Mr. Broderip on a fossil Juw from Stonesjield. 411 



If the author of these observations be the person residing in Lon- 

 don, who is mentioned above as the possessor of one of the three 

 specimens, he must be allowed to doubt the identity of the species, 

 for the reasons above given. If any other resident in London 

 possesses a specimen of the jaw of a mammiferous animal imbedded 

 in the Stonesfield slate, there will be no less than four instances 

 of mammiferous remains from the same locality : but we never 

 have heard of more than three. 



It might have been desirable to keep back this notice till M. 

 Cuvier had seen and pronounced on the specimen now figured : 

 but it has been so long lost to the scientific world, and it is, unless 

 the writer is deceived by persons of high authority in such mat- 

 ters, of so much interest to geologists, that he no longer feels 

 justified in delaying the appearance of the figure. He has the less 

 anxiety on the subject of the imperfections of this hasty sketchy 

 being well assured that the learned Professor, who first publicly 

 noticed the discovery of mammiferous remains in a stratum far 

 below the chalk, will amply supply all omissions and inaccuracies, 

 when he gives to the world the result of his researches, in his pro- 

 mised description of the most remarkable remains that occur at 

 Stonesfield.* 



As the history of this animal rests only upon the portion of its 

 lower jaw, figured in the plate accompanying the present memoir, 

 (for the specimen figured by M. Prevost appears to have belonged 

 to a diff'erent animal,) it would perhaps be presumptuous in me to 

 pronounce on its generic identity with Didelphis^ Cuv. But until 

 some more able anatomist shall correct the generic name, I may 

 be permitted, for the sake of convenience and perspicuity, to name 

 it Didelpliis BucklandiA 



* See Geol. Trans, vol. I. p. 394. Second series. 



f It may not be uninteresting to note, that a recent species of Trigonia 

 (figured by Mr. G. B. Sowerby in his account of some rare shells brought from 

 the Pearl islands) has very lately been discovered on the coast of Australia, 

 tliat land of marsupial animals. Our specimen lies imbedded with a number 

 of fossil shells of that genus. The individuals are of the same species so fre- 

 quently found at Stonesfield ; and, as that species appears not to be nained, 

 I propose, at the suggestion of Mr. James Sowerby, to name it Trigonia inir 

 pressa. The shells are most numerous on the under side of the slab. 



