49 
We are indebted for our knowledge of these formations to the im- 
mortal works of Cuvier : the examination of the fossil bones which they 
contain led that extraordinary man to reconstruct a race of animals 
which had long since perished, and to point out the only true path to 
be pursued in the investigation of paleontological knowledge. In the 
vicinity of Brussels, at Grignon, Epernay, &c. are marine deposits; at 
Auvergne, Cantal and Velay in Central France are freshwater ; other 
Eocene formations are in the west of France, also at Aix in Provence, 
and in the north of Italy. 
In a memoir read before the Geological Society in 1842 by Sir R. I. 
Murchison, F.R.S., on the geological structure of the central and south- 
ern regions of Russia in Europe, he stated “that the lowest tertiary 
beds which he personally examined were the marls with concretions 
forming cliffs at Antipofka on the right bank of the Volga below Sara- 
tof, where they were first noticed by Pallas. Among these shells are 
several species undistinguishable from those published by Sowerby 
from the London clay of Bognor and Hants, such as Cucullea decus- 
sata, Venericardia planicosta, Calyptrea trochiformis, Crassatella sulcata, 
Turritella edita, &c.” 
In Asia, the sub-Himalayan and Sewalik Mountains of Northern 
India produce the most wonderful organic remains of this period. 
The strata in which they are found extend for more than 200 miles, 
and the mountains are 3000 feet above the level of the sea: a tortoise 
measuring nearly fourteen feet, following the curvature of the cara- 
pace, was brought to England by Captain Cautley, and presented to 
the British Museum. This monster has been well named the Megalo- 
chelys Atlas. 'The remains of the Anoplotherium, Anthracotherium, 
&c., of the Eocene Pachydermata, have also been brought to England 
from these mountains, and several new and undescribed animals ; 
amongst which are the Sivatherium, and some species nearly allied to 
the Giraffe or Camelopard. 
H 
