275 



such a state as will not allow their generic characters to be 

 ascertained. The head, which is very indistinct, appears 

 to have been connected with the trunk b}^ a very contractile 

 neck. The thorax is shorter and thicker than the abdomen, 

 which is of a lanceolate form, and separated into eight divi- 

 sions by annular risings. Neither wings nor legs are dis- 

 coverable. — Organic Remains, Vol, ii. 



Crabs. — The number of fossil crabs is very considerable. 

 They are found in Stonesfield slate, and in the limestone of 

 Pappenheim, &c. It is stated by Knorr, that the remains 

 of cray-fish, astaci^ are found in a narrow district, reaching 

 from Gunzenhausen, in Anspach, to Aichsteadt, a length of 

 about seven or eight leagues, bordered on one side by the 

 river Altmuhl. The matrix of these fossils is evidently a 

 portion of the same stratification which occurs at Pappen- 

 heim, &c. in which the remains of fishes are so frequently 

 discovered. Crabs and lobsters are frequentl}^ found in the 

 London clay. In the London Museum there were more than 

 thirty species of crabs from the Island of Sheppey ; and Mr. 

 Donovan, the proprietor, who also possessed, perhaps, one 

 of the finest collections of the recent animals in this king- 

 dom, was satisfied that he had no recent analogue of any of 

 the species in his fossil collection. Verona, Malta, and 

 Anjou, produce these fossil remains : they are also found 

 imbedded in a hard, light coloured, pyritous, and argillaceous 

 stone, resembling indurated London clay, from some parts 

 of China. 



Birds. — Their remains are very rarely found in a fossil 

 state. Bones, which may be considered as referrible to 

 this class, are, however, imbedded in the calcareous schist of 

 Oeningen, and in the oolitic schist of Stonesfield. The 

 foot of a bird has been found incrusted in gypsum, near 

 Montmartre ; Blumenbach describes the bones of a water- 



