281 



resembling those of the shark ; with others bearing the 

 same form, but differing in their surface, which, instead of 

 being smooth, is rendered rough by numerous grooves and 

 ridges disposed in radiating and sinuous directions. 



In the upper beds of the ooHte, and particularly in the 

 calcareous slate of Stonesfield, the remains of fish frequently 

 occur. These are chiefly the hemispherical, or obtuse 

 teeth, which, when changed by mineralization, and possess- 

 ing a dark brown colour, with a considerable polish, are 

 named bufonites. These are sometimes found imbedded in 

 the Stonesfield slate, in the regular order and rows in which 

 they were placed in the jaws of the animal, but without any 

 of the surrounding bone in which they had been disposed. 

 From this circumstance, and from such few vertebrae, and 

 no skeletons having been found in these beds, may it not be 

 presumed that these remains belong to fishes of a cartila- 

 ginous structure, the bones of which had been gradually 

 removed, whilst imbedded ? These fossil teeth, bufonites, 

 appear to be the round molar teeth with which the jaws 

 and palates of fish of the genera anarrhicas and sparus are 

 furnished. In PL i. fig. 11, 12, and 13, are represented 

 teeth of other forms from the Stonesfield slate. 



In the different beds which occur between those of the 

 oolite and of the chalk formation, detached fragments 

 of fish are sometimes found ; and remains, still bearing the 

 form of the fish, have been found in very good preservation 

 in some of the Purbeck beds. 



The chalk, in its several divisions, frequently manifests 

 that fish abounded in the waters by which it was deposited. 

 These remains are chiefly the different sulcated palates, de- 

 tached vertebrae, and irregular masses with the scales of fishes. 

 But it is with great satisfaction the reader is informed, 

 that Mr. Mantell, of Lewes, in his forthcoming work, will 

 evince the zeal and assiduity with which he has pursued his 

 researches respecting these fossils in the chalk formation, 



o o. 



