ROOM III. FOSSIL TURTLES. 151 



my chisel, and enable me to avoid the destruction of con- 

 cealed portions of bone. 1 



With these prefatory remarks to prepare the uninstructed 

 visitor for the general appearance of the fossilized osseous 

 remains deposited in this apartment, we proceed to examine 

 somewhat in detail, the various relics of petrified reptiles it 

 contains. 



FOSSIL TURTLES. Wall-Cases A and B. [1, 2.] The 

 earliest indications of the presence of Reptiles on our planet, 

 are those afforded by the foot-prints of Turtles or Chelo- 

 nians, apparently of terrestrial species, on the surfaces of the 

 layers of sandstone of the New Red formation, in Dumfries- 

 shire in Scotland, at Storton, near Liverpool, and in several 

 places in Germany. 2 But no osseous remains of Chelonia 

 have hitherto been found in strata antecedent to the Oolite. 



The Solenhofen quarries have yielded the bones and cara- 

 paces of several species of marine Turtles : and scutes and 

 bones of animals of this family have been found at Stones- 

 field, and in the Bath and Portland Oolite. In the Jura 

 limestone at Soleure, two large species of Emydians (fresh- 

 water tortoises) have been discovered. 



The Wealden formation contains Chelonian remains of 

 fluviatile and marine genera ; many specimens have been 

 collected in the Isle of Purbeck ; and my own researches 

 in the strata of Tilgate Forest have brought to light several 

 species, and in particular an interesting Chelonian related to 

 the soft-skinned, fresh-water Tortoises (Trionyces). 



In the Cretaceous formation of England the remains of 

 these reptiles are not frequent. The Greensand of Cam- 

 bridgeshire and of Kent has yielded marine species ; and in 

 the White Chalk a few beautiful examples have been obtained. 



On the Continent, fossil turtles have been found in the 

 slate of Glaris ; and in the upper Cretaceous strata at 

 Maestricht. At Melsbroeck, near Brussels, very fine specimens 

 of fresh- water (JZmydes), and marine (Chelonia) turtles have 

 been discovered. 3 



1 Consult " Medals of Creation, or First Lessons in Geology," for 

 additional remarks on this subject. 



2 See Dr. Buckland's Bridgewater Essay, vol. i. p. 259. 



3 " Oss. Foss" Tome v. pp, 236, 239. 



