444 



MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. 



. ^M 



to 



■ Art. I. Natural History in foreign Countries, 



FRANCE. 



Fossil Riches of Touraine, — Sir, In that part of the ancient 

 French province of Touraine which nearly adjoins Poitou, there 

 exists a deposit of fossil remains ; which, though not unique, 

 4s perhaps unparalleled, in extent and circumstances of pecu- 

 liar interest, in natural history. This vast deposit the French 

 'call Les FaluniereSj which, according to M. Croi'e d'Argenson, 

 are spread over a district of country not less than twelve 

 leagues square, measured by the French league, which con- 

 sists of 2^ English miles. Certain it is, that it extends from 

 near St. Maure, and from below Bossee on the south, to 

 beyond Meutheme on the east; and from St. Maure, by 

 St. Catherine de Fierbois, in a northerly direction, to above 

 Louhans, several leagues farther north. This extraordinary 

 deposit consists entirely of fossil shells, in different states of 

 preservation, but mostly broken down into a fine shell sand. 

 The thickness of the bed (which, as far as it has been 

 examined, appears to be uniform) has not been yet ascer- 

 tained, though pits have been dug in it from 8 to 10 ft. deep; 

 at which depth the water has been invariably found too 

 abundant to admit of farther excavation without the aid of 

 expensive machinery, which has never yet been applied. The 

 shells and their debris [reduced fragments] are to be met with 

 at about 2 ft. below the surface of the ground, and seem to 

 lie in a horizontal position, nearly corresponding with that of 

 the surface. Intermixed with the broken shells many fossils 

 are to be found, some entire, and others in a more or less per- 

 fect state. Among those already met with are the O'strea (rock 

 oyster, in gi-eat variety of shapes and sizes, from half an inch 

 ?to 6 in. long), Cardita crdssa, Turritella, Cerithium, Caryo- 

 phyllia, P^cten, Annulites, Pectunculus pulvinatus, Scutella 

 subrotunda, &c. &c., and, near St. Catherine de Fierbois, the 

 fossil remains of teeth and palates of fish, of all which speci.' 

 ifiaeiiarin a high state of preservation have been obtained.* 



* Similar specimens of the latter of these singular fossil remains have 

 been sent me by M. de Chauchevrier, found in digging drains at his seat, 

 90 miles distant from St. Catherine de Fierbois. ,, . . ^ ^^ 



