Scientific Intelligence. — New Publications. 40^— 



ranee of the land and fresh-water exuviae over those of marine origin, observ- 

 able in these strata, warrants the conclusion that the Hastings beds were form- 

 ed by a very different agent from that which effected the deposition of the 

 Portland limestone below, and the sands and chalks above them. The seas 

 in the primitive ages of our planet were inhabited by vast tribes of multilo- 

 eular shells, which, however variable in their species, were not only of the 

 same family, but also of the same genera, namely, Belemnites^ Ammonites^ and 

 Nautilites. These shells, if we may draw any conclusions from our knowledge 

 of the habits of the recent species of the only genus that still exists, were in- 

 disputably inhabitants of the ocean ; and the presence of their remains in any 

 considerable quantity in a stratum, affords a fair presumption that such stra- 

 tum is a marine deposit. The converse of this proposition, we conceive, must 

 hold good in a case like the present, where not a vestige of these ancient ma- 

 rine genera can be traced, among innumerable remains of terrestrial vege- 

 tables and animals, and of fresh-water testaceae. The occasional occurrence 

 of marine exuviae affords no grounds for a contrary opinion, since this fact is 

 no more than might be expected under such circumstances, and is in strict 

 accordance with what may be observed in the deltas and estuaries of all great 

 rivers. 



" We cannot leave this subject, without offering a few general remarks on 

 the probable condition of the country through which the waters flowed that 

 deposited the strata of Tilgate Forest ; and on the nature of its animal and 

 vegetable productions. Whether it were an island or a continent, may not 

 be determined ; but that it was diversified by hill and valley, and enjoyed a 

 climate of a higher temperature than any part of modern Europe, is more 

 than probable. Several kinds of ferns appear to have constituted the imme- 

 diate vegetable clothing of the soil ; the elegant Hymenopteris psilotoides^ which 

 probably never attained a greater height than three or four feet, and the 

 beautiful Pecopteris reticulata, of still lesser growth, being abundant every 

 where. It is easy to conceive what would be the appearance of the valleys 

 and plains covered with these plants, from that presented by modern tracts, 

 where the common ferns so generally prevail. But the loftier vegetables 

 were so entirely distinct from any that are now known to exist in European 

 countries, that we seek in vain for any thing at all analogous without the Tro- 

 pics. The forests of Clathrarice and Endogenitce (the plants of which, like 

 some of the recent arborescent ferns, probably attained a height of thirty or 

 forty feet), must have borne a much greater resemblance to those of tropical 

 regions, than to any that now occur in temperate climates. That the soil was 

 of a sandy nature on the hills and less elevated parts of the country, and ar- 

 gillaceous in the plains and marshes, may be inferred from the vegetable re- 

 mains, and from the nature of the substances in which they are inclosed. 

 Sand and clay every where prevail in the Hastings strata ; nor is it unworthy 

 of remark, that the recent vegetables to which the fossil plants bear the great- 

 est analogy, affect soils of this description. • If we attempt to pourtray the 

 animals of this ancient country, our description will partake more of the cha- 

 racter of romance, than of a legitimate deduction from established facts. 

 Turtles of various kinds must have been seen on the banks of its rivers or 

 lakes, and groups of enormous crocodiles basking in the fens and shallows. 



" The gigantic Megalosaurus, and yet more gigantic Iguanodon, to whom 

 the groves of palms and arborescent ferns would be mere beds of reeds, must 

 have been of such prodigious magnitude, that the existing animal creation 

 presents us with no fit objects of comparison. Imagine an animal of the liz- 

 ard tribe, three or four times as large as the largest crocodile, having jaws 

 equal in size to the incisors of the rhinoceros, and crested with horns ; 

 such a creature must have been the Iguanodon. Nor were the inhabitants of 

 the waters much, less wonderful ; witness the Plesiosaurus, which only re- 

 quired wings to be a flying dragon ; the fishes resembling Siluri, Balistse,'* 

 &c. 



