinally along the middle of this surface. The whole
appearance of this fossil very much resembles that of a leech or slug in a
contracted state.

From these bodies having been found regularly disposed together, and
particular!}' from one instance mentioned by Mr. Walcot, in which
twenty-five of these oblong bodies were regularly placed in four rows,
there can be no doubt that they are not single palates ; but that many

262

-of them, regularly disposed, constituted the platform of the palate of some
unknown fish.

The palate of another species of unknown fish appears to have been
formed by the regular arrangement of quadrangular bodies, a beautiful
specimen of one of which is figured Plate XIX. Fig. 18. The hard part
of these bodies, corresponding to the enamel of teeth, is disposed, on the
middle part of the upper surface, in sharp and slightly-curved ridges,
alternating with corresponding depressions. These are surrounded by a
border, formed of obtuse papillae and rugae, disposed in a very confused
and irregular manner. In some specimens, this border is not present.
These palates are chiefly found among the chalk of Kent and Surry.
The most interesting fossil of this description, which I possess, is one
which is imbedded in the centre of a nodule of flint.

The fossil, Plate XVIII. Fig. 12, is one of the component parts of the
roof of the mouth of some other unknown fish. It resembles the preceding
fossil in the disposition of its ridges, &c. but differs from it in having a
much greater convexity, being full as high as it is long. It is found,
though much more rarely than the former, in masses of chalk, and most
frequently in the neighbourhood of Devizes, in Wiltshire.

Several of this, and of the two preceding species of fossil palates,
were exposed to the action of dilute muriatic acid ; when the existence
of their membranous laminae was evinced by numerous delicate flocculi
becoming partly detached from the surface. In the leech-like palate,
the phenomena which occurred were very interesting. After the fossil
had been exposed about twelve hours to the action of the acid, its dark
surface gradually disappeared, and was succeeded by one of a silvery
grey colour, having somewhat of a pearl-like lustre. On this being exa-
mined with a lens, it was found to be an exceedingly fine membrane,
which, on being touched with the finger, was immediately removed,
and with it the rugae with which the surface had been originally marked.
On being suffered to dry, the surface became of a dead white, and
marked the fingers, the rugae being nearly effaced.

263

A portion of flat bone, about a foot in length, and four inches broad,
bearing a general resemblance to the saw of the saw-fish (Pristis) with
apertures or sockets for the lateral teeth, very distinct along each side,
from Gloucestershire, was exhibited in the Leverian, and, since, in the
London Museum.

In the neighbourhood of Bath is found a fossil proboscis, or jaw, of
some unknown animal, of a curious form. It is long and tapering; sel-
dom, however, exceeding six inches in length, of a dark brown colour,
or nearly black : it is flat, and fluted on its two broader sides : and, on
one of its edges, has a series of small teeth disposed in a straight line.

Not the least curious of the weapons of the finny tribe is a spear-
formed bony substance, of a dark brown colour, found in the Isle of
Shepey, which I purchased from the collection of Mr. Strange. It is
of a conical form, tapering nearly to a point; eight inches in length, and
three inches in width, at its largest part. It appears to have been the
proboscis of some unknown fish.

The scales of fishes are frequently found in a state of high preservation
in the pyritous clay of Shepey, sometimes possessing even a metallic
lustre. They are also sometimes, but more rarely, formed in the masses
of chalk, and very rarely indeed in the flint nodules. Plate XVIIL
Fig. 13, is a curi6usly-formed scale, found in the Kentish chalk-pits; and
in Plate XVIIL Fig. 9, is shown a single scale, with its processes for
attachment, found in a lump of calcareous matter, in Dorsetshire. This
scale seems to differ only in size from those which are described Page 250,
and figured Plate XVL Fig. 12.

The bodies of the vertebrae are very frequently found both in pyritous
masses, and in the several lime-stone strata; but it is very rare to find
them possessed of either their spinous or transverse processes. Among
those fossils which have been desribed as scarce, are those vertebra
which bear somewhat of the form of an hour-glass. These, however,
are by no means so rare as has been supposed, the vertebrae of fish in,
general approaching to this form.

264

When a longitudinal section of a series of the vertebrae of fish, imbed-
ded, for instance, in lime-stone, is made, a series of bodies are seen,
bearing the hour-glass form, each being the section of a body of a ver-
tebra. For as there is a conical cavity both in the fore and hind part
of each vertebra, from which results, when the vertebrae are united, a
series of cavities bearing the form of two cones united at their base ; so the
body of each vertebra, narrowing to its centre, presents, by a longitudinal
section, a surface which, in its longitudinal direction, bears the form of
a longitudinally-divided hour-glass. It is in these cavities, formed by the
union of the vertebrae, that the fluid is contained, which, according to
the observations of Mr. Home, being incompressible, preserves a proper
interval between the vertebrae, to allow of the play of the lateral elastic
ligaments, and forms a ball round which the concave surfaces of the ver-
tebrae are moved, and which readily adapts itself to every change which
takes place in the form of the cavity *.

Among the Shepey fossils are sometimes found the last vertebrae of the
tail. These are flat and of a triangular shape, and at their widest extre-
mity frequently show the articulations of the small long bones which
support the finny membrane of the tail. One of these is represented
Plate XIV. Fig. 14 ; and another, of a peculiar form, is shown Plate XIV.
Fig. 15.

* Phil. Trans, for 1809, p. 111.

*257

LETTER XVI*.

ENTOMOLITHI INSECTS IN PAPPENHEIM LIMESTONE IN COAL

SLATE CRABS OF SI1EPEY, VERONA, EAST-INDIES, AND MAES-

T RIGHT ONISCITES MONOCULITES TRILOBITES.

1 HE extreme softness of the parts, and the general delicacy of struc-
ture, which exist in the smaller insects, will easily explain the circum-
stance of their being rarely met with in a mineralized .state. Very few
indeed are the instances which I shall be able to adduce of Entomolithi,
or of the mineralized remains of this class of animals.

The specimen represented Plate XVII. Fig. 2, is a slab of the fissile
cream-coloured lime-stone from Pappenheim, in which the traces of an
insect are sufficiently plain to mark its presence, without, however, being
sufficiently distinct, to point out the genus in which it should be placed.

The head of the animal is plainly to be seen, but none of its parts are
distinguishable. It appears to have been connected with the thorax by
a contractile neck ; since, in another specimen, apparently of the same
species, the neck appears to be as long as the thorax ; whilst, in the spe-
cimen here depicted, the distance between the head and the thorax is
very small. The thorax appears to have been nearly cylindrical, and
much shorter and wider than the abdomen, which is of a lanceolated
form, and is evidently composed of about eight articulated rings. In
one of M. Knorr's figures, PI. xxxni. the tail of this animal terminates

VOL. in. * L L

in three points; but the form of the tail varies in every one of the three
specimens which I possess.

In one, the tail terminates in a bifurcation ; and, by careful inspection
with a lens, a fold is perceptible in the last articulating ring of the ab-
domen, which, it is evident, would have been obliterated by the approxi-
mation of the bifurcating points. That the animal, therefore, possessed
the power of opening and of shutting these, appears to be highly pro-
bable ; and the appearances yielded by another specimen authorizes the
opinion, that these, on closing, formed a sheath for the sting of the ani-
mal; and, on being opened, left it in a state fit to inflict a wound. An
apparently cylindrical body is seen standing out between the bifurcation,
and may be even traced some little way within the abdomen. In a
third specimen, which, from its having lost its legs, has very much the
appearance of a pupa, the caudal termination is in a single point, giving
to me the idea of the bifurcating points being united, and inclosing the
sting.

Plate XVII. Fig. 2, a, represents the animal with the bifurcating
sheath : b, shows the sting, which has passed out of the sheath : and c,
shows the termination in a single point ; which I suppose to be formed
by the closing of the bifurcated sheath over the sting.

The most accurate examination which I have been able to make does
not enable me to discover any traces of wings. The legs, which I am
of opinion are eight in number, are attached to the breast. If these in-
sects have not been despoiled of their wings, and if my observations have
been correct, they cannot any longer be considered as belonging to the
genus Vespa : but, it being admitted that they were apterous insects, I yet

must acknowledge my inability to dispose of them under any known

genus.

Lhwydd, in a postscript to a letter to Dr. Richardson, thus speaks
of the remains of insects, which he had perceived in coal-slate. —
*' Scripsi olim suspicari me Araneorum quorundam icones, una cum

*259

tithophytis, in schisto carbonaria observasse : hoc jam ulteriore experientia
edoctus aperte assero. — Alias icones habeo qua:; ad Scarabseorum genus
quam proxime accedunt. In posterum ergo non tantum Lithophyta, sed
et quaedam insecta in hoc lapide investigare conabimur." Lithophylaciiy
p. 112.

Plate XVII. Fig. 3, 4, 5, and 6, are sketches of these insects, as given
by Lhwydd, Ichnograph. Tab. 4.

The petrified nests of bee& and wasps, of which some have spoken,
may, I believe, be all referred to deceptive specimens of rnadreporites, or
of septaria, in which the loose matter forming the tali, has allowed the
crystallization to have formed small and numerous polygonal cells. The
insects,, which have been said to have been found in these cells, must
have originated in an active imagination.

The only specimens which can have any pretensions to the term Hel-
mintholites, are those of which the representation of one species is given
Plate VI. Fig. 12, and of which the impression of another is shown
Fig 13. Both these fossils are from Oeningen.

The enormous length of this animal, and its knotted or jointed struc-
ture, with its numerous contortions, and its general form, serve to distin-
guish it decidedly from the earth-worm, with which it has been con-
founded by some authors. These peculiarities do not, however, enable
us to discover any known genus in which it may be placed. Knorr,
Wolfart, and other oryctologists, have figured several varieties of this very
curious kind of animal. Baier denominates it Lumbriciis marinus petri-
ficatus.

The analogue of Plate XVII, Fig. 9, is, I believe, entirely unknown. By
some it has been considered as the wing or wings of a moth or butterfly,
and by others it has been supposed to be the scale of some species offish
or tortoise. For my own part, I acknowledge, that I can offer no conjec-
ture respecting it ; and therefore introduce its representation here, with
the hope of obtaining some illustration of it, from any one who may have

*260

been led to make such observations as may assist in ascertaining its ori-
ginal nature.

I am unacquainted with the place where these fossils are found ; but,
from the nature of the matrix, suspect it to be Stunsiield, in Oxfordshire.
The markings on the stone are so very thin, as to lead to the sup-
position that the fossil body has been removed, and has only left its im-
pression and stain on the stone. The stone itself is a lime-stone, very
full of Oolithes, with shells dispersed through it, exactly resembling
the Stunsfield stone, in which are found the teeth and palates of fish.
In another fossil of this kind, the markings vary so much from the pre-
ceding, as to render it, I think, deserving to be regarded as specifically
different.

The wings of butterflies are said to have been found in a mineralized
state ; but this I very much doubt, suspecting that the opinion has been
derived from some delusive appearances.

When you take into consideration the particular characters by which
the several species of the genus Cancer are marked, and the injuries
which the fossil animals of this genus have sustained, you will see, I trust,
the very great difficulty of distinguishing the species, even by those who
possess, what I do not, an intimate knowledge of this branch of natural
history, and an ample collection of both the recent and fossil objects of
our inquiry.

It happens, indeed, very unfortunately, that in the fossil remains,
traces of the antennae, and the terminations of the hinder feet, are
hardly ever to be seen. The containing crust of the animal, with some
portions of its claws, are generally the only parts preserved ; but the in-
cisural and dentated markings on the sides and fore part of the former,
and the terminations of the latter, are very seldom discoverable. It
is only from the size and general forms of this kind of fossils, that we can
offer any opinion with respect to their species ; and, where the approxi-
mation of the fossil is, in this respect, near to the recent animals, but lit-

*261

tie prospect of success can exist in attempting to make a distinction be-
tween them.

I am entirely unable to say any thing with respect to the specific
distinctions of any of the crabs which I possess. Mr. Francis Crow, of
Faversham, is of opinion, that he possesses about twelve different fossil
crabs, from Shepey ; and, in the collection of the London Museum, there
existed, in the opinion of its learned possessor, more than three times as
many; none of which he finds exactly agrees with any in his extensive
recent collection.

Plate XVII. Fig. 1 and 7, represent two different specimens of fossil
crabs from the Isle of Shepey, distinguishable from each other by the
markings on the dorsal plate. Crabs, apparently similar to those which
are found at Shepey, are also obtained from the neighbourhood of Ve-
rona. Very fine fossil remains of this kind are also found, in Malta, ,as
well as in Anjou, in the department of Maine and Loire.

Fossil remains of lobsters are sometimes found, in very good preserva-
tion, in the Isle of Shepey.

We learn from M. Knorr, Monum. des Catast. T. i. p. 19, that the fos-
sil remains of river animals of this genus, the cray-fish (astaci), are found
in no other part of the world, but in a narrow district, reaching from
Gunzenhausen, in Anspach, to Aichstaedt, a length of about seven or
eight leagues, bordered on one side by the river Altmuhl, which, he
observes, abounds with animals of the same kind.

The matrix of these petrifactions is a fine light yellow limestone,
which frequently separates in tables, by which the contained fossils are
beautifully displayed. These animals appear to have been imbedded in
their matrix during the precipitation of the calcareous particles from the
fluid in which they had been held. A fossil shrimp, from these quarries,
is shown Plate XVII, Fig. 8.

Plate XVII. Fig. 12, is the representation of a fossil crab, from the
East Indies. These fossils are known by the name of Ceylon crabs;

they having been formerly brought into Europe by the Dutch, who used
to state that they were brought from Ceylon, where only they were to
be found. Father Martini, in his Chinese Atlas, relates, on the autho-
rity of several Chinese, that similar crabs are found in a lake in China,
and that they possess the wonderful property of changing into stone, im-
mediately on their being taken out of the water.

These fossils are however, in fact, found, according to Bourguet, in
different parts of the sea-coast of China, in the island of Hainan, and on
the coasts of Japan and of Coromandel. They are generally very
much mutilated ; but their crust bears oftentimes more the appearance '
of that of a crab recently taken from the sea, than those of Shepey.

Plate XVII. Fig. 10, represents part of the claw of a crab, in its ma-
trix, from St. Peter's Mountain, Maestricht. It is observed, by Faujas
St. Fond, that there is no fossil, in this and the neighbouring mountains,
more frequent than claws of crabs; but it is an extremely remarkable
circumstance, that, notwithstanding the abundance in which these re-
mains are here found, no remains of the body, or of the other parts of the
animal, are discovered. After long reflecting on this circumstance, this
industrious inquirer thought it right to conclude, that these remains had
belonged to some crab of the parasitic kind, as Cancer bernhardus, Linn,
The softness and delicacy of every other part of its covering, except that
of its claws, would, he thinks, satisfactorily explain why these alone have
been thus preserved.

In confirmation of this opinion Latreille, a naturalist who has paid
particular attention to the examination of Crustacea, concludes, from the
curvature, direction, and general form of the arm of the crab, figured in
Faujas's work, and from the absence of any other part of the animal, that
it must have belonged to an hermit crab, Pagurus bernhardus. In both,
he observes, the right arm is the strongest, and the form of the hand is
the same ; the only difference between them being a larger number of
asperities on the finger of the fossil crab, which is* also rather longer

than that of the recent crab. The upper edge of the hand, too, of the
recent animal, has also some asperities which are not observable on the
fossil hand. But these, he thinks, may possibly have been removed by
friction.

The fossil remains, Plate XVII. Fig. 11,14, &c. which we shall now exa-
mine possess so few of the appearances exhibited by any existing animal, as
to have rendered many ingenious naturalists doubtful, whether they should
consider them as the remains of a crustaceous or of a conchiferous animal.

Various names have been given to this fossil, derived chiefly from
the three lobular divisions by which it is so particularly marked ; but
several appellations have also been applied to it, founded on these re-
mains being sometimes found in a coiled, and sometimes in an extended
state ; as well as from the head and tail part being frequently found
separated, and giving room for suspicion that they might belong to dif-
ferent animals. From Bromel this fossil received the name of Lapis in-
sectiferus and Insectum vaginipenne; by Wolsterdorf, who considered it as
a fossil bivalve, it was called Conchitus trilobus ; by Hermann, Pectun-
culites trilobus bnbricatus \ by Da Costa, Pediculus marinus ; by Linnaeus,
Entomolithes par adorns; by Baumer, Trigonella striata; and by Wilke,
Entomolithus cancriformis marini.

Mr. Martin, who, in his Petrificata Derbiensia, inquired, with consider-
able success, into the nature of this fossil, concluded that the original of
the petrified insect, found in Derbyshire, was an oniscus. But as we have
been hitherto able to examine a part only of this animal, and as there ap-
pears to be very considerable differences in the forms of the fossils of this
kind, which have been found in different parts, it seems to be advisable,
until we gain further information, to form for it a temporary genus,
which may be named and characterized Trilobites — the fossil crustaceous
upper covering, oblong, convex, and surrounded by an entire margin :
the head or thorax large and gibbous, with two tubercles or eyes : the
back convex, formed of triarcuate, imbricating segments, generally agree-

*264

in their number with the size of the .animal : the tail varying in its
size and form.

The Dudley fossil, or that species of this fossil which is found at Dud-
ley, in Shropshire, is evidently the upper covering only of the animal,
and appears to have been of a crustaceous nature. It is of an oblong
ovate form, convex, and surrounded by an uninterrupted border. The
head is large and gibbous, and divided longitudinally into three parts :
the middle one rounded, gibbous, and rough, having at its posterior part
two round projecting knobs, and just before these two smaller. On each
side of this body is a triangular surface, from the centre of each of which
proceeds a valvular projection, which, from its form, appears to have
been capable of being occasionally opened or closed.

I acknowledge that, in the specimens which I possess, I am unable to
discover the reticulated surface of the eye of this animal, of which
many have spoken. Instead of this, I only find the lunated valvular pro-
jection, by which, it seems, the eye of the animal might be occasionally
covered or exposed. A magnified representation of this part is given
Fig. 14,0.

The back is formed of strong, convex, triarcuate segments, varying
in number with the size of the animal, and diminishing in size, as they
approach the caudal termination. These segments are more raised
in their middle than at their sides; and in the recent animal, the supe-
rior, by sliding over the inferior ones, allowed the animal to make very
considerable changes in its form, by extending or contracting itself) as is
shown Plate XVII. Fig. 11 and 14. The tail is obtuse, and without
any appendage. In no specimen has the under part of the animal been
seen, consequently nothing can be said respecting the structure of this
part, its legs, &c.

The Derbyshire trilobite differs from that of Dudley in being nar-
rower, and particularly so at the upper part ; in not having the four tu-
bercles at the posterior part of the head, and in having the dorsal seg-

merits marked with a line of minute tubercles. Mr. Martin has given a
representation of the reticulated surface of the eye in this animal.

On breaking the Dudley fossils, the inner surface of their covering is
•found marked with undulating striae, the impressions of which are also
found on the inclosed matrix. In none of the specimens which I have
thus broken, or have rubbed down, have I been able to discover any
remains of an inferior or ventral covering, corresponding with the upper
one, which has been just described. M. Walch, indeed, observes, that
no under covering, or plate, have been ever discovered.

A trilobite is represented in the Memoirs of the Swedish Academy, as
possessing antennae. This seems to have been the consequence of some
mistake ; since, in none of the specimens which have been since exa-
mined, has the appearance of such a part been ever seen.

Another species of this animal is found in the schistose strata in the
neighbourhood of Llanelly, in Carmarthenshire. Plate XVII. Fig. 13.
This differs from the preceding species in two material respects: the
lateral lobular divisions are nearly three times as wide as the central one;
and the outline of the animal approaches much nearer to the elliptical
than the ovate form. From this latter circumstance, it obtains some
slight resemblance to a sole, and has therefore been considered by some
as the petrifaction of a fish of that tribe. The mutilated remains of this
species, in consequence of the fossil being frequently severed transversely,
have been regarded as petrified butterflies.

On the remains of one of these I have perceived a very curious struc-
ture: it is in that part of the fossil which presents itself to view on the
removal of the external covering, and which was probably the cuticle of
the animal. Here the form of the parts appears exactly to correspond
with that of the crustaceous covering, being transversely and somewhat
obliquely disposed ; but, aided by the lens, the eye discovers, that this
pellicle is marked by frequent and regular rugae, as if the pellicle had
4>een disposed in folds, not as in the outer coat, in a transverse, but in a
longitudinal direction, Fig. 13, b.

VOL. in, * M M

*266

Another species, the representation of a mutilated fragment of which
is given Plate XVII. Fig. 16, is a very extraordinary fossil. In this ani-
mal, the lobular divisions seem to have very nearly corresponded with
those of the Dudley species. But the structure of the head-part of the
animal differs exceedingly from every other species. In this fossil, instead
of the appearance of the distinct parts of a face, there are three large
round protuberances, the middle being the largest; and all these pro-
tuberances are closely beset with small tubercular risings. These pro-
tuberances possess nearty the whole space of the head, the eyes being
placed in the centre of each of the lateral risings. The matrix of this is
a white fine limestone, but I am not able to say where it was obtained.

The fourth species, which is much more rare than any of the former,
is almost always found imbedded in fuller's earth. The lower half of one
of these is represented Plate XVII. Fig. 17. The form of the head I
am unacquainted with. The structure of the back, and disposition of its
plates, appear to agree with that of Llanelly ; the central division of the
plates terminating, like that of the Llanelly species, within a marginal
line, which surrounds the divisions. From the inferior part of this line
proceeds a long and narrow caudal process, which tapers as it descends,
and appears to have been formed of a single plate or substance. These
specimens seldom possess the process itself, the impression only of its
lower surface being left, and which possesses somewhat of a bronzed ap-
pearance, probably from some stain which the fullers' earth has derived
from the animal matter.

Plate XVII. Fig. 18, represents another species as imbedded in a
nodule of iron-stone from the neighbourhood of Bewdley, in Shropshire —
a spot exceedingly rich in fossil vegetable remains, as I may infer from
the valuable collection with which I was favoured by Thomas Botfield,
Esq. of Hopton Court, near Bewdley. The species of this animal,
which is here preserved, differs essentially from any of those above de-
scribed. Of the head, very little can be made out : it is evidently, how-
ever, much larger in proportion than that of any of the former species.

*267

It is nearly semiorbicular, lunated posteriorly, and terminating at the sides
in an acute angle. The body, which has only five transverse plates, is
remarkably short; its sides going off directly from the head, and meeting
speedily at an obtuse angle. From this point proceeds the tail of the
animal, which is of a greater length than both the head and body. The
structure of the tail may be here so far made out, as to enable us to ascer-
tain that it is formed by a long central spine-like process, on each side of
which a membrane has been evidently extended, wider than the process
itself.

This fossil appears to be the same with Monoculites lunatus of Mr. Mar-
tin, Plate 45, Fig. 4, who supposed it to approach nearer, in size and
figure, to the Monoculus apus, than to any other known recent species
of that genus.

The opinions respecting the analogue of the trilobites have been
very different. Some have supposed it a testaceous animal, and some
have imagined it to be a coleopterous, whilst others have conjectured
it to be an apterous insect. Guettard and Davila have placed it among
the crustaceous animals. Linnaeus, Mortimer* and Wilke, think it
should be placed among the monoculi. Several writers have considered
it as proper to place it among the bivalve shells; and Leigh, Hist,
of Lancashire, Tab. vn. f. even regards it as a portion of a nautilus;
Scheuchzer supposed that it might have been a patella; and Bruckman
speaks of it as a polype. We must content, ourselves, I believe, with
allowing that no animal resembling it is known. Its surface, however,
viewed with a lens, confirms the opinion of M. Walch and others, who
have supposed it to be an animal of the crustaceous kind ; the rough-
ness resulting from the numerous little pits and risings appearing to be
very similar to that of the crust of the crab, lobster, &c.

Plate XVII. Fig. 19, is the fossil remains of some crustaceous animal,,
which are frequently found with the trilobite in the Dudley lime-stonCo
The head part of the animal appears to have been separated and r&~-

moved: sufficient, however, of the animal here exists, to show that it is
comparable with no known animal.

Plate XVII. Fig. 15, is the representation of the upper part of an
extraordinary fossil; but with where it was found I am totally unac-
quainted. Its matrix is a ferruginous lime-stone, in which are discoverable
particles of pyrites. It appears to be the dorsal plate of some enormous
insect. On this plate regular transverse markings are observable, none
of which are to be seen on the abdominal plate. It may perhaps be the
remains of some huge insect of the genus Oniscus, or rather Monoculus;
'but it differs so much from any known animal, as to render guessing
at even its genus presumptuous.

26,5

LETTER XVIIf.

A MPHIBIOLITH I.... ..TORTOISE CROCODILE.

1 HE Amphibiolithi form a very large and important class of fossils, and
of which our own country has produced some very interesting specimens.
It must, however, be to those of the larger kind that our attention must
be directed ; since, from their minuteness and extreme delicacy, the
remains of frogs, serpents, and of the smaller species of the genus Lacerta,
are very rarely met with, and then can hardly be expected to afford us

anv real instruction. The remarks which I shall have to offer will be

«/

entirely confined to the Amphibia reptiles, since I know of no decided
instance of the mineralized remains of any of the A. serpentes.

The fossil remains of the genus Testudo are rarely found, and seldom
in such a state as can yield any positive information respecting the ori-
ginal animal. Indeed, when we consider that the sections into which
this genus (Testudo) has been divided by Linnaeus, of the sea, the fresh
water, and the land tortoise, are distinguishable by the feet being like fins,
or palmated, or club-shaped, with nails, it will be seen that any distinc-
tion of this kind can rarely be made in the fossil remains of these animals;
since, except in the impression in schist, which will be presently men-
tioned, no traces of the feet are, I believe, to be found among their fossil
remains.

It may not, however, be improper to observe here, that should any re-
mains of this part of these animals be found fossil, they will not serve, with

VOL. III. M M

266

certainty, for the distinctions pointed out by this illustrious naturalist ; since
subsequent discoveries and observations have shown, that the habits of
these animals do not always accord with the forms of their feet. Thus
the curious box-like tortoise, T. Carolina, Linn. ; T. clausa, Bosc, though
possessing the feet supposed to belong to the river tortoise, often wanders
up into the country : whilst that of Japan, which is organized, in this
part, like the sea tortoise, has the habits of the river tortoise.

The hard, bony, and sometimes, perhaps, the scaly covering of these
animals, are the only parts which can be expected to be preserved in a
mineralized state. But these can so very rarely yield any marks distinctive
of species, that any attempts to make out specific differences in these
fossil remains must in general be fruitless.

M. Knorr gives the representation of a fossil tortoise, from a very
valuable specimen in the possession of Dr. Gesner, found near Claris.
The matrix is a black schist, in which the form of the animal appears to
be very strongly marked. Towards the superior extremity, traces of
the head are discoverable ; and a little on one side the marks of one of
its feet extended, and somewhat resembling that of a frog, are also
observable.

The back part of a fossil tortoise has been found in the Isle of Malta,
Bocconi Mus. dijisic. et d'experienza, pag. 181. Gesner also mentions the
back part of a tortoise having been found in a quarry near Berlin, De
petrifactis, p. 86; and in the Museum of Dresden was a portion of a fossil
shell of a tortoise, seventeen inches in length and about five inches wide.
Some fossil remains found in Aix, in Provence, and which had for some
time served to perplex the oryctologists, who had been doubtful whether
they should consider them as remains of human skulls, or of nautili,
were determined by M. Delatour-d'Aigue, M. Adanson, and M. Lama-
non, to be the fossil remains of the tortoise, Journal de Phys. T. xvi.
p. 468. Fossil remains of these animals have also been found in the
neighbourhood of Melsbroeck, near to Brussels, Oryct. de Bruxelles, par
Francois Xavier-Burtin. From an examination of these last-mentioned

267

fossils, Lacepede has thought himself authorized in considering them as
belonging to Testudo marina vulgaris, of Ray ; or Testudo mydas, of Lin-
naeus. Camper mentions his possessing the entire back of a fossil tortoise,
four feet in length and six inches in breadth, found in St. Peter's Moun-
tain, Maestricht. He speaks also of other remains of the tortoise found
in the same part, and particularly of a fossil, similar to his own, in the
Museum of John Hunter. Philos. Trans. 1786.

The great disproportion existing between the length and breadth of
the back of the fossil described by Camper, has also been found to exist
in another fossil from the same spot, in the possession of M. Preston, at.
Liege : it being four feet two inches in length, and only six inches in
breadth. This peculiarity of form is considered by Faujas St. Fond, as
proceeding from these being the remains of some unknown species of
this genus, in which the hard and osseous covering was extended only
along the vertebral column, whilst the remaining part of the back was
covered with a coriaceous or horny covering, somewhat resembling that
of T. lyra, Linn. Faujas St. P'ond has presented to the Museum of
Natural History at Paris the fossil remains of three tortoises from Maes-
tricht. Two of these resemble each other in possessing, different from
the ordinary tortoise, two prolongations at the upper angles, as if of the
arm, and forming an oval notch where the head was placed. The
third differs from those just mentioned, as well as from the common tor-
toise, in the general form of its shell ; which gives, at first view, the idea
of a cuirass, with a double neckpiece or gorget.

M. Faujas St. Fond obtained from the quarry of Grand Charon e part
of the shell of a tortoise, which was connected with an alated bony
appendix, such as was observed in the remains of the more gigantic tor-
toises which he found in St. Peter's Mountain. Ann. du Mus. Tome n.
p. 108.

Reviewing the preceding account, it appears, that all of the six speci-
mens found at Melsbroeck, appear, according to Faujas St. Fond, to
belong to T. mydas — four specimens from Aix, all belong to one unknown

268

species — of the eight specimens from Maestricht, which are all unknown,
three are ascertained to belong to as "many distinct and new species—
and the one found in the quarry of Grand Charonne, near Paris, also is
of an unknown species. Hence it appears, that of fourteen fossil tor-
toises, one only appears to be of a known species, and that of the re-
maining thirteen, none can be referred to any known species, but five of
them are decidedly of new species.

In this island the fossil remains of this genus are but rarely met with.
In the Isle of Shepey some fragments, and a few very good specimens,
have been found. Two or three fossil tortoises from this part, in very
fine preservation, are in the British Museum ; and Colonel Hawker, of
the 14th Light Dragoons, also possesses a very perfect specimen, which
he very kindly offered for my inspection and information. Mr. Francis
Crow, of Faversham, possesses perhaps the most complete fossil animal
of this genus, which has been yet discovered in Shepey.

The specimens which I possess from Shepey do not empower me to
decide as to their species. They are of four different sizes, and appear to
me to be of the same species, but of different ages. In no one of them
is the dorsal plate perfect, surrounded by its marginal scutelke. Thus,
in a very fine specimen, with which I was favoured by Mr. Crow, a
series of eight small and narrow hexagonal scutellae, corresponding with
the vertebrae, are disposed along the middle of the back; and from these
proceed, on each side, as many transversely long scutellae, which appear
to have been of a hexagonal form ; but this cannot be determined, since
their outer sides, and of course the margin of the shell, has been removed.
From this circumstance, I am led to the supposition, that these are the
remains of animals whose coverings were partly soft, and that conse-
quently the marginal plates, if any existed, were removed as the inter-
vening membrane was destroyed. In this opinion I am confirmed by
the appearance of the breastplate in one of the specimens, as represented
Plate XVIII. Fig. 2 ; where it may be seen, that the sternal plate, with
which, in this respect, the dorsal plate may be supposed to agree, has

not been united, but tbat it has been connected by interposed mem-
brane. This part happens, fortunately, to be in so good a state of preser-
vation, as to allow the several osseous parts of this plate to be distinctly
made out. At .#, is seen a part of the anterior appendix; at b, is the
anterior branch; ate, the posterior branch; and at d, is the posterior
appendix. rq

In Verona, and chiefly in the Valley of Ronca, fragments of tortoise-
shell are found; and, from the rugous state of the outer surface of some
of these, I have little doubt of their having belonged to some of these
animals, whose coverings were partly coriaceous; for in these, although
the outer surface of their covering would be smooth whilst living, they
would be thus rugous after the death of the animal.

Mr. Johnson, of Bristol, was lately so fortunate as to find, at the Old
Passage, in Gloucestershire, some fossils of a very curious appearance and
form. One of these is represented Plate XVIII. Fig. 1. This, with
several others, most of which are much larger and possess a fine polish,,
and are of a deep black, I conceive to be the digitated terminations of
the sternal plate belonging to one of these animals, with a partly mem-
braneous or coriaceous covering. These fossils approach the nearest to
the corresponding parts in the Trionyx carinatus of M. Geoffroy St. Hi-
laire. One of the fossils found by Mr. Johnson is decidedly the osseous
plate belonging to the posterior appendix, and resembles very much, in
its form and rugous surface, the corresponding part in Trionyx Mgyp-
tiacus, of M. Geoffroy St. Hilaire, but is full six times as large.

I must not conceal from you, that the ingenious gentleman who pos-
sesses these fossils is disposed to entertain a different opinion, and to
believe that they are the parts of the jaw or palate of some 'fish. This
must remain to be determined by some more illustrative and analogous
^pecimen : until then, I shall hold my opinion with diffidence ; for, as I .
have had already occasion to notice, error in these inquiries are very,
easily fallen into. Thus has Faujas St. Fond, in the elegant work where
he has displayed so many remains of these animals, mistaken the shoulder-

270

bone of a tortoise for the horn of a stag; fragments of the sternal plates
(plastrons) of a tortoise for the branched part of the horns of the elk ;
and two bones of the carpus, belonging also to the tortoise, for the pubis
and the clavicle of a crocodile. Similar remains to those found by Mr.
Johnson, are sometimes found in the Stansfield lime-stone.

Plate XVIII. Fig. 3, is the fossil head of a tortoise, found at Shepey
by Mr. Crow.

The necessity of ascertaining the number of existing species of the
crocodile, and of pointing out their distinctive characters, previous to the
examination of their fossil remains, must be obvious ; and that this task
has been performed by M. Cuivier, who possesses abilities arid oppor-
tunities so well fitted for the undertaking, is a circumstance which has
considerably promoted the advancement of our knowledge in our fa-
vourite science. The gratitude due to him, on the present occasion, is
considerably augmented by the consideration, that at the period at which
his investigations were made, almost every one who had written on
the subject had unfortunately contributed, by their errors, to envelope
the subject in confusion. M. Schneider, however, had sedulously em-
ployed himself, and with some success, in makjng some useful and
important distinctions, with respect to these animals ; Histoire des Am-
phibies, cap. n. But the most instructive labours were those of M.
Geoffroy, who not only made some important anatomical researches on
the crocodile of the Nile, but also on the crocodile of St. Domingo,
which bore so strong a resemblance to that of the Nile, as to have led to
the suspicion that they were both of the same species ; and, of course,
to a doubt as to the circumstance dwelt on by Buffon, that no species
belonging to the torrid zone had been primitively in both continents.
The observations, however, of M. Gregoire, determined that the croco-
dile of St. Domingo deserved to be regarded as of a different species from
that of the Nile. Ann. du Mus. Nat. T, i. p. 37 and 53.

This same naturalist suspected, from the accounts he had received,
that two distinct species of the crocodile existed in Egypt; one of these

271

he conceived to be the common crocodile of Egypt, and the other the
Suchos, the sacred crocodile of Thebes. This opinion was strongly cor-
roborated by the skull of this animal, contained in some of the mummies
found in the ruins of this celebrated city, and by a well-prepared spe-
cimen of an animal of this species. M. Cuvier himself, although doubt-
ing as to M. Geoffrey's employing the word sitchus in the same sense as the
ancients did, is satisfied that a difference exists between some of the cro-
codiles of Egypt, sufficient to allow of admitting the existence of a race,
if not a species, distinct from the common crocodile of the Nile.

Aided by the observations of M. Geoffroy, and by the anatomical
examination of the crocodile of St. Domingo by M. Descourtils, who dis-
sected more than forty of this species; and availing himself of the oppor-
tunity of examining nearly sixty animals of this genus, of both sexes,
and of different ages and sizes, from their passing out of the egg to the
length of twelve or fifteen feet, arid examining anew the different works
which had been written on this animal, M. Cuvier considered himself as
authorized in arranging these animals in the following order : —

The following characters: — conical teeth, in a single row — a broad
fleshy tongue, affixed to the mouth — a compressed tail, carinated and
serrated on its upper part — palmated or semipal mated feet — and broad
and nearly square scales on the back, belly, and tail ; he considers as
forming the genus CROCODILE, of the order Sauri, in the class Am-
phibia. This genus he considers as divisible into three sub-genera : —
I. Alligators (caimans). The head oblong, but its length being to its
breadth not more than as three to two — the fourth lower tooth on
each side being received in a pit in the upper jaw — the feet semipal-
mated. Under this sub-genus he places the following four species :
C. Indus, C. sclerops, C. palpebrosus, and C. trigonatus. — II. Crocodiles.
The length of the head double that of its width, the jaws being oblong —
the fourth lower tooth on each side passing through a notch on each side
of the upper jaw — the feet palmated. Under this sub-genus he disposes
C. vulgar is, C. biporcatus, C. rhombifer, C. galeatus, C. biscutatus, and C,

272 ,

acutus. — III. Longbeaked (Gaoials). The jaws elongated and cylindri-
cal—the feet palmated. Under this sub-genus he places the large and
small gavial, as C. gangeticus and C. tenuirostris.

The remains of animals referable to the genus Crocodile, and of others,
which though not of this genus, may be considered as of the family of
lizards, have been found in a fossil state in different parts of the world,
but particularly in this island, in Germany, and France.

In the greatest part of Thuringia and of Voigtiand, bordering upon
Hesse, and even in Franconia and Bavaria, is a bed of bituminous
inarl-slate, which Mr. Werner considers as the lowest stratum of the first
floetz lime-stone. It is from this bed of schist, in the neighbourhood of
Mansfield, Eisleben, Ilmeneau, &c. that those impressions of fish are
obtained, which are so frequently beautified by the brilliant coatings of
copper and silver pyrites.

Above this cuprous schist are beds of lime-stone, in which exist belem-*
nites, entrochi, anomise, and other remains of high antiquity. On this
lime-stone is gypsum, accompanied with sal gem, above which is sand-
stone, covered by gypsum, without salt; and on this is another shelly
lime-stone, in which are the celebrated caverns, containing the remains
of bears and of other carnivorous animals.

The bed of bituminous slate, in which the impressions of fishes, and
also of oviparous quadrupeds, are found, are indubitably, from their
situation, the most ancient of the strata here enumerated ; whilst the
fishes, whose impressions are here found, are generally supposed to be
those of fresh-water fish ; and the oviparous quadrupeds, whose im-
pressions accompany them, are always, according to M. Cuvier, ani-
mals which frequent marshes and the banks of rivers. From the repre-
sentations of four fossil specimens, that by Spener, MiscelL berol. i. Fig.
24 and 25, p. 99, from the neighbourhood of Salzungen ; that of Link,
from the same place, Letter to Dr. Woodward, &c. ; that by Sweden-
bourg, from Alteristein, DC Cupro Tractat. PL n. ; and one from the
mines of Rothenbourg, near Saal, at the depth of 264 feet; M. Cuvier

273

was satisfied that the traces here preserved are of animals of the sarra?
species.

The form of the head, the pointed teeth, the size of the vertebrae of
the tail, would be sufficient, he observes, without the limbs, to show de-
cidedly, that this animal must have been an oviparous quadruped. The
head, however, does not, as was supposed by Spener and Link, bear
any resemblance to that of the crocodile of the Nile. So far, also, is it
from being, as is asserted by M. Faujas, a real Gavial,. that M. Cuvier
is convinced, that it differs more from the Gavial than from any other
reptile of the lizard tribe.

From the head engraved by Spener, M. Cuvier was enabled to deter-
mine the genus to which this animal belonged. In the upper jaw he
could discover only eleven teeth on one side, and which only reached to
the anterior angle of the orbit ; a circumstance which characterizes the
Lacerta monitor of Linnaeus, or Tupinambis of Daudin. In the upper jaw
of the crocodile there should be at least fifteen teeth on each side, and
these should reach to the middle of the orbit.

The hind feet also, as seen both in Link's and Swedenbourg's speci-
mens, show five unequal toes, of which the fourth is the longest : these
toes have the following number of bones in each, beginning with the
great toe, and reckoning the metacarpal bone — 3, 4, 5, 6, 4. This
number, and this proportion of the toes, as well as the number of the
joints of each toe, are exactly the same in the Monitor, in the common
lizards, and in the iguana; but are different in the crocodile, which has
but four toes to the hind feet, differing but little in their length, and being
formed by bones disposed in this number and order — 3, 4,. 5, 4.

The fore feet are discoverable in the specimen of Link, and have each
five toes of nearly equal size. The crocodiles also, as well as the lizards,
have five toes to their fore feet, but the little toe is evidently smaller in
proportion.

The size of these animals also appears to agree with that of the most
common species of Monitor ; such as, those which belong to the land, and

VOL. Ill, N N

274

to the river of Egypt; that of Congou, described by Daudin; those of
the East Indies, &c. They accord indeed so well, in almost every
respect, that M. Cuvier, by comparison with different specimens and
skeletons of these animals in the Museum, has been able to detect
only one or two apparently specific distinctions. The one of these is,
that the spinal processes of the dorsal vertebrae are much more raised
than in the Monitors. The other is, that the leg appears to be longer in
proportion to the thigh and foot, than is the case in the Monitors.

In the neighbourhood of Altorff, in Bavaria, are quarries of indifferent
grey marble, containing ammonites, &c. in which the impressions of
large heads, with long jaws, armed with pointed teeth, have been repeat-
edly found.

The specimens which have been there discovered, have not hitherto
warranted the determining with what species of animal, or even hardly
with what genus they should be placed. In the opinion of Merck, Troisicme
Lettre sur les Fossiles, p. 25, the one which he possessed, but which is
now in the Museum of Darmstadt, may be considered as a Gavial. Ano-
ther, in the Museum of Manheim, and which has been carefully figured
and described by Collini, Act. Ac. Theod. Palat v. PI. in. Fig. 1 and 2,
is thought, by this author, to have belonged either to a saw or a sword-
fish, or to some unknown sea animal. The fore part of another was
found by M. Bauder, Burgomaster of Altorf ; and this one has been
merely described as part of the head of a crocodile.

M. Faujas, who has published figures of the two first of these fossils,
agrees positively with Merck in the opinion of their being the heads of
the Gavial. This opinion is however opposed by M. Cuvier, who has
discovered some important points in which they differ. The length of
the head at Manheim is to its width as 38 to 11, whilst, in the larger Ga-
vial, the length of its head is to its width as 25 to 9. The general figure of
the head also differs from that of the larger Gavial, it narrowing gradually
to form the muzzle. From these two circumstances, and from the long
oval marks of the eyes, it would seem to resemble the head of the

275

smaller, whilst its size is nearly that of the larger Gavial. From the
figure given by M. Faujas, of the head at Darmstadt, it appears to differ
from that of either of the Gavials; since the symphisis of the lower jaw
does not extend so much backwards, and there are seven or eight teeth
in the separated parts of each branch of the jaw ; whilst, in this part of
the jaw, in the Gavials, there are only two or three teeth.

Some have imagined these fossils to have been the remains of a dol-
phin j but that this is not the fact is evinced by the nostrils, which,
instead of passing in vertically, at the root of the muzzle, are disposed at
its end, and open into a double nasal canal, reaching even beneath the
skull. It is evident, that there can exist no reason for supposing that
these remains can be referred to any kind of fish ; and that they have
belonged to some animal of the crocodile kind is certainly the most
reasonable conjecture.

Part of the head of a crocodile has also been found in a mountain near
to Rozzo, on the borders of Vicentin and of Tyrol, the lower jaw of
which is twenty-five inches and a half long, and eight inches wide. Its
matrix is a limestone of a yellowish red colour. Voyage en Tyrol, par M.
le Comte de Stemberg. This fossil has also been referred to the Gavial
by M. Faujas ; but, as is observed by M. Cuvier, it differs from it in the
posterior part of the jaw not being in a straight line with the anterior
pint, where it is united by the symphisis, but forming an angle, by
which the branch of one side becomes separated from that of the other
side : a character which sufficiently shows, that this cannot have been
the remains of an actual Gavial. M. Cuvier is of opinion, that these
fossils, as well as those of Altorf, are the remains of an unknown spe-
cies of the crocodile, and similar to those which will form the subject of
our next letter.

276

LETTER XIX.

FOSSIL CROCODILES TWO SPECIES FOUND IN FRANCE, DIFFERING

FROM ANY KNOWN SPECIES FOSSIL SPECIES FOUND ALSO IN

ENGLAND.

1 HE fossils which we shall now examine will, I doubt not, excite in
you a considerable degree of interest ; since they have been found in such
a state, and in such numbers, as to allow of their comparison with the
correspondent parts of animals of the same genus ; and since they have
been thus compared by M. Cuvier.

These fossils were collected in the neighbourhood of Honfleur,. by the
Abbe Bachelet, an assiduous naturalist at Rouen, and were sent, by orders
of the Prefect of the department, to the Museum of Natural History ! Similar
fossils are also obtained at Havre. They were found in a bed of hard
limestone, of a bluish grey colour, which becomes nearly black when
wet, and which is found along the shore on both sides of the mouth of
the Seine, being in some places covered by the sea, and in others above
its level, even at high water.

This bed, M. Cuvier observes, is certainly more ancient than the im-
mense mass of clay which rests on it, and which rises in cliffs of 300 or
400 feet in height, forming the whole of Caux, a part of Auge, and
spreads into Picardy and Champagne, and even into England. These
bones of crocodiles, as well as those of lizards, in Thuringia, belong, then,
to strata considerably anterior to those which contain the bones of qua-

277

drupeds, and which are themselves of very high antiquity; such as the beds
of gypsum, at Paris ; since these rest on the more common shelly lime-
stone, beneath which is the chalk.

The larger cavities of the bones are filled by the same hard grey lime-
stone ; but the pores and smaller cells are filled by a semi-transparent
spar, which has sometimes a yellowish tinge. In general, a thin coat of
pyrites is seen to line the cavity, and, of course, to immediately include
the spar : and sometimes the whole of these minute cavities have been
filled with pyrites.

The most important specimen in the National Museum is a lower jaw,
nearly complete. This jaw, indubitably of a crocodile, is beset with
conical striated teeth, with the two sharp edges, one on the fore and the
other on the back part, and having the cavities for the germs of the suc-
ceeding teeth. In this specimen are also discoverable the sutures which
divide each branch of the jaw into six bones. An outline sketch of this
jaw is given Plate XVIII. Fig. 7.

That this jaw belonged to some animal of the genus Crocodile, there
can be no doubt ; and the following differences, noticed by M. Cuvier,
as undoubtedly show that this animal could not be of the Gavial species:
1. The branches are much longer, in proportion to the anterior con-
nected part, than in either of the Gavials. 2. The branches do not form
so open an angle as in the Gavial ; the angle in the Gavial being about
60°, and in the fossil jaw but little more than 30°. 3. From this cir-
cumstance, the outer lines formed by the branches, separate gradually
from the part where they are united ; whereas, in the Gavial, they sepa-
rate by a sudden and very sensible flexion. 4. The notch which sepa-
rates the branches penetrates forwarder Between the teeth than it does
in the Gavial : in the Gavial there are but two or three teeth, and in
the fossil jaw there are seven in each branch. 5. The whole number of
the teeth is, however, less : in the fossil jaw there are only twenty -two
on each side ; whilst, in the Gavial, there are twenty-five. 6. There

278

does not appear, in the fossil the oval hole which exists in the posterior
part of the branch, in the known species of crocodiles.

The fossil upper jaw was also ascertained, from different fragments, to
differ materially from the upper jaw of the Gavial. The snout, corre-
sponding with the symphisis of the lower jaw, is shorter and flatter than
that of the Gavial ; and the anterior end terminates in a point, and does
not spread out as that of the Gavial does. The anterior edges of the orbits
also appear to be more flattened than in the living species. From fair
grounds of calculation it also appears, that the skull must have been
much longer in proportion to the snout, in the fossil species than in the
Gavial.

One of the specimens from Honfleur, a fragment of the base of the
symphisis part of the lower jaw, appeared to differ from the lower jaw
already mentioned, in being rather flatter; approaching a little, in this
and some other respects, to that of the gavial. This circumstance led
M. Cuvier to the suspicion of there being the remains of two species of
crocodiles in this stratum.

An attentive examination of the fossil vertebrae confirmed his opi-
nion ; since he discovered that the vertebrae also belonged to two different
systems of bones, neither of which was similar to that of the known cro-
codiles. With respect to the first species of fossil vertebrae which he
found, he ascertained that the posterior face of the body of the axis is
concave, whilst it is convex in all the known crocodiles ; a characteristic
which is distinguishable in many of these fossil vertebrae, whilst in the
known crocodiles this part is convex. Plate XVIII. Fig. 6, represents
one of the dorsal vertebrae, in which this circumstance is observable. It
is proper to remark here, that wnole orders of viviparous quadrupeds, such
as the ruminants and solipeds, have the bodies of their cervical vertebrae
convex in their fore part; but, in these, their apophyses are very differently
disposed. The transverse apophyses in the fossil vertebras arise by four pro-
jecting processes, which give them a pyramidal base ; and behind the sur-

279

face, receiving the head of the rib, is a deep pit : these are two peculiarities
which do not exist in the known crocodiles. In the place, also, of the
single inferior spinous apophysis, which exists in the known crocodiles,
there are two ridges, each terminating in a tubercle placed forwards.
The body of these fossil vertebrae is also more contracted in its middle
than is that of the vertebrae of the common crocodile.

The other series of vertebra also appeared to belong to a crocodile,
different from those which now exist, as well as from that whose ver-
tebrae have just been described. Their characteristic differences are :
their body is not contracted in the middle, and their transverse apophy-
ses do not arise from the reunion of several projecting ridges. They
therefore resemble those of the living crocodiles much more than the
preceding ; but their principal difference, distinguishing them from the
preceding fossil vertebras, as well as from those of the living crocodiles,
is that the faces of their bodies are neither of them convex; but are both
slightly concave. In other respects, in the disposition of their apophy-
ses, in the suture which connects the annular part and processes with
the body of the vertebrse, &c. they agree with the vertebrae of crocodiles
in general. A vertebrse belonging to this species is represented Plate
XVIII. Fig. 5, which answers to the second dorsal vertebrae of the com-
mon crocodile, by the position of its costal pit a, b ; but differs from it
in having no inferior spinous apophysis.

It is undoubtedly exceedingly desirable, to determine to which of these
two systems of vertebrae, the fragments of the head and jaws just de-
scribed may be referred. This is however, at present, hardly possible,
the specimens which have been hitherto described not having been found
under circumstances which would allow of determining the connection.
M. Cuvier, however, thiriks it most probable, that the nearly complete
jaw belonged to the same animal to which the first described vertebrae be-
longed ; and that the fragment of the jaw which seems to approach
nearer to that of the Gavial might be placed with the second species of
vertebrae. It must be however observed, that the vertebrae of the second

230

species were found in the same mass with the large specimen of the
lower jaw.

Remains of crocodiles have also been found in other parts of France;
as, at Angers and Mans. Some of these remains seem to show, that at
least one of the fossil species above noticed is also found in other parts
of France besides Honfletir and Havre.

The remains of crocodiles have been also found in different parts of
England ; but particularly on the coast of Dorsetshire, and of Yorkshire,
near Whitby ; in the neighbourhood of Bath; and near Newark, in Not-
tinghamshire.

Dr. Stukely describes a stone three feet long, and two feet two inches
broad, found at Elston, near Newark, in Nottingham. The Doctor
described it as containing the marks of sixteen vertebrae of the back and
loins, and eleven joints of the tail ; nine whole or partial ribs of the left
side ; the Os sacrum ; the Ilium in situ ; the two thigh-bones, a little
displaced ; with the beginnings of the tibia and fibula of the right leg.
On one corner, he thought, the vestiges were to be seen of a foot with
four toes ; and, at a little distance, an entire toe. The Doctor consi-
dered this fossil as the remains of a crocodile or of a porpoise. The
stone in which these traces were discoverable, had been used at a well,
for placing the vessels on in which the water was obtained. It was of a
blue colour, and came probably from Fulbeck quarries, which are on
the Western declivity of the long chain of hills which reach through the
whole of Lincolnshire, and which contain numerous shells and other
marine bodies *.

M. Cuvier considers this fossil to have derived its markings from the
remains of a crocodile : that it could not Jiave been from the remains of
a porpoise, he observes, is evident, from vestiges of the pelvis, a part
which does not exist in the porpoise, being here plainly observable. He
discovers, also, in this fossil, the square and nearly equal sized spinous

* Phil. Trans. Vol. xxx. p. 963.

281

processes of the vertebrae ; the six anterior vertebree, with large ribs at-
tached to them, and three ribs at the end of the stone, the vertebrae
belonging to which are broken off. The live vertebrae next., to those
which are connected with the ribs, he remarks, have large transverse
processes, whilst those of the next four are small. The ilia are situated
after these four; but he is of opinion that they have been displaced, and
that they should have been found behind the five vertebrae with large
transverse processes, which he considers as vertebras of the loins. The
impressions of the ossa ilia were supposed by Stukeley to have been of
the thigh-bones ; and two large and short impressions near them, which
M. Cuvier is unable to refer to any particular bones, he considered as the
heads of the tibia and fibula. No marks of the head existing in this fossil,
and the vertebrae not having been figured with precision, no conjectures
can be offered with respect to the species.

Captain William Chapman, in the fiftieth volume of the Philoso-
phical Transactions, p. 688, gives an account of the finding, on the sea-
shore, about half a mile from Whitby, part of the bones of an animal
appearing to have been an alligator. They were found in a kind of
black slate, which had been covered five or six feet with water every
full sea, and were about nine or ten yards from the cliff, which is
nearly perpendicular, and about sixty yards high, and is continually
wearing away by the washing of the sea against it. The place where
these bones lay was frequently covered with sea-sand to the depth of
two feet.

Mr. Woollers, p. 786, of the same volume, gives a further account of
the foregoing fossil skeleton. He says : " In this same rock, ammonitge,
or snake-stones, as they are called, are found. The animal, when living,
must have been twelve or fourteen feet long. It lay six yards from the
foot of the cliff, which is sixty yards in perpendicular height, and must
have been covered by it, probably, not much more than a century ago.
The cliff there is composed of various strata, beginning from the top of
earth, clay, marie, and stones, of various thicknesses, till it comes to

VOL. III. O O

the black slate, or alum rock ; and about ten or twelve feet deep, in this
rock, this skeleton laid horizontally. The probability of this cliff formerly
covering this animal, and extending much more into the sea, is not in
the least doubted of by those that know the cliff. The various strata
which compose it are daily mouldering and falling down ; several thou-
sand tons often tumbling down together. Many ancient persons now
living remember this very cliff extending, in some places, twenty yards
further out than it does at present, so much has the sea gained of the
land."

From the figure of this fossil, as given in the Philosophical Transac-
tions, Plate XXII. and Plate XXX. of the same volume; and, from the
description, it appears that the remains and traces were observable of
a vertebral column, probably, however, not complete at either end,
nine feet in length. Twelve vertebrae of the tail, and a series of ten
other vertebrae, which seemed to have formed the loins, sacrum, and the
commencement of the tail, still remained, and were about three inches
in length. Those of the neck, of the back, and the middle of the tail,
had only left their impressions. The head is seen on its lower side,
showing the occipital condyle on the back part ; the zygomatic arches,
on each side, terminating, as in the crocodile, in two large condyles for
the lower jaw, and placed in the same transverse direction with the occi-
pital condyle. The skull fills but a narrow space. Forwards, the head
contracts not suddenly, as in the Gavial, but gradually; and, in M. Cu-
vier's opinion, like the fossil head of Altorf ; and probably, like that of
Honfleur, in a pointed muzzle. Large pointed teeth are placed alter-
nately in both jaws, about three quarters of an inch distant from each
other ; and towards the end of the jaws are fangs which are larger than
the others.

It is extraordinary, that the celebrated Camper should have concluded
this fossil to have been the remains of an animal of the species Balcena,
when teeth were observable in both jaws, whilst the balaenae are not
iisrnished with any teeth. Nor is it less surprising that M. Faujas should

583

have considered this fossil as belonging to a physeter, and describe it as
being without arms or legs *, since the physeters have teeth in the lower
jaw only ; and since, in this fossil, the traces both of the fore and hind
legs were discoverable.

From the researches which M. Cuvier has made, respecting the fossil
remains of this animal, he concludes, that at Honfleur and Havre the
fossil remains of two species of crocodiles are found, both approaching to
the Gavial, but both unknown ; that one of these two species at least is
found in other parts of France, at Alencon and elsewhere ; that the ske-
leton discovered at Whitby was probably of one of that species found in
France, the under jaw of which he has figured ; that the fragments of
the heads found in the territory of Vicentino may be referred to the same
species ; that the fossil heads found at Altorff are different from those of
the Gavial, and have a longer snout than that of the animal of Honfleur,
whose jaw is figured, and may therefore belong to the other fossil species
found in France; that the skeleton described by Stukeley is a croco-
dile's, but of an indeterminable species; that the supposed crocodiles,
the remains of which are found in the pyritous schist of Thuringia, were
of the genus Monitor, Cuvier, formed of Lacerta monitor, Linn.

He also concludes, that all these fossil remains of oviparous quadru-
peds belong to very ancient beds, among those which are termed secon-
dary ; and even much anterior to the regular stony beds, which contain
the bones of unknown genera of quadrupeds, such as the palaeotheriums
and the anoplotheriums ; which opinion, however, does not oppose the
finding of the remains of crocodiles*- with those of these genera, as has •
been done in the gypsum quarries.

The opportunities which I have had of examining British fossils of this
kind, have not been such as to enable me to add to the very important
information yielded by M. Cuvier, as to the specific differences of such of
animals as have been found in a fossil state. The observations, how-

* Essais de Geologic. I. p. 360.

284

ever, which I have been able to make, are such, as far as they extend,
as serve to confirm the opinions of M. Cuvier.

Several fragments, which I have seen, from the Dorsetshire coast, as
well as those which I possess, show, that the anterior termination of
the snout of one species of these fossil animals, whose remains are found
in this island, was long and narrow, like that of the first species described
by M. Cuvier. Three other specimens which I have seen, one containing
almost the whole skull, and the others the anterior part of the skull, and
all having the posterior part of the branches of the lower jaw attached to
the upper jaw, manifest decidedly the same gradual approximation of
the branches of the lower jaw, which we have seen distinguishes this fos-
sil species from all the known species of the sub-genus Gavial. The first
of these was exhibited in the London Museum; and, of the latter two,
one was in the possession of the late Mr. Row, of Dorsetshire, and the
other was exposed for sale by auction. These specimens were all British
fossils ; and evinced, by the form of their anterior part, that they had
derived their origin from the same species of animal to which the spe-
cimens above mentioned had belonged. The union of these specimens
prove therefore decidedly, that in this island, as well as on the continent,
there exist the remains of a species of crocodile, approaching towards, but
essentially differing from, any known species of the Gavial. Of the head
of the second species, no specimen which I have seen affords me any
positive information.

Of the two species of vertebrae described by M. Cuvier, I only possess
specimens corresponding with those which he supposes to belong to the
first species which he has particularized. Two detached vertebrae, which
are, I conjecture, from Bath ; three which are disposed in their natural
order, and imbedded in the Dorsetshire blue limestone ; and several
others, in the same limestone, the sections of which are only seen, are
all referable to this first species ; both of their articulating surfaces being
slightly concave.

Somersetshire, particularly in the neighbourhood of Bath, the cliffs

285

on the Dorsetshire, or Southern coast, and on the Yorkshire, or Northern
coast, are the places in this island in which the remains of the animals
of this tribe have been chiefly found. The matrix in which they are
found is in general similar to that which has been already mentioned
as containing the fossils of Honfleur and Havre : a blue limestone, be-
cofaing almost black when wetted. This description exactly agrees with
the limestone of Charmouth, Lime, See. in Dorsetshire, on the opposite
coast to that of France, on which Havre and . Honfleur are situated.
At Whitby and Scarborough, where these fossils are also found, the
stone is indeed somewhat darker than in the former places; but no dif-
ference is observable which can be regarded as offering any forcible op-
position to the probability of the original identity of this stratum, which
is observed on the Northern coast of France, on the opposite Southern
English coast, and at the opposite Northern extremity of the island.
Some of these remains are also found in quarries of common coarse grey
and whitish limestone. Instances of this kind of matrix, for these remains,
are observable in the quarries between Bath and Bristol.

The Rev. Mr. Hawker, of Woodchester, in Gloucestershire, possesses,
perhaps, one of the handsomest specimens of the remains of the croco-
dile that has been found in this island. It was found by him in the neigh-
bourhood of Bath, and contains great part of the head and of the trunk
of the animal, which appears to have been of the species noticed by
Cuvier, with the gradually tapering jaw.

286

LETTER XX.

LARGE FOSSIL ANIMAL OF MAESTRICHT ASCERTAINED TO BE

NEITHER PHYSETER, FISH, NOR CROCODILE OPINIONS OF DR.

PETER CAMPER, M. FAUJAS, M. ADRIAN CAMPER, &C REMAINS

OF THE EXISTING MONITORS ENGLISH SPECIMENS.

1 HE large animal, whose fossil remains are found in the quarries of
Maestricht, has been deservedly a frequent object of admiration ; and
the beautiful appearance which its remains possess, in consequence of
their excellent state of preservation, in a matrix which admits" of their
fair display, has occasioned every specimen of this fossil to be highly va-
lued. The lower jaw of this animal, with some other specimens which
were presented by Dr. Peter Camper to the Royal Society, and which
are now in the British Museum, are among the most splendid and in-
teresting fossils in existence. A particular account of these fossils, with
the opinions of the learned donor respecting the animal to which they
belonged, and some excellent engravings, are given in the Philosophical
Transactions for 1786.

The remains of this animal are found chiefly in that part of St. Peter's
Mountain, on which is built the fort St. Peter. Whilst speaking, in a
former part of this work, of the alcyonic fossils from this mountain, I re-
marked that their matrix was " a very pure carbonate of lime." M. Cu-
vier has also ascertained this to be the case, and that the description of
it by M. Faujas, who says it is " Un gres quartzeiix a grain fin, foiblement
lie par un gluten calcaire peu dur*," is erroneous. The mass of calcareous
matter in which they are imbedded is at least 449 feet in thickness.

The first collection of these fossils was made by an intelligent officer,

M. Drouin, who commenced his researches about the year 1766. This
collection is at present in Teyler's Museum. M. Hoffman, the surgeon
of the fort, of whom I have already spoken, also made a collection of
these specimens, which at his death was purchased by Dr. Peter Cam-
per, who presented some of them, as has been already related, to the
British Museum.

In 1770, the workmen having discovered part of an enormous head of
an animal imbedded in the solid stone, in one of the subterranean pas-
sages of the mountain, gave information to M. Hoffman, who, with the
most zealous assiduity, laboured until he had disengaged this astonishing
fossil from its matrix. But when this was done, the fruits of his labours
were wrested from him by an ecclesiastic, who claimed it as being pro-
prietor of the land over the spot on which it was found. Hoffman de-
fended his right in a court of justice; but the influence of the Chapter
was employed against him, and he was doomed not only to the loss of
this inestimable fossil, but to the payment of heavy law expenses. But
in time, justice, M. Fanjas says, though tardy, at last arrived — the
troops of the French Republic, secured this treasure, which was conveyed
to the National Museum.

This fossil is described by M. Faujas, in his work on the Mountain
of St. Peter. In this work M. Faujas endeavours to show that this
animal must have been a crocodile, in agreement with the opinion of
Messrs. Drouin and Hoffman, and in opposition to that of Dr. Peter Cam-
per, who believed it to have been a cetaceous animal. M. Adrian Cam-
per, after the most careful investigation, has thought it must have been a
reptile, allied, in some respects, to the family of Monitors, and in others
to the Iguanas.

Furnished by M. Loisel, Prsefect of the Lower Meuse, with numerous
other specimens, not only from the quarries under Fort St. Peter, but
from several other hills, and particularly from the village of Seichem, in
addition to those which had been secured by M. Faujas, the indefatir-

* Hist, Nat. de la Mont de S. Pierre, p. 14.

288

gable Cuvier proceeded to a careful anatomical examination of these
specimens, with the hope of furnishing some information respecting their
origin. This undertaking he conceived to be more particularly necessary,
since the splendid work of M. Faujas contains no really illustrative osteo-
logical remarks ; and since M. Faujas considers M. Adrian Camper as
being of the same opinion with him, as to the agreement of this fossil
animal with the crocodile ; whilst the animal to which the latter gen-
tleman refers this fossil is essentially different from the crocodile, although
placed by Linnaeus with it, under the genus Lacerta.

To M. Adrian Camper we are indebted for the knowledge of the real
characters of this enormous animal, known only at present as a fossil.
By the observations of this gentleman, corroborated by those of M. Cu-
vier, which I shall now place before you, I trust you will be fully satis-
fied respecting the original nature of this wonderful animal.

Dr. Peter Camper had been led to the conclusion, that this animal
should be placed among the cetaceous animals; 1st, from its being ac-
companied by marine remains ; 2dly, from the bones being polished ;
3dly, from the lower jaw having, externally, numerous openings for the
passage of the nerves ; 4thly, from the roots of the teeth being solid ;
5thly, from their being teeth on the palate ; 6thly, from the vertebroe
being without sutures ; and, 7thly, from the phalanges and ribs being of
a different form from those of the crocodile.

All these circumstances, except the first, are allowed by M. Cuvier,
to prove that this animal was not a crocodile ; but he does not admit that
any of them prove its having been a whale ; since, in several reptiles,
and particularly in the monitors and iguanas, the bones are polished,
numerous openings exist in the lower jaw, the roots of the teeth are bony
and solid, and the vertebrae are without suture. The fifth circumstance
proves also, that the animal could neither be a cetaceous animal, nor a
crocodile, since none of these animals have teeth in the palate.

Dr. Camper, whilst distinguishing this fossil animal from the cro-
codile, observes, that in the fossil jaw-bones of St. Peter's Mountain, a
small secondary tooth is formed, with its enamel and solid root, within

289

the bony substance of the primordial tooth itself. These secondary teeth,
by continuing to grow, seem to make, by degrees, sufficient cavities in
the bony roots of the primary teeth; but what becomes of them at last,
and how they are shed, he adds, I am not able to guess *.

From the existence of a hollow in the primary teeth of the fossil ani-
mal, and from the growth of the secondary tooth in this hollow, M. Fau-
jas is led to exclaim : " It is difficult to conceive how this illustrious phi-
losopher could permit so striking a character to escape him; and, after
witnessing this circumstance (the secondary tooth being formed near the
centre of the bony support of the primary tooth), how he could conceive
these teeth to belong to a cetaceous animal ~f ." The approximation of
the secondary towards the centre of the primary tooth appears, however,
in this animal, to have been merely an accidental occurrence. Nor does
it appeaj that the mode of dentition at all coincided with that which is
known to take place in the crocodile.

On this subject, M. Cuvier observes, that in the crocodile :the tooth is
always liollow; -that it is fixed in, but never attached to the bone of the
jaw ; and that the secondary tooth forms in the same socket, and fre-
quently grows into the hollow of the primary tooth, thus shivering it,
and occasioning it to be shed.

The fossil animal of Maestricht, he remarks, on the contrary, like
other animals, appears to have had its teeth hollow only whilst they
were growing, they afterwards filling up, and becoming solid and fixed
in the jaw by a fibrous and osseous substance, materially differing from
the real substance of the teeth, although closely united with it. The se-
condary tooth, too, is here formed in a particular socket, which is formed
at the same time with this tooth, which passes out, sometimes at the side,
arid sometimes through the osseous substance which supports the primary
tooth. In the end, it detaches this substance from the jaw, occasioning
it to fall off, by a species of necrosis like that by which the horns of stags

* Philos. Trans, for 1786, p. 178, f Hist. Nat. de la Mont, de St. Pierre, p. 240.
VOL. III. P P

290

are separated ; the secondary tooth, and the osseous body which Supports
it, filling the place of the tooth which has been expelled. The cellular
and osseous body supporting the teeth, and which have been erroneously
assumed by M. Faujas, as well as by others, as the root of the tooth, ap-
pears to be the pulp of the tooth; which instead of remaining pulpy, as
in quadrupeds, ossifies, and performs the office of a root, becoming one
body with the bony socket.

This mode of organization and of dentition sufficiently distinguishes
this animal, therefore, from the crocodile, and indeed displays further
proofs that it cannot be considered as a cetaceous animal : M. Cuvier
is therefore induced to place it between the osseous fishes and the iguana
and tupinambis.

To enable you to form a better judgment respecting the opinions of
M. Cuvier, to which I shall now call your attention, I have given,
Plate XIX. Fig. 1, a copy of the engraving of the large head of this
animal, from Plate XIX. Vol. xn. of Annales du Museum, &c.

a, b.\ The left side of the lower jaw, nearly whole, and seen on its

outer side.

c, d The right side of the lower jaw, seen on its inner side, the

posterior part of which, a little concealed by the palate-
bones, is continued to e.

f, g The right side of the upper jaw, seen on its inner side, and

with the palate. This jaw has nearly kept its natural
situation, with respect to the preceding bone.

h, i A fragment of the left side of the upper jaw, displaced and

fallen on the lower jaw.

ky I, m, 7 The two palate-bones, displaced and thrown one over the
k', l',m',o', ) other, and also over the right side of the lower jaw.

In the original specimen, a portion of bone is placed from m to p, and
another at q, which are omitted ; as, being mutilated, they cannot be
made out, and conceal the more instructive pieces.

In the lower jaws are fourteen similar teeth on each side, but the mo-

291

nitors have only eleven or twelve; and the crocodiles have fifteen, which
are very unequal. In this jaw also are from ten to twelve large and pretty
regular holes. In the Monitors are six or seven, and in the Crocodiles a
considerable number of small and irregular openings ; whilst in the Dol-
phins there are but two or three, which are towards the end.

At p is an obtuse raised coronoid apophysis, the anterior ridge of which
is enlarged, as in the monitors. In the crocodiles there is nothing similar,
in the dolphin it is smaller and much backwarder, and in the iguana it
is more pointed. The articulating surface, r, is concave, and very near
the posterior end, as in all the lizards ; but it is lower than the dental
edge, as in the monitors ; in the crocodiles, and in the iguanas it is higher.
In the dolphins it is convex, and placed quite at the end. The apo-
physis b, for the attachment of the muscle analagous with the digastric,
is short, as in the iguana; in the crocodile, it is longer; and still more
so, -in the monitor.

The formation of the lower jaw shows that this animal more nearly
accorded with the monitors than with any other of the lizard tribe : as
to the cetacea, there exists no resemblance; since in these, as in all the
mammalia, each side of the lower jaw is in one piece. But to be con-
vinced of the closer agreement of the lower jaw of the fossil animal with
that of the monitor than with that of the crocodile, it is necessary to attend
to the following comparison.

In the lower jaw of the crocodile are six bones on each side : the dental,
in which are formed the alveolae of the teeth, the two being articulated
with each other in the fore part, and forming the anterior angle ; the
opercular , which forms almost all the inner surface of the jaw, except on
the fore part where it is formed by the dental ; the coronoidal, with the
angular; the former placed over the latter, reaching to the posterior extre-
mity; leaving between them a space in the fore part, which is occupied
forwards by the- end of the dental, and forms in the back part a large
oval hole. The angular bone curves upwards, to occupy a space in the
inside of the jaw. Between this bone and the opercular is another oval

292

Bole, smaller than the preceding ; and above that a void, in consequence
of the coronoidal not turning towards the inner surface : the anterior point
of this space is bordered by a small bone of a crescent form. The condyle,
all the superior surface of the posterior apophysis, and all the internal
surface of this part, belongs to the articular bone. In the crocodile there
is no sensible coronoidal apophysis.

The lower jaw of the monitor is composed of the same number of
. bones as in the crocodile ; but, in the monitor, the angular is much
shorter and narrower, and the coronoidal terminates as if truncated,
where it unites with the dental ; the large oval hole not- being left be-
tween them, which is observed in the crocodile. The coronoid apo-
physis is formed by the bone which, in the crocodile* is termed the cres-
cent bone. The articular bone alone forms the posterior apophysis ; and
joins, with its internal surface, the crescent,, and carries to the upper edge
of the bone the opening for the entry of the maxillary nerve, which
opening is so large in the crocodile. In the monitor, also, there is no
opening in the inner surface between the opercular and the angular bone;
but there is a small one in the opercular itself, and a larger one between
that bone and the dental.:

In the lower jaw of the animal of Maestricht, of which the coronoidal
apophysis, is seen, at s, the angular bone at t, and the dental at u and y,
there is no large oval hole in the external surface ; the coronoid process
is a distinct bone> analogous with the crescent-formed bone f the articular
bone alone forms the posterior apophysis, and disposes the angular much
forwarder ; the coronoidal unites with the dental bone in a straight trans-
verse suture ; and there exists a small opening in the opercular bone.

This animal, therefore, approaches the nearest to the monitor, nearer
even than to the iguana, in the conformation of the lower jaw, as well
as in the structure, figure, and insertion of the teeth; although, in this
jatter respect, there exists a peculiarity in the fossil animal.

In the monitor, as in the iguana, the teeth simply adhere to the in-
ternal surface of the two jaws, without the maxillary bone rising to

form sockets round them ; but in the fossil animal, the feet, or bony nu
clei, which sustain the teeth, are adherent in the cavities, or real sockets,
formed in the thickness of the edge of the jaw.

In the fossil upper jaw are eleven teeth; but, as the intermaxillary
bone appears to have been removed, and as it might have contained three
teeth, as in the monitors, it most probably contained the same number in
the upper as in the lower jaw. The water-monitor of Egypt has four-
teen at the top, but only twelve at the bottom.

In the fossil animal all the teeth are pyramidal, and a little bowed;
their outer surface is flat, and is separated, by two sharp ridges, from the
inner surface, which is round, or rather semi-conical. Some of the mo-
nitors have conical teeth, and others have them rather flat and edged;
all the iguanas, and even the lizards and ameiva, .among which may be
reckoned the pretended tupinambis, or monitor of America*, have teeth,
with dentated edges. ,

Thus far, then, the fossil .animal of Maestricht appears to approach
nearer to the monitors than to any others of the lizard tribe ; but a fur-
ther examination, , at once, shows a remarkable variance of character;
the palate-bones being armed with, teeth, which at once approximates
it to the iguanas. •

M. Cuvier has, by, his rich resources in comparative anatomy, been
enabled to determine that the crocodiles, the monitors, the common
lizards, the dragon of Lacepede, the dracena of Linnaeus, the ameiva, draco,
stellio, agama, basiliscus, gecko, cam&leo, scincus, and chalcides, are without
teeth on the palate-bones. The iguana and the anolis only, among the
lizards, agree with many of the serpents, batracii, and fishes, in possessing
these peculiar weapons.

,But the serpents have them on both their anterior and posterior palate-
bones ; the frogs and hylte on a transverse line on the anterior; .the igua-

* This American monitor differs from those of the old continent, and approximates nearer
to the common lizards, by its teeth, with dentated edges^ and by the; square- scales of
belly, tail, &c.

294

nas and salamanders lengthwise on the posterior ; many fishes, such as
the pike, salmon, and genus Gadus, have them also lengthwise. This
circumstance had somewhat misled P. Camper and M. Van Marum.
Comparison will, however, show that the bones in the fossil animal in
which these teeth are implanted, resemble those of reptiles, and not
those of fishes.

In the monitor and the iguana, the bone which M. Geoffrey calls the
posterior palatine, and which M. Cuvier considers as the internal ptery-
goidai apophysis, is not, as in the crocodile, united with the sphenoidal
bone, nor enlarged into a large triangular plate. It is here a bone
with four branches, one of which extends forwards, and unites with the
anterior palatine; the second passes to the side, to join the bore called,
by M. Geoffroy, the alar bone, which unites itself with the superior
maxillary bone; the third rests, by a surface covered by a cartilage, on
an apophysis of the base of the skull ; and, lastly, the fourth extends back-
wards, and gives attachment to muscles, but does not articulate with any
bone.

It is on the inner edge of the anterior branch that the series of teeth is
implanted which distinguish the iguana. The anolis has this bone wider
in all its parts, and the posterior branch shorter, but it in other respects
resembles that of the iguana. In the monitors, on the contrary, all the
parts of this bone are narrower, and it is without teeth.

Now, viewing the palate-bones of the fossil animal, all the parts are
directly seen, which have been just described as existing in the iguana.
The one which is in the upper part, k, I, m, is that of the right side. Its
external apophysis, o, is concealed, but the posterior, /, although broken
at the end, shows plainly that it must have been as long in proportion as
in the iguana. The other, o', k'y I', m', is that of the right side : it shows
the four apophyses very distinct. The chief specific difference whicli it
shows is, that the internal process m , is longer than in the iguana, or in
the monitor. Each of these bones, in the fossil animal, appears to have

295

borne eight teeth, which grew, were fixed, and were renewed in the
same manner as those of the jaws ; but which were, of course, much
smaller.

We have therefore now sufficient grounds for assuming a place for
this fossil animal. Its head fixes it irrevocably between the monitors
and io-uanas. But how enormously must its size have exceeded that of

all the iguanas and monitors now known ! None of them have a head
longer, perhaps, than five inches; whilst, in the fossil animal, it must
have been nearly four feet.

Prepared by the knowledge he had obtained, respecting the head of
this animal, M. Cuvier proceeded with confidence to the examination of
the vertebrae. P. Camper had given a figure of one of the vertebrae of
this animal, under the impression of the animal being one of the cetacea;
and M. Faujas has given four plates of them, as belonging to a species
of the crocodile. But M. Cuvier, aided by an important series of spe-
cimens, found at Seichem, a village about two leagues from Maestricht ;
and by a memoir of M. M. Minkelero and Herman, which accompanied
the specimens, has been enabled not only to point out the several kinds
of vertebrae, and to compare them with the analogous vertebrae in exist-
ing animals, but even to point out, with a high degree of probability,
their succession, and the number of each sort composing the spine.

All these vertebrae, like those of crocodiles, monitors, iguanas, and
the greater part of the lizard and serpent tribe, have their bodies con-
cave in their fore part, and convex on their posterior part ; which distin-
guishes them decidedly from those of cetacea, in which they are nearly
flat ; and still more from those of fishes, in which the two ends are hol-
lowed into conical cavities. The concavities and convexities of these ver-
tebrae are, as in all similar vertebrae, more strong in the anterior than in
the posterior vertebrae.

The apophyses establish, by their number, five kinds of vertebrae. The
first sort, the last of the neck and the first of the back, have a superior spi-
nous apophysis, long and compressed ; an inferior, terminated by a con-

296

cavity; four articular, the posterior of which are short, and are directed
outwards ; and two transverse, which are thick and short. Their bodies
are longer than wide, and wider than high ; their faces are transversely
oval. Those of the middle of the back have not the inferior apophysis,
but resemble the preceding in every thing else. The last of the back,
those of the loins, and of the beginning of the tail, have no articular
apophyses, and their places may be known by their transverse apophyses,
which become elongated and flattened. The articular surfaces of the
posterior of these vertebrae are nearly triangular. The next of the tail, be-
sides their superior spinous apophysis, and the two transverse, have at
their inferior side two small surfaces to receive the angular bone *, (los
en chevron). The articular surfaces of these vertebra? are pentagonal.
The next set, Plate XVIII. Fig. 8, differ from the preceding in not
having any transverse apophyses. These form a large part of the tail.
The angular bone a is not here articulated, but united into one body
with the vertebra. The succeeding vertebrae become more and more
-compressed at the sides; «nd, as they approach the end of the tail, cease
to have any apophyses at all.

This series of vertebrae gives opportunity to M. Cuvier to offer some
important observations. The angular bone first claims his attention. Its
great length, with that of the spinous apophysis, which is opposite to it,
sufficiently prove that the tail of this animal was considerably extended
vertically. The absence of the transverse apophyses from a consider-
able part of the length of the tail, prove, at the same time, that it was
much flattened at the sides. Hence he concludes, that this animal was
aquatic, and swam in the manner of the crocodile, working its vast tail,
as an oar, from side to side, and not upwards and downwards, as in the
cetacea.

* That which I have termed angular bone, and which is by the -French designated by the
term Vos en chevron, is a bone, of which several are sometimes placed at the juncture of the
yertebrae of the tail, on their lower part, where they are disposed so as to form an angle, as
in the letter V.

297

In the monitors the tail is rounder, and the transverse apophyses reach
much further. In, the crocodiles, the basilisks, the lizards, the stellions,
and in the lizard tribe in general, except the monitors, and even in the
cetacea, and in all the quadrupeds with a large tail, the angular bone is
articulated on the lower part of the joining of the vertebrae, arid is there-
fore common to two vertebrae.

The monitors alone have beneath the body of each vertebra two sur-
faces ior its reception, as in this animal ; only the body of their vertebrae
being more elongated, these surfaces are on them placed more posteriorly.
In the fossil animal, these surfaces are near the middle. But M. Cuvier
observes, that he does not know any animal, in which the. angular bone
is united in one body with the vertebra, as it is in this, through the
posterior part of the tail, by which its solidity is of necessity much aug-
mented.

Another character, distinguishing the fossil animal from the monitors,
and from others of the lizard tribe, is the sudden ceasing of the articular
apophyses of the vertebrae, which takes place in the middle of the back,
whilst, in the greater part of animals, they extend very nearly to the end
of the tail.

The fu>t twenty vertebrae of the tail appear to have had no angular
bones attached to them ; whilst, in the crocodile and monitors, only one
or two vertebrae of this description exist. Hence the tail of this animal
must have been, in all probability, cylindrical at its base, and have en-
larged in a vertical direction, and become flattened, only at some distance
from the body, assuming the form of an oar much more than is the case
in the crocodile.

Besides other differences between these vertebrae and those of the cro-
codiles, it is observable that those of the neck, in the fossil, do not possess
the two tubercles which, in the crocodile, bear the little false rib on each
side ; which is another proof that this animal was not a crocodile, and that
it possessed more liberty of moving its head from side to side.

VOL. III. Q Q

298

By the vertebrae found at Seichem, which appeared to be of 6ne and
the same spine, and by the memoir of M. Hermans, M. Cuvier found
himself able to determine the absolute number of the vertebrse of each
sort.

The number of the vertebrse of the neck, back, and loins, without
reckoning the atlas and axis, he concludes to have been twenty-nine ;
and supposing the two last of the number to have belonged to the pelvis,
they would be twenty-seven, precisely the same as in the monitors, in
which animal, four of the neck, and two of the loins, are without ribs.
There are, therefore, in the monitors, twenty-three pair of vertebral ribs;
whilst the crocodiles have but seventeen, even when counting the five
little false cervical ribs ; and it is very probable that the fossil animal had
twenty-two or twenty-three at the least.

The number of the vertebrae of the tail appears to have been ninety-
seven. This number much exceeds that of the crocodile, which has but
thirty-five : but they very little exceed those of the monitor, M. Cuvier
having found seventy-nine caudal vertebrse in a skeleton of this animal, in
which some were known to be wanting.

The length of the cervical, dorsal, and lumbar vertebrae, appears to
have been about nine feet five inches, and that of the vertebrae of the
tail about ten feet; adding to which the length of the head, which
may be reckoned, considering the loss of the intermaxillary bones, at least
at four feet, we may safely conclude the whole length of the skeleton of
the animal to have approached very nearly to twenty-four feet.

The head is a sixth of the whole length of the animal ; a proportion
approaching very near to that of the crocodile, but differing much from
that of the monitor, the head of which animal forms hardly a twelfth
part of the whole length.

The tail must have been very strong, and its width at its extremity
must have rendered it a most powerful oar, and have enabled the ani-
mal to have opposed the most agitated waters, as has been well remarked

by M. Aclrien Camper. PVom this circumstance, arid from the other
remains which accompany those of this animal, there can be no doubt of
its having been an inhabitant of the ocean.

The fossil remains of the extremities of this animal appear to have
been so rarely found, that M. Cuvier, at one time, was led to suppose
that it had none. M. Faujas has however given, Mont, de S. Pierre,
PI. xi. under the name of Scapula, the figure of a pubis, which very
nearly resembles that of a monitor. Among the specimens sent from
Seichem, M. Cuvier found a portion of a real shoulder-blade, much re-
sembling, in its form, that of the monitor's, but very different from the
narrow shoulder-blade of the crocodile, or from that of the iguana. It is
right to observe that the bone represented by M. Faujas, Mont, de S.
Pierre, PL x. is merely the humerus of a large tortoise.

P. Camper, as well as his son, speak of, but neither figure nor describe,
a bone of the carpus and of the phalanges: M. Cuvier, who has not seen
any of these bones, thinks we may however be allowed to conjecture,
from the agreement of the teeth and vertebrae with those of the monitor's,
that this animal had five toes ; whilst, from its being a marine swimming
animal, we have reason to suppose, that neither its toes nor hind feet were
so elongated as in those reptiles, w/hich are for the most part terrestrial.

Taking all these circumstances into consideration, M. Cuvier concludes,
and certainly on fair, if not indisputable grounds, that this animal must
have formed an intermediate genus between those animals of the lizard
tribe, which have an extensive and forked tongue, which include the
monitors and the common lizards, and those which have a short tongue
and the palate armed with teeth, which comprise the, iguanas, marbres,
and anolis. This genus, he thinks, could only have been allied to the cro-
codile by the general characters of the lizards.

The history of this wonderful fossil gives us, then, an instance of an
animal far surpassing, in its size, any of the animals of those genera to
which it approaches the nearest, in its general characters : at the same time

300

that, from its accompanying fossils, we find reason to believe it to have
been an inhabitant of the sea, whilst none of the existing lizard tribe are
known to live in salt water. These circumstances, however wonderful
as they are, are more than equalled by many of the numerous discoveries
which we have yet to contemplate in the natural history of the former
world. We have here seen a monitor possessing the magnitude of a
crocodile ; but we have yet to examine a tapir of the size of an elephant,
and a sloth (the megalonix) as large as a rhinoceros.

We have seen, in the preceding letter, that the remains found in the
pyritous schist of Thuringia were referable to Lacerta monitor, Linn, or
rather to some species of the genus Monitor, of Cuvier; and this we shall
find to be the case with other supposed remains of crocodiles.

Spener, in 1710, published, Miscel berolin. I. Fig. 24 and 25, a plate,
representing a supposed fossil crocodile. This fossil was found at the depth
of three hundred feet, in the mines of Kupfer-Suhl, near to Eisenach, in
Prussia. In 1718, Linck, of Leipsic, published the letter already men-
tioned, to Dr. Woodward, describing and figuring a supposed fossil croco-
dile, of which he says: — " Non terrebit musas tuas hie crocodilus, acutis-
sime Woodwardi. Neque enim e Nilo canibus hominibusque formidandus,
sed ex mediis Germanise montibus venit." Another fossil was particula-
rized by Swedenborg, Tractat. de Cupro, PL n. found in the mines of Glucks-
bronn, near to Altenstein, and was placed by Swedenborg among the
apes, he supposing it to have been a species of Guenon or Sapajou. An-
other fossil of this kind is one which was found in the mines of Rothen-
bourg, at the depth of two hundred and sixty-four feet, but is at present
in the Royal cabinet of Berlin.

These fossils, all of the same character and size, and found in a simi-
lar matrix, appear to belong to one species of animals. The form of the
head ; the teeth, all sharp ; and the size of the vertebrae of the tail ; de-
termine it to be an oviparous quadruped, without the proof of the pos-
terior members, which afford full confirmation.

301

Spener's fossil was supposed by him to be a crocodile; and Faujas has
gone so far, as to determine it to be actually a gavial ; but his error is at
once proved, by the shortness of the muzzle. Cuvier, on the contrary,
shows that this head alone determines the genus of this animal. If it
had been the head of a crocodile, there must have been at least fifteen
teeth in the lower jaw, and seventeen or eighteen in the upper jaw ; and
which would have reached to beneath the middle of the orbits : but in
these fossil remains there have been but eleven, which stop at the ante-
rior angle of the orbit. These are the characters of one of the numerous
species which have been heaped together by Linnaeus, under the name
of Lacerta monitor, and distinguished by Daudin by the inappropriate
generic name Tupinambis.

In the fossil of Swedenborg, the hind feet, the impressions of which
are well preserved, show five unequal toes, of which the fourth is the
longest. These are formed of the number of small bones, and in the
order here set down, beginning with the thumb, and including the meta-
carpal bones — 3, 4, 5, 6, 4 ; but in that species of ape Guenon> or Cerco-
pithecus, the number and order would be 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, and the third toe
the longest. In Linck's specimen the same series is discoverable as in
Swedenborg's.

Hence it appears, that the number and order of the toes, as well
as the number and order of the articulations of each toe, of this fossil
animal, precisely agree with those of the monitor, as well as of the
common lizards and of the iguana; but not at all with those of the cro-
codiles, which have on their hind feet but four toes, differing but little in
length, and the number and order of bones being 3, 4, 5, 4.

In the fore feet of the fossil animal five nearly equal toes may be made
out. This agrees with those of the crocodile and lizards, but in these
the last toe is evidently smallest.

The length of the fossil animal appears to have been about three feet,
which is about the size to which the monitors of Egypt, of Congou, and

302

of the East Indies, generally attain. Of these fossil animals having,
therefore, belonged to some species of animals which have been con-
fusedly ranged by Linnaeus under the species Lacerta monitor, and of
which Daudin has formed the genus Tupinambis, there can remain no
doubt.

The polished section of a specimen from the Dorsetshire coast, which
I obtained from Mr. Strange's Museum, displays the remains of an ani-
mal of this kind. In the remains of the head, teeth, vertebrae, &c. the
characters of this animal may be detected.

LETTER XXL

ORNITHOLITES.

1 HE various coloured and figured stones, bearing accidentally the ap-
pearance of birds, need be here noticed only for the purpose of ob-
serving, that to such accidentally figured stones the ancients gave the
names of Hieracites and Perdicites. Nor would it be necessary to mention
here the pretended petrifactions of birds'-nests, eggs, &c. of Lesser, Ges-
ner, Baccius, and others, but to remark, that there is every reason for
believing that all these were either stones of the kind just mentioned, or
mere incrustrations, including the substances, which had themselves un-
dergone no change. Specimens of this kind may be obtained at Mat-
lock, in Derbyshire, and at various other places, where the water is sur-
charged with lime.

303

Few indeed of the supposed ornitholites of modern writers can support
their claim to this distinction, when subjected to a careful examination.
Thus the birds' beaks from Jena and Weimar, mentioned by Wallerius
and Linnaeus, are substances which, according to Walch, merely bear
an external resemblance to these bodies.

But when it is recollected, that plants of the family of ferns, of mi-
mosa, and of other terrestrial plants, are found in the same stones with
the fossil fish at Vestena Nova, GEningen, Pappenheim, and Roche-
sauve, no doubt can exist, that at the period when these fishes existed in
the ocean, the whole surface of the globe could not be covered with
water, but there were parts of the earth in which the riches of vegetation
were displayed. Ann. du Mus. T. in. p. 19.

That a part of the surface of the earth was not then covered by water
is also rendered highly probable, by the rareness with which the fossil
remains of birds have been met with. So seldom, indeed, have such
fossils been seen, that their existence has been doubted, I believe I may
assert, by the greater number of oryctologists. Passing the erroneous
accounts of the earlier writers on this subject, who appear to have con-
sidered different incrustations arid figured stones as real fossil remains of
birds, we have had the figure of a supposed ornitholite given in one of
the numbers of the Journal de Physique, and the original specimen having
been examined by M. P. Camper and the Abbe Fortis, neither of them
would admit its supposed origin. An engraving was also given, in the
same work, Thermidor, An. 8, of a stone, with the impression of the
two legs of a bird ; but it is said, that no one at Paris has seen the original
specimen.

In the same work, however, an indubitable ornitholite, the foot of a
bird, incrusted in the gypsum from the quarries of Clignancourt, near
Montmartre, is figured and described by Cuvier, showing that real orni-
tholites exist in the ancient beds of gypsous matter. Blumenbach men-
tions the discovery of the bones of a water-fowl in the marly schist of

304

(Eningen, and the bone of one of the anscres in the calcareous schist of
Pappenheim; Manuel dHist. Nat. T. n. p. 408. Faujas St. Fond has
also presented us with two indubitable fossils of this class, being two fea-
thers from the quarries of Vestena Nova, imbedded in the same stone in
which the fishes are found.

Fossil feathers are very rarely met with. A fine specimen of this kind
is figured by Scheuchzer, part of a feather being enclosed in a piece of
the fissile stone of CEningen. M. Walch also describes two specimens in
his possession. One of these is the barrel part of the quill, about the
size of a goose-quill, to which a part of the feather is adherent. The
other is a small feather, with its tubular part.

A beak is described by Rome de Lisle, and figured in Davila's Cata-
logue, said to be from the neighbourhood of Reutlingen (Catalog, m.
No. 25.), which, in the opinion of M. Cuvier, is merely a bivaive shell,
fixed obliquely in the stone. In the same work, a fossil bone ot a bird is
mentioned ; but it is neither figured nor described ; being only spoken of
as being from Canstadt. This also, I conceive, should be admitted as an
ornitholite, with much hesitation : bones which I have received from
Canstadt, under the same description, are bones which are merely in-
crusted by a calcareous deposition. Scheuchzer speaks of the head of a
bird in a piece of the black schist of Eisleben, but at the same time ad-
mits of its near resemblance to a pink-blossom.

The Abbe Fortis, than whom very few have had equal opportunities
of exercising an excellent judgment on the nature and characters of dif-
ferent fossils, is remarkably sceptical as to any fossils of this description.
This assiduous naturalist is not even satisfied with the specimens of fossil
feathers of Mount Bolca, which have been just spoken of as having been
figured by M. Faujas, Annales du Mus. 8fc. vi. p. 21, /;/. 1.

Lamanon described, in 1782, the impression of a whole bird from
Montmartre; but, in its delineation, he allowed his fancy rather too free
scope, adding to it the feathers of the wings and tail. Fortis, on the

305

other hand, examined the same specimen ; and allowing his imagination
to strengthen his prepossessions, at the same time taking a few liberties
with the original figure, determined it to be the remains either of a frog
or toad. Cuvier has, however, since examined the same specimen, and
is confident of its being really the remains of a bird. Subsequent exami-
nations have discovered several bones of birds in the plaster quarries;
and in a number, indeed, so great, as to leave no doubt of a consi-
derable number of the fossil remains of birds being contained in these
quarries.

To enable him to show satisfactorily to others the nature of the several
specimens which he obtained, M. Cuvier has given the characteristic
marks of the correspondent parts in the living animal ; and the circum-
stances by which these parts, in birds, are distinguishable from those which
approximate to them in form or appearance in other animals. Consi-
dering that information of this nature cannot but be highly acceptable to
those who are engaged in pursuits of this kind, I have here introduced a
sketch of the most important of these observations.

1st. The foot of a bird differs from that of any other animal, in having
a single bone in the place of the tar sal and metatarsal bones.

2dly, Birds are the only class in which the toes all differ, as to the
number of joints, and in which this number, and the order of the toes
which have them, is nevertheless fixed. The great toe has two ; the
first toe, reckoning on the inside, three ; the middle, five ; and the outer-
most, five. The crocodile has the same number of phalanges as birds ;
but as these have each a metatarsal and tarsal bone, they cannot be
mistaken.

There exist but two kinds of exceptions to this rule: the one is, that
some birds have no great toes ; but in these, the other toes preserve the
usual order: the other is, in the ostrich and cassowars, which have three
joints to each toe. The crocodile, indeed, has the same number of pha-
langes ; but as every one of the toes is supported by a particular me-

VOL. III. R R

306

tatarsal bone, and these by several tarsal bones, the distinction is easily*
made.

The os femoris of birds is distinguishable from that of quadrupeds by
its external condyle, which instead of having in its back part, a simple
convexity for the outer pit of the head of the .tibia, has two projecting
lines: the one, which is the real condyle, and which answers to the
upper and outer pit of the tibia, and to the inner pit of the fibula, is
stronger marked than the other, which is more external, descends less, and
rests on the upper edge of the fibula. Thus the external condyle, in birds,
is forked, or hollowed out into a canal more or less deep, in its back part.

The only quadruped, in which any analogous structure is discoverable,
is the kanguroo. In this animal there exists a slight depression on the
back part of the external condyle of the os femoris; but the great width
of the great trochanter, and several other characters, will always prevent
the confounding of the os femoris of a bird with that of a kanguroo.

Reckoning upon the apparent specific characters of different thigh-
bones, found in the neighbourhood of Paris, M. Cuvier concludes that
they point out the remains of five or six different species of birds existing
in these quarries.

The shoulder-bones of birds are also easily known, by the particular
characters of their extremities. The head is always oblong, from right
to left, playing in a corresponding groove formed by the scapula and
clavicle ; the two lateral ridges widening this part of the bone consider-
ably. The lower end is distinguishable by an articular pulley, divided
into two parts: one of which, the inner or lower, which is nearly round,
is for articulation with the ulna; and the other, the outer or upper, which
is oblong in the direction of the bone, and rises a little obliquely on the
anterior face of the bone, is for the radius. In quadrupeds, the head is
always round and the ridges small ; and in the lower end, the ulnar pul-
ley is always concave, and the radial is hollowed into a groove in those
in which the fore-arm has no supination.

nice investigation and comparison, M. Cuvier is supported in his

307

conjectures, that he has found the mineralized remains of a pelican less
than pelicanus onocratutus, and larger than P. car bo ; of one of the large
curlews, with naked necks, disposed by Gmelin under the genus Tantalus;
of a woodcock, a starling, and a sea-lark (alouette de mer).

Judging from the form and proportions of a bone which I have in the
marly schist of CEningen, eight inches in length, I suppose it to have
been the tibia of some water-fowl. Its extremities are very much in-
jured, and the bone has been split through its whole length with the
stone ; so that no characteristic marks can be observed.

On the back of the stone, and in different parts where it has been shi-
vered, the seeming remains of feathers are observable. Another spe-
cimen, a slender bone seven inches in length, so deeply imbedded in the
hard lime-stone of Stunsfield, in Oxfordshire, as not to allow either of its
extremities to be examined, is, I have very little doubt, also either the
tibia or tarsal bone of some bird.

LETTER XXII.

FOSSIL REMAINS OF MAMMALIA CETACEA, WHALES, &C AM-
PHIBIA TRICHECUS, SEALS, &C SOLIPEDES, THE HORSE.

HAVING now to commence the examination of the fossil remains of
those animals which are comprised in the Linnean class Mammalia, I
feel that it may be necessary to endeavour to satisfy you with respect to
the manner in which this part of my task is accomplished. I fear that
you will, at first, experience feelings of disappointment, on my avowing
to you, that the following pages will almost entirely be employed in

308

placing before you the discoveries which have been made by another ;
and you will probably imagine that this acknowledgement can hardly be
made without occasioning me to experience some degree of mortifica-
tion. But the truth is, that knowing, that as you proceed you must be
highly pleased, I am thoroughly satisfied with merely recounting to you
the most prominent particulars of those important discoveries, which have
rewarded the patient and unabating exertions of Cuvier. If it should occur
toyou that the name of thisjustly celebrated anatomist should too frequently
meet your eye in the following pages, remember that this necessarily re-
sults from the number and importance of his discoveries, and consider, that
if we were giving a history of galvanism, of the alkalies, earths, metals, &c.
how frequently, in like manner, must the pen be engaged in reporting the
important discoveries of our illustrious Davy. To have admitted less of
the discoveries of Cuvier, in the present work, would have been unjust
to those many who cannot obtain the voluminous, expensive, and almost
prohibited works, in which they are contained. To have introduced less
would indeed have been to have sparingly employed the only light almost
which has ever been thrown on this most interesting subject.

I must here also crave your attention, while I excuse myself for again
departing from that classification which has been so long established by
the truly great Linnaeus. The natural method of classification, employed
by Dumeril, Zoologie Analytique, ou Methodc Naturelle de Classification des
Animaux, par A. M. C. Dumeril, is generally adopted by Cuvier ; and his
discoveries are related in the nomenclature, as well as in the order, of that
arrangement. Hence, although it will not be difficult for those who wish
to adhere to the Linnaean system to understand, with a little explana-
tion, to what species, &c. every observation is intended to refer, yet it
would be impossible, without considerable confusion, to give the disco-
veries of Cuvier in the terms, or agreeable to the arrangement, of that
system ; since his observations refer to particular families which are com-
posed of genera, which in the Linnsean arrangement are dispersed under
several different orders.

309

This may be instanced in the second family, whose remains we shall
have occasion to inquire into; since, in speaking of the amphibia, the
walrus, the seal, dugong, and lamantin, which constitute this family, are
all referred to; whilst, in the Linnaean system, the trichecus, lamantin,
and dugong, are found with the elephant, sloth, and other land animals,
under the order Bruta ; and the seals, with the dog, cat, &c. under the
genus Fertf*.

The remains of the family of Cete, or Ceti, composed of bal<e?ia, balenop-
tera, narwhalus, ananarchus, catodon, phylasus, physeterus, delphinus, delphinap-
terus, and hyperodon, having large spiracles in the top of the head, fins without
nails, and no hind feet, are, I believe, rarely found in a mineralized state.

Two specimens, fragments of the long projecting and spirally twisted
tooth of the narwhal, improperly named Monodon monoceros, or narwhalus,
was in the Museum of Sir Ashtori Lever, one of which I now possess,
and strongly suspect it to have been found on the Essex coast. Plate
XX. Fig. 1, is a tooth, probably of some animal of this order. It is im-
bedded in a grey limestone, and is said to have been found in the neigh-
bourhood of Bath.

Amphibia, com prising phoca, trichecus , dugong, and lamantin, and having
four paws in the form of fins, and frequently with unguiculated toes, have left
very few fossil remains.

M. Renou, professor of Natural History at Angers, found several bones
of the lamantin (Manatus), in that part of the department of Maine and
Loire which is situated to the south of the Loire, and on the two sides of

* Mr. Pennant observes : " To have preserved the chain of beings entire, Linnaeus should
have made the genus of Phoc/e, or Seals, and that of the Trichecus, or Manati, immediately
precede the whale, those being the links that connect the mammalia with fish ; for the seal
is, in respect to its legs, the most imperfect of the former class ; and in the manatithe hind
feet coalesce, assuming the form of a bro;id horizontal tail. British Zoology, Vol. III. p. 44.
Cuvier considers the lamantin, the dugong, and a supposed lamantin, seen by Steller, in Beer-
ing, and possessing a hide like the hoof of a horse or an ox, as forming three distinct genera,
composing a very different family from the seals, and which come as near to the ceti, as the
pachydermata do to the carnivorous animals.

310

the river Layon, in a calcareous bed formed of fossil fragments of shells,
These bones were considerably mutilated, but were known to belong to
phocae, lamantins, and cetacea. Ann. du Mus. Tome xin. /;. 273.

Although these bones could be arranged under their proper genera,
the species to which they belonged could not be ascertained. Thus a
fossil skull, found with these bones, was determined to be that of a ma-
natus, but of one different from those which are known. Three ribs,
bearing the cylindrical form peculiar to the ribs of these animals, were
found in the Commune of Capians, about ten leagues from Bourdeaux.

The bones which Esper found in the caverns of Franconia, and which
he thought were the bones of seals, are undoubtedly the bones of terres-
trial carnivorous animals. But some of the bones found by M. Renou,
of Angers, were decidedly the bones of a seal, and twice and a half as
large as those of the common seal, P. vitulinat which is now seen on the
coast of France.

No decided remains of the Morse, or Walrus, Trichecus rosmarus, have
been discovered in a mineralized state. Leibnitz imagined the elephan-
tine remains of Siberia to have belonged to the Walrus ; and Walch,
Wallerius and Gmelin, have supposed the fossil jaw found in the neigh-
bourhood of Bologna, DC Monum. diluv. in agro bonon. detecto, to have be-
longed to the walrus ; but Cuvier has plainly shown, that it is the remains
of a small species of the mammoth (Mastodon), as will be more parti-
cularly noticed in a succeeding letter.

I am unable to speak decidedly of a fossil tooth, said to be found in a
bed of alluvial matters, in Norfolk. Its substance is very considerably
changed : it is about fifteen inches in length, and appears to be nearly
perfect at its extremities; although one side of it, and a considerable por-
tion of its internal substance is removed. The fineness of its grain and
its edge not manifesting the peculiar lozenge-formed decussations observ-
able in the ivory of the elephant and of the mammoth (Mastodon), with
the size and form of the tooth, lead to the suspicion of its having belonged
to an animal of this genus. On the other hand, neither its form nor its

311

size will prevent the supposition from being admitted, that it may be the
tooth of some young animal of the genus Elephas,

In the family Solipedes, one genus (Equus) only can be placed, having
only one toe and one hoof.

The remains of the horse are only found in the looser alluvial depo-
sitions. I recollect no instance, in this island, in which its remains have
been found imbedded in chemical depositions, which possess a stony
hardness. Thus its remains are frequently found in peat-beds, in gravel,
loam, &c. but not to my recollection, in limestone. From the strata in
which they exist being frequently contiguous to the surface, these re-
mains are often turned up with the plough; seldom exciting much no-
tice, from their not being considered otherwise than as the remains of
animals of but late existence. This notion has of course derived consi-
derable support from the circumstance of these teeth, bones, &c. not dif-
fering from the living species of the present day.

Although so exactly agreeing with those of the present species, the
teeth and bones of the horse are often found mingled with the bones of
those animals which must have existed at a very distant aera, and even
sometimes with the remains of those animals which are now unknown to
us. Thus I have met with them, in this country, in the same stratum
which has yielded the bones of the great Irish elk, of the elephant, rhi-
noceros, and hippopotamus, and perhaps of the mammoth. Cuvier him-
self saw hundreds of the teeth and bones of horses taken from the canal
ofOurcq, mixed with those of elephants; some of the former being really
petrified. At Canstadt, in Wirtemberg, they are found in prodigious
numbers, with the bones of elephants, tigers, rhinoceroses, and hyenas:
.they have also been found, thus associated, in Italy, in different parts of
Fr-ince; and in many of those beds, in other parts of the world, in which
elephantine remains have been found. This, as is justly observed by
M. Cuvier, is deservedly interesting; since, from the remains of the ani-
mals with which they are associated, it is probable that they lived before
our continents existed in their present state.

312

The fossil remains of horses have been very seldom mentioned by au-
thors. The fossil teeth of a horse are given by Bernia, in his edition of
Aldrovandus on Monsters, as the teeth of giants ; and Lang, Hist. Lap.
Fig. Helv. Tab. xi. Fig. 1, 2, figures the tooth of a horse as the tooth of
the hippopotamus. Kundmann has also engraved the teeth of a horse,
without knowing to. what animal they belonged ; and Walch, having re-
ceived some from Quedlimbourg, only observes, that they were similar to
those which had been figured by Lang and Kundmann. Hence, Cuvier
observes, that these having been so little noticed by former writers, is at-
tributable partly to their not having excited their attention sufficiently,
and partly to their ignorance respecting their origin.

A species of horse appears to have been the associate of elephants in
former periods ; but M. Cuvier is unable, from single bones and mutilated
fragments, to determine in what points it nearest resembled the species
of the present day.

As the fossil teeth of the horse are most likely to be confounded with
those of the ox or buffalo, I shall place before you the following distin-
guishing characters.

The upper grinders of the horse agree with those of the ox and buffalo
in their prismatic form, and are marked, like them, with four crescents;
but they have also a fifth on their inner edge.

The lower grinders are more compressed, and have four crescents, the
same as in the ox ; but, instead of being disposed two and two, parallel,
they are placed alternately, the first of the inner edge corresponding with
the interval on the outer edge.

The largest fossil tooth of this animal which I have obtained, is one
which was found by Mr. D. Ward, at Great Wigston, near Leicester.
The size of these teeth we however know may depend on circumstances
not affected by the difference of species. Thus, if any of the teeth of one
jaw are removed, the opposite teeth, in the other jaw, will grow to a very
considerable length.

LETTER XXIII.

FOSSIL REMAINS OF RUMINANTIA FOSSIL ELK OF IRELAND .......

STAGS, &C OX, BUFFALO, AUROCH, &C.

1 HE family of Ruminantia, or Bisulca, of Dumeril, the order of Pecora>
of Linnaeus, are distinguished by two toes and two hoofs; the hoof being, as
it were, cloven. The genera are : 1, Camelus ; 2. Moschus; 3. Cervus;
4. Camelo-pardalis ; 5. Antilope; 6. Capra ; 7. Ovis; 8. Bos<>

It is justly observed by Cuvier, that the study of the fossils of this
family, either osteologically or geologically, is exceedingly difficult. The
general resemblance to each other of the animals of this family is so
great, that the several genera can only be characterized by parts, such
as horns; which, from their frequently varying with age, sex, and
climate, must, in their fossil and mutilated states, be very uncertain
guides. The difficulties which occur, whilst considering them geolo-
gically, also applies to the fossil remains of the horse. The remains of
the ruminants, except those of the Irish elk, and perhaps of some species
of Cervus, do not appear to differ from the corresponding parts of the ani-
mals of our climates and our times; a circumstance in which they will
be found to vary much from the remains of other families. The situa-
tions in which they are found appear also to be difficult to account
for. Most frequently they are found in beds which appear to be of the
more recent alluvial formation; but sometimes they are also found in
those alluvial beds which, from their containing the remains of the ele-

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314

pliant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, &c. in countries and climates where
these animals have never been known to exist, were most probably formed
before our continents existed in their present state.

Among the fossils of the British empire, none are more calculated to
excite astonishment than the enormous stags' horns which have been dug
up in different parts of Ireland. Dr. Molyneux, in 1697, published a
paper on this subject in the Philosophical Transactions, Vol. xix. No.
227, in which he concludes that these remains are to be considered
as a proof that the American moose-deer was formerly common in that
island.

In this paper he particularly describes a pair of these horns which were
found at Dardistown, near Drogheda. Mr. Henry Osborn, from whom
Dr. Molyneux received them, says : — " This is the third head I have
found by casual trenching in my orchard. They were all dug up within
the compass of an acre of land, and lay about four or five feet under
ground, in a sort of boggy soil. The first pitch was of earth, the next
two or three of tur£ and then followed a sort of white marie, in which
they were found."

Plate XX. Fig. 2, is an outline sketch of these horns, drawn to the
annexed scale. Their dimensions, Dr. Molyneux informs us, were as
follow:

Feet Inches,

From the extreme tip of each horn AB 10 10

From the tip of the right horn to its root CD 5 2

From the tip of one of the inner branches to the tip of

the opposite branch EF 3 7|

The length of one of the palms, within the branches.. ..GH 2 6

The breadth of the same palm, within the branches.... IK 1 lOf

The length of the right brow antler DL 1 2

The beam of each horn, at some distance from the head M

In diameter 0 2-rV

In circumference 0 8

Feet Inches,

The beam of each horn, at its root, in circumference D Oil
The length of the head, from the back of the skull to

the extremity of the upper jaw-bone NO 2 0

The breadth of the skull PQ 1 0

A similar pair, found ten feet under ground, in the County of Clare,
was presented to Charles the Second, and placed in the horn-gallery,
Hampton-court, but was afterwards removed into the guard-room of the
same palace.

At Bally ward, near Ballyshannon ; at Turvy, eight miles from Dub-
lin; and at Portumery, near the River Shannon, in the County of Gal-
way ; similar horns have been found. In the common-hall of the Bishop
of Armagh's house, in Dublin, was a forehead, with two amazing large
beams of a pair of this kind of horns, which, from the magnitude of the
beams, must have much exceeded in size those of which the dimensions
are given above. Dr. Molyneux states, that in the last twenty years, thirty
pair of these horns had been dug up by accident in this country : the ob-
servations, also, of several other persons, prove the great frequency with
which these remains have been found in Ireland.

Various opinions have been entertained respecting this animal and its
existing prototype. This, however, does not appear to have been yet
discovered; and these remains may, I believe, be regarded as having
belonged to an animal now extinct.

Dr. Molyneux, in the paper above referred to, in confirmation of his
opinion that these are not the horns of the elk, observes, that the elk's
horns " are much smaller, and quite of another shape and make ; not
palmated, or broad at the end furthest from the head, as ours ; but, on
the contrary, broader towards the head, and growing still narrower to-
wards the tips' end ;" and concludes with saying, " that it can only
answer to that lofty-horned beast in the West Indies, called a moose.

Mr. Samuel Dale, in the thirty-ninth volume of the Philosophical
Transactions, gives a description of the moose-deer of New England ; but

316

observes, that the horn of 'the New England black moose best agrees with
those found fossil in Ireland.

Dr. Mortimer adds, in a note to this, paper of Mr. Dale's : " As to the
large horns found fossil in Ireland, I have taken particular notice (in se-
veral I have seen), besides the main horns being palmated, that the
brow-antlers are likewise palmated; which is a circumstance peculiar
to the rein-deer species, being of great service to them in removing the
snow, in order to get at the grass or moss underneath, which is their chief
subsistence in Lapland."

M. Cuvier observes : — " II est cependant certain que les bois fossiles
d'Irlande ne peuvent venir ni de 1'elan ni du renne : nous n'avons pas
besoin de le prouver au long pour ce dernier, puisque leur difference saute
aux yeux ; 1'andouiller qui descend sur le front, et qui a seul donne lieu a
la comparaison, etant toujours simple dans le fossile, et jamais branchu
comme dans le renne." The fact however is, as M. Cuvier has stated it,
that the brow-antler in the rein-deer is palmated, and that in the fossil
animal it is generally not: it is however sometimes flattened.

It now remains to examine into the degree of accordance between
these fossil horns and those of the elk, with the horns of which animal
these horns have been most frequently supposed to agree. The first com-
parative view furnishes us with these facts, that the fossil horns far surpass
in size the horns of any known elk ; and that, in the horns of the elk, the
antlers are much more numerous than in the fossil horns ; so that the
fossil horns, although by far the largest, have the fewest antlers. In ad-
dition to these, M. Cuvier notices the three following essential differences:
1. The antler, which in the fossil horn descends from the bottom of the
beam, over the forehead of the animal, does not exist in the elk. 2. The
fossil horn has antlers passing out from the inner edge of the palm, which
is not the case with the horn of the elk. 3. The palm of the fossil horn
enlarges by degrees, and takes the form of a fan ; whilst that of the elk
is widest at its lower part, and narrows as it ascends. Another very im-
portant difference results from the large cartilaginous and fleshy muzzle

317

of the elk. The space required by this part reduces the bony parts, and
extraordinarily enlarges and elongates the bony openings of the nostrils,,
and necessarily shortens the proper bones of the nose ; but nothing of this
kind is discoverable in the fossil sk^ull. The fossil head differs also from
that of the elk in the proportion between the length and the width : in the
former the width bearing a proportion to the length, as one to two; and,
in the latter, as one to three.

It appears, that the magnitude of the fossil head does not by any means
keep pace with the enormous size of the horns ; the largest fossil head
not exceeding two feet, which is shorter than that of the common elk.
To calculate the size of the body from that of the head, seems hardly
admissible ; and not having yet obtained any authentic account of the
discovery of any of the bones of the trunk, or of the limbs of this animal,
there exists no sufficient basis for conjecture on this point.

The resemblance which has been supposed to exist between this fossil
and the moose-deer, or elk of America, M. Cuvier contends is imaginary;
observing, that there does not appear to be any real specific difference
between the European and the American elk. Every thing, therefore,
he observes, agrees in authorizing us to consider the fossil elk of Ireland
as an animal belonging to a species, which, as will be shown to be the
case with several others, is now become extinct.

The frequency with which these remains are found in Ireland is a cir-
cumstance not very easily explained, when it is also considered that thei
discovery of any of these remains in any other part of the globe is a very
rare occurrence. A fragment of a horn, apparently of this species, has
been found on the Rhine, near to Worms ; Ecrits de la Societt des Natu-
ralises de Berlin, p\ 388. In this specimen, the brow-antler is flattened.
The upper part of a skull, with two beams, resembling in their form and
proportions those of the Irish elk, have been found in the canal of
Ourcq, near to Sevrau, in the forest of Bondi, in the neighbourhood of
that spot where we have already seen the remains of elephants were,
discovered.

318

The only instance which I find mentioned of these remains being found
in England, is related by Mr. Thomas Knowles, who states that a pair of
horns was found six feet under ground, in a peat-moss, near North
Dreighton, in Yorkshire, in the year 1744. These horns Mr. Knowles
describes as being each of them five feet and an inch in length, and
palmed ; and observes, that they were not at their full growth, since they
were yet covered with what is called the velvet. PhiL Trans. Vol. XLIV.
Dr. Mortimer observes, in a note to this paper, that the horns mentioned
by Mr. Knowles are evidently of the same sort as those which are so
often found in Ireland : but adds, " I do not remember to have met
with any before of this species found in England, or any where else be-
sides Ireland."

Previous to my having visited the neighbourhood of Harwich, John
Hanson, Esq, of Great Bromley Hall, Colchester, very kindly favoured
me with a view of the fossils which he had obtained from the Essex coast,
as well as several correct drawings from them, and two or three of the spe-
cimens themselves. Among those in Mr. Hanson's possession was the
beam of a horn, so large, and at the same time possessing a form so much
resembling that of the Irish fossil horns, as led me, at the time, to men-
tion their agreement.

At my first or second visit to Walton, I procured the corresponding
beam with that possessed by Mr. Hanson, and with it a fragment of the
palmated part; and, in 1808, I obtained from the same place the fore-
head, with the beams of both horns, broken off just at the commence-
ment of tjie palmated part. This specimen very much resembles, except
in being larger, one which was found in the canal of Ourcq, and which
is figured by Cuvier in PI. i. Fig. 9, of Ruminans Fossiles. The agree-
ment is very close between the proportions of the Essex specimen, and
those which are given by Dr. Molyneux of the Irish horns, allowing for
a circumstance which I did not expect, that the Essex horns exceed the
other in size. The breadth of the skull of the Irish fossil, in its broad part,
is 12 inches; and of the Essex skull, of which only the narrowest of its

319

upper part is left, is nine inches. The circumference of the beam of the
horn, at its root, is in the Irish 1 1 inches, and in the Essex fossil 12 inches.
The circumference of the beam, just before giving off the palm, is in the
Irish fossil eight inches, and in the Essex ten inches.

In Scania (Mem. de VAcad. de Stockholm, de 1802, p. 285), in France,
in the valley of Sorame, near Abbeville ; and in Germany, fossil horns
have also been found, which resemble in figure those of the fallow-deer,
but are one third larger; and which, in the opinion of Cuvier, belonged
to some unknown animal.

Horns, resembling those of the common stags are very frequent in
beds of alluvial production. In France, in the valley of Somme, these
horns are found in very considerable numbers, either in the turf or sand.
They are also found in several other parts of the continent.

These fossils have been also frequently found in different parts of Eng-
land. Lancashire, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Northamptonshire, Oxford-
shire, and Lincolnshire, are all mentioned in the Philosophical Trans-
actions as having yielded these fossils : but Norwich, perhaps, has fur-
nished more of these specimens than any other spot in this island. This
species of horns also constitutes a part of the fossil treasures of the neigh-
bourhood of Harwich ; affording another instance, with that yielded by
the valley of Somme, of these remains being associated with those of the
elephant. Here, indeed, they are found, not only with the remains of
the elephant, but also with those of the ox, of the fossil elk, the rhino-
ceros, and the hippopotamus. A large horn of this description is figured
in the 37th volume of the Philosophical Transactions, No. 422, which
was drawn up by the net of a fisherman, out of Raven's-barrow-hole,
adjoining to Holker Old Park, on the sea-coast of Lancashire.

M. Guettard discovered, between the blocks of sand-stone, and in the
surrounding sand, in the neighbourhood of Etampes, with other bones
of different sizes, the bones of an animal, which appears to have been of
a size between that of the stag and of the roebuck. When these horns
were first shown to the Academy of Sciences, they were suspected to have

320

belonged to some young animals of the species of the rein-deer, before
they had acquired their characteristic palm.

These horns are distinguishable by their being very small, thin, and
rather flat ; and by their giving off, at a little distance from their base,
one or two antlers on their fore part. From a variation in this last cir-
cumstance, depending very probably on a difference in the age of the
animal, these horns may be divided into two sorts.

In the one, at about two inches above the coronet, an isolated antler
is given off forwards ; and then the beam itself, which is but little larger
than this antler, turns backwards, to be again divided, or at least to give
off a second antler on its posterior part. A specimen of this sort, from
Etampes, which I purchased from the collection of Mr. Strange, and
which bears the description of " A fossil horn of an animal unknown to
Dr. Hunter," is represented Plate XX. Fig. 3 ; the dotted lines, in con-
tinuation, showing the manner in which the second antler was given off.
In the other sort, two antlers are given off forwards, at about an inch
from the base, and at a little distance from each other, the beam then
passing backwards. It is worthy of notice, that although the root is nearly
round, the beam immediately becomes flat ; and this is particularly the
case in the horns of the latter sort.

That these are not the horns of young rein-deer is evident ; not merely
from their not agreeing in all the characters of these horns, but from
their having belonged to adult animals, whose epiphyses were in union
with their bones. There is no animal of the old continent to which these
bones can be referred, nor do we know that the analogue of this fossil
animal is to be found on the new continent.

In the quarries of Montabusard, in which it will be seen two species of
the genus Pateothei'ium and one of the genus Mastodon have been found,
two fragments of the horns, and several portions of the jaws, which are
not distinguishable from those of the common roebuck, have been found.
This is a circumstance truly interesting, since we have here, on the same
spot, the bones of lost animals, as well as of animals similar with those

321

•which are now in existence, in the same country in which these fossils are
found.

M. Faujas, on comparing the different large fossil heads of the ox kind,
in the Museum of Natural History, was surprised to find that they dif-
fered, not only in their size and form, hut in other characters also, from
the urus, or aurochs, of Lithuania. By the examinations which he
made, he also became convinced that these fossil horns were of two
distinct species.

The core or bones of the horns of the first species are placed in a hori-
zontal position, and at rather more than fifteen inches from their base are
fractured; but the size and form of the remaining part show, that, if there
had been any curve, it must have been at the extremity. Although the
animal must have been young, the bones of the horns, at their base, were
more than twelve inches' and a half in circumference ; and the distance
from one orbit to the other, more than thirteen inches. The distance
from the upper extremity of the forehead to the edge of the occipital
foramen is little more than four inches and a half; and on the forehead,
between the commencement of the two horns, is a slight protuberance of
an oval form. These two last circumstances M. Faujas considers as par-
ticularly distinguishing this from the other species.

In the second species the forehead, which is quite flat, is to be consi-
dered, at its upper extremity, rather as forming a line, with a little con-
vexity, towards its centre, than as having a protuberance. The horns
form a kind of crescent, the inclination of which is downwards. The dis-
tance of one horn from the other, taken at their extremities, is two feet
six inches and a half; the circumference of the core of the horn, at its
base, thirteen inches; and from the upper edge of the forehead to the
edge of the occipital foramen, but four inches.

These horns he considers as having been brought from India by the
same revolution which has removed those remains of elephants and rhi-
noceroses which are dug up in the North of Europe, in France, Italy, and
England.

VOL. in. T T

On these opinions of M. Faujas, M. Cuvier observes, that it is not ne-
cessary to go so far as the Indies to find the living species to which these
horns belong. The truth is, he says, that the first of these skulls is that of
an auroch, with no difference which can reasonably be considered as
specific ; and the second belongs, he conceives, simply to the species of
our domestic ox, of which it has all the characters. The magnitude of
them, compared with the common skeletons, and the direction of the
horns, occasion the illusion ; but these, he adds, are circumstances which
naturalists know are not constant characters, arid not proper to be em-
ployed for the distinction of species.

To assist vou in making the necessary distinctions, I shall here intro-

V «/

duce to you the osteologic characters of the skulls of the aurochs and -the
ox, as given by M. Cuvier himself*. " The forehead of the ox is flat,
and even a little concave; that of the auroch, although a little less so than
in the ox, is rather tumid. In the o.r, the forehead has a square form,
being nearly as high as it is wide, taking its base between the orbits ; in
the auroch, measuring it in the same way, it is much wider than it is
high, the width being to the height as three to two. The horns, in the
ox, are attached to the extremities of the projecting line at the top of
the head, which separates the occiput from the forehead; in the auroch,
this line is two inches backwarder than the roots of the horns. In the o.v,
the plane of the occiput makes an acute angle with the forehead; in the
auroch, this angle is obtuse. Lastly, the plane of the occi,?ut, which is
quadrangular in the o.v, forms a semicircle in the auroch." The cha-
racters which M. Cuvier here assigns to the ox are common to all its
known varieties.

To these distinctive characters, taken from the skull, may be added
these, which serve to determine the propriety of regarding the auroch
as a different species from the ox. M. Daubenton ascertained, that in
the auroch there are fourteen pair of ribs ; whilst in the ox, and the

* Menagerie du Mas. d'Hist. Nat. art. du Zebu. -

323

greater part of the other ruminants, there are only thirteen : in the au-
roch, the legs are longer and thinner than in the bull or buffalo ; its
tongue, also, M. Gilibert observes, is of a blue colour.

Those naturalists appear to have been mistaken who have supposed
that there exist, in the North of Europe, two species, different from each
other : one without a bunch, which they term the auroch ; and the other
with, which is considered as the bison. The difference appears to be, that
which results from the difference of age only ; the old male au?och ac-
quiring much longer hairs, and a much larger projection, than exists in
the female or the young. The identity of the auroch with the large
wild bull or buffalo of America (Bos Americanos, Linn.) is not yet de-
termined ; an examination of the osteological characters of its skull is
therefore desirable.

Justice to M. Faujas requires the observation, that M. Cuvier has bv
no means established the fact, that the fossil horns of the first species are
those of the aurochs ; since he has by no means pointed out any osteo-
logical character which can be considered as deciding the question.

It is very true, that the difference of size alone is not sufficient to de-
termine a difference of species. But when the difference of size is enor-
mous, the probability of there existing a difference of species is rendered
more probable. The prodigious size of these fossil horns is attempted to
be accounted for by M. Cuvier, on the consideration, that the horns grow
through the whole life of the animal, and that an abundance of nourish-
ment, through a long life, might have had a considerable effect in in-
creasing the growth of these horns. But a long life does not appear to
have been necessary for the production of the large horns of this animal;
since M. Cuvier himself observes, of the specimen figured by M. Faujas,
that " the skull is of an enormous size, although the individual to which
it belonged was not very old, as appeared by the sutures." Nor can the
magnitude of the horns be attributed to abundance of nourishment; since,
as M. Cuvier observes, in the paragraph just quoted, the skull itself is of

324

an enormous size ; and it cannot be unfair to infer, that the other bones
of the animal were in the same proportion: and that such a prodigious
size of the bones of the whole animal can be attributable merely to plenty
of nourishment, I cannot suppose to be admissible.

The bone of a horn, most probably of this species, found by Mr. Peale,
in Kentucky, was of still larger dimensions than those in the Museum of
Natural History, since the circumference of its base was more than
eighteen inches. Another fossil core of a horn, probably of this species,
is described by M. Mayer, which must have even exceeded this in mag-
nitude.

The second species of these horns surpass in size those of our domes-
ticated oxen, and differ from them also in having a different direction,
The skulls to which these horns are attached are very different from those
of the aurochs ; and, as has been already remarked, are supposed by
M. Cuvier to have belonged to a very different race ; to that wild race,
which was the original stock of our present domesticated oxen. The
osteological characters of the skull, he supposes, prove their affinity; and
the difference in the direction of the horns, he conceives by no means a
character sufficient to mark a species.

Horns of this latter description have been frequently found. Several
have been found in France ; and M. Faujas has seen them in the cabi-
nets of Manheim and of Darmstadt, and in that of M. Saltzwedel, at
Francfort. They have also been dug up in the neighbourhood of Stutt-
gardt ; and M. Soldani describes a skull of this species, found near to
Arezzo, the forehead of which was a foot wide, and the horns two feet
seven inches long, and fourteen inches in circumference at their base.
He also mentions another found near Rome, at the depth of twenty feet.
The width between the orbits was fourteen inches; and the circumference
of their core, at its base, was eighteen inches. Essai Qryctogrtiphique,
PL xxiv. and xxv. Gesner, more than two hundred years ago, engraved
a skull of this sort> the design of which was sent him by his friend Caiu%

325

who informs us lie had seen a similar skull in Warwick Castle. The spe-
cimen of this fossil which I possess was dug up in Dumfrieshire. The
following are its measurements.

Feet. Inches.

The length of the bony core of each horn 2 6

Circumference at its base ..1 5

Width of the forehead at the root of the horns 1 Of

Distance of the tips of the horns from each other 2 11

M. Pallas describes a fossil skull found in Siberia, which he concluded
to have belonged to the common buffalo of India and of Italy ; to which
opinion he was led by the angle or ridge, which runs the length of the
horn. Nov. Com. Petrop. xm. p. 460.

The examination of this fossil induced M. Cuvier to conclude, that this
could not be a skull of the common buffalo ; since, in this animal, the
width of the head is less in proportion to the length than in the fossil,
particularly between the orbits; the distance of which, in the fossil, is a
striking character. The curvature of the horns is also different. In the
common buffalo they turn backwards, at the side, and upwards, without
coming forward ; but, in the fossil, they go obliquely upwards by the
side, and their point comes forward. The longitudinal projecting angle
also appears to be less strongly marked.

M. Pallas, indeed, afterwards concluded, that these horns were not of
the common buffalo, but of a supposed large species described by Dr.
Anderson in the Bee, Dec. 1792, and to which the name of Amis has
been given. But M. Cuvier offers very good reasons for supposing that
mistakes have been made with respect to the size of this animal, which he
conceives to be nothing more than a race of buffaloes, with uncommonly
large horns, but by no means of a particular species. From every con-
sideration, he is therefore led to suppose that the fossil buffalos' heads of
Siberia belong to a particular species, entirely different from the com-
mon buffalo and the arne, as well as from the ox and the aurochs.

These skulls have been found on the banks of the rivers in the furthest

326

parts of Siberia ; but sufficient is not yet known of the situation in which
they are found, to allow of the ascertaining of the nature and comparative
age of the beds in which they are found. Arguing upon what is known
respecting these fossils, M. Cuvier concludes, that the}^ are cotemporary
with the elephant with long alveoli, and with the rhinoceros with a long
skull. This he however admits cannot be received as cert : in, until we
obtain more exact accounts respecting the places in which they were
found.

To M . Pallas we are likewise indebted for the knowledge of another '
species of fossil skulls found in Siberia. Of these he found only two : one
on the borders of the Ob, and the other on the side of Tuadra. Nov. Com..
Pelrop. xin. -p. 601. These skulls are chiefly characterized by the near
approximation of the bases of the horns. M. Pallas, at first, suspected
that these skulls were similar to those of the buffalo of the Cape ; but
soon after found reason to attribute them rather to the musk-ox (Bos mos-
chatus) of Canada. M. Cuvier is fully disposed to concur with M. Pal-
las in his last opinion.

Admitting the identity of- these skulls with those of the musked ox of
America, Cuvier observes, that it should be remarked that they are in a
relative position very different from that of the other fossil bones of that
country. The only analogues with these latter, which it is supposed that
we have found, are in the torrid zone, &c. : but the musk-ox dwells in the
frigid zone. It is therefore, he thinks, probable, that if these skulls ac-
tually belong to this animal, they will be found to have been deposited
in depths, and in beds, very different from those which have furnished the
bones of elephants, rhinoceroses, and large buffaloes.

Reviewing these facts, relative to the remains of* ruminants found in
alluvial tracts, M. Cuvier offers the following remarks.

These remains, as well of the stags as of the oxen, appear to be refer-
able to two classes, the unknown and the known ruminants. In the first
class he places the Irish ' elk ; the small stag, with slender horns, of
Etampes ; the stag of Scania ; and the large buffalo of Siberia : in 'the

327

second class hp. places the common stag, the common roehuck, the au-
rochs, the ox which seems to have been the wild original of our domestic
ox, and the buffalo with approximated horns, which is analogous with
the musk-ox of Canada. Besides these, there appears a dubious species,
the great deer of La Somme, which much resembles the common fallow-
deer.

From what can be determined, with respect to the beds in which they
are found, the known species are always, he observes, in those which are
more recent than those in which the unknown species are found. This,
he says, is certain, at least as to the stags, the roebucks, and the oxen, of
the Valley of La Somme, which are in the loose and superficial sands,
or in the turf. The aurochs equally appear to be found in the alluvial
tracts of recent formation, which are yet susceptible of augmentation
or diminution ; and the stags' horns of England have been frequently
taken out of rivers.

As to the unknown species, it must be remarked, he says, that the
elk of Ireland, although it is necessary to get through the beds of turf
to find it, yet it is not in the turf itself, but in the beds beneath it : the
stag of Etampes, found in the sand of La Beauce, was lower than the
earth deposited from the fresh water, which covers the sand; and lastly,
the buffalo of Siberia, accompanying the fossil elephants and rhinoceroses,
may be supposed to be of the same period, and to be enveloped in the
same beds. The stag of Scania is the only one of the unknown animals
which has been said to be found in the turf; but this circumstance, he
thinks, requires to be proved.

The knowledge which we at present possess of the situations in which
fossils are found is at present so confined, as to give but little solidity
to the opinions which he here offers. A remark of another kind is made
with a much greater assurance of its certainty. The known fossil ru-
minants are also animals of the climate in which they are now found ;
thus the stag, ox, aurochs, roebuck, musk-ox of Canada, now dwell, and
have always dwelt, in the cold countries ; whilst the species which we

328

consider as unknown, if we must refer them, at all events, to existing
analogues, must be sought for in the warm countries. Our unknown
fossil ruminants, in part, follow this analogy. The great buffalo of Si-
beria can only be compared with the buffalo of the Indies, or amis : in
the same manner, it is pretended, that in the elephant of India, and in
the rhinoceros of Africa, are to be found the originals of the fossil ele-
phant and rhinoceros, with which are found the bones of this buffalo.
The elk of Ireland, and the stag of Etampes and of Scania, may indeed
be compared with the animals of the cold countries; but they do not
approach so near to them, he thinks, as to invalidate his reasoning.

The facts, then, which are hitherto collected, seem, he thinks, to an-
nounce, at least as plainly as imperfect documents can, that the two
sorts of fossil ruminants belong to two orders of alluvial deposits, and
consequently to two different geological epochs; that the one have been,
and are now daily being buried, in the period in which we live ; whilst
the others have been the victims of the same revolution which destroyed
the other fossils of the loose beds, such as the mammoths, the mastodons,
and all the pachydermata, the genera of which now exist only in the
torrid zone.

329

LETTER XXIV.

FOSSIL BONES OF RUMINANTS, &C. IN THE ISLANDS OF CHERSO

AND OSERO ISLAND OF CERIGO AT NICE AND ANTIBES

AT CETTE NEAR CONCUD, IN ARRAGON IN THE ROCK OF

GIBRALTAR.

F EW among the interesting objects which present themselves for our
examination can appear more wonderful than those which are now to
engage our attention. In the rock of Gibraltar, in Arragon, in Nice,
and Antibes ; on the more northern shores of the Mediterranean; in the
more northern parts of the island of Corsica ; in Dalmatia, and in the
islands of Cherso and Osero, as well as in several others of the islets of
the Adriatic, the bones of similar animals have been found deposited,
in situations and under circumstances extremely similar. Or, in the
expressive language of Cuvier : " Des rochers epars, et souvent isoles, a
plusieurs centaines de lieues les uns des autres, mais formes de la meme
pierre, sont fendu en differens sens; leurs fissures sont remplies d'une
concretion semblable partout, qui enveloppe des os et des fragmens de
pierres, et a toutes ces distances les fragmens de pierres, et les os sont a
peu pres les memes. An. du Mus. Tome xiu. p. 169.

The first notice which appears to have been given of these fossils was
in 1745, by Vitaliano Donati, to whose assiduous inquiries I have already
acknowledged my obligations, whilst examining into the structure of the

VOL. in. u u

330

recent alcyonia. In the work there referred to, An Essay on the Natural
History of the Adriatic Sea, p. 8, French translation, being the only copy
of the work which I possess, he says : " Dans le voisinage des lies appel-
lees, Incoronate, est un rocher nomme Jadra, qui est tout plein de De-
bris de petoncles entierement changes en substance de marbre.

" Peu loin de ce rocher on trouve un bas fond, ou bane, appelle Raspp,
ou Ton voit des os d'homme petrifies. Us sont dans un melange de
marbre de Rovigno, de terre rouge, et de stalactites. C'est pourquoi je
ne crois pas cette petrifaction aussi ancienne que les autres. J'ai aussi
deterre de ces os petrifies avec le meme melange a Rocosniza pres de
Sebenico, et sur les bords de la riviere Cicola du cote de Dernes."

Abbe Fortis added to his other philosophical labours that of repairing
to the islands of Cherso and Osero, to observe these wonders. The fre-
quent heaps that are seen, the sameness of the substance, the variety of
the positions, and the similar materials of the congeries, might give room
to conjecture, he says, at first sight, that one immense stratum had been
thus composed in remote ages.

There are two different heaps on the desert rock of Gutim; and a mile
from Gutim, at a place called Platt, on the island of Cherso, other
heaps are to be seen. He also found them in the caverns of Gher-
moshall, and at Porto Cicale, in the post of Vallishall, and at Balvanida.
Two large heaps were also found in the small island called Canidole
Picciola, and others in the small island of Sansego. The same charac-
ters, he observes, marks the Illyrick bones over all these islands and
along the coasts of Dalmatia. Along the torrent Cicola, between Sibe-
nico and Knin ; in Isola Grossa; in Corfu, in the Ionian sea; and in the
isle of Cyprus — it appears, that similar fossil bones exist. Among these
bones the Abbe Fortis discovered the bones of sheep, and the teeth of
horses and oxen ; with other bones, which he believed to be human. Tra-
vels into Dalmatia by Abbt Alberto Fortis, p. 440, et seq.

The island of Cerigo, in the Archipelago, is also mentioned by the
Abbe Fortis, as possessing these fossils ; which circumstance is also men-

331 -

tioned by Spallanzani ; who, without sufficient authority, also conceived
these bones to be human.

The accumulation of these fossils at Nice and at Antibes, have been
particularly noticed by M. Faujas. Ann. du Mus. Tom. x. p. 409, &c.
The rock which bears the castle of Nice, and in which these remains are
found, is in a manner the last extremity of the chain of Alps, which bifur-
cates a little, to form towards the West the mountains of Provence, and
towards the East those of Genes, which are themselves the beginning of
the chain of the Appennines. These fossils, according to Faujas, are also
found in the ruins of Cimiez, an ancient city, a little higher up than
Nice ; and there is niso reason to conclude, from his description, that the
mountain of Montulban, Villetranche, and the greater part of those which
surround the plain of Nice, are covered with a reddish ochry earth,
similar to that which abounds in the Breccia, which contains the bones.
The city of Antibes is separated from that of Nice only by a bay about
four leagues wide, which appears to be surrounded by hills of the same
nature.

At Cette also, at the beginning of the canal of Languedoc, between
Montpellier and Agde, on the Mediterranean, these fossils are also found.
The mountain of Cette is an isolated cone, which is connected with the
land by a very narrow neck of sand. Very lately, M. Ram passe has dis-
covered similar fossil remains in Corsica. These are at some distance
to the North of Bastia, at about half a league from the sea, and at about
a hundred fathoms above its level.

Cueva-rubia, a hill near to Concud, in Arragon, appears also to con-
tain fossil bones; but the cementing matter differs from that of the pre-
ceding fossils both in its grain and colour. Fossil bones are also found at
Romagnano, in the valley of Pantena and of Ronca ; but these, like those
of Concud, seem to differ from those previously mentioned, in the nature
of the connecting matter. Mr. Bowles believed that he had found here
the bones of the legs and thighs of men and women ; but Cuvier ob-
serves, it must require great practice in researches of this kind, to make
such a distinction, in fossil bones, almost always mutilated.

332

We are indebted to Major Imrie for a most useful and interesting mi-
neralogical description of the mountain of Gibraltar, in the fourth volume
of the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, p. 191, the whole
of which is highly worthy your examination. That which most par-
ticularly demands your attention I have here introduced.

The eastern side of the mountain, mostly consisting of a range of pre-
cipice, terminates with a bank of sand in the Mediterranean. The
southern extremity terminates in the sea, with a rapid slope, and ibrms
Europa Point. On the Western side, this peninsula-mountain is bounded
by the Bay' of Gibraltar; and, upon the North, it is attached to Spain
by a low sandy isthmus, the greatest elevation of which, above the
level of the sea, does not exceed ten feet ; and its breadth, at the base
of the rock, is not more than three quarters of a mile. This isthmus
separates the Mediterranean on the East, from the Bay of Gibraltar on
the West.

The principal part of the rock consists of a grey dense marble, in some
parts of which are imbedded testaceous bodies, in a spathose state. As
is almost always the case, where this species of rock constitutes large
districts, the rock of Gibraltar is cavernous ; the caverns being beset
with stalactitic, and other calcareous infiltrations. On the surface of
the rock are seen pot-like holes, hollowed out by the attrition of gravel or
pebbles, set in motion by the rapidity of. rivers, or currents in the sea,
•some of the pebbles now remaining in them. From this phenomenon,
Mr. Imrie concludes, that however high the surface of this rock may now
be elevated above the level of the sea, it has once been the bed of agitated
waters.

With respect to the fossil bones found in this rock, the general idea
concerning them is, that they are found in a petrified state, and inclosed
in the solid calcareous rock; but these are mistakes which Mr. Imrie
thus aims at correcting : — " In the perpendicular fissures of the rock,
and in some of the caverns of the mountain (all of which afford evident
proofs of their former communication with the surface), a calcareous con-
cretion is found, of a reddish brown colour, with an earthy fracture and

333

considerable induration, including the bones of various animals, some of
which have the appearance of being human. These bones are of various
sizes, and lie in all directions, intermixed with shells of snails, fragments
of the calcareous rock, and particles of spar ; all of which materials are
still to be seen in their natural uncombined states, partially scattered over
the surface of the mountain. These having been swept by heavy rains,
at different periods, from the surface into the situations above described,
and having remained for a long series of years in those places of rest, ex-
posed to the penetrating action of water, have become enveloped in,
and cemented by, the calcareous matter which it deposits." It is right
here to observe, that Mr. Boddington ascertained that these bones had
been found fifty-seven feet above high-water mark. Phil. Trans. Vol. LX.
p. 414. •

This concreting matter may, in some places, be traced from the lowest
part of a deep perpendicular fissure up to the surface of the mountain.
In many parts of the rock this concretion exists, unmixed with bones of
any kind: and on the elevated parts of the mountain, masses are found,
consisting of snail-shells combined with a mass of opaque stalactitical
spar of a yellowish brown colour. This spar often incrusts the inner sur-
face of the hollow bones : sometimes the spathose crust is colourless, and
sometimes of a reddish colour. The concretion in which these bones
have been found, in Dalmatia, at Cette, Nice, Antibes, and Cerigo, agrees
very closely, in its situation, colour, and composition, with that of the
rock of Gibraltar.

The fossil remains of animals, we have seen, -are found in the Vicentin
and Veronese, but it does not appear to be certain that the concretions
containing these bones, any more than those of Concud, are of the same
kind with those of Gibraltar, Dalmatia, &c. ; their connecting matter be-
ing of a different grain, and of another colour : nor has it been ascertained
that they are found in similar situations.

Many of the bones which have been thus found, have been supposed
to be of human origin. Such was the opinion, at one time, of the Abbe
Fortis and of Dr. Hunter ; but further observation has shown, that this

334

was erroneous. The latter gentleman, on the inspection* of more distinct
specimens, corrected his former report on this subject, and determined
them to be the bones of quadrupeds. Further examination afterwards
enabled Mr. John Hunter to ascertain that these bones belonged to the
family of Ruminants, to the genus Lepus, and to the class of birdsv Some,
he also observed, belonged to a small dog or fox. Philos. Trans. 1794,
p. 412.

Major Imrie also remarked, that some of these bones are apparently
human, and that these are chiefly vertebrae and bones of the upper and
lower extremities. These are scattered among others, of various kinds
and sizes, even down to the smallest bones of small birds. He found a
complete jaw-bone of a sheep, with its full compliment of teeth, the ena-
mel of which was perfect. Two skulls were found, which were supposed
to be human ; but these appeared to Mr. Imrie to be too small for the
human species, and seemed rather to belong to a species of monkey,
of which considerable numbers still inhabit the inaccessible parts of the
rock.

To the indefatigable and justly celebrated Cuvier, we are indebted for
still more correct information respecting these remains. The greater
number of these bones, he observes, were evidently broken before they
became incrusted ; but do not appear to have been bowldered. They
are disposed in every direction, in the red stone which encloses them ;
and by their not touching each other, we have proof that the concreting
matter formed on them as the bones gradually fell in. This matter, he
observes, resembles well-burnt brick earth, and has many small cavities,
some of which are partly, and others quite filled, with a spathose matter,
similar to that found in the cavities of the bones. The bones, he says,
are decomposed, and very white : tjiey, however, are not wanting in
hardness, and may be even considered as petrified. The enamel of the
teeth is unaltered. The impressions of shells are those of land-snails :
there are no traces of sea-shells.

M. Cuvier is satisfied, that among the considerable number which he
possesses of these fossil bones, there are none but the bones of a rumi-

335

nant, hardly of the size of a deer. These, from there not having been
any horns or branches found, and from the lower head of an os femoris,
which he possesses, resembling that of the antelope more than that of the
stag or sheep, he is disposed to refer to the antelope. In the propriety of
this, he is confirmed by the appearance of the teeth, and of the other
bones which he possesses.

It does not appear that any remains of any of the class of rosores (ron-
geurs, mammiferes onguicules sans dents canines ou laniaires) have been
found in this rock, except by M. Adrien Camper, who has two halves of a
jaw, and some other bones, which appear to be referable to the genus
Lepusy but which are too small for the common rabbit. Having ascer-
tained that the remains of a species of Lagomys exist in the breccia of
Corsica, and that the jaw-bones were about the same size with the one
found at Gibraltar, he proposes, as an interesting object of research, the
ascertaining whether traces of any animal of this species are discoverable
in the breccise of the rock of Gibraltar.

In the breccia of Cette, M. Cuvier discovered the bones of five different
species of animals ; those of the common wild rabbit, and which were
most numerous ; of a rabbit one third smaller than the preceding ; of an
animal resembling the field-mouse ( mus arvalis}, of a bird of the size of
the common wag-tail ; and of the common adder. It is, however, by no
means certain that the fossil rabbits were in their exterior similar to ours ;
since those differences, which mark the rabbit of Egypt and of North
America as distinct species, are not discoverable in their osteology.

Learning that M. Gouan possessed an os femoris from Cette, which
had been said to be human, M. Cuvier examined it, and found that it had
belonged to some ruminant about the size of a deer, and perhaps to the
same animal with that whose remains are found at Gibraltar.

The shells found here were of three sorts, two helices and a pupa ;
but no trace whatever of any sea-shell or of any marine animal, contrary
to the opinion of M. Faujas. Annales du Mus. Tom. x. p. 410.

The bones contained in the ossiferous brecciae of Nice and Antibes are,

,336

according to M. Provencal, physician of Montpellier, only those of herbi-
vorous animals; and, according to M. Cuvier, of horses and of ruminating
animals. Of the latter, he has seen the remains of two species : the bones,
or rather the teeth of one of these, appear to be of the size of those of the
calf) and the others .of those of the stag. No teeth of any smaller ani-
mals have been found here.

The shells are all terrestrial, being either helicae or pupae. The Helix
algira was found adhering to a jaw like that of a stag, by M. Provencal,
but no remains of marine animals have been found. M. Faujas, indeed,
speaks of serpulse, and a volute, which was said to have been found here;
but these were shown him in a cabinet, and of course he might have
been deceived.

The ossiferous brecciae of Corsica differ materially from those of Gi-
braltar, since they do not yield any bones resembling those of sheep or
deer, but only those of the size of the rabbit, guinea-pig, or rat.

All the fossil bones of Corsica, which have been examined by M. Cu-
vier, are of the class of rosores; but they do not, like those of Cette,
belong to species common to the adjoining country, since he found a
complete head of a genus, the species of which have been but just dis-
covered in Siberia.

By the flatness of the skull, the upward direction of the orbits, the
hooked apophysis at the base of the zygomatic arch, and by the long
apophysis which carries this arch backwards, he was led to compare it
with the skulls of the little hares without tails (Lag&mys, Cuv.), figured by
Pallas ; and, on careful examination, found that it very nearly accorded
with Lagomys Alpinus, which inhabits the loftiest rocks of Siberia. It how-
ever did not exactly agree, either in its size or proportions, with any
known species.

An enormous quantity of the bones of the water-rat exists also in this
breccia, as well as of some smaller animal, perhaps the land-mouse, Mus
terrestris, Linn.

Among the fossil animal remains of Dalmatia, M. Cuvier has only been

337

anb to find those of ruminating animals. Teeth which are In the Mu-
seum of Natural History, and others in the possession of M. Faujas and
of M. Camper, appear to be of the size of those of the deer, and perhaps
belong to the same animal whose remains are found at Gibraltar. Mr.
John Hunter's account of these bones agrees with that of M. Cuvier ; but
Mr. Hunter states, that among these bones he discovered the os hyoides
of a horse.

Spallanzani, from whom alone we have obtained a particular ae-
ount of the fossils of Cerigo, Memoir es de la Societl Italienne, Tom. in.
». 439), very loosely, and most probably erroneously, describes the de-
posit as a mountain, in the form of a truncated cone, which is named
the Mountain of Bones, and which he hyperbolically describes as be-
ing full, inside and outside, of animal remains. His description of the
state of the bones, and of the nature of the breccia, appears, however, to
agree exactly with those of the places already spoken of. With respect
to the nature of the bones, he has assumed, evidently on very indifferent
authority, that they are human ; but there does not appear any reason
for supposing that they are different from those which have been already
mentioned.

The fossil bones of Arragon appear, from Mr. Bowles's account, to
be chiefly of herbivorous animals, of different sizes ; but these do not
appear to have yet been subjected to a correct anatomical examination.
Those which have been found in the Veronese, appear to belong to oxen
and stags.

The conclusions which M. Cuvier thinks himself warranted to form,
respecting these phaenomena, are, " 1 . The osseous breccige have not been
produced by either a tranquil sea, or by a sudden irruption of the sea.
2. They are even posterior to the last resting of the sea on our conti-
nents, since no traces are found in them of any sea-shells, and they are
not covered by other beds. 3. The bones and the fragments of stone
fell in the clefts of the rocks, successively, and as they fell, became
united together by the accumulation of the spathose matter. 4. Almost

VOL. III. XX

338

all the stones proceed from the rock, even those in the clefts which
contain the breccia. 5. All the bones, properly ascertained, are those
of herbivorous animals. 6. The greatest number of them belong to
known animals, and even to animals still existing in those parts. 7. The
formation of these breccise, therefore, appear to be modern, in com-
parison with the great regular beds of stone, and with the alluvial beds
which contain the bones of unknown animals. 8. It is nevertheless still
ancient, with respect to us, since nothing shows that such brecciae are
formed at the present day ; and some of them, as those of Corsica, con-
tain also the remains of unknown animals. 9. The most striking cha-
racter which this phenomenon presents is rather the facility with which
certain rocks have been thus divided by clefts, than the matters with
which these clefts are filled. 10. This phenomenon is very different
from that which is yielded by the caverns of Germany, which contain
the bones of carnivorous animals only, spread on the ground, in a mould
partly earthy and partly animal ; although the nature of the rocks in
which these caverns are formed appear to be not very different from those
which contain the ossiferous brecciae."

At Plate XX. Fig. 4, is the representation of a part of a jaw of some
ruminant, seemingly of a stag, imbedded in the reddish calcareous mass
of Gibraltar.

339

LETTER XXV.

FOSSIL REMAINS OF ELEPHANTS FREQUENTLY FOUND ..MANI-
FEST THE EXISTENCE OF ONE OR MORE FOSSIL SPECIES.

1 HE family of PACHYDERMATA, Crassipelles, distinguished by the great
thickness of the skin, by having more than two hoofs, and, except in
the elephant, by having all the three kinds of teeth, is divided into the
following genera: — 1. Hyrax, Cape marmot ; 2. Sus ; 3. Tapirus ; 4. Rhi-
noceros ; 5. Elephas ; 6. Hippopotamus. To which may be added two
other genera, the fossil remains only of which have been discovered.
These have been named by Cuvier PaUotherium and Anoplotherium.

Theophrastus knew of the existence not only of lapidified bones, but
of fossil ivory, Plin. lib. xxxv. cap. 18. The enormpus bones related
by Herodotus to have been found at Tegea, Herod, lib. i. sect. 68, as
well as those at Caprea, Suet. Ann. sect. 72, .were doubtless the bones of
elephants. The bones mentioned by Strabo, on the authority of Gabi-
nius, Strab. Geogr. lib. xvn. were, in all probability, of the elephant, or
of some cetaceous animal.

Numerous remains of elephants have been found in Italy ; and al-
though a very considerable number of elephants were brought from
Africa into Italy, yet the vast extent through which these remains have
been found, and the great probability that the Italians, particularly the
Romans, would have known sufficient of the value of ivory, to have pre-

340

vented them from committing the tusks to the earth, lead to the belief
that by far the greater number of these remains which have been dug
up, have been deposited here, not by the hands of man, but by the
changes which, at least, the surface of this globe has undergone, at very
remote periods. The circumstances, indeed, under which many of these
have been found, afford indubitable proof of this fact.

In France, where it is well known that living elephants have been
much less frequent, at least in times of which we have any record, than
either in Italy or in Greece, their fossil remains have been found in a
great number of places, and in situations which prove their deposition at
a very remote period. The whole valley through which the Rhine
passes, yields fragments of this animal, and perhaps more numerously on
the side of Germany than on that of France. Not only in its course, but
in the alluvise of the several streams which empty themselves into it, are
these fossil remains also found. Thus Holland abounds with them, and
even the most elevated parts of the Batavian Republic are not exempt
from them.

The whole of Germany and of Switzerland appear to particularly
abound in these wonderful relics. The greater number which has been
found in these parts is, perhaps, as is observed by M. Cuvier, not at-
tributable to theiV greater abundance, but to the number of well-in-
formed men, capable of making the necessary researches, and of report-
ing the interesting facts they discover.

As in the banks of the Rhine, so in those of the Danube, do these fos-
sils abound. In the valley of Altmiihl is a grand deposit of these remains.
The bones which have been found at Krembs, in Sweden; at Baden, near
Vienna; in Moravia; in different parts of Hungary and of Transylvania;
at the foot of the rfartz ; in Hesse ; at Hildersheim ; all appear to be re-
ferable to this animal. So also are those which are found on the Elbe,
the Oder, and the Vistula. Different parts of the British Empire are
not less productive of these remains.

In London, Brentford, Harwich, Norwich, Gloucestershire, Stafford-

341

shire, Warwickshire. Salisbury, the Isle of Shepey, and indeed in several
other parts of Great Britain, have different remains of these animals been
found.

When we add to those places which have been already enumerated,
Scandinavia, Ostrobothnia, Norway, Iceland, Russia, Siberia, Tunis,
America, Hue huetoca, near Mexico; and Ibarra, in the province of
Quito, near Peru; it will appear that there is hardly a part of the known
world, whose subterranean productions are known to us, in which these
animal remains have not been found. Ann. du Mus. Tome vm. p. 1.

Notwithstanding the frequency with which the fossil remains of ele-
phants have been found, there are hardly any fossils of a known genus of
animals, respecting which so many mistakes have been committed. At
no very remote period, not only the bones, but even the teeth, have been
considered as the remains of a gigantic race of men ; and Aldrovandus,
Kundmann, and others, have mistaken the fossil teeth of elephants for those
of other animals. Leibnitz, who wrote in 1749, gives, in the twelfth
plate of his Protogcea, the engraving of an elephant's grinder, which he
describes as Dens animalis marini ; and even M. de la Metherie, in his ex-
cellent work, published so lately as the year 1797, describes a tooth found
in Dauphigny, as belonging to an elephant of Africa, which Cuvier has
since shown to be a tooth of the great tapir : and the same author con-
siders the teeth from the Ohio, and those brought from Peru by Dom-
bey, to be those of the African elephant* ; whilst, as M. Cuvier observes,
the fossil teeth of Dauphignj% of Peru, and of the Ohio, not only have no
resemblance with each other, but are all totally different from those of
the African elephant. So far, indeed, have mistakes respecting the re-
mains of the elephant proceeded; that Kircher, Mercatus, and Aldrovan-
dus, have described the fragment of elephants' teeth as petrified hands
(chirites). Kundmann went so far as -to insist, not only that one of these
fragments was the petrified paw of a large baboon, but that the skin,

* Theorie de iaTerre, Tome V. p. 200 and 201.

342

flesh, nails, and veins, were all discoverable in it, in a petrified state*.
Even the accurate Walch refers to this specimen as a real petrifaction of
the ape f .

I must here suggest to you the propriety of referring, previous to our
examination of these fossil remains, to the ingenious observations of Mr.
Home and of Mr. Corse, on the formation of the teeth of the elephant.
Philos. Trans. 1799. By an attention to these observations, we are of
course enabled to form a more correct judgment as to their fossil re-
mains.

From the information thus gained we learn, that the bodies of which
we have just spoken, and which the older oryctologists considered as pe-
trified hands, were the separated plates of which the grinders are com-
posed : the more extended parts of these productions having been sup-
posed to be the fingers. The unorganized and looser substance of the
cortical crust disintegrates sooner than the two substances of which the
plates are formed ; hence, in most fossil teeth, this substance is in a very
loose state, and in some it has been quite removed, and has left the plates
entirely unconnected.

It is but at a very late period that the specific differences of the teeth
of the East-Indian and African elephant have been attended to. These
differences consist in the form and number of the plates. In the East-
Indian, the two wide surfaces of the plates are flat, arid covered with
numerous rough longitudinal striae ; whilst, in the African, there is on
both of the wide surfaces an angular projection through their whole
length, and the striae are much less numerous. The masticating surface
shows that the transverse bands, which in the tooth of the East Indian
elephant are straight, and all through of an equal width, are, in the tooth
of the African, more in the form of a lozenge; or, much wider in the
middle than at their ends. From these lateral projections, the African
teeth must necessarily have much fewer plates than the East-Indian.

* Rarior. Nat. et Ant. PI. in. Fig. 2.

t Monumens des Catast. Tome n. Part 2, p. 150.

343

The females of the East-Indian elephants have but short and small
tusks, projecting obliquely 'downwards. The African elephants, both
male and female, appear to have large tusks. The degree, and even
the direction of the curvature of these tusks, vary considerably.

M. Cuvier is satisfied, from actual comparison of several skulls of the
East- Indian and African elephants, that different specific characters
exist in their respective skulls. In the Indian elephant, the top of
the skull is raised in a kind of double pyramid ; but, in the African, it
is nearly rounded. In the Indian the forehead is concave, and in the
African it is rather convex. Several other differences exist, not necessary
to be here particularized, which seem to be fully sufficient to mark a dif-
ference of species.

A cursory view is sufficient to enable us to determine that the ordinary
fossil teeth of elephants are not of the African species, and it may be fur-
ther said, that the greater number of these teeth bear a close resemblance
to the East-Indian species, showing, on their masticating surface, bands
of an equal thickness through their whole length, and rudely crenulated.
So great, indeed, is the resemblance, that Pallas, and most other writers,
have considered the fossil elephant as being of the same species with the

f\ o| rj 4-] ft

*v*«*m$.

That the fossil elephants were specifically different from the Asiatic
elephant, M. Cuvier had been long of opinion; and although the obser-
vations of his friend, M. Adrien Camper, made him for a time hesitate,
he became confirmed in his opinion from the circumstance, that he al-
most always found the plates, in the fossil species, thinner, occupying
sensibly a less space ; and being, consequently, in greater number, in the
same length, than in the recent teeth. From this difference in the thick-
ness of the plates, it follows that the number of these plates which are
brought into action at once, should be greater in the fossil than in the
Asiatic. Mr. Corse observes, that in the latter there are seldom more
than ten or twelve in use at once ; but in the fossil teeth, there are fre-

344

quently twenty-four. M. Cuvier figures one found in the forest of Bondy,
in which there are twenty-two. A second distinctive character, according
to M. Cuvier, is, that the lines of enamel are thinner, and less scalloped
or crenulated, in the fossil, than in the others, he having only noticed one
exception. A third character is, he thinks, yielded by the much greater
absolute, as well as proportional, width of the fossil, this being in the
proportion of eight to six.

The specimens which I possess do not, except as to the greater degree
of thickness of the teeth, exactly accord with these observations of M.
Cuvier. This is, I believe, in consequence of my happening to possess
some fossil teeth, of different species, from those in the possession of that
gentleman, or from those which I have seen described.

As to the greater thinness of the plates in the fossil than in the recent
species, this is, 1 think, undoubtedly the case, not only with the common
fossil teeth, as appears in three or four detached teeth from Essex, and in
one which is still retained in its alveolus, in a jaw nearly perfect; but it
is also the case with the undulating plates of two other teeth, of which I
shall soon have occasion more fully to speak. In the one which is still
retained in the jaw, seventeen plates are seen in ten inches extent of sur-
face, all of which were in use at the death of the animal : and, in the two
last-mentioned, lamellae equal to twenty plates exist in a length of tritu-
rating surface of six inches and a half. One of these is represented Plate
XX. Fig. 8. In a fragment of. an upper tooth from Germany, in the
length of five inches, are contained only eight lamellae.

But the specimen which offers the strongest exception to the greater
degree of thinness of the plates existing in the fossil teeth being admitted
as a general rule, is represented Plate XX. Fig. 6, being a tooth of the
left side of the upper jaw, which I purchased from Mr. George Hum-
phries, in the sale of the Calonnian Museum, and which is described as
having been found in Staffordshire.

This curious fossil differs materially, not only from the teeth of the

345

living species of elephants, but also from every fossil tooth of which 1
have heard. Its peculiarities of character are, the great thickness of the
plates, the smoothness of the sides of the line of enamel, and the ap-
pearance of the digitated part of the plates, even in the anterior part of
the tooth.

The length of this tooth, which is formed of thirteen plates, is eight
inches ; and the length of its triturating surface, on which are the termi-
nations of nine plates, is six inches. The width of these plates may there-
fore be taken at nearly double that of the plates of fossil teeth in general ;
since, in a fossil tooth from Wellsbourn, in Warwickshire, twenty plates
exist in the length of six inches and a half; and, in a tooth from Essex,
Plate XX, Fig. 8, in a length of eight inches and a hal£ are contained
twenty-four plates.

The uncommon smoothness of the sides of the enamel in this fossil
teeth, not only appears on its horizontal section, but, the cortical crust
having been removed, by decomposition, from between the plates, the
great degree of smoothness of their sides is rendered evident.

On almost every triturating surface of the fossil teeth of elephants, ex-
cept, indeed, when a tooth is first brought into action, full three fourths
of that surface, anteriorly, will be found to be supplied with the plates
rubbed down into single bands, passing quite across the tooth ; whilst the
remaining one fourth of the surface is filled with detached rings or points,
formed by the digitated processes of the plates. But in this tooth the
reverse of this is to be seen. Only two entire bands exist, possessing,
on the anterior part, about one fourth of the surface : the remaining
three fourths being occupied by the terminations of the digitated pro-
cesses.

Taking all these circumstances into consideration, I think there is
every reason for considering this tooth rather as belonging to a different
species from any which has been hitherto noticed, than to regard it as
an anomalous formation of a tooth belonging to the known fossil species.
This opinion is founded on four important characters; the great width

VOL. in. Y y

346

of the bands, the thickness of the plates of enamel, the smoothness of their
sides, and the great depth to which the notches forming the digitated
processes extend. So strong, indeed, are all these characters, and so
nearly do the upper terminations of these plates approximate to the pro-
tuberances on the grinders of other animals, and particularly of the mam-
moth, as to give room for the conjecture, that this tooth may have be-
longed to an animal, possessing intermediate characters between those
of the elephant and those of the mammoth.

The specimen, the surface of which is represented Plate XX. Fig. 5,
also varies considerably from the recent as well as from the common fos-
sil teeth, in the form and arrangement of its plates. This tooth, an up-
per tooth of the left side, which I purchased at the sale of Rackstrow's
Museum, was described in the catalogue as having been taken up with
ballast from the bottom of the Thames.

Of the variation which takes place in the form and arrangement of the
plates in this tooth, it is very difficult to give a description. In the recent
teeth, and in the common fossil teeth, the plates are continued straight
across the tooth, the enamel being disposed in a long elliptical line, in
which the osseous part, or the ivory of Mr. Home is included. Hence,
by the abstraction of the surrounding crusta petrosa, as we have already
seen, frequently is the case with the fossil teeth, the tooth falls to pieces,
and each flat plate is found separated. 'But in the specimen, which has
been just examined, an irregularity may be observed in the third ante-
rior row of the plates, where the two digitated processes of a plate passing
over little more than half the width of the tooth are interposed between
the second and fourth plate, and thrust a portion of the latter plate ra-
ther aside. It is an extension of this peculiarity of form which, in part,
characterizes the present tooth, since very few of the plates, of which it
is formed, pass directly across : leaving it difficult to say, how the osseous
part is disposed.

But the most characteristic peculiarity of this tooth is, the continuity
of many of its plates, and the remarkable DaBdalian line in which the

347

enamel is disposed. This occurs most particularly in a space in the an-
terior part of the surface. Here one deeply undulating line of enamel
forms the parietes of one wide and deeply indented compages of osseous
matter, occupying, as may be seen by the figure, the space of four or five
plates. It is very evident that this tooth could not, upon the decompo-
sition of the crusta petrosa taking place, divide, in this part, into detached
flat plates, as in the teeth of the recent and ^ of the common species of
fossil elephants. This structure is also observable in the fossil-tooth from
Wellsbourn, which has been already noticed.

This extraordinary structure also exists in the curious and interesting
specimen, Plate XX. Fig. 7. This tooth, with the locality of which I
am unacquainted, having purchased it at the sale of Mr. Forster's collec-
tion, is one, which must have been on the point of being excluded from
its alveolus; the plates on its fore part being entirely worn away, and, of
those on the posterior part, some very shallow portions only remaining.
These, however, are sufficient to show, that the plates in this tooth were
formed and arranged in a similar mode with those of the preceding tooth.

In the fore part of this tooth, from which the plates have been removed,
is a very smooth and polished surface of a thin coat of the crusta petrosa.
This is, indeed, so thin, that at the root of the small projecting piece of
enamel, in nearly the middle of the tooth, a small part is discoverable,
where the crusta petrosa itself is worn through, and a portion of the sub-
stance of the root itself has been acted upon. Behind this are two de-
tached bands, linearly and transversely disposed. Just above the upper
part of one of these commences a line of enamel, which proceeds in un-
dulations for the space of two plates, through half the width of the sur-
face, the remaining half being filled up by two separate terminations.
The line of enamel then passes on, by deep undulations, to the back part
of the tooth, filling up the space of three more plates. This peculiarity of
structure will however be better understood from the figure, than it can
be from even the most exact description.

This specimen is particularly interesting, from the circumstance of its

showing that this particular modification of the arrangement of the ena-
mel takes place in the part of the tooth nearest to the root, as the other
specimens, that from Wellsbourn, and that whose surface is represented
Plate XX. Fig. 5, show that it exists in the crown of the tooth. From
this peculiarity of structure being found to exist in three different spe-
cimens, I conceive that it cannot be regarded as an accidental difference;
and from the considerable difference which exists between this arrange-

ment of the enamel and that which occurs in the teeth of the living spe-
cies, and of the common fossil species, I trust it will be admitted as being
likely to be one of the characteristics of a species which has not yet been
remarked.

M. Cuvier, anxious to discover the degree of accordance of the fossil
elephant's skeleton with that of the living species, compared the fossil
skull found in Siberia by Messerschmidt, a figure of which is given by
Breyn, in the fortieth volume of the Philosophical Transactions, with
those of the African and Asiatic elephants. The result of his comparison
was, that in the fossil species the alveoli of the tusks are much longer ;
the zygomatic arch is of a different figure ; the post-orbital apophysis of
the frontal bone is longer, more pointed, and more crooked ; and the tu-
bercle of the os lachrymalis is considerably larger, and more projecting.
To these peculiarities of the fossil skull, M. Cuvier thinks, may be added
the parallelism of the molares.

The lower jaws of the fossil species of elephants accord with the pe-
culiarity of form observable in the skull. From the teeth in this, as well
as in the upper jaw, being placed nearly parallel with each other, the
vacuity between the branches of the jaw, at its fore part, is wider, in pro-
portion to its length, than is the case in either the Asiatic or African
jaws. In the existing species of elephants the lower jaw terminates in
rather a pointed apophysis, room to admit of the motion of which is
yielded by the separation of the tusks. But in the fossil skull the alveoli
of the tusks descend much lower, so that they would interfere with the
motion of the lower jaw, unless prevented by some accordant modifica-

340

tion of its structure. This is found to exist; the lower jaw being so
rounded off in the front, as to allow of its motion behind the descending
alveoli. Both these circumstances are observable in the fossil jaws exa-
mined by M. Cuvier, and also in two portions which I obtained from
Essex.

This structure must have materially affected the form of the face and
the organization of the trunk, and must have given the animal a very
different appearance from that which is borne by the Asiatic elephants.
It must be, however, admitted, that the jaw-bone mentioned by M.
Adrien Camper shows, that there does exist an elephant which possesses
certain characters different from those of the known living species, and
approaching to those which at present mark the fossil species. M. Adrien
Camper, it must be added, informs his friend Cuvier, that he possesses a
jaw-bone of an elephant of Ceylon, which differs much from the other
recent jaws which he has seen, and very closely agrees in its dimensions
with the fossil jaw-bones.

Comparing together the bones of the Asiatic and of the African ele-
phant, he was able to discover some differences between them, as well as
between those and some of the fossil bones which he possessed. These
latter he found, in general, approached nearest to those of the Asiatic
elephant. He concludes with supposing .that the fossil remains are of a
species differing more widely from the Asiatic elephant than the horse
does from the ass, and therefore does not think it impossible but that
it might have existed in a climate which would have destroyed the ele-
phant of India.

It may therefore be assumed as certain, from the observations of M.
Cuvier, that at least one species of elephants has existed, of which none
are now known living ; and should the difference of structure which I
have pointed out, in some of the fossil teeth, be admitted as sufficient to
designate a difference of species, it may be then said, that there exist the
fossil remains of, at least, two species of elephants, which were different
from those with which we are acquainted.

350

The structure of the fossil tusks of elephants agrees, as might have been
expected, exactly with that of the recent. The transverse section shows
very small striae, passing in a circular sweep from the centre to the cir-
cumference, across each other, and thus forming curvilinear lozenges,
which occupy the whole disk. This structure is truly characteristic of
the ivory of the elephant, and, as I shall soon show you, of the masto-
don, it not being found in the tusks of any other animal. It is much
more plainly observable in the decomposing fossil tusk than in the recent
one. This peculiarity of structure is shown Plate XX. Fig. 9, the sur-
face being slightly magnified.

The size of the tusks varies according to the species, the sex, and the
age ; but no information is yielded respecting the difference of species, by
the difference of size in the fossil tusks. It may however be remarked,
that they do not appear to exceed in size the tusks, with which the indi-
viduals of living species might be furnished, if they were to live to their
natural period.

The curvature of many of the ^fossil tusks agrees with that of the living
species, but the curve of the greater number approaches nearly to a semi-
circle. Four such have been described; and one of these, by Messer-
schmidt and Breyn, in the fortieth volume of the Philosophical Trans-
actions. Being apprized, about seven years since, that the remains of
some large animal had been found in the brick-fields of Mr. Hobson, at
Kingsland, I made the necessary investigations, and learned that a tusk of
an elephant had been found between the stratum of gravel and of clay,
but in so shattered a state, that only small fragments of it could be re-
moved, and that it therefore had been again covered over. One of Mr.
Hobson's clerks, a very intelligent gentleman, favoured me with a frag-
ment of the tusk, which I now possess, and a fossil oyster-shell, which was
found near it. He also obliged me with a sketch, which he had made,
chiefly to mark the curvature of the tusk, which appeared to him as very
extraordinary. From this sketch, it appears to have formed nearly four
fifths of a circle.

351

On the other hand, the fragments of a pretty large tusk, which I have
from Essex, are sufficiently long to show, that the degree of curvature
could have very little exceeded that of tusks in general. Another spe-
cimen from Essex, a portion of the smallest end of a pretty large tusk,
laterally flattened, appears to have been full as straight as recent tusks
generally are. The same was observable of another portion from Essex,
which I presented to a friend. A very small tusk, from the same place,
is particularly straight : this, however, belonged to a very young, and
most probably to a female animal.

From the preceding observations it appears then, that the fossil ele-
phantine remains, notwithstanding their resemblance in some respects to
the bones of the Asiatic elephant, have belonged to one or more species,
different from those which are now known living. This circumstance
agrees with the facts of the fossil remains of the tapirs and rhinoceroses,
which appear to have differed materially from the living animals of the
same genera. The remains of elephants obtained from Essex, Middle-
sex, Kent, and other parts of England, confirm the observations of Cu-
vier, that these remains are generally found in the looser and more super-
ficial parts of the earth, and most frequently in the alluvia which fill the
bottoms of the vallies, or which border the beds of rivers. They are
generally found mingled with the other bones of quadrupeds of known
genera, such as those of the rhinoceros, ox, horse, &c. and frequently also
with the remains of marine animals.

352

LETTER XXVI.

MASTODON.

W E now come to the examination of one of the most stupendous ani-
mals known, either in a recent or a fossil state ; and which, whether we
contemplate its original mode of existence, or the period at which it lived,
our minds cannot but be filled with astonishment.

The first traces of this animal are sketched in a letter from Dr. Ma-
ther, of Boston, to Dr. Woodward, in 1712, and are transcribed from a
work in manuscript, entitled Biblia Americana. In this work, teeth and
bones of prodigious size, supposed to be human, are said to have been
found in Albany, in New England*. About the year 1740, numerous
similar bones were found in Kentucky, on the Ohio, and dispersed among
the European virtuosos. Buffon, speaking of these teeth and» bones, found
by M, le Baron de Longueuil, M. de Bienville, and M. de Lignery,
says : — " It can never be supposed that these teeth could have been
taken from the same head with the tusks." — " In supposing this, it would
be necessary to admit the existence of an unknown animal, which had tusks
similar to those of the elephant, and grinders resembling those of the hip-
popotamus." Mem. de I'Acad. Roy. des Sciences, 1762.

In 1765, several of these remains were found by Mr. G. Croghan,

* Philosophical Transactions, abridged by Jones, Vol. V. Part II. p. 159.

four miles to the south-east of the Ohio, and were conveyed to England.

«/ O

These bones were discovered five or six feet below the surface; and,
from the quantity of bones, it was concluded, that there could not be less
than thirty skeletons of this animal. Mr. Collinson, in a letter to Buf-
fon, also refers these remains to some large, unknown animal, with the
tusks of the elephant and grinders of the hippopotamus. Buffon, Tomexm.
Dr. W. Hunter, by whom these remains were examined, and who be-
lieved that they belonged to some carnivorous animal, had the satisfac-
tion of comparing the half of a lower jaw of this animal with the jaw of
an elephant, and found so great a difference, as convinced him " that
the supposed American elephant was an animal of another species, a
pseud-elephant, or animal incognitum." Presuming that the American
bones were not elephantine, the Doctor concluded that the Siberian were
of the same kind. P kilos. Tram. VoL LV.III. The celebrated Camper,
at first, concluded that this animal approached nearer to the elephant
than to the hippopotamus; and that it, in all probability, had a trunk,
and therefore was not to be considered as carnivorous. But contemplat-
ing afterwards some fragments of the skull of this animal, in a wrong
point of view, he changed his opinion ; and concluded, that this animal
must have had a pointed muzzle and no tusks; that it did not resemble
the elephant; and that he was unable to determine any thing with re-
spect to its real nature. Dr. Hunter, in the paper above referred to,
published in 1768, observes, that in the British Museum, and in private
collections, he met with grinders of the incognitum that had been found
in the Brazils and Lima, as well as in different parts of Europe. M. Buf-
fon, in 1778, figured one of these teeth, which he had received from the
Count de Vergennes, and which had been found in Little Tartary; also
another, which had been brought by the Abbe Chappe from Siberia.
Epoqucs de la Nature, PL i. n. tt in. — Pallas has also given the figure of
a tooth of this animal, from the Oural Mountains.

Many bones of this animal having been found, in 1799, in the State
of New York, in the vicinity of Newburgh, which is situated on the Hud-
son, or North River, Mr. C. W. Peale, of Philadelphia, purchased these,

VOL. III. Z Z

354

with the right of digging for the remainder. In 1801, Messrs. Peale
made every exertion to discover more of these remains in the spot where
the former had heen found; but although neither labour nor expense
was spared, they were not rewarded by finding any of the more im-
portant and illustrative parts of the animal. Another attempt was then
made in a morass, about eleven miles from the former, where almost an
entire set of ribs was found, but nothing more. After this, they searched
a morass about twenty miles west from Hudson River; and here, after
a series of disappointments, arid slight successes, they found a right os
humerus, a radius and ulna of the left side, the right scapula, the atlas,
a complete under-jaw, and the great object of their pursuit, the upper
part of the head, which was however so rotten, that they could only pre-
serve the teeth and a few fragments.

From the whole of the bones which they obtained, two skeletons were
formed, composed of the appropriate bones of the animal, or exact imi-
tations from the real bones in the same animal, or from those of the same
proportion in the other. Mr. R. Peale, who has given a description of
this animal, asserts, that there is one bone less in the neck of this animal
than in that of the elephant, never having met with a single bone resem-
tling a seventh vertebra of the neck. The dorsal vertebrae were sup-
posed to agree in number with those of the elephant; as nineteen of
these vertebrae and as many ribs were found, one in all probability having
been lost : three vertebrae were thus left for the loins.

From the formation of the teeth, the disposition of the enamel, the inca-
pacity in thve jaw for lateral motion, and from the condyloid process, which
is finished with an oblong head, being inserted into a transverse groove,
Mr. Peale concludes this must have been a carnivorous animal. The
•teeth of the upper and lower jaws, when shut, he observes, must have had
their points and depressions fit into each other, like the teeth of two saws ;
and whilst shut must have been immoveable laterally, and consequently
incapable of triturating, like the teeth of graminivorous animals.

The roots or fangs of the teeth, Mr. Peale observes, are inserted into
the mass of bone, which not only surrounds the roots, but divides one root

355

from the other ; whereas, in the elephant, the grinders occupy one large
and uniform cavity, from which they are gradually protruded.

The only instance of hair, Mr. Peale says, heing found with the re-
mains of this animal, occurred in a morass belonging to Mr. A. Golden.
The hair was coarse, long, and brown ; a large mass of it was found
together, but so rotten, that, after a few days exposure to the air, it fell
into a powder*.

The country in which these remains are found is like an immense
plain, bounded on every side by immense mountains. On digging into
the morasses where these bones are found, the following strata are gene-
rally met with : one or two feet of peat, one or two feet of yellow marie,
with vegetable remains; about two feet of grey marie, like ashes; and,
finally, a bed of shell-marie. It is in the grey marie that the bones are chiefly
found. This marie is found to contain seventy-three parts in the hun-
dred of lime, and when dry will burn for a long time with a bright flame.
In the neighbourhood of these morasses are found an infinite number of
petrifactions of marine bodies, echinites, corallites, &c. one of which I
had occasion to speak of in the preceding volume.

From the accounts of Dr. Barton, General Collard, Mr. Smith Barton,
Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Dunbar, and others, it appears that considerable quan-
tities of these remains have been found in different parts, in the neigh-
bourhood of the Ohio, of the Mississippi, and of the Missouri. They have
iiot, however, been yet foutid higher than the Lake Erie, in about 43°

* An account has been given of the discover\of the remains of a mammoth, on the shores
of the Frozen Sea, with its flesh, skin, and hair, in good preservation. This account, written
by M. Michael Adams, of Petersburgh, was kindly communicated by Sir Joseph Banks to Mr.
Tilloch, by whom it was published, in the Philosophical Magazine, Vol. xxix. page 141. This
discovery excited a considerable degree of attention, which was however, by many, misdi-
rected ; since they should rather have regarded this animal as, perhaps, one of the lost spe-
cies of elephants, than as a mammoth or mastodon. That it could not have been one of this
latter genus is evident, from the account of M. Adams himself; who says: " The mam-
moth in my possession is quite different from that found near New York, which, from the
description," he says, " had carnivorous teeth." M. Adams concurring with the Russians, in.
giving the name of mammoth to the elephants found imbedded in those parts.

355

of north latitude. These remains are also found on this side of the three
great chains of mountains, the Aliganys, the North Mountains, and
the Blue Mountains; in the anterior parts of Pennsylvania and Caro-
lina ; and in New Jersey, a few miles from Philadelphia.

Among the more curious discoveries which have been made respecting
this animal, is that which is related by Mr. Maddison, of a considerable
quantity of bones found in Virginia, near to Green Briar, where the
bones of the megatherium were found. The discovery of these bones
was accompanied with a circumstance particularly interesting. In the
midst of them was found a mass of small branches, grass, and leaves ; and
among the latter, some of a species of reed, which is at present common
in Virginia. These were all half bruised, and appeared to be contained
in a kind of bag, which was considered as the stomach of the animal :
the contained substances were supposed to have been taken by the ani-
mal as food.

The teeth brought from Peru by Dombey and M. de Humbolt, as
well as that brought by the latter naturalist from Terra Fir ma, are,
in the opinion of M. Cuvier, of a different species from the North
American. He also suspects this to be the case with the teeth from
Brazil and Lima, mentioned by Dr. Hunter; and concludes, that
these bones, so common in South America, are very rarely found else-
where.

These bones are always found but at a little depth, and seldom appear
to have changed their situations since the death of the animal. Mr. Bar-
ton relates two instances, where the soft parts of the animal appear to
have been dug up ; and the Indians described one of the heads which
were dug up in 1762, as having over the mouth a long nose, which Mr.
Barton supposes must have been the trunk. Kalm, speaking of a ske-
leton discovered by the savages of Illinois, says, that the form of a trunk
was yet discoverable, although half decomposed.

M. Cuvier informs us that there is at Paris a fragment, which, if the
account of it be authentic, would make us doubt whether this species is
really extinct. It is part of a foot, with five nails attached to it ; and

357

which the owner of it says, he obtained of a Mexican, who had pur-
chased it of a savage of the West of the Missouri, who had found it
with a tooth in a cave. But it being so fresh, appearing also to have
been cut off with a sharp instrument, and so perfectly resembling that
of an elephant, M. Cuvier is induced to suspect some fraud on the part of
the Mexican.

These astonishing remains have, as might be expected, been strictly
examined by Cuvier. In the 46th number of the Annals of the Museum
of Natural History, this illustrious anatomist has not only given a com-
pendious account of the preceding discoveries which had been made
respecting this animal, but has also entered into an anatomical exami-
nation of the several parts which have been found.

The grinders, he observes, are formed of two substances only; an in-
ternal bony substance, and a thick coat of enamel. The form of their
crown is in general rectangular, the hinder ones being rather narrowest
behind. The crown is divided, by widely spreading grooves, into a cer-
tain number of transverse risings, each of which is divided, in the con-
trary direction, into two large obtuse and somewhat quadrangular and
pyramidical points, the whole crown, when not worn, being beset with
large points, disposed in pairs. In consequence of several of these teeth
being much worn down, not only to the base of the pyramids, but eveu
so low as only to leave one square surface edged with enamel, it has
been inferred that they have been employed in the trituration of vege-
table substances. The roots of these teeth being formed after the crown,
they are not found complete until the crown has begun to be a little
worn.

M. Cuvier particularizes three sorts of these grinders : nearly square,
with three pair of points, generally much worn ; rectangular, with eight
points, which are less worn ; and others still longer, with five pair of
points and a single smaller one, which are seldom worn in the least.
These appearances agree with their situations ; those with three points
being the foremost, and appearing the first ; whilst those with ten are the
hindmost, and appear the last.

358

From observations made on the several lower jaws which have been
found, it appears that the two first sorts of teeth may exist in the mouth
of the animal at the same time ; but that those of the latter sort follow the
others. M. Cuvier says, perhaps there may have been, in the infancy of
the animal, a tooth with four points, /which would be cast early. This he
was led to conjecture, from having been informed by M. de Beauvois, that,
in a jaw belonging to Dr. Barton, there appeared to be the marks of an
alveolus before the tooth with six points. There can be little doubt but
that the teeth succeeded to each other, as in the elephant : there never,
however, being more in the mouth, at once, than two, and at last only
one.

For want of attending to this succession of the teeth, and supposing
many 'of these teeth to have existed in the mouth at the same time, very
erroneous conjectures have been formed respecting the size of this animal.
Thus Burton observes, that the square form of these enormous grinders
prove, that several were in the jaw at the same time ; Epoqucs de la
Nature, Notes justif. 9. But, if we suppose there were six, or even
four, on each side of each jaw, how enormous must that head have
been, which contained at least sixteen such teeth. Reckoning on these
fallacious grounds, he concludes, the animal must have far exceeded the
size of the largest elephants; whereas, we have no proof at present of
this animal reaching to twelve feet in height, whilst, agreeable to Buf-
fon's own account, the Asiatic elephants are sometimes fifteen or even
sixteen feet high.

One of the back grinders of this animal, with five pair of points, and
an odd one at the end, is represented in the frontispiece to this volume. This
tooth is in remarkably fine preservation, and was tor several years a part
of the collection in this city, which was called Rackstrow's Museum. It
is seven inches and a half long, 1& inches in circumference round its
crown, and it weighs four pounds seven ounces.

The remains of the under-jaw of this animal show us that, like the
elephant and morse, it had neither canine nor incisive teeth ; that it ter-
minated in the fore part, as in those animals, in a hollowed point, which was

359

however much shorter and less acute than in the elephant; that the
posterior angle, although obtuse, is defined, and not rounded off as in
the elephant; and that the arms or branches of the jaw, formed of
the condyloid and coronoid processes, and their hases, are shorter and
flatter than in the elephant, as is required by the peculiar form of the
upper jaw.

No perfect specimen of the skull of this animal has been hitherto
found ; but, from the fragment in the possession of M. Camper, and
from that of Mr. Peale, it appears, 1. That in the mastodon the grinders,
in the upper jaw, diverge forwards; whereas, in the common elephants,
they converge more or less; arid in the fossil elephant, or mammoth of
the Russians, they are nearly parallel. The hog and the hippopotamus
approach the mastodon a little in this respect. 2. The bony palate
extends considerably beyond the last tooth. The Ethiopian sow is the
only herbivorous animal which resembles the mastodon in this respect.
3. The pterygoidal apophyses of the palate-bones are of a thickness un-
paralleled among the quadrupeds. 4. The notch before this apophysis
has some agreement with that of the hippopotamus, which is however
narrower. 5. That there is no trace of any orbit in the zygomatic arch;
but that where the orbit occurs, in the elephant, is a large mass of bone;
so that the eye must have been placed much higher in this animal than
in the elephant. 6. That the maxillary bones have a less vertical eleva-
tion than in the elephant. 7. That, hence, the zygomatic arch is less
raised behind, agreeable to the conformation of the lower jaw ; and, of
course, the position of the ear varies from that which takes place in the
elephant. 8. From this proportion results the difference in the situation of
the occipital condyles in the two animals; they being raised considerably
above the level of the palate in the elephant, and nearly on the same level
with it in the mastodon. With respect to the large cells, from which
proceeds so great a degree of thickness in the skull of the elephant, there
seems to be every reason for supposing that these existed in a similar
manner in this animal. Of the form of the head nothing certain is as yet

360

known ; but it appears to have been proportionally longer than that of
the elephant.

Mr. Peale was the first who ascertained that this animal was provided
with tusks, by discovering the remains of a skull already mentioned, in
which the alveoli were evident. These tusks resemble those of the ele-
phant : they are inserted in the incisive bone, and are composed of ivory,
the grain of which shows curvilinear lozenges, enveloped by a substance,
which is not of the texture of ivory, but is formed of fibres converging
towards the centre; and which, though less hard than the enamel, seems
very nearly to resemble that substance. Mr. Peale had been disposed
to place the tusks of this animal in a situation the reverse of that which
they hold in the elephant; that is, with their convex part forwards, and
the point turning backwards ; but. no circumstance but the finding a skull,
with the tusks thus disposed, can authorize the placing of them different
from those of the elephant.

From the circumstance already noticed, and from every considera-
tion of the subject, there appears to be no reason for doubting that this
animal had a trunk like the elephant, with whom it agrees in so many
respects.

The form of the vertebrae agrees in general with that of the cor-
responding vertebras in the elephant. The ribs are formed different
from those of the elephant, being thin towards the cartilage, and thick
and strong towards the back. The six first pair are very strong in
comparison with the others, which also become, proportionally, very
short : which circumstance, taken with the depression of the pelvis, shows
that the belly was less voluminous in this animal than in the elephant.

The scapula appears to possess the characters of the scapula of the
elephant, and particularly the recurrent apophysis peculiar to this genus,
and to the rosores (rongeurs). The scapula seems to be narrower than
.even that of the African elephant, and to have the recurrent apophysis
.placed higher than in the Asiatic elephant. The length of the scapula
is three feet and one inch. Mr. Peale describes the acromion as being

361

long and pointed. The long bones of the fore extremity are, according
to Mr. Peale, much thicker in proportion than those of the hind extre-
mity ; and this difference is greater than what exists in the elephant.
The humerus, agreeable to the observations of M. Cuvier, is shorter,
and the fore-arm longer, in proportion, than they are in the elephant.
The humerus also is shorter, in proportion, to the scapula.

The pelvis is much more depressed, in proportion to its width, than in
the elephant : its opening is also much narrower.

The enormous mass of the os femoris, and particularly its width, which
exceeds that of both the existing and the fossil elephant, excites astonish-
ment immediately on being seen. It is flatter from the fore part back-
wards, at its lower end, in consequence of the groove answering to the
rotula being shorter. The tibia, in the opinion of Mr. Peale, is less in
proportion, in this animal, than in the elephant. The observations of
M. Cuvier do not corroborate this opinion ; but rather prove, that the
proportions here were nearly alike in both animals.

Mr. Peale observes, that the bones of the hind feet are remarkably
smaller than those of the fore feet, as is likewise the case in the elephant.
The second phalanges of the fore feet, he observes, terminate in surfaces
which seem to show that the bones of the third, or ungual phalanx, had
more motion than they have in the elephant, and approached nearer to
those of the hippopotamus.

From a careful attention to every circumstance, M. Cuvier conceives
that we have a right to conclude, that this great mastodon, or animal of
the Ohio, did not surpass the elephant in height, but was a little longer
in proportion ; its limbs rather thicker ; and its belly smaller. It seems
to have very much resembled the elephant in its tusks, and indeed in
the whole of its osteology ; and it also appears to have had a trunk. But
notwithstanding its resemblance to the elephant, in so many particulars,
the form and structure of the grinders are sufficiently different from those
of the elephant, to demand its being placed in a distinct genus. From
the later discoveries respecting this animal, he is also inclined to suppose

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362

that its food must have been similar to that of the hippopotamus and the
boar, but preferring the roots and fleshy parts of vegetables ; in the search
of which species of food it would, of course, be led to such soft and marshy
spots as he appears to have inhabited. It does not, however, appear to
have been at all formed for swimming, or for living much in the waters,
like the hippopotamus, but rather seems to have been entirely a terres-
trial animal.

Other teeth, bearing a very close analogy with those of the animal
of the Ohio, have been long noticed by different authors ; but it is to
M. Cuvier that we are indebted for collecting and comparing the different
accounts which have been given of teeth belonging to this genus, but
which have been found in different places on the two continents, and
are of a different species than those of the Ohio.

Dr. Grew, in 1681, in his History of the Rarities of Gresham, Plate xix.
Fig. 1, figured the upper part of one of these teeth, which he describes
as the petrified tooth of a marine animal. Reaumur figured part of a
tooth from Simorre, in Gascony, somewhat resembling this, in the Me-
moirs of the Academy of Sciences for 1715. D'Argenville has figured an
entire tooth resembling these, Oryctologie, PL xvni. Fig. 8, and which
he described as having belonged to some unknown fish. A similar tooth
is also represented in Pfete vni. of the Supplement to Knorr's work.
J. Baldessari, in 1767, described and figured, in the Memoirs of the
Academy of Sienna, Tom. in. /?. 243, two considerable portions of a
lower jaw found at Mount Follonico, and considered them as similar to
those described by M. Guettard. A tooth of this kind, of a large size,
was found in 1784, at Trevoux, and considered by M. de Morveau, Mem.
de VAcad. de Dijon, T. vi. p. 102, as being of the same species of those
from the Ohio.

Besides these now mentioned, M. Cuvier was surprised to find, by his
correspondence, that these teeth were not unknown in several other parts
of Europe and America. In Sort, near to Dax ; Montabusart, near to
Orleans; Saxony; Asti, in Piedmont; the Vale of A rno; different parts

363

of Lombardy ; Peru ; the Field of Giants, near Santa- Fe, in Terra-firma;
and in the province of Chiquitos, in Paraguay; have teeth, which are
referable to this genus of animals, been found. Besides the teeth found
in these different parts, he obtained information respecting several others,
of which the places where they had been found were unknown : the
whole being so numerous, as to show that this race of animals had left a
considerable quantity of their remains.

From the general form of these teeth, from bones being found with them
resembling those of the mastodon of the Ohio, and from their being reason
for supposing that they were accompanied by tusks, no doubt can be enter-
tained of their having belonged to this genus. But these teeth possess also
other specific characters, which sufficiently distinguish them from those of
the Ohio. The chief, and the most general of these, are, that the cones of
their crowns are more or less deeply grooved, that they are sometimes ter-
minated by several points; and that they sometimes are accompanied by
other smaller cones, placed on the sides, or in the intervals of the larger
cones. In consequence of this formation, as the crowns of these teeth
are worn down by mastication, small circles, and then three-lobed, or
club-like figures, appear where the points were, but not the lozenge-
formed figures which these parts assume in the animal of the Ohio.
From these club-like markings Daubenton, P. Camper, and M. Fau-
jas, have been disposed to consider these teeth as resembling those of
the hippopotamus: from which, however, they may be distinguished,
independent of their greater size, by their having six or ten of the club-
like markings; whilst, in the teeth of the hippopotamus, there are never
more than four. The distinguishing of these smaller teeth from each
other, was a task of much greater difficulty and labour, but has been
in a great measure accomplished by the assiduous investigations of M.
uvier.

From these researches he has been enabled to distinguish five species
of this genus, which he thus designates: 1. The mastodon of the Ohio.
2. The mastodon with narrow teeth, found at Simorre and elsewhere.

364

3. The small mastodon, that with small teeth. 4. The mastodon of the
Cordilleras, the large animal with square teeth. 5. The mastodon of de
Humbold, which is the smallest. — No individual of either of these spe-
cies is at present known to exist.

Of the teeth of the second of these species, that with narrow teeth, he
obtained the examination of specimens from Sort, near Dax, Simorre,
Peru, Monte Follonico, Irevous, La Rochetta di Tanaro, near Asti ;
Arno's Vale, and the Field of Giants, near Santa-Fe.

From a careful comparison of these specimens, he was able to deter-
mine these detached but important facts. First, that in a specimen of
the upper jaw of this animal there had been three teeth, the foremost
having four points and one at the hinder part ; the middlemost six pair of
points, with two supplementary behind ; and the hindmost divided in
six rows of eminences, all subdivided in two except the last. Secondly,
That these teeth were pressed from behind forwards, as in the elephant
and in the mastodon of the Ohio, and that the fore-teeth disappeared at a
certain period. He also found reason for supposing that the fore-tooth
was capable of being replaced from beneath, as in the hippopotamus.
Thirdly, That the lower jaw, in its fore part, terminated in a kind of
beak like that of the elephant, and of the large mastodon; there being
neither canine nor incisive teeth.

In the lower teeth the outer side is most worn,, and consequently the
inner is most projecting, the contrary being necessarily the case with the
upper teeth : hence the outer points of the lower teeth obtain the club-
like markings and the inner points of the upper. This is agreeable to a
general law in the herbivorous animals, that when the two sides of a tooth
are not similar, they are placed contrariwise in the two jaws. Thus the
ruminants have the convex part of the crescents of their upper teeth in-
wards, and that of the lower teeth outwards.

The situation and form of the supplementary points in the different
teeth of this animal, and the points assuming the club like markings on
being worn down, show some analogy between these and the teeth of

365

the hippopotamus. Compared with the mastodon of Ohio, these teeth
are so narrow, as certainly to warrant the distinguishing of the animal to
which they belong, as the mastodon with narrow teeth.

A tooth from Saxony, formerly sent to Bernard de Jussieu, and
another from Montabusard, were found to correspond in their figures and
proportions with the preceding species, but were exactly one third less.
Knowing no instance of such a difference of size in any species of wild
animals, and as this difference could not depend on age, since the teeth
grow no more after being once formed, M. Cuvier had no hesitation in
considering these as of a distinct species — that which he has named the
small mastodon.

M. de Humbold found a tooth near to the volcano of Imbaburra, in
the kingdom of Quito, at the height of 1200 toises. It is considerably
decomposed, and partly coated with volcanic cinders. The same cele-
brated traveller found another of this species on the cordilier of Chi-
quitos, between Chicas and Tarija, near Santa-Crux de la Sierra, in 15
deg. S. L. M. Alonzo also furnished M. Cuvier with a drawing of ano-
ther tooth from the same province of Chiquitos. These teeth all appear
to have belonged to the same species of animal. Their characters appear
to be that of being of a square form, and having the same proportions
with the teeth with six points belonging to the mastodon of the Ohio ;
and so resembling them, that they might be mistaken for them, were
it not for the club-like figures which their points assume, and which can-
not be mistaken for the lozenge-like figures observable in the teeth of the
latter animal. The teeth thus characterized he distinguishes as -the mas-
todon of the Cordilleras.

To M. de Humbold we are also indebted for another tooth, evidently
of another species. This tooth, like those of the preceding species, is
square, but is a third less in size ; bearing the same proportion to those
of the preceding species as the teeth from Saxony and Montabusard bear
to the species with narrow teeth from Simorre, &c. This tooth was

366

found in the neighbourhood of the City of Conception, in Chili. This is
the tooth on which M. Cuvier establishes his species of the mastodon of
de Humbold.

At Harwich, as well as at the next promontory of Walton, blue clay
appears, and most probably extends through the whole of the intervening
marsh. At Walton, by digging in different parts of this stratum, and by
the action of the waves against its edge, the bones of several large animals
have been discovered. These I have ascertained to belong to the ox, sta^,
Irish fossil elk, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, and elephant, of which mention
was made in the preceding letter.

But both at Harwich and at Walton are prodigious beds of fossil
shells, highly ferruginous, and reaching thirty or forty feet above the
clay stratum. Dispersed in these beds of fossil shells, polished bowl-
dered fragments of bones are frequently found, which, like the shells,
are strongly impregnated with iron ; so much so, as to have acquired a
very considerable degree of hardness, and to emit a sharp ringing sound
when struck against any hard body. These fragments of bones, being
washed by the waves out of their matrix, are frequently found on the
beach.

From the smallness of these fragments, few being above six inches long,
and hardly any possessing twelve inches in length ; and from their being
almost all reduced to one shape by bowldering, previously to being
placed in their present bed, no grounds have existed, on which any
opinion could be founded as to the animal to which they belonged. But
within these last few years, a tooth was found on the beach at Harwich,
possessing the colour and appearance of the fragments of bones so
strongly, as to, leave no doubt of its having been imbedded in the same
bank of shells. This tooth was shown to me by my much lamented friend
and companion in these pursuits, Dr. Menish, by whom, at my request, it
was shown to the members of the Geological Society. Its figure had been
much injured by attrition ; so that, although no doubt could be enter-

367

tained of its having belonged to an animal of the genus Mastodon, I think
that no opinion could be formed respecting its species; but on this point
I speak with hesitation, since, at the time I saw it, I was unacquainted
with the existence of more than one species of this fossil

LETTER XXVII.

FOSSIL REMAINS OF THE RHINOCEROS ........... FOSSIL ANIMAL DIF-

FERENT FROM THE RECENT SPECIES ...... HIPPOPOTAMUS ...... FOSSIL

REMAINS ........ SMALL FOSSIL HIPPOPOTAMUS, AN UNKNOWN SPE-

CIES.. ..FOSSIL ANIMALS APPROACHING TO THE TAPIR.

N accurate knowledge of the anatomy and of the number of species
of the rhinoceros has been but lately obtained, and that through the
assiduous inquiries of Cuvier. Thus the celebrated Camper, unacquainted
with the characteristic differences of the teeth of the unicorn and bicorn
rhinoceros, and not finding incisive teeth in the two-horned species, he
charged Parsons, Linnaeus, and BufFon, with error, in supposing them to
exist in the one-horned species. But, on examining the living animal
of the latter species at Paris, and seeing its incisive teeth, he imme-
diately acknowledged the error into which he had fallen. M. Faujas
also, for want of correct notions respecting the teeth of this animal,
formed erroneous conclusions as to the number of species.

In every adult rhinoceros there are twenty-eight grinders, seven on
each side, at the top and bottom. It must be however remembered
that, as the teeth of the rhinoceros, like those of other herbivorous ani-

368

mals, have their roots brought into use when the crown is worn away ;
and as the root divides into two branches, the two stumps of the roots of
one tooth, forced upwards by the filling up of the alveolus, will give the
appearance of two teeth.

In the lower jaw are two large incisors, placed at the anterior angle ;
and between these are two very small incisive teeth, which remain con-
cealed within the gums. There are also two large incisive teeth in the
upper jaw; and Cuvier has discovered, that in this jaw also there are
two very small incisors, which are disposed, contrary to those of the lower
jaw, on the outside of the larger incisors.

The differences observable in separate detached grinders of these ani-
mals are not such as will serve to distinguish the species, but merely to
point out the age of the individuals. Of course, it is not from the fossil
grinders alone that we are able to determine whether the fossil remains
of this animal belong to a species which still exists, or to one which is lost.
Happily, however, complete information may be obtained on this point
from the examination of the whole skull. By a careful comparison of the
fossil with the recent skull, it is found that the fossil skulls exactly agree
with each other, and belong to one and the same species, and that the
fossil species is essentially different from those which are known in a living
state.

Omitting to notice the opinions of those who had written on this sub-
ject before the necessary anatomical knowledge respecting the living
species of this animal was attained and published, I shall place before you
a sketch of the .observations of M. Cuvier, on the opinions entertained by
M. Faujas on this subject.

There appeared to be three living species of rhinocers : 1 . That of
India, a unicorn, with a rugous coat, and with incisors, separated, by a
space, from the grinders. 2. That of the Cape, a bicorn, the skin with-
out rugse, and having twenty-eight grinders, and no incisors. 3. That
of Sumatra, a bicorn, the skin but slightly rugous, thus far resembling that
of the Cape, but having incisive teeth like that of India.

369

On comparing the skulls of the fossil rhinoceros with those of the ex-
isting species, the following differences are observed: 1. The skulls of
the fossil rhinoceros are, in general, much larger than those of the living
species; but as the skulls of the living species, which have been obtained,
may riot have been of the largest individuals, this difference is n$t such as
should be insisted upon. 2. The occipital surface, which in the recent
skulls is nearly perpendicular with the axis of the head, and which, in
the unicorn, even inclines forward, in all the fossil skulls, inclines consi-
derably backwards; which necessarily occasions the distance from the
nose to the occipital ridge to exceed considerably that from the nose to
the occipital condyles. 3. The meatus auditorius has its axis vertical in
the living species ; but, in consequence of the obliquity of the temporal
bones occasioned by the obliquity of the inclination of the occiput, this
axis is oblique in the fossil species. 4. The fossil species has two horns,
but the skull has nothing of the form of the bicorn of Africa. There is a
considerable space between the bases of the two horns in the fossil spe-
cies, whilst in the rhinoceros of Africa and of Sumatra the bases touch.
This difference evidently proceeds from the elongation of the skull in the
fossil species. The basis of the second horn, too, agreeable to the remark
of M. Adrien Camper, has a more raised, and embossed, and a much
more rugous surface, in the fossil, than in the existing species. 5. Instead
of the anterior apophysis of the superior maxillary bone being short, and
the intermaxillary very small, as in the bicorn of Africa, the fossil bicorn
had these parts very strong, and longer than in all the other species,
which renders the length of the nasal notch more considerable. 6. There
is in the fossil species a prominence on the superior part of the incisive
bone, which is not to be seen in the hicorn of Africa, in that of Sumatra,
nor in a young unicorn, which appeared to approach to that of Sumatra.
It was found only in the large unicorn, the skeleton of which is in the
National Museum. 7. The most important character in the fossil rhi-
noceros is the form of the bones of the nose, and their junction with the
incisive bones : in these respects it differs not only from the other rhi-

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370

noceroses, but from all other known animals. The point of the nasal
bones, instead of terminating in a distinct projection, at a certain distance
above the incisives, descends, without becoming thinner, before the na-
sal notches; and, after being separated in three projecting tubercles,
becomes united, by a portion which is a little thinner, to the incisive
bones, where they unite, and form of themselves two other tubercles.
All these four bones become so consolidated together, that the sutures by
which they were connected, as well as that which distinguished the inter-
maxillary from the maxillary bones, are not perceptible at only a mo-
derately advanced age. This structure, so solid, was doubtlessly intended
for the support of the horn, and would lead us to suppose, that it was more
strong, and could be applied with more power in this species, than in any
of those which now exist. 8. Behind this junction of the nasal with the
incisive bones begins a bony partition, which separates the two nostrils,
and passing backwards, is united with the vomer. 9. In consequence
of this partition, the incisive openings are separate from each other ;
whilst, in the living species, they are formed into one large opening.
10. From the length of the nasal notch, the eye is placed more back-
ward in this than in the other species.

With respect to the existence, or the number, of incisive teeth in the
fossil animal, M. Cuvier observes, that after an infinite number of re-
searches, he has not yet obtained any thing certain : he however thinks
he has a right to assert, that the fossil rhinoceros did not possess them, at
least in the upper jaw. In the lower jaw, M. Pallas, however, speaking
of a jaw found at Tchikgi, says : hi apice maxillce inferioris, sen ipso mar-
gine, ut ita dicam, incisorio, dentes quidem nulli adsunt ; verumtamen apparent
vestigia obliterata quatuor, alveolorum ?ninusculorum equidistantium, e quibus
exteriores duo obsoletissimi, sed intermedii satis insignibus fossis denotati sunt.
Nov. Com. xin. p. 600. Supposing, then, this jaw had actually con-
tained incisors, they, from being so very small, must have belonged to a
different species from any which is known living ; since the incisive teeth,
in the rhinoceros of Asia and Sumatra, are considerably larger, inde-

371

pendent of the age of the animal. Hence, if any of the fossil rhino-
ceroses had incisive teeth, it appears that they must have existed in thd
lower jaw only, and have also differed in size, and probably in form, from
those of the living rhinoceroses.

It appears that two incisive teeth of the rhinoceros are in the cabinet of
the celebrated anatomist Soemmereng, which, it is said, were dug out of
the earth in the neighbourhood of Mentz ; one of which has been figured
by Merck, and another by M. Adrien Camper. Supposing, M. Cuvier
observes, that these teeth are really fossil, they prove nothing contrary
to what has been assumed above. This circumstance can only show,
that there is also, among the fossil species, one which is different from
that which has been hitherto found. The grinder teeth of the fossil
species appear to agree precisely with those of the living species.

The fossil remains of the rhinoceros have been generally found in the
same countries where the remains of elephants have been found ; but
they do not appear to have so generally excited attention ; and perhaps
but few of those who discovered them were able to determine to what
animal they belonged. Thus a tooth of this animal is described by
Grew merely as the tooth of a terrestrial animal ; and the remains of
this animal, found in the neighbourhood of Canterbury, were supposed
to have belonged to the hippopotamus.

In Hartzberg, in the principality of Grubenhagen ; Quedlimbourg,
Darmstadt, the borders of the Rhine, Mentz, Strasbourg, the neigh-
bourhood of Cologne, Westphalia, numerous parts of France, and in
several parts of Great Britain, have the remains of the rhinoceros been
found. In Siberia these remains have been found in considerable quantities.
Pallas, whose researches have been particularly directed to this part of
the world, made the astonishing discovery of a complete rhinoceros, still
covered by its skin, and buried in the sand on the borders of the river
Wiluji.

From several fragments of bones which I met with in the Essex bank,

372

I was also Jed to suppose that the remains of some other very large ani-
mal, besides those of the elephant and elk, had been here imbedded.
This supposition was increased by finding one large fragment, a com-
plete mass of pyrites, with the form and external surface of bone, which
appeared to be the upper end of an os femoris; but which, either from
distortion, or from very uncommon, though natural conformation, differed
from that of any animal with whose skeleton I was acquainted. This
induced me to be more particular in my research, and occasioned me to
discover the tooth which is represented Plate xxi. Fig. 3. This tooth^
which is an upper molar tooth of the left side, is pretty much worn,,
and must have belonged to a small animal, since it is not one half of the
size of the teeth which were found at Chartham.

My friend Mr., Fisher, whose kindness I have already had occasion to
acknowledge, was so obliging as to procure for me five teeth, which had
been found at Fox-hill, in Gloucestershire, with some fragments of bones.
The fragments of bones were too small to allow of any decision respecting
them. One of the teeth was of the elephant; and the other four were
molar teeth of the upper jaw of the rhinoceros, and had suffered a very
considerable degree of decomposition. Their size was more than double
that of the tooth depicted above ; but their grinding surfaces had suffered
very considerable injury.

The horns of the rhinoceros have been repeatedly dug up in Siberia,
and of a considerable size, some exceeding in size those of the living
species.

Hollman and Zuckert had fossil fragments of the humerus of this ani-
mal, from which it appeared, that the obliquity of the radial pulley-like
termination, which in the living species is very considerable, is -exceeded
in the fossil ; and, that the inferior head is longer. On comparison with
the humerus of the Parisian skeleton, it appeared that the fossil humerus,
though shorter was thicker.

A. scapula, apparently of this animal, found at the foot of the Hartz,

373

was found to have its lower edge straiter and thinner than in that of the
recent animal ; the projecting part, too, of the spine of the scapula, was
extended much further towards the articular termination.

An atlas figured by Hoffman, and copied by Cuvier ; and which must
have belonged to some animal of this genus, was compared with that of
the skeleton, and found to be specifically different. A fossil axis (the
second vertebra) is also figured by Hollman ; and, like the former ver-
tebra, appears, from its proportions, to be a different species from the
unicorn rhinoceros. A third cervical vertebra is also figured by Hollman,
corresponding with the preceding vertebrae, and, like them, differing in
proportions from those of the corresponding bone in the skeleton of the
unicorn.

From various comparisons of the fossil bones with those of the living
species, M. Cuvier was able to conclude, that the head of the fossil spe-
cies is not only absolutely much larger, but that it is also much larger in
proportion to the height of the limbs, and, consequently, that the general
form of the animal must have been very different from that of the living
species.

A large quadruped, then, of a species unknown at the present day, is
thus found buried, M. Cuvier observes, in numerous parts of Europe
and Asia ; and one very remarkable circumstance is, that it has not been
brought from afar ; and another, that it has not been by any slow and in-
sensible change of the earth, but by some sudden change, that this species
has ceased to exist. The whole rhinoceros, found with its flesh and skin,
buried in the ice, on the borders of the Wiluji, evidently demonstrates,
he thinks, these two propositions. How, he asks, could it have come
there from the Indies, or from any other warm country, without falling to
pieces? How could it have been preserved, if the ice had not involved
it suddenly ; and therefore, how could it have been involved in this man-
ner, if the change of climate had been gradual and insensible?

The discovery of this animal has furnished us with some facts respecting
its external structure. None of those protuberances or irregular callo-

374

sities were discoverable on the head, which render that of the unicorn-
rhinoceros so hideous, but which do not exist in that of the bicorn of the
Cape. It appeared also, that the hairs were very abundant on the feet,
whilst none exist on these parts of the rhinoceros of the Indies or of the
Cape.

The existence of the fossil remains of the hippopotamus has not been
so generally admitted as those even of the rhinoceros. M. Faujas St.
Fond, who is eager to establish the eastern origin of our fossil remains, is
of opinion that the hippopotamus, which he believes to be an animal not
known in the East Indies, has not been found among the fossil remains
of animals in this part of the world. This opinion he founds, on his never
having seen any of the fossil remains of this animal in the several mu-
seums he visited in England, Scotland. Holland, France, and elsewhere;
and in finding no mention of them in the accounts of different travellers,
or in the writings of those authors which have treated of the fossil remains
of the larger quadrupeds.

In Daubenton's department of the Natural History of Buffon, it is
observed by St. Fond, that a report is given of several fossil teeth of the
hippopotamus, which were in the Museum of Natural History of Paris;
but that, upon examination, these teeth appeared to be teeth of the mam-
moth, or of the animal of Simorre.

On the other hand, M. Cuvier, on examining the teeth mentioned by
Daubenton, found two of them to be actually the teeth of the hippopo-
tamus; and although he found that Lang, Rome de PIsle, Camper,
Merck, and others, had mistaken the teeth of other animals for those of
the hippopotamus, he found that Antoine de Jussieu, Mem. de L'Acad.
1724, had undoubtedly described the fossil remains of this animal, as
found in Montpellier, at a place called La Mosson. On further exa-
mination, it was clearly ascertained, that these fossils came from Lan-
guedoc, where other remains of this animal were also found, sufficiently
proving the existence of the fossil remains of this animal.

From the account also of M. Fabbroni, Director of the Roval Cabinet

375 «

i '

at Florence, it appears that there exists, in that cabinet, not only two of
the molar teeth of the hippopotamus, but a fragment also of one of the
tusks, or canine teeth of the lower jaw. Teeth of the hippopotamus, of
different kinds, it appears, have been found scattered in several parts of
the upper Vale of Arno.

Remains of the hippopotamus have been found, I am informed, in
some parts of Gloucestershire. Mr. Trimmer has kindly communicated
to me the information, that the remains of these animals are found in the
stratum of blue clay at Brentford; and has also kindly communicated the
following account of the strata, as they there occur. The first stratum
is nine feet of sandy loam, or common brick earth, in which no fossils
are found. 2d. Seven feet of gravelly sand, becoming so coarse, as to
deserve to be called sandy gravel. At the bottom of this stratum are
found the remains of hippopotami and of elephants; but they are not
found in those parts to which the next stratum does not extend : to
which, therefore, they may be more properly considered as belonging.
3. From one foot to nine, of an earth highly calcareous, in which are
found the horns, bones, and teeth of deer, with many small shells. 4. A
few feet of gravel, with water. 5. Two hundred feet of blue clay, in
which are found pyritified fruits and wood, with marine fossils, particu-
larly nautili, which are found at all depths in this stratum.

In my visits to Walton, in Essex, I have been successful in obtaining
some remains of this animal. The most interesting of these specimens
are —

1. An incisor tooth of the right side of the lower jaw. This tooth has
lost much of its enamel, but is otherwise in good preservation, possessing
all its characteristic markings. It measures fifteen inches and a half in
length, and nine inches in circumference towards its base, and is of course
too large to be figured in these plates.

2. The point of an inferior canine tooth or tusk, measuring full nine
inches in circumference, and having seven inches in length of triturating
surface. From the great size of this tooth, it is very likely to have

376

belonged to the same animal to which the preceding tooth belonged.
Besides the longitudinal striae and grooves observable in the enamel of
its sides and inferior part, it is characterized by strong transverse rugous
markings, which are placed at nearly regular distances, of about two
inches ; and are observed to exist in the same manner on the fragment
of about eight inches in length, which joins to it.

3. A fragment of a tusk, or lower canine tooth, which is only about
half the size of the preceding specimen. It has the markings of its
enamel of a different character from that of the larger tooth, and par-
ticularly is devoid of those transverse rugous markings which are so
strongly formed in that specimen. From the roundness of this specimen
in its circumference, and from the difference of its character, I am led to
suspect that it may have belonged to the small hippopotamus, which, as
will be presently observed, was discovered by Cuvier, and which is only,
as yet, known in a fossil state.

4. One of the anterior grinders.

5. One of the last molar teeth of the right side of the lower jaw, and
which does not appear to have long pierced the gums. Plate XXI. Fig. 1 .

Among the most important discoveries made by M. Cuvier, is that of
a small fossil hippopotamus, of not more than half the size of the com-
mon species.

The remains of this animal were found in two pieces of sand-stone, in
which the bones and teeth were disposed in a manner much resembling
that which is observable in the calcareous and stalactitic masses from
Gibraltar, Dalmatia, and Cette. Unfortunately, no traces existed by
which it could be known where this sand-stone had been found.

After extricating, with extreme care, such bones, as could be removed,
and as served to demonstrate the species, M. Cuvier was gratified by
finding that they belonged to an animal, the existence of which had never
been imagined. This animal, it is evident, from the minute and close
comparisons which were made, must have agreed, most exactly, in every
character with the genus Hippopotamus; and must have differed, not essen-

377

tially In any respect but in its size, from that species which we know living,
and whose fossil remains, we have just seen, have been also sometimes
found. The size of this animal could not have exceeded half that
of the ordinary species; and it is evident, from the state of its teeth, and
from the advanced progress of ossification, that its inferior size could not
have proceeded from its being a young animal, but from its having been
of a distinct species.

In one of its large grinders, it appeared that, contrary to the hori-
zontally worn surface of these teeth in the ordinary hippopotamus, it was
worn obliquely on the anterior side, showing that its projections had shut
in between the risings of the opposite tooth.

But a more important difference was observable in the lower jaw. The
hippopotamus is the only known animal whose jaw, at its inferior and
posterior angle, turns backward, and forms a broad hook-formed process.
In this small animal, this hook-formed process not only was also ob-
servable, but it was found to be carried much further backward. In the
common hippopotamus, the turn which it makes describes the fourth of a
circle ; but in this animal the turn forms a crescent, and is equal to half a
circle.

The tapir is one of the pachydermata, and forms a genus in which
there is but one species: it is an animal of South America. It is
formed like a hog ; and although only the height of an ass, it is the
largest animal known in those parts. Its snout is elongated into a trunk,
which, although not long, is moveable like that of the elephant. The
fore-feet have four equal-sized toes, and the hind feet three, all of which
have hoofs. It has, in each jaw, six incisive teeth, and two canine, which
are not longer than the incisors. The skin is black, and almost without
hairs. It is a quiet and docile animal, which lives on the banks of rivers,
and feeds on reeds, sugar-canes, &c.

The tapir not having been known but in South America, it was with
great pleasure that M. Cuvier ascertained the existence of the fossil
remains, in France, of some animal of the same species, or very nearly

VOL. in. 3 c

378

resembling it; since this must be most decided evidence against that
system which attributes an Asiatic origin to our fossils.

This celebrated naturalist first noticed two specimens in the cabinet
of M. de Dree, and which had been described in a Memoir by M. Dodun,
being two portions of lower jaws which had been found near the last de-
clivities of the Black Mountain, at Issel, in Languedoc, near Castelnau-
dari, by M. Dodun. Finding that the resemblance which these jaws bore
to those of the tapir was exceedingly close, there being the same number
of each sort of teeth, the same form in the molar teeth, and even the
external incisive smaller than the others, as in the tapir, he was induced,
at first, to declare, that the fossil jaw did not sensibly differ from the jaw
of the recent animal. Subsequent examination, however, enabled him
to discover, that a difference existed between the first molar teeth of the
fossil and of the recent jaw. In the tapir of South America, all the molares
have their crown divided into two transverse risings, of an equal width ;
but in the fossil animal, the three first molares, instead of transverse
risings, have a kind of points or pyramids, the foremost of which is
larger than that which is behind it. The anterior part of the muzzle is
more narrow and long in the common tapir, than in the fossil animal.
In the tapir, also, the first molar is longer than any of the four or five fol-
lowing ones ; but in the fossil jaw this is the shortest.

These, and other less differences, induced M. Cuvier to conclude, that
the fossils of the Black Mountain belonged to some species approaching
to the tapir, but which was not precisely the same. These remains of
an animal, the analogue of which, if living, can only exist in South
America, are, in his opinion, entirely subversive of the notion of those
who support the Asiatic origin of our fossils. M. Cuvier calls this ani-
mal the small fossil tapir.

In the Journal de Physique for February, 1772, there appeared the re-
presentation of a milar tooth, found in the neighbourhood of Vienna,
and which appeared to have belonged to some large animal, at least re-
sembling the tapir. Another specimen was fouixd near St. Lary, in

379

•

Couserans. But the most interesting specimens are, the two halves of
a jaw, with five molar teeth in each, in the possession of M. Dree. These
fossils were found at Comminge, by the side of Beine, five leagues from
Alan, a castle of the Bishop of Comminge. Similar teeth are also said,
by Fabbroni, to have been found in Italy.

The teeth of the recent tapir are characterized by being divided by
transverse risings ; but this character, Cuvier observes, is not sufficient
to allow the attributing of any fossil teeth, with transverse ridges, to the
tapir ; since the same transverse risings on the crown are observable in
the teeth of the lamantin (Trichecus manatus), and in those of the kan-
guroo. In the lamantin, the upper teeth have two large risings, and
two smaller, or spur-like processes, one before, the other behind. On the
lower teeth are three risings. These risings are, in the germ of the tooth,
crenulated, both in the lamantin and in the fossil animal.

Of the five molar teeth in M. Dree's fossil, the foremost has only one
ridge, which is flat ; but the four last have two ridges, with a spur behind,
which is largest in the hindermost teeth. The animal to which these teeth
belonged could not, as M. Cuvier observes, have been very aged, since the
ridges are not much worn, and since one tooth, at least, was wanting in
this jaw. This is, however, assumed on the supposition that the tooth
found at Vienna belonged to a similar animal. This tooth has three
ridges and a spur-like process ; and in that case, would have been placed
behind these ; since in herbivorous animals, the teeth composed of the most
pieces are always behind the rest. The tooth found at St. Lary, and
which agrees in the appearance of its enamel and matrix, with those of
M. Dree, has also three ridges, which confirms the opinion of this animal
having six molar teeth on each side. Reckoning from the size of the mo-
lar teeth of the fossil animal, it is supposed that it must have been one
fourth taller than the rhinoceros. But, by the same mode of reckoning,
it would have been five times longer than the known lamantin, and eight
times larger than the kanguroo, supposing it to have had the same pro-
portions as the species to which it may be imagined to belong.

These fossil remains M. Cuvier considers as belonging to a large ani-

380

nial, which might have approximated to the tapir, and which he calls the
large fossil tapir. % Plate XXI. Fig. 3, is the outline of the fossil tooth of
this gigantic animal, found at St. Lary, in Couserans, copied from M. Cu-
vier's engraving,, PL II. Fig. 7, Ann. du Mm. Toms III,

FOSSIL PACHYDERMATA OF THE ENVIRONS OF PARIS ....PAUEO-

THERIUM MAGNUM, MEDIUM, CRASSUM, MINUS ANOPLOTHE-

RIUM COMMUNE, MEDIUM, MINUS, MINIMUM — ..UNDETERMINED^
ANIMAL OF ORLEANS.

1 SHALL, with great pleasure, show you, in the present Letter, that
the unceasing and ingeniously directed lahours of Cuvier have been
rewarded, by the discovery of the fossil remains of two genera of pachy-
dermata, containing seven or eight different species, the analogues of
which are at present entirely unknown. To one of these he has given
the name of Palaotkerium, or ancient large animal or beast ; and to the
other, Anoplotherium, or beast without weapons, thereby implying its
distinguishing character, its want of canine teeth.

Much of this information was yielded him by the teeth alone ; but, in
addition to these, he became possessed of other different bones of these
animals, and particularly of the bones of the feet, by which the conjec-
tures which he had already formed, respecting the nature of these animals,
obtained a considerable degree of confirmation : but as he had found the
heads belonging to two genera, one with and the other without canine
teeth ; so he also found the feet of two genera, one with three complete;
toes, and the other with two.

381

The bones of the feet of one kind required to be classed with the heads
of one of these genera, and the bones of the feet of the other kind with the
head of the other genus. But how was this separation to be effected ? Did
the feet with three toes belong to the head with tusks, and those with
two toes to the heads without tusks, or should they be disposed in a con-
trary combination ?

After much perplexing investigation, he derived considerable aid by
meeting with a head without tusks, not larger than that of a hare, and
fortunately with a didactyle foot of the same proportions. Thus assisted,
he proceeded in his comparisons, and was at last able to determine that
the didactyle feet belonged to the Anoplotherium, and the tridactyle to the
Pal&otherium.

M. Cuvier observes, that the first information to be obtained, in the
examination of the remains of a fossil animal, is with respect to its grind-
ing teeth. By these may be ascertained whether the animal was car-
nivorous or herbivorous ; and if the latter, the order of herbivorous ani-
mals to which it belonged, may even, thereby, be determined, to a certain
extent.

A superficial examination soon showed him, that almost all the ani-
mals found in the plaster-of-paris quarries, round Paris, have the grinders
of the herbivorous pachydermata ; those of the upper jaw possessing a
crown formed of two or three simple crescents, succeeding to each other;
a configuration whicb may be seen to exist in the rhinoceros and the da-
man, Hyrax, Linn, two genera of the pachydermata. The ruminating ani-
mals^ indeed, have also grinders composed of two or three crescents;
but their crescents are double, and have each four lines of enamel ;
whilst in the pachydermata they are simple, and have only two lines.
These remarks were confirmed by the appearances yielded, in these fos-
sils, by the upper grinders ; their outer lace having three projecting ribs,
which divide it into two shallow depressions ; their crowns are square,
and have peculiar inequalities. These characters serve to remove^ de-

382

cidedly, these fossil animals from the family of ruminants, and to ap-
proximate them to the daman and rhinoceros.

The teeth found in the plaster-of-paris are of different sizes, but those
of the middling size occur most frequently. These, M. Cuvier has de-
monstrated, belonged to two different genera, one of which possessed
canine teeth, and the other, not. A careful examination showed also,
that the grinders of these different animals, although seemingly similar,
possessed decidedly different characters.

Commencing his inquiries with the genus PAL^EOTHERIUM, the large
ancient animal, with canine teeth, he was enabled to ascertain that, as in
the rhinoceros and daman, so in this genus, there are seven grinders in each
side of the lower jaw, the first of which is small, compressed, and rather
sharp. The others have their outer surface formed like two portions of cy-
linders, except the seventh, which has three of these portions. At the base
is aprojecting line like a collar, beneath which is a root to everyportion.

The internal surface of these teeth is, in some respects, the reverse of
the inner surface. Opposite to each of the crescents is a depression,
which narrows as it descends : the intervening projections, of course,
narrowing as they ascend.

Before the first small grinder, the jaw is void of teeth, or alveoli, for a
little space, at the end of which space is the canine tooth. It is a simple
oblique cone, a little bent ; the internal face of which is a little flat, and
its external face more than half a cone. Its faces are separated by two
longitudinal ridges, and its bases are girted by the same collar-like pro-
jection as was observed in the molar teeth. The root is large, and pene-
trates into the jaw nearly as far as the root of the first grinder.

This canine tooth is not a tusk projecting out of the mouth, as in
many species of hogs : it is rather concealed by the lips, as in the tapir,
hippopotamus, and Mexican hog. By the presence of this tooth, this
animal is separated from the rhinoceros and daman, whilst, by its grind-
ers, it is brought near to the tapir and hog.

383

The incisive teeth are of the common wedge-like form, and are six in
number, which is the exact number of those of the tapir, with which they
also very nearly agree in their forms.

In the fossil specimens of the upper jaw are also the corresponding
number of six incisors; behind which is the upper canine tooth, which
does not project any more than that of the tapir or pecari. Behind this
tooth is a small space for the reception of the point of the canine tooth of
the lower jaw.

The upper grinders have their crown nearly square, and have four
roots, whilst those of the lower have but two : the foremost only are a
little narrower in proportion than the others.

The outer face inclines obliquely inwards as it descends, and is divided
by three longitudinal ridges, into two concavities, rounded towards the
root, and terminating in a point towards the grinding surface. By the
angles thus formed, a line results at the outer edge of the grinding, sur-
face, in the shape of a W. ; and from the inclination and the concavities
on the external surface results another line in the form, of a W. in the
horizontal direction. In these teeth, then, are the same squareness of
form, the longitudinal ribs on the external face,, and the same line in the
shape of a W. as in the upper grinders of the rhinoceros; but the distri-
bution of the risings and depressions on the grinding surface, and of the
enamel, is essentially different.

Plate XXI. Fig. 4,. represents the outer surface of the fourth molar
tooth of the lower jaw of P. medium, and Fig. 5, represents its inner sur-
face. Fig, 6 is the outer surface ; and Fig. 7 is the inner surface of one of
the molares of the upper jaw of the same animal.

Thus Cuvier has been able to determine, that in the gypsum there
exist the remains of an animal which had 28 grinding teeth, 12 inci-
sive, and 4 canine. The lower grinders formed in two or three simple
crescents, and the upper square, with many markings on their crown :
the canine teeth not passing out of the mouth. It appears, also that this
animal must, from the number of its teeth, have been of a genus near to

5B4

that of tapir, and to that of rhinoceros, by the form of Its grinders.
That it was an herbivorous animal is certain ; and that it belonged to
the order of pachydermata is confirmed, as will be seen, by the struc-
ture of its feet.

The glenoid cavity, for the articulation of the jaw, had a flat surface,
as in that of the tapir ; and as, in the tapir, this cavity was bounded
backward by a transverse vertical plate : — a peculiarity, however, exists,
with respect to this plate; for that of the tapir has its internal edge more
forward, and the external more backward ; whilst in this animal it is
exactly contrary.

In the horse this plate is very short, and is from right to left. In the
ruminating animals it is more projecting and entirely transverse ; or, as
in the tapir, more drawn back to the outer edge. It makes less pro-
jection in the hog : that of the rhinoceros is not behind, but at the
inner edge of the glenoid cavity ; and the elephant has none. It ap-
pears that no known animal has the glenoid cavity formed like that of
the pal<eotherium.

By the most ingenious inferences from the form and the number of
bones constituting the nostrils, and from other characters, he was led to
conclude that this animal possessed a kind of snout, or trunk, resembling
that of the tapir. Judging of the size of the first animal of this genus,
whose remains he discovered, he concluded that it must have been less
than the tapir, and nearly as large as a common hog ; and directed by
the proportions which its remains bore to those of other species, which he
afterwards met with, he designated this species as Palaotherium medium.

From an astragalus, and from several other bones remarkable for their
thickness, he decidedly made out the existence of another species, rather
less than the P. medium, but which he conceived it right to name P*
crassum.

By his investigations, M. Cuvier discovered the fossil remains of another
animal, differing in no respect but in being more than double its size, from
the P. medium. This animal, which he supposes must have been of the

385

size of a common cow or of a small horse, he considered as being of a
different species, and named it Palteotherium magnum.

He found also several fragments, which enabled him to determine that
these quarries contained also the remains of another animal of this genus,
but which could not be larger than a fox, to which he gave the name of
Pal&otherium minus.

It appears, therefore, that he discovered, and decidedly made out, four
species of this genus : — P. magnum, P. medium, P. crassum, and P. minus.

Proceeding in his inquiries, M. Cuvier obtained a very interesting
specimen from the gypsum quarries, containing two bones of the meta-
carpus (those of the index and medius) nearly entire ; an impression of
that of the next, annulare; and four bones of the carpus, semilunare, unci-
forme, the analogue of os magnum, here very small, and trapezoide.

At first sight these bones appeared, in their general arrangement, as
well as in their particular configuration, very much to resemble their
analogues in the tapir. By the acuteness, however, of M. Cuvier, suffi-
cient differences were discovered in their forms, to determine that they
did not belong to that animal. He discovered that, in those few points
in which they differed from the analogous bones of the tapir, they seemed
to resemble those of the rhinoceros. On considering that the teeth of
the pal&otherium, in like manner, seemed to partake of the nature of each
of those animals, but to approach nearest to that of the former, M. Cu-
vier observes — " One must be stricken with increased admiration at the
unalterable constancy in the natural agreements of animals, even in the
minutest details." From this correspondence he was able to determine
that these remains must have belonged to some animal of the genus
palaotherium ; and, from their size and proportions, to that species to
which the designation medium appeared to belong. In another specimen
he found some metacarpal remains, which, on account of their shortness
and thickness, he had no doubt of their belonging to that species which
he had named P. crassum.

VOL. III. 3 D

386

, Another specimen of the fore-foot of P. medium, formed of three entire
fingers, the vestige of a thumb, and of a little finger, came under the
observation of M. Cuvier. He also obtained carpal remains, which,
from their size and proportions, he was confident in attributing to P.
magnum and minus.

In the plaster-of-paris, bones of the upper extremities were also found,
which were divisible by the species of articulation employed in the el-
bow, into those of two distinct genera. In one set of the radii, the
upper head was divided in the middle by a ridge, on each side of which
was a depression; and, in the other set, there were three depressions,
separated by two blunt ridges.

The former of these, those with two depressions, were ascertained
to belong to the genus Palaotherium. Ossa humeri were also found,
corresponding in their lower head with these radii, and consequently
having two prominences corresponding with the depressions in the head
of the radius. The ulna of this genus appeared to resemble very much
that of the tapir: some differences were however observable, but these
were but slight.

To obtain the information which M. Cuvier possesses, respecting the
scapulae of the animals of this, and of those of the succeeding genus, must
have required, as he justly observes, prodigies of patience, in those who
separated the parts of these tender and fragile bones, from the stone in
which they were imbedded. In consequence of these successful exer-
tions, he was enabled to ascertain, that these bones were all referable to
two general forms. In the one kind there existed no acromion, the
spine raising itself gradually unto about two thirds of its length, where
is its most projecting part, and where its edge is most widened, and
blending itself forwards with the outer face of the scapula. The scapula
of this description appears to have belonged to this genus : the other
kind of scapula, which appears to have belonged to the genus Anoplo-
iherhmi, will be noticed in its place.

387

The existence of three toes on the hind feet of this genus, is
proved by a foot, which was found nearly entire, with three metatarsal
bones and a supernumerary bone, and which appeared to belong to
P. medium.

Although the structure of this foot does not so materially differ from
those of the animals of the present day as Ijiat of the Anoplotherium does,
it approaching somewhat to the tapir, it is still undoubtedly of a struc-
ture at present unknown. That the hind foot of the animal, considered
as P. magnum, was tridactyle, was evinced by the form of a fossil astra-
galus of this animal. The foot which appeared to belong to the species
P. minus agreed with the preceding in having three metatarsal bones, and
a supernumerary bone, but was not larger than that of a fox.

Besides those bones of the hind feet which are referable to the pre-
ceding species, a tridactyle foot was found, rather less than that of a hog,
and shorter and thicker than that which is attributed to the P. medium,
and was therefore considered as belonging to P. crassum.

An astragalus was found which materially differed from that of known
animals. It approached the nearest to that of the tapir; but it differed
from it obviously in several points, and from its thickness was supposed
to belong to the last-mentioned species.

The quarries of Paris also supplied M. Cuvier with the tibia of P. me-
dium. He also obtained the tibiae of P. magnum, P. minus, and P. cras-
sum ; and was able to determine, that in these animals, and in those of
the genus Anoplotherium, the fibula was complete and distinct, as well as
in the other pachydermata.

We have seen that the teeth, as well as the feet, point out an ana-
logy between this animal and the rhinoceros and tapir, and M. Cuvier
has been able to show an equal correspondence in the os femoris. Three
species of quadrupeds, the rhinoceros, tapir, and the solipedes, are di-
stinguished from the others by a third trochanter, or a strong apophysis
on the outer edge of the bone, below that which is known as the great
trochanter. In the fossil os femoris, this third trochanter is rounded and

388

blunt ; but made a little hooked forwards, and is placed a little lower, on
the outer edge, than the small trochanter is on the inner. Other charac-
ters observable in this bone correspond with some which exist in that of the
ass and of the tapir, but mostly with those of the former. He was however
enabled to determine that this os femoris did not belong to either of these
animals ; but was satisfied that it belonged to one of the species of the
genus Pal&otherium ; and, from its size, to P. medium or P. crassum.

The specimens of the remains of the Pal&otherium are too incomplete
to have supplied their learned and indefatigable investigator with much
satisfactory information with respect to its vertebral column. From de-
tached points of information, M. Cuvier has however been able to deter-
mine, that the palseotherium had its neck longer in proportion than the hog
and the tapir, and that it approached those ruminants with a neck of a
moderate size, and with a slight form, such as the stags and antelopes:
such, at least, appears to have been the case with P. minus. From a
portion of a tail, composed of five vertebrae, and which seems to have
belonged to P. medium, it appears that the tail in these animals was not
so long in proportion as in the Anoplotheria.

The skeleton of the Anoplolherium points out twelve or thirteen as the
number of ribs belonging to this genus, and those of the Palaotherium
sixteen: two numbers which suit well with the zoological affinities of the
two genera ; since the first agrees with that of the ruminants and pigs,,
which have thirteen or fourteen, whilst the other suits with the tapir,,
rhinoceros, and horse, which have eighteen and nineteen.

At Pantin a specimen was found, containing great part of the skeletort
of an animal, which was supposed by the workmen, and reported by the
public papers, to have been that of a ram ; but when it was seen by
Cuvier, on its being presented to the Museum, he discovered that it was
of the Paltfotherium minus. This skeleton considerably confirmed the
conjectures which he had already formed respecting the fossil remains of
this genus.

In this skeleton he discovered sufficient of the lower jaw to observe the

389

peculiarities of its character. There existed six cervical vertebrae, the
atlas only being wanting. Little of the scapula remained ; its impression,
was however to be seen. The humerus was nearly entire, and the fore-
arm was composed of a separate radius and ulna, showing that this ani-
mal differed in this respect from the ruminating animals. From these
remains it appeared, that this animal must have had at least sixteen,
or perhaps seventeen ribs, on each side ; a circumstance confirmatory of
the opinion of this animal having been one of the pachydermata : but as
the sternum was not discoverable, it could not be determined how many
ribs had been attached to it. The dorsal vertebra were mostly removed,
nor could the number of the lumbar vertebra be ascertained. The sacral
and coccygaeal vertebrae, with the pelvis, were lost. The femur was
very imperfect ; but it could be determined, that the tibia and fibula were
distinct, as in the pachydermata.

In at least four distant parts of France, at Paris, Montabusard, Buchs-
weiler, and Issel, the remains have been found of animals of the genus of
Paltfotherium ; some of which differed, in some respects, from those which
have been already described. One of these animals, calculating from
an astragalus found at Montabusard, appears to have been larger than
even that which has been described as Palgotheriwn magnum. It ap-
pears to have been larger than that of the largest horse, and only about
an eighth less than that of the rhinoceros. It is calculated to have been
eight feet long, without its tail, and about five feet high at the withers.

From some fragments of jaws obtained from the neighbourhood of
Orleans, it was ascertained that those quarries contained the remains of
an animal rather smaller than the P. medium^ the teeth of which more
resembled those of the rhinoceros, and still more those of the daman,
than of the pal<eotkerium. On the meeting of the two arcs or crescents,
at the middle point of the W, the point was double, instead of being
single, as in the pal&oiherium. From this, and other differences, and not
having been able to obtain the incisors and canine teeth adherent to, the

390

jaw with a grinder, M. Cuvier hesitates at determining this tooth to he-
long to an animal of this genus.

With these teeth, which are rather smaller than those of Pal&othcrmm
medium, two fragments of os humeri, very closely corresponding, as to
size, were also found.

The remains of another species, approaching to the palaotherium, was
found by the Professor Herman, of Strasbourg, in the department of the
Lower Rhine, in the mountain of Saint Sebastian, one of the lowest in the
chain of Vosges, in a calcareous bed mixed with fresh-water shells, and
what is very remarkable, covered, as in the beds of gypsum which contain
the palaotherium in the neighbourhood of Paris, with several beds full of
marine productions. This animal, like the pal&otherium, had both canine
and incisive teeth, but it had one molar tooth less, and had not the space
which in the paUeotherivm exists between the first molar and the canine
tooth. The other observable specific characters of the lower as well as
of the upper jaw, leave no doubt that the animal to which these teeth
belonged nearly approached to the paltea&er&m.

Having placed before you a sketch of the interesting discoveries re-
specting the genus Palaotherium, I shall proceed to give you a slight view
of the discoveries respecting those animals whose remains were found
with these, but which did not possess canine teeth : to the genus com-
prising which was given the name Anoplotherium.

It has been already remarked, that among the teeth which Cuvier
had discovered, some of the grinders appeared to belong to an animal
which had no canine teeth. These grinders, which were thought to
somewhat resemble those of the Palaotherium, are found to differ from
them in the following respects. The outer surface of the lower grinders
has not cylindrical, but conical convexities, narrowing very much up-
wards. These convex portions are three in number in the last grinder,
and two in the two next. Towards their base, their curve becomes
double ; that is to say, that they are convex, not only transversely, but

391

in every direction ; and their base is without any collar-like projection.
These remarks are chiefly applicable to the three last grinders : the others
are different in every respect.

The last of these, that which precedes the antepenultimate, has three
slight convexities on its external face, and three points on its crown,
which render the coronal line undulating. From this line, near its mid-
dle, a branch is given, which passes towards the internal face and there
bifurcates. The next two have also three convexities and three points,
but their crowns have not the branching line; or if a little of it exists in the
second of these teeth, it does not bifurcate. Before these stands the one
which answers to the first of the palaotherium. It is equally simple with
that, and is compressed, and generally pointed.

In this part, in the pttt&atherium, commences the vacant space, at the
end of which is placed the canine tooth. Neither of these existed in
this animal; but, immediately before the small molar tooth Inst described
there are three incisors, nearly similar to the preceding tooth, but which
become more and more pointed. Hence there appears to have been, in
the lower jaw of this animal, fourteen grinding and six incisive teeth,
without any canine tooth or intervening space.

For the purpose of showing the difference of form between the two
kinds of grinders in this animal, one of each is here figured Plate XXI.
Fig. 8, being the antepenultimate ; and Fig. 9, the one before the
antepenultimate ; or, in other words, Fig. 8 is the first of the last three
grinders; and Fig. 9, being the next to it, is the last of the other
series.

The propriety or necessity, indeed, of regarding this animal, as distinct
from any known genus, will appear from these considerations. Among
the pachydermata, the rhinoceros and daman alone are without' canine
teeth ; but they have but four inferior incisors, or they even want them
entirely ; and when they do possess them, there always is an interval
between the last incisive and the first ^grinder.

392

Nothing similar can be expected to be found out of the class of pachy-
dermata : the gnawers (rosores), the ruminants, the solipeds, all have the
intervening space. The ordinary carnivorous animals, and the quadru-
maries, have all large canine teeth. There are only the hedgehog and
the shrew which manifest any analogy with this animal, with respect to
their teeth. But their lateral incisors are so obliquely sharp, and their
canine or first molar teeth are so like incisive, that, without speaking of
the enormous difference of size, the number of their grinders, and the
form of the jaws, are quite different. It cannot, however, be denied, that
there exists some resemblance in the shape of the grinders themselves.

In the lower jaw of this animal, the great width of its rising branch,
and that convexity of its posterior edge, which is hardly ever seen but in
the daman and tapir, are observable. The coronoid process is large and
hooked, and rises very considerably above the condyle.

The teeth of the upper jaw appear to correspond with those of the
tower jaw ; there not being any canine tooth, nor any space between the
incisive and the grinders. The greatest correspondence between the
teeth of this animal and those of the palaotherium, is to be found in the
three last grinders, whilst the others essentially differ.

The size of the most common species of this animal, he conjectures to
have rather exceeded that of the wild boar. Besides the remains of
this species, he found those which were evidently of a smaller species,
about the size of a small sheep, which he named A. medium. He dis-
covered the remains also of a still smaller species, in which the hinder
part of the jaw, and particularly the coronoid apophysis, appeared to
differ from that of the former species. This species, which seems to
be very rare, he distinguishes as A. minus. The examination of some
remains of another animal, which must have been about the size of a
rabbit, led him to suspect, but did not allow him to determine, that
there had existed a smaller species, to which he would have given the
name of A. minimus.

Having determined the existence of three or four species in this genus,
M. Cuvier proceeded, with patient assiduity, to trace out the remains of
the other parts of these animals, and his researches were amply repaid.
The structure of the hind-leg was the first object of inquiry.

Besides other minute peculiarities in the form of each particular bone,
dependent on the general structure of the limh, he found that Ano-
plotherium commune had, to the hind-leg, two perfect toes articulated with
two metatarsal bones, which remained distinct and separate through life.
This species of structure is unknown among living animals;, since the
ruminating animals, and even the camel, which agrees with this animal
in having a separation of the scaphoid and cuboid. bones, have their meta-
tarsal bones united through their whole length, in one piece, forming the
cannon-bone, and in which, however, its double origin is not concealed.

The structure of the hind-foot alone, therefore, would have been suf-
ficient, if we had' been ignorant of the peculiarities of the head, to have
shown, that this animal was of a species at present unknown. From the
structure of this part it may also be seen, that this animal agreed in one
respect with the pachydermata, and in another with "the ruminants,
with which it is connected by the medium of the carnel.

From the thickness and shortness of these bones, considered as to their
length, this animal may be concluded to have been very large propor-
tioned to its height — a conclusion which will be found to be warranted
by the proportions of the bones of its legs and thighs.

The investigation respecting the hind feet of Anoplotherium medium^
was still more satisfactory than even that respecting A. commune; since
a left foot, forked and having two distinct metatarsal bones, was found
almost entire, but much smaller and thinner than that already described.
This foot, was of a size which would have agreed with that of a sheep of
a middling size; and though belonging to the same genus, appeared to
warrant the conclusion, that the animal must have been taller and thin-
ner, in proportion, thari the preceding species.

Anoplotherium minus appeared, from an astragalus, which certainly
VOL. in. 3 E

394

belonged to it, to be about the size of a hare, and to have agreed in its
structure with the feet of the preceding species.

No remains of the hind-feet of Anoplotherium minimum were met with.

A thigh-bone is frequently found in the plaster quarries, which differs
from that of palaotherium. Its upper part is flatter forwards, the neck
is less distinct, the great trochanter is not raised above the head, the
small trochanter is compressed, and placed entirely on the inner edge of
the bone, beneath the head ; and it has no third trochanter. The ge-
neral characters of this bone were found to agree better with the corre-
sponding bone in the camel, than with that of any other animal ; agree-
ing, in this respect, with the large fossil didactyle foot above mentioned.
From the agreement also of that foot with this thigh-bone, in size, he
concludes that both may have belonged to the same , animal, which he
doubts not was Anoplotherium commune.

From the same quarries was also obtained the lower head of an os
femoris, undoubtedly of Anoplotherium medium, but resembling very much
that of the antelope; and, from other characters of the legs of this ani-
mal, there is also reason to suppose that it possessed, all the lightness of
the antelope.

These quarries also supplied him with the tibiae of A, magnum, A.
commune, and A. minus. Besides these, M. Cuvier found a tibia, which
appeared to be intermediate between that of the A. commune and A. me-
dium, the species of which is not yet determined.

These animals, as well as the palaotheria, had a complete and dis-
tinct fibula, in which they agree with the whole of the class of pa-
chydermata : but, in these animals, this bone is distinguishable by its
lower head haying two articular faces; one for the astragalus, and the
other for the os calcis.

Three carpal, and some metacarpal bones, which were found in dif-
ferent stones, appeared to be more or less analogous with those of a hog.
A nice and careful comparison, however, made it appear that these
feones possessed an intermediate place between those of the hog and some

395

of the other pachydermata on one side, and those of the ruminating
animals on the other. On referring to the hind-foot of Anoplotherium
commune, which he found to occupy a similar place between the pachy-
dermata and ruminating animals, he was led to conclude that this fore-
foot belonged to the same animal ; a conjecture in which he was com-
pletely confirmed, by the examination of another specimen. From the
examination of other fragments, he had also the satisfaction of making
out, that the bones of which they were composed had formed the fore-
foot of Anoplotherium minus.

He thus obtained the parts of at least three fore-feet, answering to
the three hind-feet, and to the sorts of jaws before described. He was
not so successful as to Anoplotherium minimum ; he however found suffi-
cient reason for exultation, at having been able to carry his discoveries
thus far, considering the difficulty of such investigations. The reader,
he observes, may form an idea of it, when he learns, that it required six
years to collect and combine the materials of the inquiry respecting the
fore-feet of this genus.

In the former part of this letter, you will have observed that two
distinct sets of bones of the upper extremities were found, in one set of
which the radius had two depressions, and the lower head of the hu-
merus two corresponding eminences, and in the other the radius had
three depressions, and the corresponding surface of the humerus three
eminences. The former of these were determined to belong to the genus
Palaotherium ; and a very careful investigation determined, that the lat-
ter set belonged to the genus Anoplotherium* No specimens of the ulna
were found sufficiently perfect to allow of any satisfactory comparisons.

The scapula, mentioned in the former part of this letter as belonging
to the animals of this genus, possessed an acromion ; the spine projecting
more in the fore part than in the rest of its length, gives out an isolated
production, which is also directed forwards. A curious agreement here
offers itself to our observation. The pachydermata and the solipeds have
no trace of an acromion; and in the ruminants, although the spine pro-

396

jects most in its fore part, it is there suddenly truncated. It is only in
the genus Camel that an exception has been found, the fore and outer
angle of the spine being here prolonged into a true acromion ; and which
is, indeed, more strongly marked in the lama than in the camel and dro-
medary. This agreement with the camel in this respect, corresponding
with those resemblances which have been noticed in several other bones
of this genus, assist in determining this scapula to belong to the genus
Anoplotherium.

Fragments of a pelvis obtained from this quarry, and which resembled,
in different points, that of the camel and of the tapir, are referred by M.
Cuvier to this genus.

Eight years were passed in the examination of different specimens
from the Paris quarries, in which M. Cuvier obtained only separate
bones, and in which he had not obtained any specimen which would
positively confirm the disposition he had made of the two sets of feet with
the two sets of jaws. At last, he was so fortunate as to obtain two ske-
letons, almost complete, ^.Anoplotherium commune, which confirmed, be-
yond conjecture, the arrangements which he had before made, of the
detached bones, and which have been here adopted.

The first was contained in several large stones from the quarry of
Montmartre, and appeared to have been the entire skeleton of an animal
of the size of a small horse. The parts which M. Cuvier obtained were,
a portion of the tail, the pelvis, ribs, two thirds of the os femoris, and
'some scattered bones of the hind-foot, with the two jaws. One side only
of the skeleton was preserved, as is the case with all those of the large
animals in these quarries; being that, M. Cuvier supposes, on which
the animal lay, the upper side being detached and removed before it be-
came incrusted with the stone. It appears also, that in this interval,
the fore extremity and a part of the hinder of the remaining side had
been carried away, perhaps by some voracious animals, it being very
plain, that the lower part of the os femoris had been carried away before
it had been incrusted.

In complete confirmation of the propriety of the previous arrange-
ment which had been made of the separate bones, this specimen
showed that the number of ribs was twelve, again pointing out that
analogy with the camel which had been already seen in several of
the other bones. But the most novel, and at the same time the most
unexpected character, demonstrated by this specimen, was, the vast mag-
nitude of the tail, which had at least twenty-two vertebrae, and which
equalled, if it did not even surpass, the body in length. From the thick-
ness of its vertebrae, and the projection of their apophyses, it is evident
that the muscles of the tail must also have been of considerable size ; and
indeed the traces left on the stone give reason for concluding that the
thickness of the tail of this animal must have been as enormous as its
length.

Soon after making the necessary remarks on the preceding specimen,
M. Cuvier obtained part of a second skeleton of the same animal, found
in the quarries of Antony. The quarries of this part are nearly a hun-
dred feet under ground, and descend at least fifty or sixty feet under the
river de Bievre. The principal mass of gypsum, which occupies the bot-
tom of the quarry, is about eight feet thick, and is covered by a great
number of beds of different kinds of marl, intermixed with some small
beds of gypsum, in one of which this skeleton was found.

From this skeleton, also, much important information was obtained
respecting this animal; particularly, that -the number of incisive teeth is
six : the lumbar vertebrae also six ; the transverses processe of which,
particularly of the four last, being extremely long and wide : the sacral
vertebras three, all very strong, and provided with very large apophyses,
such as would have been necessary for supporting the enormous tail of
this animal. The fore-foot was also found almost whole, and possessed
precisely the characters which had been supposed, from a view of the
separate bones.

When the complicated form of a vertebra, with its various cavities and

398

projections, is attended to, it must be plainly seen, that few of these
bones, when found, can be extricated from their stony matrix, but with
so much injury, as can hardly fail to destroy those parts, the examination
of which is necessary to the determination of their characters. The
skeletons already noticed, and particularly the two skeletons of the Ano-
plotherium, furnished M. Cuvier with that information, however, which
rendered his subsequent examination of the separate vertebra more satis-
factory than it would otherwise have been.

There appears to be no room for doubting, that in the Anoplotherium
commune, there were seven vertebrae in the neck, twelve or thirteen in
the back, six in the loins, three in the sacrum, and twenty-two in the
tail. The number of those in the trunk agree with the greatest part of
the ruminants ; but those of the tail are much more numerous than are
in general seen in this tribe : the kanguroo approaches the nearest in
this respect, but it has only nineteen.

In the lumbar vertebrae of this animal, the anterior articular apophyses
are hooked, by which they embrace the posterior apophyses of the pre-
ceding vertebrae ; a species of structure which exists, more or less, in the
ruminants and in the hog, but not in the horse or tapir. A curiously
formed inferior spinous apophysis is observable on some of these ver-
tebrae ; respecting the use of which, M. Cuvier hesitatingly queries —
" Were the inferior muscles of the great tail, which characterizes this
animal, inserted there ?" The angular bones were of considerable size
in this extraordinary animal, showing that the muscles of the tail were
exceedingly powerful.

In addition to these animals, he obtained from these quarries half the
jaw of a small carnivorous animal, and was much surprised at finding
that, of the genus Canis, to which it appeared to belong, not the jaw of
any species agreed with it. It appears therefore probable, that this car-
nivorous animal, like the herbivorous we have been describing, is of a
species at present unknown. This would be certain, if the skeletons

399

of some species, such as the Isatis, chacal du Cap, had been examined.
An astragalus was also found of some carnivorous animal, and which
was a third smaller than it should be, to accord with the jaw just men-
tioned. Remains of tortoises, lacertae, and of other animals, have also
been found in these quarries.

It is a most important remark of M. Cuvier, that in a country so ex-
tensive as that in which the quarries exist, and which reach more than
twenty leagues from East to West, hardly any bones have been found
but of one family, the pachydermata ; and that the small number of
species not of this family should be there so extremely rare.

Looking at the actual state of the globe, we find, as M. Cuvier ob-
serves, that the countries which constitute the two great continents,
taking, for example, the different countries of Europe and America, are
inhabited by all the families of quadrupeds, according to the latitude and
the nature of the soil, &c.

But it is not so in the large islands ; and New Holland, in particular,
may, by its actual state, teach us what may have been the state of the
country which was inhabited by the fossil animals of these quarries. Five
sixths of the quadrupeds of New Holland belong to one family only, Pe-
dimanes, or marsupial quadrupeds. This extensive, but insulated region,
shows us therefore, in the proportion of the several families of quadru-
peds which inhabit it, something very similar to what existed formerly
in the countries which were inhabited by the animals of these quarries.
In New Holland, besides the marsupial animals, a wild dog, two species
of rats, and some bats only, have been found ; and in these quarries one
carnivorous animal only has been found, and eight pachydermata.

The following recapitulation, by M. Cuvier, of the history of fossil
bones of pachydermata, found in alluvial soil, is, I conceive, suffi-
ciently interesting, to authorize my placing it before you without abridge-
ment.

"The loose soil which fills the bottom of valleys, and which covers the
surface of large plains, has furnished us, in the order of Pachydermata,

400

the bones of eleven species : a rhinoceros, two hippopotamuses, two tapirs,
an elephant, and five mastodons.

" All these eleven species are at the present day absolutely strangers to
the climates in which their bones are thus found.

" The five mastodons only can be considered as forming a genus distinct
and unknown, but near to that of the elephant.

" All the others belong to genera at present still existing in the torrid
zone. Three of these genera are only found in the ancient continent r
the rhinoceros, the hippopotamus, and the elephant : the genus tapir exists
only in the new.

" These species, belonging to known genera, sensibly differ, never-
theless, from the known species, and ought to be considered as parti-,
cular species, and not as mere varieties.

" This cannot be liable to the least contest, as to the small Hippopotamus'
and the gigantic tapir.

" It is also very certain, as to the fossil rhinoceros. As to the elephant and
fossil tapir, it is less evident ; there are, however, more than sufficient
reasons to convince the experienced anatomist.

" Lastly, the large hippopotamus is the only one of the eleven fossil qua-
drupeds, of which there are not pieces sufficient to enable us to say po-
sitively whether it differs or not from that which now exists.

" Of the eleven species, one only, the great mastodon (mammoth) had
been known before my labours, as a lost animal : two others, the rhi-
noceros and elephant, had been well ascertained as to their genera; but I
am the first who gave, with exactness, their specific differences: seven,
the small hippopotamus^ the two tapirs, and the four smallest sized masto-
dons, were entirely unknown before my researches : lastly, the eleventh,
the great hippopotamus, which remains as yet the subject of some doubts."

When you add to these the eight pachydermata found by this accurate
investigator in the gypsum quarries, you will doubtlessly rejoice with me,
that such industry and well applied perseverance should have been re-
warded with so much success.

401

From these facts he deduces the following inferences.

" These different bones are buried almost every where, in nearly similar
beds : they are often blended with some other animals resembling those
of the present day.

" These beds are generally loose, either sandy or marly ; and always
neighbouring, more or less, to the surface.

" It is then probable, that these bones have been enveloped by the last,
or by one of the last catastrophes of this globe.

" In a great number of places they are accompanied by the accumu-
lated remains of marine animals; but in some places, which are less
numerous, there are none of these remains : sometimes the sand or marl,
which covers them, contains only fresh-water shells.

" No well authenticated account proves that they have been covered
by regular beds of stone, filled with sea shells ; and, consequently, that
the sea has remained on them, undisturbed, for a long period.

" The catastrophe which covered them was, therefore, a great, but
transient inundation of the sea. /

" This inundation did not rise above the high mountains ; for we find no
analogous deposits covering the bones, nor are the bones themselves there
met with, not even in the high vallies, unless in some in the warmer parts
of America.

" These bones are neither rolled nor joined in a skeleton, but scattered,
and in part fractured. They have not then been brought from afar by
inundation, but found by it in the places where it has covered them, as
might be expected, if the animals to which they belonged had dwelt in
these places, and had there successively died.

" Before this catastrophe, these animals lived, therefore, in the climates
in which we now dig up their bones : it was this catastrophe which
destroyed them there ; and, as we no longer find them, it is evident that
it has annihilated those species. The northern parts of the globe, there-
fore, nourished formerly species belonging to the genus elephant, hippo-

VOL. III. 3f

402

potamus, rhinoceros, and tapir, as well as to mastodon, genera of which the
four first have no longer any species existing, except in the torrid zone ;
and of the last, none in any part."

Nevertheless, there is nothing to authorize the belief, that the species
of the torrid zone have descended from the ancient animals of the North,
which have been gradually or suddenly transported towards the equator.
They are not the same ; and we may see, by the examination of the
most ancient mummies, that no established fact authorizes the belief of
changes so great as those which must be assumed for such a transforma-
tion, especially in wild animals.

Nor is there any strict proof that the temperature of the northern
climates have changed since this epoch. The fossil species do not differ
less from the living, than certain northern animals differ from their co-
genera of the south : the isatis of Siberia, for example ( canis lagopus),
from the chacal of India and of Africa (canis aureus). They therefore
ought to have belonged to much colder climates.

403

LETTER XXIX.

FOSSIL REMAINS OF ANIMALS OF THE ORDER BRUTA, OF LINN.51US;
TARDIGRADI, OF DUMERIL MEGATHERIUM MEGALONIX.

1 HE sloths, of which there are but two species, the Ai, Bradypus tri-
dactylus ; and the Unau, Eradypus didactylus ; form the only genus which
M. Dumeril has placed in the family of Tardigradi. Linnaeus has dis-
posed these animals under the genus Bradypus, in the order Bruta. The
fossil remains which are here to be noticed will be found to approximate
not only to these animals, but also to the ant-eaters, the next genus,
Myrmecophaga, in the order Bruta, of Linnaeus; and the first in the
family of Edentuli, of Dumeril.

The osteology of the sloth is particularly interesting, not merely from
the explanation it affords of the singular circumstances resulting from
the economy of these animals, but also from the information which it
enables us to obtain respecting the nature of the Megatherium of Para-
guay, and of the Megalonir of Virginia. Influenced by these considera-
tions, Cuvier availed himself of the opportunities of examination which
he possessed, and published an account of the observations which he
thus made. Ann du Mus. Toniev. p. 189.

Of the sloths, he observes : We find in them so little agreement with
ordinary animals — the general laws of organized bodies at present exist-
ing apply so little to them — the different parts of their bodies seem to be
so much in contradiction to the rules of co-existence which we find esta-

404

Wished in all the rest of the animal kingdom, that one might really be-
lieve that they are the remains of another order of things, the living
relicts of that pre-existing state, whose other wrecks we can only dis-
cover in the interior of the earth ; and that they have escaped by some
miracle from those catastrophes which have destroyed their cotemporary
species.

In this animal, the result of every singularity of organization seems to
be only weakness and imperfection ; and the inconveniencies which they
occasion to the animal seem not to be compensated by any advantage.
The name of the animal is derived from the plaintive cry which he
makes whilst moving, it sounds like the word Ai, and is repeated six
times in- an ascending musical series.

A single glance at the proportions arid the singular structure of par-
ticular parts of the A'i (Bradypus Tridactylus, Linn.) will sufficiently
evince the propriety of these remarks. The arm and fore arm, taken
together, are nearly twice as long as the leg and thigh ; so that when
the animal would walk on all four, it is obliged to trail along on its
elbows. The pelvis is so wide, and the cotyloid cavities turned so back-
wards, that it cannot bring the knees together, but is obliged to keep the
thighs wide asunder. Animals, in general, receive their chief impulse
from the hind feet; good runners, as hares, having their hind feet long:
but the long fore feet can only serve, as in the crab, to impede their pro-
gress : hence the sloths can only employ them to cling by, and to draw
after them the hinder parts of their bodies.

This extremely wide pelvis differs from that of other animals, in the
os sacrum having a second union with the other bones of the pelvis ; it
being joined with the tuberosity of the ischium, and thereby leaving
only an opening instead of the great ischiatic notch. This latter struc-
ture is only observable in Didelphus ursina, of Shaw.

In the articulation of the hind feet, it appears as if it was intended to
prevent the animal from having any power of using them. Instead of
the articulation with the astragalus being a ginglymus, allowing the foot

405

to bend on the leg, there exists a conical pit in the top of the astragalus,
in which the extremity of the fibula is inserted, like a pivot, the foot
turning round like a vane on its staff. Added to this, when the leg is
vertical, the foot is nearly in a similar direction, standing on its edge, so
that the animal cannot place the soal of the foot on the ground, but
by stretching out the leg until it has placed it in almost a horizontal
direction.

The toes of the animal are inclosed, quite to the nails, in a stiff skin,
which will allow only of their being bent and straightened all together.
And to add to its difficulty in motion, several bones, which, in other ani-
mals, are always distinct, are here joined together. Thus the first pha-
langes of all the feet are united to the bones of the metacarpus and me-
tatarsus. In this manner one bone fills the place of eleven, or even of
seventeen. The nails, which are of an enormous length, are bent, when
the animal does not use them, under the foot, with their convex side
towards the ground.

The nails are of a monstrous length, and are weapons which, by ena-
bling the animal to defend himself with considerable success, may be
regarded as the only compensation for the disadvantages of the rest of its
organization. But these animals, unable to draw back their nails, as
the cats do, are obliged to curve them underneath, when they do not
use them, and thus place their convex surfaces downwards. As in cats,
so in the sloths, each claw is set, and retained in a bony glove-like
sheath ; but in the cats the upper part of this sheath is most advanced ;
whilst in the sloths, the lowest part is most forward.

In the Ai, different from all other quadrupeds, are nine vertebrae; an
extraordinary singularity, characteristic of this particular species, and not
an accidental or monstrous formation. Thus in the same genus exists
a most essential difference of structure.

The sloths, different from other animals, have no incisors. In the
Ai, those teeth which might be regarded as the canine teeth, are not
pointed, but are rubbed down obliquely : the upper ones backwards, and

406

the lower ones at the sides. The teeth are most simple in their construc-
tion ; being a cylinder of bone, surrounded by an envelope of enamel,
and hollowed at each end; at the outer end by detitrion, and at the
inner by defect of ossification. The enamel not entering into the body
of the tooth, and the laminae of osseous matter being ill connected, and
consequently not firm, mastication must have been very imperfect.

The zygomatic arch would distinguish these animals from all others.
The zygomatic apophysis of the temporal bone does not join that of the
jugal malar, a considerable space existing between them ; they both being
disposed in such a direction, as never would allow them to unite. But
a circumstance still more extraordinary is, that from the inferior edge of
the zygomatic apophysis of the os jugale, a long apophysis descends
obliquely, almost, to the lower edge of the under jaw.

In the above digressive sketch, the more striking peculiarities in the
bones of these animals are only noticed, as that will prove sufficient to
allow of judging of the degree of affinity between them and the fossil re-
mains, to the examination of which we shall now proceed.

The substratum in the Western part of Virginia, beyond the blue
ridge, is a lime-stone, abounding with large caverns, the earthy floors
of which are impregnated with nitre. In digging the floor of one
of these caves, in the county of Green-briar, the labourers, at the
depth of two or three feet, came to some bones, belonging to some
animal which was to them unknown. The bones were, 1. A frag-
ment of a femur, the two condyles being nearly entire ; 2. A radius,
perfect; 3. An ulna, broken in two; 4. Three claws, and half a do-
zen other bones of the feet. Mr. Jefferson, to whom we are obliged
for the account of these curious remains, considered himself as not pos-
sessed of sufficient data to allow him to approximate these remains nearer
to any existing animal, than by considering it as one of the unguiculated
quadrupeds. Assuming, then, the lion, as the largest of the quadrupeds
of this family, he considered it as the fittest animal with the bones of
which he might compare the bones of the megalonyx. But so large is

407

the claw of this animal (seven inches and a half), that, as Mr. Jefferson
justly observes, if we were to estimate the size of this animal by a com-
parison of its claw with that of the lion, on the principle of ex pede her-
culem, it would give us a being out of the limits of nature *.

From comparisons, however, made with a fair attention to every con-
sideration, he was induced to conclude that he might safely say, " That
this animal was three times as large as the lion ; that he stood as pre-
eminently at the head of the column of clawed animals, as the mam-
moth stood at the head of the elephant, rhinoceros, and hippopotamus ;
and that he may have been as formidable an antagonist to the mam-
moth, as the lion to the elephant.

Dr. Wistar, professor of anatomy in the university of Pennsylvania,
gave, in the same volume, a description of the preceding bones, to which
he subjoined some illustrative observations. After having carefully exa-
mined these bones, almost in every point of view, Dr. Wistar concluded
that there seemed to be some analogy between the feet of this fossil ani-
mal and those of the bradypus. Having, however, no opportunity of any
other comparison with this animal than by the description given of it by
M. Daubenton, he could riot come to any decided opinion as to the
degree of affinity. An unguis, described by M. Daubenton, and which
had been presented by M. de la Condamine, as having belonged to a
large species of sloth, seemed strongly, from its agreement in size, to
confirm the affinity. This claw, though not entire, measured in length,
round its convexity, six inches ; and in breadth, at its base, an inch and
a half f.

Both Dr. Wistar and Mr. Jefferson were disposed to doubt that any
similarity existed between these fossil bones and those of the mega-
therium found at Paraguay ; but for want of a good plate, or a full de-
scription of the latter skeleton, they considered themselves as unable to
decide on the subject.

* Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. IV. p. 246.
f Ibid. Vol. iv. p. 526.

408

Faujas St. Fond, speaking of the megatherium, refers these bones,
found at Virginia, to a similar animal, differing only in size, saying that
the remains of animals of the same species, but of a much less size, have
been found in North America, and described by Mr. Jefferson.

Furnished with the necessary knowledge by the anatomical examina-
tions referred to in the preceding part of this letter, and assisted by plas-
ter casts of the American bones, described by Mr. Jefferson, and by two
bones, and particularly by a tooth, with the examination of which he was
favoured by M. Palisat de Beauvois, who had obtained them from the
same cavern which had supplied those described by Mr. Jefferson,
M. Cuvier was enabled to determine that these fossil bones were the
remains of an animal of a species of sloth (Bradypus) hitherto unknown.

Their agreement with the bones of the sloth, or of the neighbouring
genus the ant-eater, appears to be confirmed by the following charac-
teristic circumstances. The articular face of the last phalanx, or ungual
bone, has in its middle a well marked ridge, which considerably straight-
ens the ginglimus with the adjoining bone. 'This is in perfect agree-
ment with what occurs in the sloths and the ant-eaters ; whilst, in the
animals of the genus fells, or cat kind, the joints of the toes are more
free, and this ridge is nearly effaced.

The upper part of this surface is prolonged farther backward than the
lower ; hence, the last bone could only be extended in a right line : it
consequently could not be turned backwards with its point upwards, as
in the cat kind; but might have been bent entirely underneath, with its
cpnvex part downwards, as in the sloths and ant-eaters. From these,
and indeed other concurrent circumstances, it seems to be fair to con-
clude that this ungual bone was that of a sloth ; but two other ungual
bones, probably of the same foot, were found to differ in size from the
former bone, as well as from each other. In this they differ both from
the sloths and the cat kind, which have their nails nearly equal, and
agree with the ant-eaters, in which the nails are very unequal. In the
other bones of this finger, a perfect accordance is observable; and still

409

further evidence appears of the animal having been of the nature which
had been supposed from the appearance of the ungual bone.

A puzzling circumstance occurred with respect to a metacarpal bone,
answering to the ring-finger, which appeared to be half as long again as
the metacarpal bone of the next, the middle finger. The explanation
of this singularity appeared to be truly difficult. In the sloths, hetero-
clites as they are in other respects, nothing similar appeared. In the
engraving of the skeleton of the megatherium, the same peculiarity was
however found to be depicted.

It therefore now appeared not to be an accidental or monstrous con-
formation, and consequently something analogous might be expected
to be found among the living animals. This indeed was found to be the
case. In the Myrmecophaga jubata, one of the family of ant-eaters, the
metatarsal of the middle finger is more thick and short than all the
others ; that of the index is a little longer and thinner, and that of the
ring and of the little finger much more so.

From a pit on the outside of the metacarpal bone of the index, there
appears reason for believing that a metacarpal bone of the thumb had
existed in this animal. In the fore-foot of the megalonix, therefore,
there would have been two complete fingers, the index and the middle
fingers : and besides these, the vestiges, at least, of three more. But
one of these three, at least, was more than a vestige, since there was a
third ungual bone, which in all probability was that of the annulare.

The examination of the radius and of the ulna gave reason for con-
cluding that they also had belonged to an animal of the sloth kind, and
appeared perfectly to accord with the preceding bones of the fore-foot.

From the information yielded by the examination of the preceding
bones, no doubt could exist of their having belonged to an animal which
might be considered as either belonging to the sloths or ant-eaters. In
determining under which of these genera the megalonix should be placed,,
the tooth which had been obtained by M. de Beauvois was entirely de-
cisive, since the ant-eaters have no teeth at all. An examination of this

VOL. in. 3o

410

tooth showed also, that it was certainly that of a sloth ; it possessing the
same simplicity of structure, and the same hollow in its middle, pro-
duced by attrition on the central bony part of the tooth.

If the living analogue of this fossil animal existed, it could hardly,
from the vastness of its size, have been hitherto concealed. The bones
of its fore-arm are about a sixth longer than those of a common ox; and
supposing that the other parts possessed at least the same proportion, the
whole animal must have equalled the largest oxen of Switzerland, or of
Hungary.

Plate XXI. Fig. 10, is the claw-bone of this animal, which was found
in America. On the middle of its articular surface is a well-marked
ridge, which necessarily restrained the motion of the joint. A similar
ridge exists in the ant-eaters and sloths; but nothing of the kind is dis-
coverable in the lion, or in any of the genus felis.

Plate XXI. Fig. 11, is the tooth found by M. de Beauvois, in the ca-
verns in Virginia, as were the preceding bones. This tooth at once
determines the genus to which this animal belonged. It is the tooth of
an animal of the sloth kind. The ant-eaters have no teeth.

About the same time that the extraordinary fossil remains of the me-
galonix were found in North America, several bones, equally extraor-
dinary and unknown, were found in the excavations made in the banks
of the river Luxan, a league south-east of a village of the same name,
about three leagues west-south-west of Buenos Ayres. These bones
were sent to the Royal Museum at Madrid, in 1789, by the Marquis of
Loretto, Viceroy of Buenos Ayres. The bones of a second animal of
the same kind, which were found at Lima, were also sent to the same
museum in 1795 ; and the bones of a third, which had been found at
Paraguay, were presented by -a. lady to Father Fernando Scio. Thus it
appears that the remains of this extraordinary animal exist in the most
distant parts of Southern America.

On the first view of the head of this animal, the most striking agree-
ment is observed with those of the sloths, and particularly with that of

411

the ai. This is particularly the case with the long-descending apophysis

placed at the anterior base of the zygomatic arch. This arch, which is

interrupted in the sloths, is complete in the megatherium. The rising ^

branch of the lower jaw resembles that of the sloths ; but its lower part

forms a convexity, of which but a slight resemblance is found in the

elephant.

The bony muzzle is more projecting in this fossil animal, the Mega-
therium, than in the ai, in consequence of the advancing of the sym-
phisis of the lower jaw. The bones of the nose are very short; which,
from what takes place in the elephant and tapir, gives reason for suspect-
ing that this animal had a trunk, which, however, there is also reason
for supposing must have been very short.

The teeth are sixteen grinders, four on each side, in each jaw. They
are of a prismatic form, and have their crown crossed by a groove. Th?e
vertebrae are seven cervical, sixteen dorsal, and three lumbar. The
megatherium, therefore, differs in the number of cervical from the ai,
who we have seen differs in this respect from all the other quadrupeds,
but agrees with it exactly in the number of the dorsal and lumbar. The
number of the ribs are of course sixteen on each side.

The relative proportions of the extremities of the megatherium differ
exceedingly from those of the sloths, and indeed from those of any
known animal. In the sloths, we have seen that the length of the fore
extremities is double that of the hinder ; but, in this animal, the dif-
ference is much less. But the great thickness of the bone of the thigh
observable in the sloths, tatous, and pangolins, is carried to a much fur-
ther extent in the megatherium ; the length of the femur of this animal
being only double its thickness. The inability of this animal for leap-
ing, or running, must be obvious : it could only have walked, and that
slowly.

The scapula possesses, on a large scale, the same proportions as that
of the sloths ; and the clavicles which this animal possesses, with the

412

unau, shows how widely it differs from the elephant, rhinoceros, and
other large ruminants, which have not this bone ; and with the length
of the phalanges which carry the nails, prove that this animal employed
its fore-feet for the purpose of seizing, and perhaps of climbing.

The humerus of the megatherium is remarkable for the width of its
lower part, produced by the large surface of cristae placed above the con-
dyles, and serving for the attachment of muscles, which must have been
very considerable, and of course must have given the animal prodigious
powers in the fore extremities. This considerable width of the lower
extremity of this bone is also found in the ant-eater, which employs his
enormous claws to allow him to hang from the branches of trees, or to
tear up the solid nests of the termites. In the ant-eater the width is
three fifths of the length of the bone, whilst in this animal it is a half) as
it is also in the long-tailed manis (Manis tetradactyla). In the rhino-
ceros the width is only one third, and in the elephant one fourth of the
length.

The olecranon of this animal is of such a length, as to give consider-
able power to the extensors; but, in the sloth, this bone is extremely
short. The radius, as in the sloth, turns freely on the cubitus. In the
skeleton at Madrid, and in its annexed representation, it must be ob-
served that this bone has been reversed in the mounting, the humeral
end being placed downwards.

The hand rested entirely on the ground whilst the animal walked.
The visible fingers, armed with claws, are three in number; the two
others being hidden under the skin, as in the ai, and as three are in the
unau and two-toed ant-eater. The bones of the metacarpus are not
joined together, as in the ai.

The bones of the pelvis differ much from those of the neighbouring
genera. Those of the ilium, which are alone preserved in the skeleton
at Madrid, forms a large and widely-spread half basin, placed perpen-
dicular to the spine, resembling that of the elephant, and still more that

413

of the rhinoceros. From the form of the pelvis, it may be concluded,
that the belly of the animal was large, and hence that its food consisted
of vegetables.

The pubis and ischium are wanting in the skeleton ; and, as M. Cu-
vier supposes, were lost : but if, on the contrary, this defect is natural,
an approach to it will be found in the two- fingered ant-eater, in which
the bones of the pubis are not united in the fore part.

The enormous thickness of the thigh-bone has been already noticed.
The tibia and fibula are united at both ends, and yield together a vast
surface. But one toe, armed with a claw, is seen in the hind-foot of the
skeleton. In this respect M. Cuvier thinks there must exist room for
doubt, since only two others are shown without claws : and his anato-
mical researches have taught him, that it is a rule without, hitherto, any
known exception, that all the clawed animals have five fingers, existing
either outwardly or within the skin, or reduced to their simple bony
rudiments.

The tail is wanting in the skeleton ; and the smallness of the posterior
face of the os sacrum gives reason for believing that it was very short in
this animal.

From a general view of the skeleton of this animal, so completely pre-
served, we are able to form well-founded conjectures as to the nature of
the animal itself.

His teeth, M. Cuvier observes, prove that he lived on vegetables;
and his fore-feet, robust and armed with sharp claws, point out that roots
were his chief objects of search. His claws supplied him with arms
sufficient for his defence. His progress was not swift, nor was it requi-
site that it should be, since he was not under the necessity of flying or of
pursuing.

It would then, M. Cuvier adds, be very difficult to find, in the orga-
nization of this animal, the causes of his destruction ; and yet, if he still
exists, where can he be ? or can he have escaped from all the researches
of huntsmen and naturalists.

414

As far as an opinion can be formed from the few parts of the mega-
lonix which have been found, there seems to exist, in M. Cuvier's opi-
nion, almost an identity of form with the megatherium ; but the size,
he observes, is different, the bones of the megatherium being one third
larger than that of the megalonix. This difference of size, he thinks,
is a real specific difference ; in confirmation of which, he observes, that
the sheaths of the claws are more complete and long in the last pha-
langes of the megatherium than in those of the megalonix. To these, I
think, may be added another difference, which M. Cuvier does not
appear to have noticed. In the megalonix he found a tooth resembling
the canine tooth of the ai, whilst the megatherium is only supplied with
grinders.

There can therefore, I think, exist no difficulty in agreeing with this
celebrated naturalist, that these two animals formed two species of the
same genus, belonging to the family of edentata, and requiring to be
placed between the sloths and the ant-eaters, but nearer to the former
than to the latter *.

Plate XXII. Fig. 1, represents the complete skeleton of the megathe-
rium, as existing in the Royal Museum at Madrid.

* Ann. du Mus. Cat. 29, p. 387.

415

LETTER XXX.

CAVERNS IN GERMANY AND HUNGARY, CONTAINING FOSSIL BONES

GAYLENREUTH, &C INQUIRY RESPECTING THE ANIMALS

TO WHICH THEY BELONGED THE REMAINS OF TWO SPECIES

OF BEARS DISCOVERED.

IT has been with considerable pleasure that I have heard you describe
the terrific magnificence of the caverns of the Peak, arid of several other
similar caverns in this island. But these must yield to the caverns of
Germany and of Hungary, in which we have not only to admire pro-
digious subterranean excavations, embellished with stalactitic decorations,
but to contemplate an inexhaustible accumulation of the remains of ani-
mals of a former world, some of which appear to be unknown to us in a
living state.

Many of these caverns have been noticed by different authors. Bau-
man's Cave, near Blankenbourg, has been described by Leibnitz, Pro-
togaa, p. 7 ; and Einhornshcele, in Scharzfeld, in Hanover, has been
described by the same author, and by M. de Luc, in his letters to the
Queen. In the chain of the Hartz are several also, which have been
described by Behrens, in Hercynia Curiosa. Hungary, also, has several
similar caverns, which have deservedly engaged the attention of several
learned men.

Among the most remarkable of these caverns are those of Gaylen-

416

reuth, on the confines of Bayreuth. The opening to these, which is
about seven feet and a half high, is at the foot of a rock of limestone of
considerable magnitude, and in its eastern side. Immediately beyond
the opening is a magnificent grotto, of about three hundred feet in cir-
cumference, which has been naturally divided by the form of the roof
into four caves. The first is about twenty-five feet long and wide, and
varies in height from nine to eighteen feet, the roof being formed into
irregular arches. Beyond this is the second cave, about twenty-eight
feet long, and of nearly the same width and height with the former.
In this cave the stalactitic crust begins to appear, and in considerable
quantity; but not in such quantity as in the third cave, which is beau-
tifully hung, as it were, with this sparry tapestry. The roof now begins
to slope downwards ; so that in the next, the last, of these caves, it is
not above four or five feet in height. In the caves forming this first
grotto, fragments of bones are found ; and it is said that they were as
plentiful here as they now are in the interior grottoes.

The passage into the second grotto is about six feet high and fourteen
feet wide. This grotto, which extends straight forwards sixty feet from
the opening, and is about forty feet wide, and at its commencement
about eighteen feet high, would commodiously hold two hundred men.
Its appearance is rendered remarkably interesting from the darkness of
its recesses, and from the various brilliant reflexions of the light from the
stalactites with which its roofs and sides are covered. The constant drip
of water from the root and the stalagmatic pillars on the floor, assist in
perfecting the wonders of the scene. In this grotto no search was made
for bones, on account of the thickness of the sparry crust.

A low and very rugged passage, the roof of which is formed of pro-
jecting pieces of rock, leads to the third grotto ; the opening into which
is a hole three feet high and four feet wide. This grotto is more regular
in its form, and is about thirty feet in diameter, and nearly round : its
height is from five to six feet. This grotto is very richly and fantas-
tically adorned by the varying forms of its stalactitic hangings. The

417

floor is also covered with a wet and slippery glazing, in which several
teeth and jaws appear to have been fixed.

From this grotto commences the descent to the inferior caverns.
Within only about five or six feet an opening in the floor is seen, which is
partly vaulted over by a projecting piece of rock. The descent is about
twenty feet; and occasioned to M. Esper and his companions some little
fear lest they should never return, but remain to augment the zoolithes
contained in these terrific mansions. This cavern was found to be about
thirty feet in height, about fifteen feet in width, and nearly circular:
the sides, roof, and floor, displaying the remains of animals. The rock it-
self is thickly beset with teeth and bones, and the floor is covered with
a loose earth, the evident result of animal decomposition, and in which
numerous bones are imbedded.

A gradual descent leads to another grotto, which, with its passage, is
forty feet in length, and twenty feet in height. Its sides and top are beau-
tifully adorned with stalactites. Nearly twenty feet further is a frightful
gulf, the opening of which is about fifteen feet in diameter ; and upon
descending about twent}^ feet, another grotto, about the same diameter
with the former, but forty feet in height, is seen. Here the bones
are dispersed about ; and the floor, which is formed of animal earth,
has great numbers of them imbedded in it. The bones which are here
found seem to be of different animals; but in this, as well as in the for-
mer caverns, perfect and unbroken bones are very seldom found. Some-
times a tooth is seen projecting from the solid rock, through the stalac-
titic covering, showing that many of these wonderful remains may here
be concealed. A specimen of this kind, which I possess, from Gaylen-
reuth, is rendered particularly interesting, by the first molar tooth of the
lower jaw, with its enamel quite perfect, rising through the stalactitic
mass which invests the bone. In this cavern the stalactites begin to be
of a larger size, and of a more columnar form.

Passing on, through a small opening in the rock, a small cave, seven
feet long and five feet high, is discovered : another small opening out of

VOL. in. 3 H

418

which leads to another small cave ; from which a sloping descent leads to
a cave twenty-five feet in height, and about half as much in its diameter,
in which is a truncated columnar stalactite, eight feet in circumference.

A narrow and most difficult passage, twenty feet in length, leads from
this cavern to another, five and twenty feet in height, which is every
where beset with teeth, bones, and stalactitic projections. This cavern
is suddenly contracted, so as to form a vestibule of six feet wide, ten
long, and nine high, terminating in an opening close to the floor, only
three feet wide and two high, through which it is necessary to writhe
with the body on the ground. . This leads into a small cave, eight feet
high and wide, which is the passage into a grotto twenty-eight feet high,
and about three and forty feet long and wide. Here the prodigious
quantity of animal earth, the vast number of teeth, jaws, and other
bones, and the heavy grouping of the stalactites, produced so dismal an
appearance, as to lead Esper to speak of it as a perfect model for a tem-
ple for a god of the dead. Here hundreds of cart-loads of bony remains
might be removed, pockets might be filled with fossil teeth, and ani-
mal earth was found to reach to the utmost depth to which they dug.
A piece of stalactite being here broken down, was found to contain
pieces of bones within it, the remnants of which were left imbedded in
the rock.

From this principal cave is a very narrow passage, terminating in the
last cave, which is about six feet in width, fifteen in height, and the same
in length. In this cave were no animal remains, and the floor was the
naked rock.

Thus far only could these natural sepulchres be traced ; but there is
every reason to suppose that these animal remains were disposed through
a greater part of this rock *.

Whence could this immense quantity of the remains of carnivorous

* Description des Zo«olithes nouvellement decouvertes d'animaux quadrupedes inconnus,
et des cavernes qui les renferment, &c, par J. F. Esper. 1774.

419

animals have been collected, is a question which naturally arises; but
the difficulty of answering it appears to be almost insurmountable.

It will not appear surprising, that these extraordinary accumulations
should have considerably bewildered those who have attempted to ex-
plain their origin and formation, and have led them to the most extra-
vagant opinions. One of the earliest conjectures, after that of these
caverns having been the dwellings of giants, dragons, and pigmies, and
of their having been the temples in which sacrifices had been performed
by the earliest inhabitants of these parts, was that they had been the
retreats of robbers, and that these were the bones of those they had
murdered. A more plausible conjecture was, that these had been the
retreats of various carnivorous animals, and that the remains were
of those animals which they had devoured. But even this conjecture
possesses not the semblance of probability; since these are found to be
chiefly the bones of carnivorous animals themselves, and consequently
would be the remains, not of the victims, but of the destroyers. The
more generally received opinion has been, that these are the remains
of animals which, on the advance of the waters of the deluge, re-
treated hither for shelter, where they perished, and their bones have
been preserved. The insufficiency of even this apparently more pro-
bable conjecture appears, when we recollect that these remains are
almost of carnivorous animals alone; and still more so when we learn,
as is the case, that more than three-fourths of these remains belonged to
animals, not an individual of which is now known to exist.

The bones in the caverns of different mountains are all found nearly
in a similar state. They are detached, scattered, often broken, but never
rubbed down, as if by the action of water. They are lighter and less
solid than recent bones, but yet retain their real animal nature, and still
contain their gelatine. They have suffered but little decomposition/ and
are not petrified. Many of them are covered with a coat of earth, con-
taining the remains of animal matter; and frequently they are not only
covered, but impregnated and filled with stalactitic matter. In the earth
in which many of them are imbedded, pieces of a bluish marble are

420

found, with their angles rounded as if by bowldering, and which re-
semble those which help to form the bony breccia of Gibraltar and of
Dalmatia.

To the unremitting labours of M. Cuvier we are indebted for al-
most every important information relative to the nature of these bones.
From the numerous specimens which he has obtained, he is enabled
to state the astonishing fact, that these bones are similar, in the se-
veral caverns of an extent of more than two hundred leagues; that
three fourths of these bones belonged to species of bear not known now
to exist ; a half) or two thirds of the other fourth, to a species of hyena
now existing ; and the remainder to some species of the lion or tiger, to
the wolf, dog, fox, polecat, or some similar animals.

Kundrnan, Walch, Esper, and several others, have failed in their en-
deavours to determine to what genus of animals these bones had belonged.
Bruckman compared them to those of the bear ; and M. Fuchs was of opi-
nion, that the fossil skull very much resembled that of the polar bear, which
opinion was opposed by the celebrated Camper. M. Rosenmuller ap-
pears to have been the first who obtained any correct notions respecting
these fossils. His comparisons led him to the conclusion, that the bear of
these caves was different from the brown bear, as well as from the white
or polar bear. Camper appears to have proceeded a step further, and
to have discovered, that among the bones of these caves were those of
another species of bear, which he calls the true bear. Blumenbach per-
ceived this difference in the fossil species, and in consequence named the
one the Ursus spelceus, and the other Ursus arctoideus.

But it is to M. Cuvier that we are indebted, not only for a more
distinct separation of these species from each other, but for an accurate
comparison of the fossil with the several living species. He was supplied
by M. Autenreith and Camper with the information which they pos-
sessed as to the fossils of Gaylenreuth ; by M. Carsten with correct draw-
ings of the specimens of Sundwich, in the Museum of Berlin ; and he
also had the full advantage of the Museum of the Landgrave of Hesse
Darmstadt, and of several private collections. In addition to these he

421

had immediate reference to the splendid collection of the fossils of
Gaylenreuth, in the National Museum, which had been presented to
M. BufFon, for the Parisian Museum, by the late Margrave of Anspach.

To enable himself to employ this rich fund of materials successfully, in
the investigation respecting the animals of the caves, he first devoted him-
self to a careful examination of the recent skeletons of bears, wishing to
determine the number of their species, and to ascertain their respective
differences. Thus he discovered that the bears of Europe were all re-
ferable to two species; the differences of which were discoverable in
their forms, and particularly in the shape of the bones of the head; and
that one, at least, of these species, was divided into several varieties, by
the nature and colour of their hair.

The grand characteristic of one of these species is, the rounded form
of the whole of the top of the head. The forehead forms a part of the
same curve which extends from the muzzle to the occiput ; and the sa-
gittal ridge does not begin to show itself, but near to the occiput. To
this species he refers the common brown bear of the Alps, Switzerland,
Savoy, and the Pyrenees. To the variety inhabiting the P}^renees, he
considers that the golden bear belongs. To this species also belongs the
Polish silver bear, and the terrestrial bear of Pallas.

In the other species, the frontal part of the skull is flattened, and even
concave, particularly across. The ridges which part off the temporal
fossae are strongly marked, and form an acute angle behind, which is
prolonged into a highly-raised sagittal crista, which joins the occipital
ridge.

To this second species he refers that which the naturalists have distin-
guished as the black bear of Europe. He has only seen one of this spe-
cies, which was of a considerable size, with coarse blackish brown hair,
long and rather woolly.

The black bear of America forms, in M. Cuvier's opinion, a third spe-
cies. The skull, in this species, is shorter, in proportion to its thickness,
and the zygomatic arches are less concave, and the small grinders more
numerous, than in either of the preceding species. To this species belong

422

several varieties. It appears that America produces also bears different
from the common black. One is described of an enormous size, and
with a grey skin. In the mountains of Gates, in Indostan, M. Chapotin
says there are bears marked on the chest with an eye-like spot.

The white polar bear (U. maximus) differs from all the rest in the
form of its skull, which appears as if it were all of one piece ; and instead
of rising higher than the face, appears, on the contrary, to be rather
lower. The post-orbital apophyses of the frontal bones are short and
obtuse, the temporal ridges hardly perceptible, and the zygomatic arches
stand much less out than in any of the preceding. The head is, in a
word, more cylindrical, and more approaching in its form to that of the
martin or polecat, than to that of the common bears.

In every species of bear the number and form of the teeth are nearly
similar. There are six incisors in each jaw. In the upper jaw the two
outer ones are strong, pointed, and directed rather outwards, with a
rising behind, which descends obliquely forwards, from without inwards,
and terminates so as to leave a slight notch on their inner bases. The
four intermediate ones are a little pointed at their fore edge, and have
behind a kind of spur, divided by a notch into two lobes.

The two external incisors of the lower jaw are wide, but pointed, and
with a lateral lobe, deeply separated, at the outer bases. The two next
have their base carried more behind, more towards the inside of the
mouth than all the others : they are ridged, and marked on their pos-
terior slope with two grooves, which terminate in two notches, the outer
one of which' is deepest ; and the inner one is sometimes wanting. The
middle ones are the least, and have only one notch, a little more towards

the outside than the middle.

In the upper jaw there are three large grinders, and in the lower
four ; before which there are, in both jaws,, a variable number of smaller
ones.

In the upper jaw, the hindmost is the largest : it is oblong, narrowest
behind, with its crown irregularly wrinkled. Forwards, on its outer
edge, it has one middling sized and two large eminences : and, on the

423

inner edge, three or four middling sized eminences, which are sometimes
very much reduced. The posterior extremity is merely crenated. This
tooth has four roots, the foremost conical, two lateral, rather compressed,
and one behind very much so. Plate XXII. Fig. 2. represents this
tooth of its natural size, as found in the caverns, as were all the speci-
mens from which the following figures were taken. The penultimate, or
middle upper grinder, is rectangular, and has two large conical emi-
nences on the outer side, three of which are less marked on the inner .
side, and one small one on the outer side behind. It has three roots,
two external, and one stronger internal. Plate XXII. Fig. 3. The ante-
penultimate, or foremost grinder, is triangular, with three conical emi-
nences, two external and one internal. Plate XXII. Fig. 4.

Before this tooth, in the existing species of bears, is a small simple
tooth ; and after a certain interval, and almost under the canine tooth, is1
another smaller.

In the lower jaw, the hindmost is a roundish oval : its crown is irre-
gularly wrinkled, without distinct tubercles. It has but one root, which
seems to be continuous with the crown, and is always compressed ; one
or two grooves giving the appearance of the commencement of a divi-
sion, Plate XXII. Fig. 5. The penultimate is, in this jaw, the largest
tooth ; it is rectangular, and irregularly embossed : four or five emi-
nences may be counted on the internal border, and four on the external,
two of which are most marked. There is a transverse rising from the
largest external eminence to the internal. This tooth has two roots;
one conical, standing forwards ; the other stronger and compressed in the
back part. Plate XXII. Fig. 6. The antepenultimate is more narrow
than the preceding, and has its eminences more strongly marked : these
are, one forwards, then one external, answering to two internal ; then
three behind, forming a triangle, and sometimes four. It has but two
roots, one before and one behind. Plate XXII. Fig. 7. The foremost
lower grinder is short, and a little compressed. It has a strong conical
eminence in the middle, a low one forwards, and two small ones on the
inner side behind. It has but two roots. Plate XXII. Fig. 8. One, and

424

sometimes two very small teeth, are found at the root of the canine teeth,
as in the upper jaw, in the existing species of these animals. The fossil
canine tooth is represented of its natural size, Plate XXII. Fig. 9.

The teeth which are found in the fossil jaws differ from those of the
recent animals only in their being larger and less worn down. But a
more striking difference between the teeth of the bear of the caverns
and the existing bears is, that the former has very rarely the small molar
tooth, or teeth, immediately behind the canine tooth, whilst the latter
possess it at every age. Another, and a still more constant difference,
is the small molar tooth placed immediately before the first large grinder
in the upper jaw. Neither this tooth, nor its alveolus, has been seen by
M. Cuvier in any of the fossil skulls, nor does it appear to have been seen
by any other writer on these fossils.

The examination of the teeth determine the skulls found in these
caves to have belonged to the genus bear : the general conformation
of the skulls also show it, and at the same time manifest those characters
which belong to the great family of carnivorous animals — such as a
transverse and partly cylindrical condyle, a large and elevated coronoid
apophysis, a zygomatic arch, very convex outwardly and rising upwards,
with an orbit incomplete in the back part, and there confounded with
the temporal fossa.

The fossil skulls found in these caverns appear to be of two species.
The one has a strong rising of the forehead from the root of the nose,
with two bumps on the forehead, a great length of the sagittal ridge,
and a considerable projection and speedy approximation of the temporal
cristae. The other has the forehead flat, approaching in this respect to
that of the black bear of America, but being a third larger : the vertical
elevation of these skulls is also less, and the muzzle is longer; neither do
they possess those three small teeth which are frequently found in the
skull of that animal. M. Cuvier indeed concludes that the two species
of skulls found in these caverns differ from all recent skulls, and equally
as much from each other.

The under jaws found in the caverns also show, that here are the

425

remains of two species of bears : besides less differences, the coronoidal
apophysis is much wider in the more common of the two species than in
the other, the width being as 10 to 8, although the teeth are a little
larger in the latter species. M. Cuvier was disposed to arrange the lat-
ter species with the rounded skulls; but on considering that the rounded
skulls were most frequent, and this species of jaws most rare, he found it
difficult to determine on this point.

No remains of scapulae have been found of sufficient size to allow any
judgment being formed respecting the animal to which they belonged.
Two sorts of os humeri have been found, as figured by Mr. John Hun-
ter, Trans. Phil. 1794, PL xx. both belonging to the bear, but the one
differing from the other in having a hole above the internal condyle for
the passage of an artery, much resembling, in this circumstance, the os
humeri of some animals of the genus Felis. Of the radius, the ulna, and
the bones of the 'pelvis, nothing particular can be ascertained. Two
kinds of ossa femoris, both decidedly of the genus Bear, but one much
shorter and thicker than the other, have been found. A tibia has also
been found, which, from its being thicker in proportion to that of the
common bear, M. Cuvier is disposed to place with the preceding os
femoris. With this bone he also places part of a fibula which is in the
Museum.

Like the present bears, and several of the carnivorous animals, the
bears of the caverns have seven carpal bones; and which, with the me-
tacarpal bones, differ very triflingly from the bones of the existing bears.
A similar agreement with those of the existing bears is observable in the
tarsal and metatarsal bones.

Numerous vertebrae are found in these caverns, the greatest number
of which appear to agree very closely with those of the existing bears.
The last dorsal vertebra was however found under two distinct forms :
one resembling that of the brown bear, and the other approaching to
that of the polar bear, especially as the posterior supernumerary apo-
physes were not so long as the articular ones. Here M. Cuvier sup-

VOL. in. 3 i

426

poses the same division of species to be evinced as appeared by the head
and jaws.

From the strictest comparison of the rich collection of these fossil bones,
to which he had access, with each other, and with the skeletons of
existing species of bears, M. Cuvier considered himself authorized to
make the following conclusions :

1. The bones which are most commonly found in these caverns, exa-
mined each separately, belong to the genus Bear.

2. The skulls, and some of the large bones, present such differences as
should induce us to consider them as proceeding from species of bears
different from those which naturalists have hitherto described.

3. These skulls and some of the large bones, the os humeri and fe-
moris for example, differ sufficiently among themselves to allow us to
believe that the bones of two different species of bears have been here
confusedly buried together.

4. Some of the bones of one of these species are more like to those of
the bears of the present day than those of the other. There are even
bones, among those of the one, as the os humeri, &c. which are not to
be distinguished, if seen by themselves, from those of the common bear.
There are others, in both species, which appear to be thus circumstanced,
as those of the carpus, &c.

5. But the skulls are sufficient to furnish such characters as leave no
reasonable doubt; and as those fossil skulls, which have the fore-
head tumid (bombc), appear to be separated from our common bears
more than the fossil skulls with a flat forehead, it is natural to refer to
the former those fossil bones of the limbs which differ in the same degree
from their analogues in our common bears. The bones of the body or
limbs, which more resemble those of these latter animals, are more
safely referable to the species with a flat forehead.

But to complete our knowledge of the skeleton, as M. Cuvier ob-
serves, it would be necessary to have all the bones of each species, which
at present is not the case, we only having, under two forms, the skull,

427

lower jaw in part, os humeri, os femoris, and the last dorsal vertebra.
The other bones having been found only under one form, it therefore
cannot be decided to which of the two species they ought to be referred.

Time and assiduous research may fill up these chasms ; but the ge-
neral result is not less certain, in that which respects the existence, in
these caverns, of bones of two species hitherto unknown among the living spe-
cies of bears.

The species with the raised forehead, Blumenbach, Rosenmuller, and
Cuvier, agree in designating as Ursus spelaus ; and for that with the flat
forehead Cuvier proposes the name U. arctoideiis.

The remains which I possess of these animals are, a perfect skull, the
half of an under jaw, and several well preserved parts of very large jaws,
all of which appear to have belonged to U. spelaus.

LETTER XXXI.

INQUIRY CONTINUED REMAINS OF CARNIVOROUS ANIMALS

FOUND IN THE CAVERNS OF GERMANY, &C HYENA IN GAY-

LENREUTH, CANSTADT, &C SPOTTED PANTHER ANIMAL

RESEMBLING THE FOX EORILLA, OR POLECAT OF THE CAPE

WOLF, OR DOG REMAINS OF CARNIVOROUS ANIMALS FOUND IN

THE PLASTER QUARRIES NEAR PARIS SARIGUE OF AMERICA

AN ANIMAL OF THE GENUS CANIS ONE APPROACHING TO THE

CIVET ANOTHER, SOMEWHAT RESEMBLING THE LARGE OT-
TER ANOTHER, ENTIREY UNKNOWN.

1 HE following observations on the fossil remains of those which may
be more strictly regarded as carnivorous animals, are extremely interest-
ing. Whilst placing them before you, I must again acknowledge my
obligations to the zealous labours and perspicuous relations of M. Cu-
vier ; who has assiduously worked, and with his usual success, the rich
mine which lies open to him.

428

The fossil remains of hyenas, it appears, have been found, not only in
the same caverns which contain the bones of bears, but in the same
alluvial beds in which are found the remains of elephants.

Their remains are found in the cavern of Gaylenreuth. In the ele-
gant work of Esper, already referred to, an atlas, PI. III. Fig. 1 . is at-
tributed by him to this animal, which however appears to have belonged
to the bear; and, on the other hand, two teeth, PI. X. Fig. c, d, which
are supposed to have belonged to the lion, are certainly those of the
hyena. Collini, Memoires de I' Academic de Manheim, Tome V. PL u. has
represented the skull and half of a lower jaw, found near the surface of
one of the mountains which border the valley in which is situated the
village of Eichstaedt. This skull he describes as having belonged to some
unknown species of phoca; but from the number and figure of the teeth,
as well as from the remarkable elevation of the sagitto-occipital crista,
no doubt can exist of its being the skull of the hyena. Kundman also
figures a tooth, which he took himself from the rock in the cavern of
Bauman, and which he supposes to be that of a calf) but which is un-
doubtedly that of a hyena. M. Cuvier has also received the remains
of this animal from the valley of Neckar, near to Canstadt, so famous for
the quantity of elephantine remains which are there found.

Thus it appears that the fossil remains of the hyena have been found
in four different parts of Germany. In France also, at Fouvent, near
Gray, in the department of Doubs, the remains of this animal have
been found ; and, as at Canstadt, mixed with the bones of elephants and
horses.

The fossil bones of Canstadt were first found in the year 1700, and
considerable researches made for them by order of the then reigning
Duke of Wirtemberg. A dissertation was also written on them*, in
which, however, but little information is afforded ; the author, Dr. Da-
vid Spleiss, having chiefly engaged himself in determining, whether these
fossils were really the remains of animals, or merely the sports of nature.

* Oedipus Osteolithologicus.

429

These bones having been however preserved in the Museum of Stuttgard,
M. Autenrieth favoured M. Cuvier with a particular account of them,
and of the situation in which they were found.

The place is situated about a mile from the small city of Canstadt, on
the eastern ridge of Neckar; the bones are found in disorder, partly
broken, in a mass of yellowish clay, mixed with small round grains of
quartz and bowldered limestones, with a quantity of small white fresh-
water shells *.

This mass appears to occupy the bottom of the valley of Neckar, be-
tween the calcareous beds, and joins at the bottom of the hills of red marl
which surround the mountains of freestone. These hills of marl appear to
be older than the limestone, and the limestone older than the clay. The
marl contains plants of the reed family ; and the summits of these hills
"are covered with marine petrifactions, such as belemnites and ammo-
nites; of which, however, there are none in the beds of limestone.

The bones of elephants were found nearest to the surface ; the others
were situated deeper. The bones of at least five elephants are preserved.
There were whole cart-loads of the teeth of horses, but not a tenth part
of the bones of the horses to which the teeth had belonged. Some bones
of rhinoceroses were also found ; and the epiphyses of such large vertebral
bodies, as could only have belonged to some of the cetaceous animals.

In this clay were also found the skull of a hyena, the left half of another
skull, the temporal bone of another of the same species; eleven grinders,
four canine teeth, and twelve bones of the toes.

M. Autenrieth has also discovered, in the neighbourhood, an entire
subterranean forest of palms, many of which are two feet in diameter.

* The circumstance of meeting with fresh water, and even land shells, among the fossil
remains of land animals, frequently occurs. Thus the shell, Plate XIV. Fig. 9, apparently
Helix arbustorum, was found among the remains of deer, at Brentford, in a stratum of light
calcareous earth, reaching from sixteen to twenty-five feet from the surface. The fossils,
in this instance, had heen, in all probability, cotemporary. Other instances, however, occur,
in which we find the remains of animals of different eras intermingled : a circumstance
which, I conceive, proceeds from the intermixture of the debris of different strata.

430

The yellow clay is found in many other branches of this valley, and fos-
sils are met with there very frequently.

In the year 1800, M. Tourtelle, of Fouvent-le-Prieure, a little village
near Gray, in the department of Upper Saone, excavating a limestone
rock, to extend his garden, found, in a fissure of the rock, various un-
common bones of different shapes and sizes. The excavations being
increased, several more bones were found, and transmitted to the Na-
tional Museum. These bones were chiefly of the jaws of elephants and
of horses; but, amongst them, M. Cuvier also found a fragment of the
lower jaw of the left side of a hyena, containing four grinders; a muti-
lated canine tooth, and the inferior part of a humerus, well preserved.

M. Cuvier, from the accurate knowledge which he possesses in com-
parative anatomy, has been enabled to discover that the fossil hyena is
of a different species from the common one of the Levant. The last
molar tooth of the lower jaw, in the known hyena, is distinguished by a
strongly marked conical point on the anterior inner angle, and which
projects inwards towards the palate: but, in the fossil corresponding
tooth, this projection does not exist.

M. Cuvier was enabled to determine the fragment of a lower jaw, with
the four molar teeth, to belong to the genus Hyena ; but he was also
led to believe it to belong to a different species from the common hyena,
from the three anterior teeth possessing a less longitudinal extent, in pro-
portion to their width and height, than is observable in those of the
common hyena, and from their lateral points being less developed, and
particularly the anterior one, which was entirely wanting in the second
tooth ; although it is very distinct in the common hyena. Calculating
from the size of some fossil teeth, both from Canstadt and Fouvent,
M. Cuvier concludes, that the animal to which they belonged must have
exceeded the size of the common hyena one fifth.

In a fragment of the upper jaw, from Gaylenreuth, he found the third
molar tooth, which, though decidedly of the hyena, was analogous with
the fossil teeth of the preceding lower jaw, in being short from front to
back, in proportion to its height and transverse diameter. Its anterior
tubercle was entirely wanting, and its posterior hardly perceptible.

431

From these characters he is led to think that the fossil hyena had the
muzzle much shorter in proportion than the hyena of the Levant,
by which it must have bitten stronger ; which is not easy to conceive,
since the hyena is known never to quit its hold. The Arabs, when
speaking of one obstinate in his opinion, call him the head of a hyena.
Calculating the size of the hyena to which the last-mentioned fragment
belonged, M. Cuvier believes that it also must have exceeded the common
hyena of the Levant one fifth in size.

The confirmation of these bones having belonged to a species of hyena
was obtained by the appearances yielded by the other bones, and par-
ticularly by the portion of the humerus and by an astragalus. The dif-
ference of species, between the fossil hyena and that of the Levant was
also plainly shown by these specimens.

Besides these remains of the hyena, M. Cuvier obtained, from Gay-
lenreuth, the side jaw, with four grinders, very little injured, and the ar-
ticular condyle and lower edge quite whole. By comparing this jaw,
which was of an aged animal, with that of the hyena of the Levant, it
was found to exceed it, in the proportion of three to two.

There however remained two more living species, with which it was
desirable these fossil remains should be compared. The skin of one of
these, the hyena of the Cape, being in the Museum, with the teeth pre-
served in it, M. Cuvier made a comparison of the teeth, and was very
much surprised at finding a precise agreement between the fossil teeth
and those of this animal. Consequently, as M. Cuvier remarks, if the
fossil hyena has its analogue in this world, it is to be sought, for in the
hyena of the Cape.

He then proceeds to observe, that it is hardly necessary to mention
that the resemblance between the teeth does not absolutely prove the
perfect identity of the species, and that there might be differences be-
tween the skeletons, and even between the integuments. But even ad-
mitting this identity, in what a new labyrinth are the geologists placed ?

It has been hitherto said that the fossil elephant is of the Asiatic spe-

432

cies ; and here we find it twice associated with an animal of the South of
Africa. This same animal is found too associated with bears, which at
present exist only in the north. At what time, then, he asks, was it that
the elephants and the hyenas of the Cape, of the size of our bears, lived
together in our climate, and were shaded by forests of palms, and in which
they took shelter in caverns along with bears as large as our horses?

The remains of a very large animal of the genus Felis also exist in
great numbers in these caverns. Those of Hungary have been described
and figured by Vollgnad, Ephem. Nat. Cur. An. 4, Dec. i. and Leibnitz
gives the portion of a skull, Protog. PL xi. Fig. 1. This skull, which
has been examined, and compared with the utmost degree of precision
by M. Soemmerring with the skulls of the bear of the cavern and of the
lion, is found by that celebrated anatomist to agree with that of the lion
of a moderate size, and to differ from that of the bear of the caverns in
thirty-six different points. But it is remarked by M. Cuvier, that the
greater part of these points of difference are referable to every animal of
the genus Felis, as well as to the lion. Esper has given the figures of
several teeth, which resemble those of some feline animal, and which he
obtained from the caverns of Gaylenreuth. M. Cuvier has also obtained,
from Gaylenreuth, the second upper grinder; and, by favour of Mr. A.
Camper, the half of a lower jaw, wanting only the condyle and the an-
tepenultimate grinder of some animal of the same genus.

To determine to what species this jaw belongs, M. Cuvier justly ob-
serves, is by no means easy. " I venture to say," he adds, " that it
would be impossible, without the numerous means of comparison which
I have had the happiness of bringing together." By these opportunities
he has been enabled to determine that this piece belonged to neither the
lion, lioness, nor tiger, and still less to the leopard and small panther, as
it is called ; and that if it must be referred to a living species, it can only
be to the jaguar, or great spotted panther of South America.

Among the bones of Gaylenreuth which had undergone a considerable
change, and which were invested with the same tufous matter as the

433

bones already mentioned, M. Cuvier found several belonging to the fox,
or to some animal nearly allied to it : and these bones, he believes, are
by no means rare in the caverns.

In the same mass of tufa in which he found the preceding bones resem-
bling those of the fox, he found the remains of a smaller carnivorous
animal, which he thought were certainly the bones of a martin. The
dorsal vertebra, thus found, appeared to agree with those of the zorilla,
or the polecat of the Cape — an agreement particularly remarkable,
since the bones of the hyena of the caverns also bear a strong resem-
blance to those of the spotted hyena of the Cape.

From this concurrence, M. Cuvier Bad been almost led to think, that
the analogues of the animals found in the caverns were perhaps to be
found at the Cape ; but this notion was entirely set aside by discovering
that the fossil pelvis, found among these remains, more resembled that
of the polecat of Europe.

The fossil bones which M. Cuvier found in the caverns, possessing
no characters distinguishing them from those of animals still living in
the same countries where these remains are found, were those of the
wolf or dog. But it is necessary to remark, that this occurs in a genus
where the distinction of species, by separate bones, is almost impossible.
Daubenton had already remarked the difficulty of distinguishing the ske-
leton of a wolf from that of the shepherd's dog of the same size; and
M. Cuvier has only been able to remark, that in the wolf the triangular
part of the forehead, behind the orbits, is a little narrower and flatter, the
sagitto-occipital ridge longer and more raised, and the teeth, particularly
the canine, a little larger in proportion — shades of difference so slight,
as almost to lead to the opinion of the wolf and the dog being of the same
species.

Esper and Rosenmuller describe bones found at Gaylenreuth, which
they refer to the wolf. A skull of this kind is in the cabinet of Darm-
stadt, and is figured by Cuvier, Ann. du Mus. d'Hist. Nat. Cap. LIV.
PL 34. Whichever species these bones belong to, they are found to

VOL. III. 3 K

434

agree, in the state of preservation, and in the substance with which they
are invested, with those of the bears, and of the hyenas. Similar bones
have been found with the elephantine remains at Canstadt and at Ro-
magnano; and at Kahldorf, where the head of the hyena already men-
tioned, described by Collini, was found.

The quantity of remains of animals of the former world which has
been imbedded in the quarries of plaster-stone in the neighbourhood of
Paris, must be beyond conception. Considering that, in certain beds,
there is not a block of gypsum but which encloses perhaps a bone, how
many millions of these bones, as is justly observed by Cuvier, must have
been destroyed by the vast excavations which have been already made ?
how many more are being perpetually lost through mere neglect ? and,
even since they have been more in request, how many must escape ob-
servation in consequence of their minuteness ?

To such observations the indefatigable Cuvier was led, by the dis-
covery of a skeleton of a small size, in two pieces of gypsum. By a care-
ful dissection, as it were, of these stones, he was enabled to make out the
different parts' of the skeleton so distinctly, as to ascertain that it was one
of the animals of the family of Pcdimanes of Dumeril, which are distin-
guished by having a separated toe to their hind foot, and a fold of
the integument forming a pouch beneath the belly ; or, as it were, a
false uterus.

The animals of this description are disposed, in the last edition of
Systema Nature, in thirteen species, under the genus Didelphis. This dis-
posal, according to M. Cuvier, is not correct. Independent of other
objections, which will be presently noticed, it is to be remarked, that
Dr. Shaw has found it necessary to separate from these the kanguroo,
Didelphis gigantea, Linn, and has formed 'of it a distinct genus, to
which he has given the name Macropus ; the animals of which transfer
their young, even before they are fully formed, to a pouch beneath their
belly, or carry them, when formed, on their backs.

M. Cuvier divides the genus Didelphis into the following subgenera : —

435

I. Sarigue, with ten incisors, the middle a little the longest, in the upper
jaw, and eight in the lower jaw ; the .canine teeth long and pointed ; the
tail naked and prehensile. Here he places the following species : 1 . Di-
delphis marsupialis and cardrwpfiaga, Linn, ; Did. virginiana, Penn. Did.
opossum, Linn. Did. inurina, Linn. Did. cayopollin and dorsigera, Linn.
Did. brachiura, Did. memina.

II. Dasyure, with eight incisors above, and six below: a tail furnished
with long hair, and not prehensile. The only species which is referred
here is Did. macuata.

III. Phalanger, with six incisors above, and two long below, directed
horizontally forwards ; three or four canine below, hardly passing out of
the gums : the second and third toes of the hind feet, and sometimes the
fourth, joined together to the claw. Here are brought Did. orientalis and
Did. volans.

M. Cuvier agrees with Dr. Shaw in separating the kanguroos from the
genus Didelphis.

From the elevation of the coronoid apophysis above the condyle, and
the sharp projection formed by the posterior angle of the lower jaw,
M. Cuvier drew his first inference, that this fossil animal belonged to the
order of carnivorous animals.

The elevation of the condyle much above the horizontal line on which
the teeth are placed, prevents these remains from being attributed to the
carnivorous animals with teeth with a cutting edge, such as the dog, cat,
ichneumon, weasel, badger, &c. which have the condyle nearly in a line
with the teeth. This circumstance brings this fossil animal among the
small pcdimanes or plantigrades, or among the insectivorous animals gene-
rally, and this we shall see confirmed by its teeth. But the hedgehog,
the shrew, the mole, the didelplds, and some of the bats, have their con-
dyles placed in a similar manner.

The great height and width of the coronoidal apophysis referred these
remains more particularly to the subgenus or species Sarigue. The mole
has it as wide, but it is lower, and placed in a different direction :

436

Did. murina has it of the same proportions as to width, hut the height
is a little less. In this last circumstance it seemed to approach nearest
to the hedgehog.

The sharp projection at the angle of the jaw also agreed with that of
the hedgehog. In that of didelphis there is a particular circumstance :
this projection bends inwards, with all the inferior edge of this part of the
jaw ; and, by carefully removing the surrounding stone, M. Cuvier dis-
covered this characteristic peculiarity in this fossil jaw.

The examination of the teeth confirmed that which was taught by the
appearances of the jaw, since they possessed the general characters of
the teeth of insectivorous animals, characters absolutely proper to the
pedimanes, and above all to the sarigues. They were beset with pointed
tubercles, and not with cutting edges, nor a flat crown.

After carefully comparing the teeth of the fossil jaw with those of the
other pedimanes, he concluded that they agreed with those of the dasy-
ure, those animals of New Holland of the genus Didelphis, with a tail
furnished with long hair, and not prehensile, and with the common sa-
rigue of America : but to which of these animals they approached the
nearest he was unable to determine.

Examining the other parts of these fossil remains, he found, that their
numbers, forms, and proportions, fully agreed with those of the pedimanes.
Thus he found thirteen ribs, and thirteen dorsal vertebrae ; six very long
lumbar vertebrae, filling the space of six of the dorsal ; the sacral verte-
brae, and those of the beginning of the tail, possessing very large trans-
verse apophyses; the radius and ulna very distinct, and capable of
moving easily on each other ; the fibula separate from the tibia, having
a thin and enlarged head; the triangle of the scapula nearly similar; —
in a word, nothing which appeared in this skeleton manifested any
important difference between it and that of the sarigue, and especially
of didelphis murena, with which, it being of the same size, it was carefully
compared. ,

The animals with a pouch, different from all other animals, have two

437

long and flat bones, which articulate with the anterior edge of the pubis,
and serve to support the edges of the pouch. M. Cuvier therefore dis-
sected the stone with a point of a needle, and was thereby enabled to
prove the existence of these supernumerary or marsupial bones in the
fossil, and to determine that they agreed with the analogous bones in the
tongue.

The tapir is the only known American animal hitherto found fossil in
Europe, M. Cuvier was anxious, therefore, to determine whether the
sarigue might or not be considered as the second : believing that, of the
genera of animals belonging to Austral Asia, none had been discovered
fossil in Europe.

The sarigues, properly so called, with a scaly prehensile tail, ten in-
cisors above, eight below, and large canine teeth, with the great toes of
the hind feet detached and without a claw, are the animals of this genus
which M. Cuvier considers as the American marsupial animals; and
whilst Austral Asia produces all the rest of these animals, these, the sa-
rigues, are produced in America alone. His task he considered, there-
fore, as only half performed, until he could determine whether these
remains belonged to a sarigue or a dasyure.

He found that the dasyure has four toes nearly equal, the large one
being so short that the skin almost hides it, it appearing only like a tuber-
cle ; but in the sarigue this toe is long and well marked, the other toes
being unequal ; the little toe, and particularly its metacarpal bone, being
shorter than the others. By carefully exploring the stone, he found the
fourth and fifth metatarsal bones, and ascertained that the fifth, or that
of the little toe, was a third shorter than that of the next toe, precisely
as in the sarigue. Thus the question was fully decided, and it was proved,
that there exists in the quarries of plaster-stone the bones of an animal, the genus
to which it belongs being at present proper to America.

The eager inquiries of this illustrious naturalist did not rest here : he
next endeavoured to discover if these remains agreed with any living

438

species. But as the history of all the species is not known, this task wa*
not expected to be satisfactorily accomplished. He however discovered,
that it did not exactly agree with that of any of the known species ; but
that the Didelphus murina was the only one to which the fossil nearly
approached in its size. It could not, however, be a skeleton of an animal
of this species, since there are essential differences in their proportions,
some parts being smaller, and others larger, in the one than in the other.

A jaw was found in the plaster quarries, which at first sight appeared
to resemble the jaw of a dog or of a fox. From its elevated condyloid
apophysis, the notch in its posterior edge forming the arc of a circle,
its posterior angle being hooked, and from the cutting, triangular, den-
telated molar teeth, M. Cuvier had no hesitation in classing the animal
to which it belonged with the carnivorous ; and, from the number of
the molar teeth, he ascertained that it must also have belonged to the
genus Canis. But after much careful examination, he was unable to
discover any species of the genus Canis, with whose jaw the fossil species
agreed in every respect : he therefore thinks it very probable that this
carnivorous animal, like the herbivorous of these same quarries, belonged
to some species at present unknown. He also found the astragalus of
another carnivorous animal, much smaller than would have been the
astragalus of the animal to which this jaw belonged.

He afterwards found, in the great quarry of Montmartre, a fragment
of a lower jaw, very different from that of the dog. Jn this piece there
only remained a complete tooth and the fragment of another ; but, by
a most careful and nice examination and comparison, he was enabled to
ascertain that it belonged to some species of the genus Canis, the skeleton
of which is unknown ; or to some carnivorous animal between the genus
Canis and Viverra genctta and ichneumon.

The lower head of an os humeri was obtained from the same quarry,
and appeared to have belonged to a species of martin about the size of a
common cat. If it belonged to the same animal to which the preceding

439

jaw did, M. Cuvier remarks, that it must have been of a genus entirely
distinct from the other carnivorous animals.

A small astragalus was also found, resembling that of the cat or of
the ichneumon, and which very probably belonged to the same animal
as the humerus.

' An ulna was also found, belonging to. some carnivorous animal, and
of those species which have short legs, as the otters, &c. but larger than
those of the largest sea-otters. From this bone alone, he does not hesi-
tate in saying, that the animal to which it belonged is unknown to na-
turalists.

A metacarpal bone was found also at Montmartre, which in its thick-
ness agreed with that of the cats, ichneumons, and otters; but being dou-
ble the size of the analogous bone in the otter, he thinks it may be con-
sidered as belonging to the same animal as the ulna.

Thus, then, M. Cuvier appears to have discovered the remains of three
carnivorous animals in the plaster quarries ; and M. Camper possesses
a metacarpal bone, which is of the same proportional length as that of
the dog ; but its absolute size is such, as will not allow of referring it to
any of the species whose fragments have been obtained. This points
out a fourth fossil carnivorous animal in these quarries. These, with the
small sariguc, are all which have been there discovered of this class.

440

LETTER XXXII.

TOSSILS CONSIDERED IN CONNECTION WITH THE STRATA IN WHICH

THEY ARE CONTAINED.

1 HAVE now arrived at the termination of my proposed attempt, having
placed before you as correct a sketch as I was able of the fossil remains
of those organized beings, which existed on this planet previous to its
possessing its present form.

Your attention has been hitherto called, chiefly, to the original modes
of existence of those beings, and to the nature of the changes which
they have undergone. You have seen, that some of these remains have
belonged to beings whose living analogues may still be found ; whilst
others have belonged to beings differing essentially from any which are
now known to exist, and in those particular characters which are em-
ployed by naturalists as marking generic difference.

You have also seen, that the fossil remains of both vegetables and ani-
mals have undergone the most extraordinary changes. I have endea-
voured to prove to you that most vegetable fossils had undergone a pro-
cess of bituminization, by which their conservation was secured, previ-
ously to their impregnation with earthy or metallic salts. I have also
suggested the probability of a correspondent preparatory change, in
many animal substances, previous to their mineralization*.

* In addition to the instances which have been already adduced in proof of the petrifac-
tion of vegetables having been in general affected by the impregnation of previously bitu-
minized vegetable matter, with earthy or metallic solutions, and not by substitution, I have
met with one striking fact. I two years since obtained from the shore at Walton, wood
changed into marble, capable of receiving a beautiful polish, and which, on being deprived
of its carbonate of lime by the action of muriatic acid, left the light, inflammable, bitumi-
nous wood, possessing a volume very little less than that of the marble in which it had been
contained.

441

Other important circumstances respecting the situations in which these
fossils are found must also have excited your attention. From the inte-
grity of numerous delicate fossil shells, and from the congregation of
numerous similar animals in a fossil state, it has been evinced, that these
animals must have lived on the very spots in which they are now
found imbedded. It has been also shown, that these fossil remains are
found in those parts of the world in which no similar beings now exist,
and in climates in which it is presumed that they could not live ; that the
remains of numerous unknown plants are found in the neighbourhood
of coal, at considerable depths ; and that the remains of marine ani-
mals are found in very lofty mountains, as well as far beneath the surface
of the earth.

The consideration of these circumstances must have filled your mind
with wonder, and have led you to regard with reverence these stupen-
dous proofs of the power of the Almighty Creator. But from the consi-
deration of these circumstances alone, but little information can be ob-
tained respecting the age or formation of this planet : to obtain any use-
ful knowledge on these subjects, it is necessary that the examination of
these fossil bodies should be connected with that of the strata in which
they are found.

For calling the attention of geologists to this mode of directing their
inquiries, we are much indebted to Mr. William Smith, who, long since,
not only pointed out the necessity of ascertaining the fossils belonging to
each particular stratum, but also collected and preserved for the informa-
tion of others, specimens of numerous strata, with some of their peculiar
fossils.

Without the hope of making any important addition to our knowledge
of these subjects, but merely with the wish of showing how beneficial our
inquiries may prove when thus connected, I will endeavour to ascer-
tain the proper strata of some of the fossils mentioned in this work. To
perform even this, I must avail myself of the observations made by the
gentleman above mentioned, and by Mr. John Farey, author of several

VOL. III. 3 I.

442

excellent essays on stratification. To Mr. Farey I acknowledge con-
siderable obligations for his exceedingly liberal and unreserved commu-
nications on subjects connected with these inquiries.

According to the actual observations of Mr. Smith, as given by Mr.
Farey, in his General View of the Agriculture and Minerals of Derby-
shire, Vol. I. p. Ill, the following are the upper strata which have been
discovered in this island, disposed in the order in which they occur.

1. Sand. il

2. Clay, with septaria.

3. Sand, with shells, varying in thickness and in mixture with other
substances,

4. Soft chalk with flinty nodules,
5 Hard chalk.

6. Chalk marl.

7. Aylesbury limestone.

8. Sand and clay strata, in one of which is a dark coloured shelly
limestone, called Sussex marble.

9. Woburn sand, in which is a stratum of fuller's earth.

10. A thick clay, called the clunch clay.

11. Bedford limestone*

12. A thick clay.

13. Rag-stone of Barnack, &c.

14. Limestone and grey slate of Stunsfield, Colley Water, &c.

15. Sand.

16. Bath free-stone.

17. Sand and clays.

18. Maidwell limestone.

19. Lias clay, containing the blue and white Lias limestone.

20. Sand.

21. Red marl.

Beneath these follow the grit-stones and coal shales, and the alternating
limestones and toadstones. Parts of these inferior strata appear to have
been so raised and so denudated of their superincumbent strata, by some

443

astonishing power, in Derbyshire, Staffordshire, and other adjacent coun-
ties, as to give the opportunity of examining the out-crop, or appear-
ance on the surface, of these strata, which were originally covered by all
the strata which have been enumerated above. The last discovered, en-
trochaj, limestone of Derbyshire, must have originally lain, according to
Mr. Farcy's calculation, three miles perpendicularly lower than the upper
part of the chalk strata.

Previously to considering more particularly the superior strata, it is
necessary to make a few remarks on these strata of COAL and of limestone,
which appear originally to have existed at such considerable depths. The
coal measures, according to the observations of Mr. Farey, when found
at or near the surface, are in situations in which, by the agency of that
unknown power just alluded to, the strata which had lain over them has
been removed*. Coal, as I have already endeavoured to show, appears
to be the product of vegetable matter, buried under particular circum-
stances, as is almost proved by the simple fact of the traces of vegetables
being almost constantly discoverable in it and in its accompanying strata.
If this opinion be correct, coal may then have been formed at any period
since the creation of vegetables ; and of course it would be improper to
confine its origin, as is done in the first of these volumes, to that period
at which the deluge occurred which is spoken of by Moses. The ob-
servations of Werner support this opinion, he having ascertained the
formation of coal to have taken place at different periods, from that
formation which rests on the granite rock, and is accompanied by por-
phyry and greenstone, to that of bituminous wood, peat, &c.

The ENTROCHAL LIMESTONES of Derbyshire, &c. have their antiquity

* Similar instances of this abstraction of the superior strata which has been observed by
Mr. Farey, in Derbyshire, have been also discovered by Dr. Richardson, in the basaltic
country in the counties of Derry and Antrim. Mr. Farey denominates these exposures of
the inferior strata, denudations, and Dr. Richardson those removals of the superior strata,
abruptions. Phil, Trans. 1808.

444

manifested by their original deep situation, and by the peculiar fossil**
which they contain. These are the entrochi and other encrmal remains,
so much dwelt on in the second of these volumes. With these remains
of different species of encrini, these limestones are in some parts, and to
a very wide extent, entirely filled. In the limestone of Dudley, in Wor-
cestershire, they are accompanied by a tubiporites (the chain-coral), and
some beautiful minute flustrita and milleporita, none of which, any more
than the encrinus itself, are ever seen in any of the superincumbent
strata. Of this animal, indeed, it may, T believe, be said decidedly, that
it must, have been lost ever since the formation of these very ancient

strata.

Respecting the stratification of Bradford, near Bath, where we have
seen that the pear mcrinite, Vol. II. • p, 208, has been so plentifully
found, I have no authority to speak decidedly ; I have, however, little
doubt, that it would be found to be a portion of a lifted stratum, whose
original situation was beneath the blue Lias. As has been just observed
respecting the Derbyshire species, so it may be here observed, that no
remains of this species have been found in any of the superior strata.
Nor has any recent animal been found that could be placed in the same
genus with the animals to which these remains belonged.

Above these strata are those of the alternating COAL SHALES and GRIT-
STONES ; and on these is disposed a stratum of RED MARL. Over this is
a stratum of SAND ; but neither in this nor the preceding stratum does it
appear that any fossils have been noticed.

THE LIAS CLAY is the next superior stratum, and contains beds of
limestOQe called THE BLUE and THE WHITE LIAS LIMESTONE. This
stratum has its continuity most decidedly evinced ; it appearing on the
coast of Dorsetshire, and ranging through the island, is again seen on
the northern coast.

The fossils of this stratum are exceedingly numerous, and some of them
are again seen in some of the superior strata: but the characters of the

445

\
greater part are such as to point them out decidedly as peculiar to this

stratum.

In this stratum the fossil shells are exceedingly numerous: particularly
ammonite, nautilitte, terebratulita, gryphitte, mytulita, modiolita, spondylit*,
trigonitte, belemnit<e, and the large dona.r-formed bivalve mentioned p. 182.
In this stratum are also found fish of an unknown genus, with large square
Kales, PL XVIII, Fig. 9, and several species of Testudo, Lacerta, &c.

It is to this stratum that the pentacrinitte seem peculiarly to belong.
These fossil remains occur with great frequency on the Dorsetshire coast.
When the vertebrae of this animal appear in any of the superior strata,
it is most probable, that they are alluvial, having been washed out of
the raised or basseting edges of this stratum, by that ocean which depo-
sited the stratum in which they are found. The confinement of the remains
of this genus of animals to so low a stratum, is very extraordinary, since
we have seen, that animals of this genus exist in the present ocean.

Immediately above this stratum is a blue marl-stone, called the MAID-
WELL LIMESTONE, with the fossils of which I am unacquainted. Nor am
I able to speak with more information of a great number and thickness
of SANDS and CLAYS which lie over the Maidwell limestone.

To these succeed the BATH FREE-STONE strata, which may be traced in
their range through the island. The upper part is a white or light grey
limestone; beneath which is the oolithe, or row-stone, and under this a
considerable thickness of very light coloured free-stone, then sand and clays,
and <a free-stone of various hues of yellow and red.

The fossils of this strata are chiefly bivalve shells, of which generally
only the casts, or the impressions remain. The casts are chiefly of
arks, bucardita, (of Plott) a shell whose genus is not yet known, trigo-
nit£, mytulita, and various other bivalves, the casts or impressions of
which only remaining, the genus of the shell cannot always be deter-
mined. Among the more perfectly preserved bivalves are several tere-
bratulitG, particularly the shell whose curious internal structure is figured
PL XVL Fig. 11 and 13, and which has been also mentioned and

446

figured by Mr. Walcott in his descriptions, &c. of the petrifactions found
near Bath, p. 22, Fig. 33. To this stratum I believe the patellita of Glou-
cestershire belong, and in different parts of the stratum are found
belemnifa.

Above these is a SAND STRATUM, and in this is the LIMESTONE and
GREY SLATE STRATA of Stunsficld, Colley Weston, Chippenham, &c.
In this stratum, the discoidal echinita abound, as well as the trigonitce and
belemnitcc . In this strata are also found pinnitae^ crenatulitte, and the flat
fossil oyster. But the fossils which are here most abundant are the bufo-
nitce, and other parts of the palates and the teeth of fishes.

On these strata lies the RAG-STONE, which has been employed for most
of the ancient well preserved buildings in the eastern part of the island.
This stone is formed of small bivalves, chiefly anomitte.

Above this is a thick clay, on which is the limestone, called the BED-
FORD LIMESTONE; in which are found small gryphitce, bclemnita, ostreitte,
pectinitce, minute crenatulita, pinnita, a few trigonitie, the uncommonly
marked bivalve PI. XIII. Fig. 16. and various other shells.

Immediately over this is a stratum of clay called CLUNCH CLAY, from
the beds of clunch, a soft chalk-like stone, which is found towards the
top of it. Ammonite, large gryphita, belemnitce, and various bivalves are
found in this stratum.

Above this is the WOBURN SAND, containing in its lower parts frag-
ments of silicified wood. To this succeed several sand strata and clays,
and in one of these a thin bed of the shelly, limestone called Sussex
marble. Above this is the Aylesbury limestone containing large ammo-
nitce, gryphita, &c.

Over this is disposed the CHALK MARL. The lower or HARD CHALK
rests on the chalk marl, and acquires in different parts different degrees
of hardness, forming in some places a white free-stone, and in others a
softer fire-stone. This stratum affords striking instances of the fact, first
noticed by Mr. Smith, of certain organic remains being peculiar to, and only
found lodged in, particular strata. The chief fossils which are found in this

447

Stratum are ammonite of a tolerably large size; and a smaller species of an
oval form, different from those found in any other strata, Vol. III.
PI. IX. Fig. 6. Having obtained a specimen of this species from
Steyning in Sussex, and knowing that the stratum of hard chalk was
worked near Heytesbnry in Wiltshire, I wrote to my late respected
friend, Mr. Cunnington, to inquire if 'these fossils were found there or
not ; and I was agreeably surprised at receiving of him, from that stra-
tum, an oval ammonite of the same species with that which I had found
at Steyning. In this stratum are also found the remains of scaphittf,
Vol. III. PI. X, Fig. 10*.

Immediately on this stratum is placed that of the SOFT CHALK, contain-
ing silex in the state of sand with interposed layers, and large, interspersed,
and irregular nodules of black flint. The fossils of this stratum differ
in a very remarkable degree from those of all the inferior strata. Here
are, I believe, never found ammonite, trigonita, or scaphita, which were
found in the preceding stratum. The fossil remains which are here
found are of echinita of different species, particularly of cidaris, galea,
galeola and spatangus ; here are also found stellita, terebratulit<z, serpulitg,
ostreita, belemnita, a thorny pectenites, turbinated and other madreporita,
The remarkable limpet-like shell, p. 51. PI. V. Fig. 3. of the present
volume, which is seen I believe in no other stratum; teeth, and rarely
the scales and bones of fishes. I believe, in this stratum alone, occur the
remains of those small animals figured in Vol. II. PI. XIII. Fig. 24,
31, 34, 38, and 39, and which from several of their characters seem to
deserve to be regarded as belonging to the family of encrinites.

* The specimen, PI. XVIII. Fig. 4, is very interesting from its showing the peculiar
nature of the fossils of this stratum. It was found in the upper part of the Sussex hard
chalk. It has very much the appearance of an echinital spine; but the smaller end is split
into several rugae; and in another specimen, not in other respects so perfect, it is seen, that
this rufous termination, was an organ of attachment, the fossil being thereby attached to a
piece of shell. On this account, there appears to be reason for supposing it to be part of
a shell of the same genus with the fossil represented Plate VII. Fig. 18, of this volume,

448

On this chalk is deposited a thick stratum of WHITE SAND, over which
is a sand of a darker colour, arjd above this various thin strata, or
patches, of MARL, SHELLS, SANDSTONE, COARSE LIMESTONE, FRAGMENTS
OF SHELLS, PEBBLES, &c. The sand and several of these strata exist in
the neighbourhood of Woolwich, and may be distinctly traced through
different parts of Kent ; but do not appear to have been examined in
the other parts of the island. The shells of these strata are chiefly of
the genera calyptr&a, cerithium, pleurotomia, natica, and cyclas ; but from
their fragile and mutilated state, many of the species or even genera,
cannot be made out. In these shells a considerable approach is
observable to the shells of the present ocean.

Above this is the stratum of CLAY, employed round the metropolis for
brick and tile making, containing septaria of different sizes, lying hori-
zontally in parallel lines. In this stratum are found pleurotomitz, ceri-
thitte, similar to those of the preceding stratum, the shells figured by
Brander, as Hampshire fossils, nautilitx, an immense number of fruits,
fossil wood, and the numerous other remains noticed by Jacobs and
others as Shepey fossils. Similar fossils with those obtained at Shepey
and in Hampshire, have been also found in this stratum, at Kew and at
Highgate. At the latter of these places, and at Shepey, a resinous sub-
stance has been also found, which yields, on friction, a peculiar aromatic
odour.

At Walton, near Harwich, as has been already noticed, the remains of
several quadrupeds have been found. There have been obtained the re-
mains of the elephant, rhinoceros, Irish fossil elk, hippopotamus, o.r, stag,
&c. Those which I found myself were on the beach, and the others
I had been taught to suppose had been dug out of the blue clay. This,
however, I have been led to doubt from the kind communications of the
late Mr. William Trimmer. This gentleman ascertained that the bones
of the elephant, hippopotamus, &c. found at Kew, were imbedded beneath
sandy gravel, on a BED OF CALCAREOUS EARTH, from one foot to nine
feet in thickness; that these remains. were not found in any parts to

449

which this calcareous stratum did not extend; and that a few feet of
sandy gravel separated this bed from the stratum of blue clay. It
appears, from the matter contained in the cavities of the Essex
fossil bones, and from the colour of their substance, that they have
lain in a similar bed. This also appears to have been the case with
bones of the elephant and teeth of the rhinoceros, from Warwickshire
and Gloucestershire. Hence it appears, that these animals lived on the
dry land left by the departure of the waters which constituted the ocean,
from which the clay stratum was deposited ; and that they were over-
whelmed by the deposition from the waters which formed the grave]
stratum.

This deposition, which lies over the blue clay, is formed of strata, ot
of patches, of SANDY GRAVEL and SANDY CLAY ; and at Walton and
Harwich, in Essex, and in Suffolk and Norfolk, it contains numerous
fossil shells, many of which are similar to those of the present day. With
these fossil shells are also found fragments of fossil bones, which there is
some reason for supposing may have belonged to the mammoth or mas-
tadon. Patches of roundish pebbles, doubtlessly formed at the bottom
of a sea, exist in great quantities in extensive patches over this stratum
of clay. !.

Even from this slight and imperfect sketch it appears that the forma-
tion of the exterior part of this globe, and the creation of its several
inhabitants, must have been the work of a vast length of time, and must
have been effected at several distant periods.

In the first of these periods, the granitic and other primary rocks were
separated from the water*. That this separation took place, as is stated
in the scriptural record, previous to the creation of vegetables and ani-
mals, is evident from no remains of any organized substance having been
ever found in any of these substances.

In the next period we are informed, by Scripture, that the creation of
vegetables took place -f-. Almost every circumstance in the situation and

* Genesis, i. 9. t Genesis, i. 12.

VOL. III. 3 M

450

disposition of coal accords with this order of creation; excepting that in
many of the coal measures, the alternating limestones are full of the re-
mains of shells. But on the other hand it must be observed, that as the
formation of coal may have taken place soon after the creation of vege-
tables, and have continued even to a very late period, so, consequently,,
the accompanying strata may vary materially as to their contents. In
the later formation, the remains of marine animals may be expected to
be met with ; but in the earliest formation, that which is found on granite,
and accompanied by porphyry, green-stone, £c. it is probable that no
remains of animals would be found, and fair proof would be yielded, of
an accordance, in this instance, between the order of creation as related
by Moses, and the order in which the investing strata of the earth are
disposed.

The creation of the succeeding period, according to the scriptural rela-
tion, was that of the inhabitants of the water and of the air*. In agree-
ment with this order of creation, are the contents of all the numerous
strata lying above those already mentioned ; including the blue clay
which we have seen disposed in many places almost at the surface. In
all these strata no remains are to be found but those of the inhabitants of
the waters ; excepting those of birds, which exist, though rarely in some
particular spots. But in none of these strata has a single relic been met
with which can be supposed to have belonged to any terrestrial animal.

In the next period it is stated, that the beasts of the earth, cattle, and
every thing that creepeth upon the earth, were madef . The agree-
ment of the situations in which the remains of land animals are found
ijrith this stated order of creation, is exceeding exact ; since it is only the
surface, or in some superficial stratum, or in comparatively some lately
formed deposition, that any remains of these animals are to be found.

The creation of man, we are informed, was the work of the last pe-
riod J : and in agreement with his having been created after all the other

* Genesis, i. 20» t Genesis, i. 24. J Genesis, i 26°

451

inhabitants of the earth is the fact, that not a single decided fossil relic of
man has been discovered.

This last circumstance will be considered by many as contradictory of
the account of the Deluge, by which the earth, with man, was said to
have been destroyed; since in the remains of the deluged world mari
might be expected to be found in subterraneous situations. The fact,
however, is, that although no remains of man are found, the surface of
the earth, which is inhabited by man, displays, even at the present day,
manifest and decided marks of the mechanical agency of violent currents
of water. Nor is there a single stratum of all those which have been
mentioned which does not exhibit undeniable proofs of its having been
broken, and even dislocated, by some tremendous power, which has
acted with considerable violence on this planet, since the deposition of
the strata of even the latest formation.

From the whole of this examination a pleasing, and perhaps unexpected
accordance appears between the order in which, according to the scriptural
account, creation was accomplished, and the order in which the fossil
remains of creation are found deposited in the superficial layers of the
earth. So close indeed is this agreement, that the Mosaic account is
thereby confirmed in every respect, except as to the age of the world,
and the distance of time between the completion of different parts of the
creation. These, in consequence of the literal acceptation of the word
day, in that account, are reckoned to be much less than what every
examination of the earth's structure authorizes their being supposed. If
we are constrained to receive this word as descriptive of that length of
time in which this planet now performs its diurnal revolution ; and are
to consider the words morning and evening, applied to a time when the
sun is said not to have been formed, as bearing the same meaning which
they now convey, it must be acknowledged that the stumbling-block is
immoveable. But if, on the other hand, the word day be admitted as
figuratively designating certain indefinite periods, in which particular
parts of the great work of creation were accomplished, no difficulty will

452

then remain. The age of the world, according to the scriptural
account, will then agree with that which is manifested by the pheno-
mena of its stratification.

I am aware, that I shall obtain very little support in such a change
from the critical expositors of this part of scriptural history, even should
I plead, that in the poetical language of the prophets this word is some-
times thus used. I however trust, that I shall have produced no slight
authority in its favour, if I show you that Moses himself employs this
word in this sense, when speaking of the whole creation of the heavens and
the earthy and all the host of them. " These," he says, " are the genera-
tions of the heavens and the earth, when they were created, in the day
that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens." Genesis, ii. 4.

It is not necessary to proceed any further on this subject : it is how-
ever fair to state, that I did not commence the inquiries contained in
these volumes without being forewarned of the great probability, that
they would terminate in the establishing of certain facts, which might
materially contradict the Mosaic account of the creation. This, how-
ever, instead of checking, served only to promote the investigation ; it
being concluded, that if this were made with a due attention to impar-
tiality, truth would be the result, and a fair criterion, by which the
authority of this account might in some measure be judged, would be
produced. Unapprised of what would be the termination of this inquiry,
I resolved to prosecute it with fairness; to shrink from no question, on
account of its supposed tenderness ; and to conceal no conclusion, how-
ever repugnant to popular opinion or prejudice. That the result should
be so strongly confirmatory of the Mosaic account, I acknowledge was
unexpected; and that so close an agreement should be found of the
order of creation, as stated in Scripture, with the actual appearances of
the depth of stratification which has been examined in modern times,
must satisfy or surprise every one — Moses could not have learned this
accordance from the Egyptians.

But leaving this subject to be examined by those whose extensive

45:1

knowledge will enable them to form a more correct judgment on these
points, I will only remark, that supposing the creation to have been per-
formed in the order related in Genesis, and at particular periods, as is
there stated, it becomes only necessary to consider these periods as
occurring at considerable indefinite lengths of time, to prove an exact
agreement between that particular history and those phenomena which
appear on examining the stratification of the earth. But quitting con-
jecture, I shall conclude with placing before you a recapitulation of the
more important of those phenomena, which seem to demand more par-
ticular attention.

I. The outer part of this globe, examined to as great a depth as

circumstances have permitted, appears to be formed of numerous
strata differing from each other in their composition, many of
them containing remains of organized bodies, and all of them
appearing to have been formed by deposition from water.

II. These strata which appear once to have been continuous, have

been broken through their whole depth, and so dislocated, that
some masses of the lower strata, now form considerable eleva-
tions on the surface, and in many of these the superior strata
are carried away.

III. Coal and traces of vegetables, with some particular marine ani-
mals, are found in the lowest strata that have been yet examined.
In the other strata, up to the surface, the remains of the inhabi-
tants of the water only are met with. Near to, and on the sur-
face, only, are found the fossil remains of various land-animals;
but, no where have yet been discovered any fossil remains of
man.

IV. In some of the earlier strata, THE CUBROCHAL LIMESTONE, the
remains of animals are found, the cap and turban encrinite, &c. ;
but no similar fossils are seen in any of the succeeding superior
strata, nor are any similar animals found in our present seas,

454

V. Some species of fossil animals (pentacrinita) occur in the LIAS, and

are not, I believe, seen in any of the succeeding superior strata,
but a recent similar animal is found in our present seas.

VI. Some fossil animals (ammonites) are first seen in the LIAS and
appear in most of the succeeding strata, but appear to have
become extinct in the ocean which deposited the hard chalk.

VII. Some fossils (bekmnitte) appear in the early strata, and are
continued upwards to the SOFT CHALK stratum, after which they
are not seen.

VIII. Some fossils (oval ammonites, scaphittz, Sfc.) are not known in the
early strata, but occur in the HARD CHALK, and are not seen after-
wards: as if they had been created at a comparatively late
period, and had been soon afterwards suffered to become extinct.

IX. Some fossil shells (trigonitce) are found in the LIAS and in MOST
OF THE SUCCEEDING STRATA,, and sometimes, but very rarely, in
the hard chalk. After this they are not seen in the remaining
superior strata, but of late years one species has been found in
our present seas. This however requires some explanation.
The trigonita are shells differing materially from any others in
the structure of the hinge, and obtain therefrom the most decided
generic characters. Until lately no shell of this genus was
known in a recent state : one however has been found by
M. Peron, in the South Seas ; but this shell, although really of
this genus, is of a different species from any shell, which has
been found in a fossil state. So that none of the species of shells
of this genus, which are known in a fossil state, have, in fact,
been found in any stratum above the hard chalk, or in our pre-
sent seas.

X. In the SAND and in the BLUE CLAY above the chalk, many species

of shells occur, of which not one is to be seen in the preceding
strata ; but of which several approximate to those in the present
seas.

455

XI. In the GRAVEL, lying on the blue clay, shells are found which
differ from those of any of the preceding strata, and nearly agree
with our recent shells.

XII. In these UPPER and LESS ANTIENT STRATA are found the fossil
remains of land animals: and on this surface, which bears the
marks of considerable torrents, are disposed, at least in this
island, the present inhabitants.

Does it not appear from this repeated occurrence of new beings, from
the late appearance of the remains of land animals, and from the total
absence of the fossil remains of man, that the creative power, as far as
respects this planet, has been exercised, continually, or at distant periods,
and with increasing excellence, in its objects, to a comparatively late
period : the last and highest work appearing to be man, whose remains-
have not yet been numbered among the subjects of the mineral king-
dom.

FINIS.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES.

PLATE I.

Fig. 1 . Part of a fossil lunated star, resembling that of Pentagonaster Semilunatus.

2. An echinite from France.

3. Part of a stellite, resembling Pentagonaster Regularis.

4. A small echinite from Wiltshire, possessing many characters of C. diadema.

5. An echinite with its attached spines, imbedded in flint.

6. A mammillated echinite from Wiltshire.

7. Cidaris Corollaris, a silicious cast.

8. An echinite with its spines attached, from Stunsfield, similar to Fig. 4.

9. A globose mammillated echinite from Oxfordshire.

10. An echinite from Kent, with its spine.

11. A conoiclal mammillated echinite from Kent.

12. An echinite from Wiltshire, with a remarkable anal appendage.

13. Another echinite from the same place. The appendage is here extended in a tre-

lissed manner, like the markings of the next fossil.

14. The markings of an unknown fossil, figured by Walch, and which seem to resemble

the markings on the echinite, Fig. 13.

15. A small stellites, approaching to S. lacertosa.

16. Small fossil, resembling the coriaceous pentapetalous sea-star, from Baier.
17.

18.

, 'Minute stellitsB from Verona.
20

DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES,

PLATE II.

Fig. 1. Clypeus sinuatus of Leske, from Oxfordshire.

2. Echinanthites orbicularis of Leske.

3. Echinites vulgaris of Leske, from Sussex.

4. Echinocorys scutatus of Leske, from Kent.

5. Echinanthus ovatus from Verona.

6. Echinodiscus bisperforatus from Verona.

7. Discoides subuculus of Leske.

8. A cast of Echinanthus humilis from Malta.

9. Part of the cast of a galeated echinite.

10. Conulus albogalerus of Leske, from the Kentish chalk-pits.

11. The under part of the same fossil.

PLATE III.

Fig. 1. Echinites saxatilis, with its spines imbedded in flint.

2. Echinodiscus subrotundus from Italy.

3. Spatangites ovalis.

4. The upper surface of Spatangus radiatiis from Maestricht.

5. The under part of the same fossil.

6. Echinites pyriformis.

7. Echinites lapis cancri.

8. Spatangites brissoides ovalis.

9. Spatangus purpureus from Malta.

1 0. Echinodiscus laganum from Verona.

11. Spatangus cor marinum from Kent.

12. Spatangus lacunosus from Malta,

wan fioxton AT.y- / "/S/0

•

C o fr c»

Pi i

-., tl» Art <l<f,cts, iy ./»"« Pirl/nj™, Halt", Orfkmttl' j)

DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES.

PLATE IV.

Fig. 1. Clavated spines of an echinus attached to the shell, imbedded in chalk.

2. A long spine of the species Cucumerina, attached to a mammillated echinite.

3. Cylindrical denticulated spines, with the shell in chalk.

4. A fossil echinital spine, resembling a belemnite.

5. A fossil spine, named Bacolo di Santa Paulo by Scilla.

6. A knobbed cucumerine spine.

7. A cast of Echinanthus altus from Malta.

8. A cucumerine spine.

9 An echinital spine of the species glandaria.

10. A cordated echinite from Verona.

11. An echinital spine of the species glandaria , formerly called petrified Olives,
1 2. A curious flat serrated spine from Verona.

13. A sulcated fossil from Shepey, apparently an echinital spine.

14. An echinital spine of an uncommon character, bearing a resemblance to the

belemnite.

..Varieties of the cucumerine species.
17. '

18.

)

19. A fossil spine, in chalk, possessing the structure of a belemnite.

20. A mammillated echinite from Wiltshire.

21. Clavated spines attached to the shell, imbedded in flint.

PLATE V.

Fig. 1. A fossil cone from Verona.

2. A minute silicious rostellarite from Devonshire.

3. Part of an uncommon fossil shell, supposed to resemble a patella in some of its

characters.

4. Auricula ringens, completely silicious.

5. Chiton octavalvis, with magnified figures of adherent serpulae.
VOL. III. 3 O

DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES.

Fig. 6. Cerithium spiratum, completely calcedonic.

7. Terebra plicatula.

8. A fossil shell from Courtagnon, of the genus Cancellana.

9. Mdania marginata.

10. Calyptr&a sinensis from Essex.

1 1 . A silicious rostellarite from Devonshire, imbedded in sandstone.

12. Turrit ellites perforatus.

13. A volute from Essex.

14. Marginella eburnea from Grignon.

15. Murex tubiferfroui Grignon.

16. Murex rugosus from Essex.

17. A fossil shell partaking of Cassis and Buccinum.

18. A fossil shell approaching to the genus Delphinula.

19. The opposite side of the fossil shell, No. 17.

20. Buccinum stromboides from Grignon.

21. A fossil patella from Gloucestershire.

22. A fossil shell resembling Murex Erinaceus.

23. A fossil shell possessing some of the characters of Harpa, Cassis, and Buccmum,

24. A cast of a large species of sulcated Cypraa from Verona.

25. Eburna glabrata.

26.' A species of Pleurotoma from Grignon.

N. B. The shells in this plate are, by mistake, reversed.

PLATE VI.

fig. 1. A fossil shell of an unknown genus somewhat resembling Delphinula.

2. Natica Canrena, completely silicious, from Devonshire.

3. 'The opposite side of the fossil, Fig. 1.

4. A calcedonic cast of Nerita Conoidea with the containing shell.

5. The under side of Fig. 4.

6. Murex contrarius from Essex.

7. ) The upper and under sides of a fossil of the same genus with that figured Fig. 1.

8. j and 3.

9. A magnified representation of a fossil shell of the genus Sigarctus.

10. The same shell of its natural size.

11. A spirulite in red marble from Oeland.

12 %

I Vermiculita in the fissile stone of Pappenheim.

13. )

*•

DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES.

Fig. 8. A belemnites of a large size.

9. A belemnite, the substance of which appears to have been eroded*

10. A cylindrical belemnite, in which a small linear canal is observable.

11. A belemnite, terminating gradually in a point.

12. A belemnite, terminating suddenly in a point.

13. A fusiform belemnite.

14. A cylindrical belemnite, with its alveolus.

15. A conical belemnite, with the concamerated part.

16. A minute fossil orthoceratite from Sienna.

17. The same magnified.

PLATE IX.

Fig. 1 . A belemnite imbedded in flint.

2. A baculites from Maestricht.

3. A spondylolite, a cast formed in the chamber of an ammonite ; a depression on the

back, marking the situation of the siphuncle.

4. Part of an ammonite, showing the siphuncle in situ.

5. The section of an ammonite, showing the course of the siphuncle.

6. An oval ammonite.

1. A pyritical ammonite, showing the foliaceous sutures.

8. An ammonite, possessing a considerable portion of the shell.

9. The section of an ammonite, showing the sinuous septa.

PLATE X.

Fig. 1. Part of a Hamites, nearly straight.

2. Another specimen, slightly turning.

3. A large specimen, the hooked form being completed.

4. A specimen, in which the turn is so made as to show that it could not have termi-

nated in a spiral.

5. Another specimen, from the green sand of Wiltshire, showing that it could not have

been of a spiral form.

6. | Two views of a fossil shell, resembling the nautilus, but whose genus is not

7. ) determined.

PL IX

DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES,

Fig. 8. Spirolina depressa.
9. Spirolina cylindracea.

10. A supposed variety of the preceding fossil.

1 1 . Miliolites ringens.

\ The upper and under surfaces of Miliolites saxorum,
13. >

U.1

1 5. > Different views of M. cor anginum.

16. )

17. J

18. >Dii

• Different views of M . trigonula.
19.

20. M. opposita.
11. Renulinites opercularia.

22. The bellied semilunar worm-shell of Mr. Walker, introduced for the sake of com-

parison with the preceding.

23. Gyrogonites.

24. A detached carinated rib of Gyrogonites.

25. A minute nautilite, resembling N. crispus, Lin. from the Appenines.

26. Another minute nautilite from the same place.

27. A minute fossil shell, N. Beccarii, from the Appenines, resembling the minute

recent shells which have been supposed to be recent ammoniac.

28. A reversed shell of the same species.

29. An arcite, of an uncommon form, from Germany.

30. A fossil shell, with a pellucid border, from the Appenines.

31. A microscopic pinnite, approaching to Pinnasaccata.

32. A mytulite, the surface resembling a leaf

PLATE XII.

Fig. 1 . The structure of the hinge of the right valve of Trigonia,

2. That of the hinge of the left valve.

3. Trigonia clavdlata.

4. T. costata.

5. T. cccentrica.

6. T. d<edal*a.

7. T. spinosa.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATEvS.

Fig. 8. The magnified spines of the preceding shell.
9. T. aliformis.

10. T. rudis.

11. T. rugosa.

12. A calcedonic cast of a shell of the genus Trigom'a.

13. T. sinuata.

14. The inner surface of the flat valve of Harpax.
15. convex valve.

16. A magnified view of the hinge teeth of the flat valve,

17. convex valve.

1 8. A magnified view of the outside of the flat valve.

PLATE XIII.

Fig. 1. A fossil shell of the genus Cucullaa.

2. Crassatella tumida.

3. A calcedonic shell resembling Cardium aoh'cum.

4. A rostrated shell, perhaps of the genus Tettina.

5. Cyclus deperdita, with crenulated teeth.

6. A donax-formed fossil shell from Gloucestershire.

7. Another fossil shell, supposed to be of this genus.

8. Another fossil shell, apparently of this genus.

9. The inside of Trigonellites l&ta.

10. The inside of Trigonellites lamellosa.
"11. The outside of Trigonellites lamellosa.

12. The outside of Trigonellites lata.

13. Erycina Items, on the inside.
14. •-, on the outside.

15. Outside of Venericardia senilis from Essex.

16. An uncommonly marked fossil bivalve from Bedfordshire.

17. Inside of Venericardia senilis.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES.

PLATE XIV.

Fig. J . A fossil shell of the genus Panopea.

2. Bivalve of the genus Fistulana.

3. A fossil oyster from Essex, resembling O. deformis, of Lamarck.

4. Bivalve of the genus Fistulana.

5. A fossil oyster from Essex, resembling O. biauriculata, of Lamarck.

6. Mass of limestone, with the ampullaceous tubes of Fistulante.

7. The bivalves of Fistnlana, with part of their including tubes.

8. Fistulana personata, with its rotula.

9. Snail shell found with the fossil remains of land animals at Brentford

10. Fistulana personata, without its rotula.

11. A concamerated teredo.

12. a, b, Fistulana from France, with their tubes.

13. Chama calcarata.

' t Fossil vertebrae of the tail of fish.

15. )

16. Small oyster, with a spathose structure.

PLATE XV.

Fig. 1. Ostrea diluviana.

2. A fossil oyster, to which the name of Crista galli, or cockscomb oyster, seems most

applicable.

3. Gryphites, out of the blue lias, Gloucestershire.

4. Ostrea Jrons -vel folium.

5. Cast of a shell of the genus Crenatula, from Shotover Hill.

6. T The outer and inner side of a minute fossil shell, of the genus Crenatula, from

7. J Bedfordshire.

8. A fossil shell, of the genus Perna, from Piedmont.

'..XIV.

'^r^t «f

L.XVI.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES.

PLATE XVI.

Fig. 1. A specimen of Radiolites, copied from the work of Picot.

2. The smooth valve of Corbula gallica.

3. Anomia craniolaris from Bosc.

4. Terebratulites triquetra.

5. Terebratulites coarctata.

6. The bony structure existing in a recent shell, resembling A. terebratula.
1. Bony structure in a recent shell, resembling A. lacunosa.

8. Another specimen of Terebratulites triquetra.

9. The upper part of Anomites producta of Mr. Martin, a . The beak of the shell.

c. A cavity in the superior part of the shell.

10. The under part of the shell, b. A depression receiving the beak of the shell.
1O*. A terebratulite, with a fissure in the upper shell.

11. An imperforate shell, with an extraordinary internal structure.

12. A patch of square scales of a fish from Dorsetshire.
IS. Another view of the spiral tute seen in Fig. 11.

14. The internal surface of the flat semicircular valve of Calceola sandalina.

15. The anterior 'part of the large valve of Calceola sandalina. a. The tooth in the

posterior margin of this valve magnified, b. The reteporean surface of a part of
this valve.

16. A fossil shell, possessing a large area belonging to the hinge, and a deep triangular

depression.

17. A fossil shell, with a still larger area, and a longer triangular depression.

18. A stone, bearing an impression resembling some species of Anatifa.

1 9. Coronulites diadema.

20. The beak of a terebratulite, the cast of which is the hystcriolithes of the oryctologists.

VOL. III. 3 P

DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES,

PLATE XVII.

Fig. 1. A fossil crab from Shepey.

2. Insects in stone from Papenheim.
3.

Insects on coal-slate, as figured by Lhwydd.

ins

5.
6.

7. A fossil crab from Shepey.

8. A fossil shrimp from Anspach.

9. The impression of a fossil, the analogue of which is entirely unknown.

10. The claw of a crab from Maestricht.

11. An extended trilobite from Dudley.

12. A fossil crab from the East Indies.

13. A trilobite from Llanelly. b. its inner surface.

14. A contracted trilobite from^Dudley. a. the eye enlarged.

15. The remains of some large unknown insect.

1 6. Another species of trilobite.

17. Another species with a caudal process.

18. Another species imbedded in ironstone.

19. The remains of an unknown insect from Dudley.

PLATE XVIII.

Fig. 1. A fossil body resembling part of a tortoise from Gloucestershire.

2. The inferior part of a fossil tortoise from Shepey.

3. The fossil head of a tortoise from Shepey.

4. A fossil shell from the hard chalk of Sussex.

5. 1 Fossil Vertebrae of Crocodiles from Cuvier, showing the existence of two distinct

6. j fossil species in France.

7. A sketch of the fossil lower jaw of a crocodile from Les Annales du Museum.

8. One of the vertebrae of the tail of the fossil animal of Maestricht.

9. A single scale of a fish with its processes of attachment.

PL.XVJI

- 22. :SH

PAJXZX.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES.

Fig. 4. Part of a jaw of some ruminant in the calcareous mass of the Gibraltar rock.

5. A fossil elephant's tooth with plates in an undulating form.

6. A fossil elephant's tooth, remarkable for the thickness of its plates.

7. A fossil elephant's tooth, remarkable for the disposition of its plates.

8. A fossil elephant's tooth, in which twenty plates exist in the length of six inches

and a half.

9. A fragment of a fossil tusk, showing its structure.

PLATE XXL

Fig. 1. A fossil molar tooth of the hippopotamus of the right side of the lower jaw, and
which has not long pierced the gums.

2. A fossil upper molar tooth of the rhinoceros.

3. A fossil tooth of the tapir.

4. The outer surface of the fourth molar tooth of the lower jaw of Palaotherium

medium.

5. The inner surface.

6. The outer surface of one of the molares of the upper jaw.

7. The inner surface,

8. The antepenultimate lower grinder of the Anoplotherium.

9. The grinder which stands before the one Fig. 8.

10. The fossil claw-bone of the Megalonix ; half the natural size.

11. A fossil tooth of the Megaknix.

PLATE XXII.

Fig. 1. Skeleton of the Megatherium.

2. The hindmost grinder of the upper jaw of the fossil bear of the caverns.

3. The middle upper grinder.

4. The foremost upper grinder.

5. The hindmost grinder of the lower jaw.

6. The penultimate grinder of the lower jaw.

7. The antepenultimate lower grinder.

8. The foremost lower grinder.

9. The canine tooth of the fossil bear.

PLXXI

£ SIZE

V aJ t'n, ,- ^7 '* ///;

477

"References to the Memoirs of M. Cuvier, in Les Annales du Museum

d'Histoire.

Vol. III. p. 132. On the fossil Tapir.

275. On the species of animals to which the fossil bones belonged which are
dispersed through the plaster-stone in the neighbourhood of Paris.
Restitution of the head (Paleeotherium and dnoplotherium).
364. Examination of the teeth, &c.
442. Restitution of the feet.
IV. 66. The bones of the trunk.
V. 52. Additions and corrections to the Memoir on the fossil Tapir.

99. Fossil remains of the Hippopotamus,
277. Skeleton of an animal of the genus Sarigue.
358. On the Megalonix.
376. On the Megatherium.

VI. 127. On the fossil bones of the Hyena.

253. Bones more or less resembling those of the Paltfotherium.

VII. 1 9. On the fossil Rhinoceros.

301. On the bones of the genus Bear, found in the caverns of Germany and
Hungary.

VIII. 1. 1

93. > On the living and the fossil Elephants.
249. }

270. On the great Mastodon.

401. On different teeth of smaller species of the genus Mastodon.
420. Recapitulation of the history of the fossil bones of Pachydermata found in

loose and alluvial beds.

IX. 1 0. The fossil bones of the environs of Paris. The Phalanges.
16. The bones of the extremities.
89. The long bones of the fore extremities,
205. The scapulae and pelves.
X. 210. On the bones of some carnivorous animals found in the plaster quarries in

the environs of Paris.

XI. 272. Description of two nearly entire skeletons of the common Anoplotherium.
336. On the bones of birds found in the plaster quarries near Paris.
428. On the species of carnivorous animals, the bones of which are found
mixed with those of Bears in the caverns of Germany and Hungary.

Vol. XII. p. 73. On the fossil bones of Crocodiles, and particularly of those of the neigh-
hood of Havre and Honfleur, with remarks on the skeletons of some of
the lizard tribe from Thuringia.

145. On the large fossil animal of the quarries of Maestricht.
271. On the fossil bones of the environs of Paris.
332. On the fossil bones of Ruminants.
XIII. 169. On the Osseous Breeds of Gibraltar, &c.

479

References to M. Lamarck's Memoirs on the Fossils of Paris, in Les
Annales du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle.

Tome I. p. 308. Chiton, Patella, Fissurella.

383. Emarginula, Calyptrtea, Conus, Oypnea, Tercbellum, Oliva.
474. Ancilla, Voluta.

II. 57. Mitra, Marginella, Cancettaria, Purpura.
163. Buccinum, Terebra, Harpa, Cassis.
217. Strombus, Rostellaria, Murex.
315. Fusus.
385. Pyrula.

III. 163, 266. Pleurotoma.
268, 343, 436. Cerithium.

IV. 46. Trochus, Solarium.

105. Turbo, Delphwula, Cydostoma.
212. Scalaria, Turritella, Bulla.

289. Bulimus, Phasianella, Lymneea.
429. Melania, Auricula.

V. 28. Volvarta, Ampularia, Planorbis.

91. Helicina, Nerita, Natica.

179. Nautilus, Discorbis, Rotalia, Lenticulina.

237. Nummulites, Lituola, Spirolina.

349. Miliola, Renulina, Gyrogona.

VI. 117. Pinna, Mytulus, Modiola, Nucula.

214. Pectunculus, Area.

337. Cucullcea, Cardita, Cardium.

407. Crassatella, Mactra, Erycina.

VII. 55. Venericardia, Venus,

131. Cytherea, Donax.

231. Tellina, Lucina.

419. Cyclas, Solen, Fistulana.

VIII. 156. 6>^rra.

347. Chama, Spondylus, Pec ten.

461. Lima, Corbula,

Whittingham and Rowland, Printers,
ioswcll Street, London.

INDEX

TO THE

THIRD VOLUME.

ACARDO .......................................

Achatina ..................... • .....................

Aciculae capitatce ........... . .....................

Ammonites . ........................................ •

Amphibiolithi ............ ...........................

Ampullaria .......................................

Anatifa .............................................

Ancilla .............................................

Animals resembling Palceotherium, fossil re

mains of
Anoplothenum, fossil remains of ...............

Anocysti .............................................

Anodonta .. .................... . ...................

Anomia .............................................

Antelope, fossil bones of. .......................

Antibes, fossils of. ................................

Area ................................................

Astropecten ecltinatus minor ....... ..... . ........

Astrophyton ... .................... . ...............

Avicula ............ . ............................ ....

Auricula ........... . ........................ ......

Page

206

133

265

390

168

226

335

331

170

218
84

Bacolo di Santa Paulo 40

Baculites 142

Balanus 239

Bears, fossil remains of 415

Bekmnites 122

Birds, fossil remains of 302

Brontice 9, 12, 19

Buccinum 58

Bufonites 258

Bulimus 82

Bulla 81

VOL. III.

Page

Calyptrcea • ---. 52

Cuncdlaria 57

Capstones ,. 19

Caput Medusa, supposed fossil remains of... 85

Cardita - 178

Cardium 179

Capsa 192

Carinaria 89

Cassis 60,

Catocysti 19, 21

Caverns in Germany, fossils of 415

Cerigo, fossils of • »• 330

Ceraunii lapides.. » 9

Cerithium 69

Ceti, fossil remains of « 309

Chalk bottles 43

Chama 206

Chelonites •••••• 9

Cherso, fossils of 330

Chiton -••» 49

Cidaris Corollaris • 1*

Coronalis • 'b.

Mamillata ' 12

— i Miliaris *•• • 9

angulosa ...» 10

esculenta. ,....••••••••'••••••••• 9

cxcavata • 10

hcemisphcKrica ib.

saxatilis 9

Papillata.... • • 1?

Variolata 1°

diadema • • ib.

Clavicular ..... .

Clypcus sinuatus.

INDEX.

Page

Columbella 57

Concholepas 52

Concud, in Arragon, fossils of. 331

Conulus 19

albogalerus ib.

Corbula 223

Cor marinum 28

Coronula 240

Crabs, fossil ,260*

Crania , . 226

Crassatella 181

Crenatula 219

Crepidula 51

Crocodiles, arrangement of 270

fossil 272

Cucullaa 170

CucumerincE, spines of Echini 46

Cyclas , 189

Ci/dostoma 79

Cytherea -. 188

Cyprcsa 53

Delphinula 76

Dental i urn . 91

Discoides 20

Dtscorbis 159

Dolium 59

Donax 182

Dudley fossil. See Trilobites,

Eburna 58

Echinanthus 23

— altus 24

• humilis ib.

— orbicularis ... , 24

-•• ovatus ib-

Echinarachnius 28

Echinitcs 8

assulata 15

favaginea 16

— — — - lapis cancri , 36

patellaris ib.

1 — pyriformis 35

• • •••-. quaterfasciatus ...I.....,,....,. 20

Echinites sexiesfasciatus...,,.,,., 20

Echinocorys , 21

— = ovatus 22

quaterradiatus ib

• scutatus 21

Echinodiscus bisperforatus 25

laganum 26

subrotundus ib.

Elephants, fossil remains of 33$

Elk, fossil remains of 314

Entomolithi ... . 257

Erycina 181

Fallow-deer 31U

Fasciolaria 67

Fasciolites 158

Felts, remains of an unknown animal of this

genus 432

Fibula . 19

Files

Fisb, teeth of 254

— — palates of 260

— scales of 263

vertebrae of..... ib.

Fissurdla 51

Fox, fossil remains of 433

Fossils, connected with their strata 440

Fusus < 67

Galta 21

Galeola: 21

Gibraltar, fossils of 329

Glycemeris • 193

Gryphaa 209

Gyrogonites 164

Haliotis 89

Hamites « 144

Harpa 59

Harpax 221

Helicina •• 85

Helix ib.

Hippopotamus, fossil remains of .,.•.».. 374

INDEX.

Page

Hippopus • •••• 178

Hippurites ••• 1 18

Honey Cake 25

Horse, fossil remains of 311

Hj/tcna, fossil remains of 428

Hyaloid 238

lanthina.. •••• 81

Insects in stone • 257*

in coal-slate 258*

Isocardia • 179

Laganum, or pancake •••• 26

Lamantin, fossil remains of 309

Lamarck, his arrangement of shells 48

Lapides Judaici 45

Lenticulina 161

„ 224-

Lima

233

Lingula •

Lituites. See Spirula.

Lituola 161

Lutraria • •• 181

Lymneea ... • 83

Mactra « 181

Maestricht, large fossil animal of 286

Malleus 218

Mammalia, fossil remains of 307

Marginella 57

Mammoth. See Mastodon.

Mastodon 352

Megatherium 410

Megalonyx 406

Melania 83

Melita, or Honey Cake 25

Mice, fossil bones of 335

Miliola 162

Minute fossil shells approaching to nautili ... 107

Mitra 56

Modiola 168

Monitor 291

fossil 273, 300

Monodon monoceros, fossil remains of 309

Monodonta ,,,.,.,,,,,,,,,,.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 75

Page

Mosaic account of the creation referred to... 449

Multilocular shells 99

Murex 64

Mya 193

Mytilus 167

Nassa 53

Natica 85

Nautilus , 100

Nerita 85

Nice, fossils of 331

Nucula 168

Nummulites 14.3

Oliva 54.

Ombria 9, 20

Orbicula 238

Ornitholites 302

Orthocera m

Ostrca 210

Ova anguina 12

Ovida 53

Ox, fossil remains of 321

Pachydermata, fossil remains of 339

Palaotlierium, fossil remains of 382

Pancake 26

Pandora 224

Panopcea 194

Paphia . 180

Patella 51

Pecten 222

Fectunculus « 169

Pedum 224

Pencils 43

Penicillus .. 91

Penlaceros reticulatus 3

. lentiginosus ib.

Pentagonaster semilunatus ib.

' regularis..... ib.

Perna 219

Petricola 182

Phasianclla 83

Pholas . 198

INDEX.

Pilei

Pinna

Placentae 25

Placuna 221

Planorbis 85

Pleurocysti

Pleurotoma • 67

Plicatula

Polar stone •

Pterocera • •

Pupa « ••••

Purpura »

Pyramidella

Pyrula

Rabbit, fossil bones of 335

Radiolites 206

Rat, fossil bones of 336

Renulina '. 163

Rhinoceros, fossil remains of 367

Rostellaria •• 62

Rotalites 160

Rianinantia, fossil remains of 313

Fanguinolaria 193

Sarigue, fossil remains of 43-1

Scalaria 79

Scaphites

Scolopendritce

Scutum. Vide Echinanthus.
Sea star. See Stella marina.

Serpula ««

Sheep, fossil bones of 334

Shells, arrangement of.

Shells fossil 48, et seq,

Sigaretus

Siliquaria 97

Solarium 74

Solen • «••

Spatangus ananchytis

bicordatus 34

i. . brissus ib.

————— carinatus ib

»«— — coranguinum..,*,, ,,,,,,.,.„,.,,.

Page
19
165

221
85
28
67
209
18
62
81
58
83
67

335
206
336
163
367
62
160
313

193
434
79
145
19

93
334
47

seq,
90
97
74
192
33
34
ib.
ib.
28

Pa««

32
29
Si
ib.
31
30
ib.
45
33
37
40
161
109
208
31 <j

4
5
ib.
ib.
4
ib.
ib.
1
3
5
<5

442

441
61
39
40
ib.

377
190
59
227
202
89
265
178

. spat/tula

Star-fish. See Stella marina.

— — lumbricalis, corpore pentagono

. — , __. — , — . fossil remains of

Stratification considered in connection with

— — - fortalititiorum, pallisado-like spines....

Tellina ,

Tcrebra

INDEX.

Page

172

263*

.92

239

84,

Vulsdla

., 146

, J6J

iwONTH

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