374 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERT. 



coal, and in the southern, on Deep river, bituminous. In this more eastern 

 and central range, the sandstone and shales extend from Granville County, 

 near Virginia, southeast 120 miles, across the state, to Anson County, 

 and into South Cai'olina. Near the centre of this series, in Chatham County, 

 is a "plant bed," below which Dr. Emmons found the remains of a large 

 Saurian, named by Lcidy, Dictyocephalus elcgans, one of the Labyrintho- 

 donts. 



In the Chatham series Dr. E. makes known two Saurians, of the Theco- 

 dont division, or whose teeth are set in distinct sockets. One of these he 

 considers to be the Clcpsisaurus of Lea, because its vertebrae have the hour- 

 glass form, and which is named C. Leai, by our author. The other, Thcco- 

 dont, Dr. Emmons has named Rutiodon Carolinensis ; Rutiodon meaning 

 wrinkle-tooth, a fine character on the teeth for the genus, while the specific 

 name commemorates the state of its location. Of this animal Dr. E. figures 

 a "lower jaw, seven inches long, with sixteen alveoles," (sockets). 



Dr. Emmons has also discovered, in the Chatham series, teeth of the 

 Palreosaurus, thus making three distinct genera, and at least four, if not five, 

 species belonging to this (Thecodont) section of Lacertilia, in the Chatham 

 rocks. With these also occur, abundantly, coprolites of Saurians. 



These discoveries seem to fix the position of the North Carolina Sand- 

 stones, as belonging to the Permian group, or else the Buntcr Sandstone, 

 as the saurians discovered by Emmons arc characteristic of these formations 

 in Europe. Another discovery, however, by Dr. Emmons, seems to offer 

 some objections to this classification. It is that of a Mammal, belonging to 

 the Placental Insectivora, of which three jaws have been found. One of 

 these jaws, figured by Dr. E. in his report, is "nine-tenths of an inch long, 

 and contains seven molars, three premolars, one canine, and three incisors," 

 or fourteen teeth in one side of the lower jaw. 



These remains belong, undoubtedly, to the oldest fossil mammal hitherto 

 discovered, which has received the name of Dromatherium (running wild 

 beast) syluestre. They occur associated with the Thecodont Sauiians, before 

 mentioned, and somewhat resemble the remains discovered in the Stones- 

 field slates of England. 



Professor 0. Heer, of the Federal Polytechnic School, Zurich, who is dis- 

 tinguished for his knowledge of fossil plants and insects, has recently exam- 

 ined, with great care, the various fossils discovered by Dr. Emmons in the 

 sandstones of North Carolina, and others from Virginia, and as the result 

 of such examination, he maintains that as yet not a single species of plants 

 of the Jurassic sei'ies, has been discovered in the Richmond or North Caro- 

 lina sandstones, but that there are several identical with those of the Kcupcr 

 in the vicinity of Stuttgart, hence the upper sandstones arc equivalent to the 

 Kcupcr, as Dr. Emmons maintains, and the lower arc Permian, or, at least, 

 no newer than the Bunter sandstones (lower Trias). It is also stated that 

 Mr. Lycll, after a full examination of the specimens in the hands of Professor 

 Ilerr, has arrived at the same conclusions. 



In relation to the above discoveries, the substance of which has appeared 

 in Silliman's Journal, Professor Dana makes the following remarks : In 



