184 M. Von Summering on the [Sept. 



determination precise du fameux animal de Maestricht nous 

 paroit surtout aussi remarquable pour la theorie des loix zoolo- 

 giques que pour l'histoire du globe." 



Hoping that this novel fact, with which we have become 

 acquainted by means of the contents of the present stone blocks, 

 the most incontrovertible documents from the archives of aformer 

 world, will prove not unworthy the attention of the Royal Aca- 

 demy of Sciences, I have the honour of submitting to its notice 

 the specimens themselves, and likewise drawings of them on the 

 same scale as the originals. And I have been the more encou- 

 raged to give this accompaniment to my Treatise on theCrocodilus 

 Priscus, by the flattering approbation which my colleagues 

 bestowed on that essay. For the specimens themselves, I am 

 indebted to the politeness and liberality of Count J. Ad. Reisach. 



As far as I have been able to ascertain, they were discovered 

 in one of the Bohn Ore (Bohnerz) mines of the Meulenhard, near 

 Deiting, in the district of Manheim, the same in which the Cro- 

 codilus Priscus was found. Their bed was about 10 feet below 

 the surface ; consequently more than double the depth of that of 

 the latter animal. 



It is exceedingly to be regretted that the blocks of stone con- 

 taining these, and probably separated from each other many 

 centuries ago, were not only broken into several pieces of differ^ 

 ent bulk, but that many of them were completely destroyed ; 

 for, when by a portion of the stone accidentally breaking off and 

 exposing some of the teeth, the discovery was first made, it was 

 too late to recover from out of the mass the five or six other 

 pieces belonging to it, and already thrown away. 



Actual inspection convinces us, however, that all these bones 

 must have belonged to the skeleton of the same individual, since 

 the greater part of the stones fitted to each other, and the bones 

 adhering to them corresponded both as to configuration and pro- 

 portion. 



As the examination of fossil bones had always been one of my 

 favourite pursuits, I did not rest until I had caused the stone to 

 be removed from these fragments, as far as it was possible to do 

 so without injuring the bones themselves, and thus reduced them 

 to that intelligible state in which they now appear. 



Owing to the softness of the marly mass in which they were 

 incorporated, not so hard as chafk, this was effected with income 

 parably less labour, and risk of injury, than attended the disco T 

 very of the crocodile found in the same district, but not at the 

 same distance from the surface of the earth. For whereas the 

 substance, in which the latter was buried, required to be removed 

 by the chissel and hammer, that encrusting these fragments was 

 so tender that it could be scraped away with a knife. It was 

 only the portions of the pea iron ore (eisenbohnerz) adhering in 

 some places very strongly to the bones, that required great pains 

 and extreme caution to separate them ; and after all it was 



