6 Mr. Charlesworth on the Cragy and on ascertaining 



When Professor Agassiz was on a late visit to this country, 

 I was particidarly anxious that that distinguished naturalist 

 should have an opportunity of examining the ichthyological re- 

 mains of the crag. With this view I endeavoured to obtain as 

 extensive a series of these fossils as possible, and in the course 

 of the summer of 1835 I collected several thousand bones, in- 

 cluding vertebrae, teeth, and portions of palates, &c. A se- 

 lection from these was submitted to the inspection of M. Agassiz 

 just before he quitted England, and the result of his examina- 

 tion was, that among them he could detect no recent species, 

 and that there were some belonging even to genera extremely 

 remote from any with which he was acquainted. This was a 

 result which 1 was not prepared to anticipate, as the crag had 

 been classed by M. Deshayes among the pliocene deposits, in 

 consequence of the large proportion of its shells which he had 

 identified with recent species. On a subsequent occasion, how- 

 ever, when M. Agassiz had an opportunity of seeing my entire 

 collection of crag fossils, after expressing great delight and 

 astonishment at the novel structures exhibited by the corals, he 

 mentioned to me his opinion that all the Testacea which he 

 had seen from that formation were extinct. I cannot ven- 

 ture to say what amount of reliance should in this instance 

 be placed on the opinion of Professor Agassiz, but certainly 

 his zoological attainments are by no means confined to that 

 particular department of scientific inquiry in which he has 

 deservedly gained such extensive reputation. The obser- 

 vation thus casually made to me by him was shortly after- 

 wards most unexpectedly confirmed by Dr. Beck of Copen- 

 hagen, who appears to have enjoyed very extensive facilities 

 for the study of recent and fossil conchology. Dr. Beck com- 

 municated to me his opinion of the incorrectness of M. Des- 

 hayes' calculation before he had examined my collection, the 

 inspection of which did not occasion any alteration in his views, 

 as may be seen by Mr.Lyell's anniversary address*. 



If we now turn to our own country we shall find a most re- 

 markable discordance upon this subject in the opinions of 

 British naturalists, although the balance is certainly not in fa- 

 vour of M. Deshayes. Mr. George B. Sowerby informs me that 

 he has had many opportunities of comparing the crag shells 

 ith recent specimens, and that he has only found two or three 

 Is which may perhaps be identified with living species. 



^Vofessor Phillips's Guide to Geology, we find him 



piftcmg'tlie crag in the miocene division, probably estimating 

 the proportion of extinct species at about seventy or eighty 

 per cent. I \\qq{\ not here dwell upon Professor Phillips's ge- 

 neral accuracy of observation and long familiar acquaintance 

 * bee ]>ond. and Edinb. Phil. Mag., vol. viii. p. 327. 



