° 
+ " be 
s S nites 
OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 29 
Chelonia.—The fossil genera described under this order are— . 
Testudo, ‘Tretosternon, 
Emys, Trionix, 
Platemys, Chelone. 
Ophidia.—Some remains of a serpent found in England, belonging to individuals at least twenty 
feet in length, have been placed in this order, under the name of Paleophis toliapicus. 
Batrachia.—TVhere are a few remarkable fossils belonging to this order, known to Palzon- 
tologists. Among these is the noted “ Fossil man of Giningen”—a huge salamander which was 
described, about the middle of the last century, as belonging to the human species. And although 
doubts had been entertained of its true characters, it remained for Cuvier to settle its real affinities. 
Another extraordinary form, the Labyrinthodon, for whose name and true relations we are 
indebted to the new science “Odontography,” has been added to this order. A portion of the 
cranium, together with the lower jaws, teeth, vertebre and other bones were found, and from these 
materials Prof. Owen has restored five species of this huge Batrachian. 
The teeth are conical, finely striated, and slightly curved. In microscopic characters they 
resemble the fangs of the teeth of Ichthyosaurus, and Prof. Wyman has pointed out this folded 
and otherwise remarkable structure in the Lepidosteus or “gar” of our rivers.* 
ORDERS OF THE CLAss PISCEs. 
The systematic arrangement of fishes, up to the time of the illustrious author of Poissons 
Fossiles, depended upon the osseous or cartilaginous structure of the spinal column, and upon the 
number, structure and disposition of the fins. The imperfection of this mode of classification was 
felt and admitted by Cuvier himself; and while the remains of almost every other class of animals 
were available for the extension of knowledge of the former state of existence on the globe, fossil 
fishes scarcely added any thing in this respect. ‘This was the more striking from the fact that so 
large a portion of the present dry land was once under water, as well as from the high locomotive 
power of fishes, that enabled them to distribute themselves over numerous and widely distant 
localities. 'This deficiency in the knowledge of the geological relations of fossil fishes arose, in a 
great measure, from the imperfect state of knowledge of living fishes, and from the difficulty of 
referring fossil species to their recent analogues. 
When any portion of the spinal column of a fish was preserved in a fossil state, it was not difficult 
to refer it to the osseous or cartilaginous division of the class. The vertebra of the former are 
hollowed out at their articular surfaces, so as to represent hollow cones with their points in juxta- 
position. The exterior portion of the centrum is marked by deep grooves that in some genera 
penetrate the articular cavity. 
In the ossified cartilaginous vertebre of sharks and rays, similar articular conical cavities occur, 
but they are quite shallow—the anterio-posterior diameter being, in all cases, quite small. The 
outer surface, which is generally smooth and regular, is, in the genus Zamna, impressed by four 
oblong pits, and in charcarias there are numerous narrow excavations surrounding the vertebra in 
*Am. Jour. of Sci. vol. xlv. p. 359. 
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