15 



gigantic,) and the remaining third of Coleoptera, Hymen, 

 optera, and Diptera. The Bavarian Insects are almost 

 preserved entire, while the British specimens are mostly 

 fragmentary, indicating at all events, a considerable differ- 

 ence in the circumstances of their deposition ; the former 

 slowly and gradually, not having undergone so much 

 trituration and injury as in the latter, which appear to have 

 suffered much,' either from storms, currents, or long 

 soddening in water. The British and Bavarian Insects are 

 closely allied, even as regards specific agreement, which is 

 very interesting, and are quite distinct from those now 

 living, and also from those in the Tertiary deposits at Aix, 

 in Provence, (Eocene,) CEniugen, (Miocene,) and Eadoboj, 

 in Amber and the Brown Coal (IMiocene,) of the Rhine, 

 Dr. Hagen speaks of the splendid preservation of many of 

 the Solenhofen Insects, but the most perfect British fossil 

 dragon-fly known, which I discovered many years ago in 

 the Upper Lias in Gloucestershii-e at least equals, if it does 

 not excel, in delicacy and beauty of condition, any of the 

 German Libelluloe. 



In the animal kingdom the Insecta present perhaps on the 

 whole, the greatest number and variety, both in form and 

 quantity, and probably among these there are species which 

 are yet unknown to Entomologists, even in this small island 

 of Great Britain, and of course throughovit the habitable 

 globe the quantity would be veiy large. Therefore it may 

 be fairly assumed that in the whole number of fossil Insects 

 known from every formation in the world yet investigated, 

 we have only a very small proportion of the Insect fauna 

 inhabiting the earth at different Geological epochs. If there 

 are, as we know, wide gaps to be supplied in other forms of 

 life in the fauna and flora of the ancient world, there are 



