18 



Crocodiles' teeth and bones are occasionally found. Dr. Mantell, i. 

 his Geologi/ of the Isle of Wight, mentions a fine specimen obtained froi 

 a quarry near Swanage in 1837 ; but they are now very scarce. During . 

 three years residence in the Island, I have never been successful i. 

 obtaining even a portion of one. 



Two heads of the Macrorynchus were in Mr. Wilcox's collection, now 

 in the museum at Dorchester, one of which was from the Freestone 

 Quarry; and in the summer of 1851, I purchased a portion of the jaw 

 of one of these animals. It is as yet doubtful whether any remains of 

 birds exist in the beds of this district. 



Insects. — These maybe considered as the most interesting of the organic 

 remains of the Isle of Purbeck. In the autumn of 1850, suspecting the 

 probableoccurrenceof insect remains in the strata of the Isle of Purbeck, I 

 commenced my search in Durdlestone Bay with a bed of soft, white stone, 

 which I had remarked upon a former occasion. I found that it contained 

 a quantity of vegetable remains in thin veins, with elytra and wings of 

 insects. It has since proved to be most rich in these remains, and many 

 species have been obtained, amongst which have been determined the 

 wings of the mole-cricket, ant-lion, white ants, dragon-fly, and eight or 

 nine species of elytra, and seven or eight of bodies of beetles, &c., 

 amongst which is the A rchceoniscus ? Osmundi. The large wings of 

 the dragon-fly occur in the solid limestone, and not in the veins, con- 

 sequently are never obtained perfect. Two species of elytron, measuring 

 upwards of two inches in length, occur in a similar position. These 

 remains are most abundant in the lower beds of No. 106, and of these we 

 may distinguish two veins which are especially rich, one in wings, the 

 other in elytra. Upon the slab of the latter, which did not exceed four 

 inches in diameter, I have counted as many as four bodies of insects, 

 several small wings, and from sixty to seventy elytra. A vein also 

 occurs in the bed above No. 104, which is rich in similar remains, though 

 only in places. This vein may be distinguished by the vegetable remains 

 being much larger than elsewhere. Again, below all these is a bed of like 

 character. No. 113, which also contains insect remains, and I have 

 obtained small bodies and elytra from abed situated beneath the gypsum 

 quarry. Other beds may, I consider, be searched with a probability of 

 success. 



The Archaeoniscus occurs in several beds ; first in a thin vein of indu- 

 rated marl above the cinder. No. 58. The locality, however, whence 

 many specimens have been obtained, is between the Great Fault and the 

 second Cinder Bed, where these have been let down. See page 15. 

 The shells which they contain are estuary shells, as the Ostrea and Mo- 

 diola, with veins of fresh water shells. 



Below the Cinder a small species occurs in the beds numbered 25 and 

 27 ; and in February, 1852, I discovered a large species abundant in a 

 vein of the indurated marl. No. 128, situated immediately above the 

 Cypris limestone, and a few yards from the Great Fault. Upon one slab 

 alone were as many as ten specimens. 



Plants. — A water plant occurs in the bed numbered 1 1 ; and several 

 specimens of a delicate branching plant have been obtained from the insect 

 beds Nos. 106 and 113 ; and I Iiave seen two specimens of a branching 

 stem from a pit in a sandy rock which overlies the comminuted shell 



