ISo6.] 



OtiFoJl Bones, Shells, 8(( 



423 



Tor the Monthly Magazine. 



Ort FOSSIL CONES, SHF.LLS, &C. 



CUVIER, the French naturaljll, con- 

 tinues, with undiiiiiiiirtied zeal and 

 equal luccefs, to profecutc liis rercnrches 

 concerning the tbiiil rpniciius ot" dillerent 

 auinialij. 



Sonic bones of this kind were difco- 

 vered leveral years aijo in a cavern lltu- 

 ated in tlie county ot" Green E'riar, in 

 Virginia. There are many iiunlar ca- 

 verns in that province, the foil of which 

 is calcareous, and greatly rel'embles 

 thofe cantons of Germany and Hungary 

 where, in lirnilar caverns, bones of bears 

 Iiave been found. 



iWr. Jeli'erfon gave a dcfcription of 

 thefe foliil bones, in a IMemoir read be- 

 fore the Society of Philadelphia, on the 

 10th of March,' 1797. He has i.;iven to 

 the animal to which the bones belonged 

 the name of mcgalonu, conceiving it to 

 have been of the lion tribe. 



It appears to have been more than 

 five feet in height, and to have exceeded 

 nine hundred pounds in weight. 



Cuvier having received lately froin 

 Palilfot de Beauvoir one of the teeth of 

 this animal, and from Peale a few mo- 

 dels of feverul of its bones, became con- 

 vinced that it muft have belonged to the 

 geims bradi/pus, Lin., which he proves by 

 giving an accurate defcription of the 

 bones of thefe two animals. But its 

 Cze muft have been much more conllde- 

 rable, for it feems to h.ive equalled that 

 of the largeft Hungarian bullock. 



There are contained in ti'.e cabinet of 

 Aladrid, large portions of the fkeletuns 

 of tiie megatherium, which were font in 

 1789 by Loretto, Viceroy of Buenos 

 Ayi-es. By him we are informed that 

 they were found in excavations dug near 

 the banks of the river Luxaro, abopt a 

 league dillant from the village of Luxan, 

 and three leagues from Buenos-Avres, 

 and thirty feet above the level of the 

 water. By a comparifim of thefe bones, 

 or their figures, with thofe of the brady- 

 pus, Cuvier found the refernblance fo 

 Ibiking, as to mduce him to fuppofe that 

 the animal in queltion bad belonged to 

 the fame genus. The nafal bones are 

 however extremely fljort, which has in- 

 duced Profelfor Lichtenftein to fuppofe 

 tiiat this animal muft have bten furnifli- 

 cd with a trunk, or probofcis, and might 

 be conCdered as a fifth fpecies of ele- 

 phant that iidiabited South America. 

 But Cuvier is not of this opinion. 



The mesjathei-ium appeurs to have a 

 striking refemblancc to tlie megalouix, 



but it muft have been of much largaf 

 iize. 



Dodun has given an account of diffe- 

 rent foffd bones of mammalia difcovered 

 in Languedoc, and particularly of a fine 

 foliil head, at prefent in the cabinet of 

 Uree, wliich, according to Cuvier, mult 

 have belonged to an animal of that ge- 

 nus, whicli is now only met with in 

 South America. 



Bcfides the labours of Cuvier on this 

 curious and interelling fubject, many 

 diftinguilhed naturaliits have been aflidu- 

 ous in their refearches refpecting foliii 

 fliells and vegetables, feveral of whom 

 have now in theii- polVeflion very nume- 

 rous collections of the former, among 

 which we may diftinguiih that of De- 

 fiance, who has collected more than 

 fourteen hundred fpecies. Thofe of La- 

 mark, of Faujas, of Roilfy, at Pfiris, and 

 that of Deluc, at Geneva, are likewif^ 

 well deferving of notice. 



Lainark has given, in the Annals of 

 the Mufeum, a Defcription of the Foliil 

 Shells in the Vicinity of Paris. The fol- 

 lowing are the refults of all the facts at 

 prefent known in this department of na- 

 tural hiftory. 



1. There are a fmall number of foffil 

 fliells abfolutely fimilar to thofe of ani- 

 mals at prefent exifting, among which 

 the following are in the pofTeftion of Dela- 

 metherie — 1. Nautilus pompiliiis. — 2. Cy- 

 prea pecUculiis. — 3. Ttvchus agglutiiwns. 



2. There are a ftill greater number of 

 fliells which differ very little from the 

 lliells of exifting animals. 



8. The greateft number of folTil (]iell» 

 yet dilcovered bear no refernblance to 

 the Ihells of animals exifiing at the pre- 

 fent dav, at leaft to thofe with which we 

 are acquainted, becAufe the hilloiy of 

 conchology is yet in its infancy, and tra- 

 vellers each day enrich our collections 

 with new and unknown fpecies. 



Among various foliil vegetables difco- 

 vered by Faujns, in beds of marie, be- 

 neath bafaltic ftrata of fnore than fix 

 hundred feet in thicknefs, exa£t refeni- 

 blance? of the follov/ing fpecies were re- 

 cognized : — 1. Popithis tremula, trembling 

 poplar. — 2. PopnluA alba, white poplar.— 

 3. Fagtts crj/Po/ica, cbefnut tree. — 4. Acer 

 Moiifpeffulunum, Montpeher maple.— 

 5. Tiliu arboica, lime tree. — 6. Finus pi' 

 nca, ftone pine- 



\Vith refpeCt to the foffil remains o£. 

 nniioals and vegetables, the learned 

 v.orld are at prefent jrci'ly divided in 

 0|)inii)n. Walleri-jj, Miehaelis, aixl 

 CVuiper, conceive that the •jreaiwft part 

 31 sf 



