764 DETERMINATION OF FOSSIL TEETH AND BONES. 



of the animals to which these teeth belonged having been thus 

 established, it became almost certain that the Warwickshire and 

 Wirtemberg Sandstones were equivalent formations, a point of 

 much Geological importance. The next question arising out of 

 this discovery, was the nature of the Animal (provisionally termed 

 Labyrinthodon^ a name expressive of the most peculiar feature 

 in its dental structure) to which these teeth belonged. They had 

 been referred, from external characters merely, to the order of 

 Saurian Reptiles ; but these characters were by no means conclu- 

 sive ; and as the nearest approaches to their peculiar internal 

 structure are presented by Fish -Lizards and Lizard-like Fish, it 

 might be reasonably expected that the Labyrinthodon would com- 

 bine with its Reptilian characters an affinity to Fish. This has 

 been clearly proved to be the case, by the subsequent discovery of 

 parts of its skeleton in which such characters are very obvious ; 

 and by a very beautiful chain of reasoning, Prof. Owen succeeded 

 in establishing a strong probability, that the Labyrinthodon was a 

 gigantic Frog-like animal five or six feet long, with some peculiar 

 affinities to Fishes, and a certain mixture also of Crocodilian 

 characters ; and that it made the well-known foot-prints which 

 have been brought to light, after an entombment whose duration 

 can scarcely be conceived (much less estimated), in the Stourton 

 quarries of Cheshire. This conclusion has been fully confirmed by 

 subsequent discoveries. 



595. The more recent researches of Prof. Quekett on the minute 

 structure of Bone promise to be scarcely less fruitful in valuable 

 results.* From the average size and form of the Lacunae, their 

 disposition in regard to each other and to the Haversian Canals, 

 and the number and course of the Canaliculi (§ 543), the nature 

 of even a minute fragment of Bone may often be determined with 

 a considerable approach to certainty ; as is shown by the following 

 examples, among many which might be cited: — Dr. Falconer, the 

 distinguished investigator of the fossil remains of the Himalayan 

 region, and the discoverer of the gigantic fossil Tortoise of the 

 Sivalik hills, having met with certain small Bones about which he 

 was doubtful, placed them in the hands of Prof. Quekett for minute 

 examination ; and was informed, on Microscopic evidence, that they 

 might certainly be pronounced Reptilian, and probably belonged to 

 an animal of the Tortoise tribe ; and this determination was fully 

 borne-out by other evidence, which led Dr. Falconer to conclude 

 that they were toe-bones of his great Tortoise. — Some fragments 

 of Bone were found, some years since, in a Chalk-pit, which were 

 considered by Prof. Owen to have formed part of the wing-bones 

 of a long-winged Sea-Bird allied to the Albatross. This deter- 

 mination, founded solely on considerations derived from the very 



* See his Memoir on the 'Comparative Structure of Bone,' in the 

 "Transact, of the Microsc. Society," Ser. 1, Vol. ii. ; and the " Catalogue 

 of the Histological Museum of the Roy. Coll. of Surgeons," Vol. ii. 



