Vv 



and on Fossil Pens and Ink, and Coprolites. 23 



surrounding the ink-bag ; the author proposes to designate this 

 fossil by the name of Orthoceras-belemnitoeides. K* 



2. In the newly discovered Lohgo from the Has, the ink-bags 

 are in contact with the horny remains of a pen somewhat Hke 

 that of the LoUgo vulgaris, but having a thin plate of cellular 

 spongy carbonate of lime immediately beneath, and adhering to 

 the horny plate of the pen ; for this species, the author proposes 

 the name of Loligo antiqua, 



III. Coprolites or Fossil Foeces. — Dr Buckland has ascer- 

 tained from an extensivcs series of specimens, that the fossils 

 locally called Bezoar stones, which abound at Lyme Regis, in 

 the same beds of lias with the bones of ichthyosaurus, are the 

 faeces of this animal. In size and form they resemble elongated 

 pebbles or potatoes, varying generally from two to four inches 

 in length, and from one to two inches in diameter ; some few 

 are larger, others smaller. Their colour is dark grey, their 

 substance like indurated clay, and of a compact earthy texture, 

 and Dr Prout has ascertained, that their chemical analysis ap- 

 proaches to that of Album graecum. Bones and scales of fishes 

 occur abundantly in these faecal bodies ; the scales are referable 

 to the Dapedium politum, and other fishes that occur in the lias ; 

 the bones are those of fishes, and also of small ichthyosauri. 

 The interior of these coprolites is arranged in a spiral fold, 

 coiled round a central axis ; their exterior also bears impressions 

 apparently received from the action of the intestines of the 

 Jiving animals. In many of the entire skeletons of ichthyosauri 

 found in the lias, compressed coprolites are seen within the ribs 

 and near the pelvis ; these must have been included within the 

 animal's body at the moment of its death. Dr Buckland has 

 ascertained further, that the circular bodies, resembling the 

 bony rings of the suckers of cuttle fish, occur in the coprolites 

 mixed with the scales and bones above mentioned. All these 

 bodies appear to Iiave passed undigested through the intestines 

 of the ichthyosauri ; and Dr Prout has also found that the black 

 varieties of coprolite owe their colour to matter of the same na- 

 ture with the fossil ink in the lias ; hence it follows, that the 

 ichthyosauri fed upon the sepias of these ancient seas as well as 

 on fisiies, antl on the young of their own species. The author 



