186 PETRIFACTIONS AND THEIE TEACHINGS. CHAP. III. 



Haarlem, in which Scheuchzer's specimen was preserved, and 

 obtained permission to remove such parts of the stone as were 

 likely to conceal any characteristic bones ; and, as he had 

 predicted, the anterior part of the skeleton of a large aquatic 

 Salamander, with remains of the fore-legs, was exposed to 

 view. 1 



The specimen in the Case before us, (of which a reduced 

 figure is given in Lign. 41,) originally belonged to Dr. 

 Ammann, of Zurich, and was examined by Baron Cuvier 

 when in England. 2 It consists of the cranium, vertebral 

 column, bones of the anterior and posterior extremities, and 

 vestiges of the tail. The skull, which is pressed flat, nearly 

 equals in size that of a man ; around the semicircular jaws 

 there are the remains of a double row of very fine teeth : the 

 orbits are large ; the occipital condyle is double ; the remains 

 of the posterior horns of the os hyoides are seen on each side 

 of the occiput. There are nineteen or twenty dorsal, and 

 sixteen caudal vertebrae. The ribs are very short, as in all 

 Batrachians. The scapula and humerus are exposed on each 

 side the anterior part of the spine ; the femora, parts of the 

 tibia, and fragments of the pelvis are also visible. The result 

 of Baron Cuvier's investigations proved that the original of 

 the celebrated (Eningen fossil was an aquatic Salamander of 

 a gigantic size in relation to all known existing species of the 

 genus. 3 



1 " Osseme.ns Fossiles," tome v. p. 437. The removal of the stone 

 from the concealed parts was made by M. Cuvier in the presence of the 

 officers of the Teylerian Museum. "Nous avons place" devant nous un 

 dessin du squelette de la Salamandre, et ce ne fut pas saus une sorte de 

 plaisir, qu'a mesure que le ciseau enlevoit un e"clat de pierre, nous 

 voyons paroitre au jour quelqu'un des os que ce dessin avoit annonce 

 d'avance. C'est ainsi que cette table de schiste, gravge et regravee 

 vingt fois, depnis un siecle comme elle Test, PI. XXV. 2, fut mise dans 

 l'6tat ou on la voit, PI. XXVI. 2. 11." 



2 It is figured in " Oss. Foss" tome v. PL XXVI. 



3 The most remarkable specimen from the quarry at (Eningen that 

 came under my own observation, was the almost perfect skeleton of 

 a carnivorous terrestrial quadruped, which was purchased of the quarry- 

 men by Sir Eoderick Murchison, in 1828. As is usually the case with 

 the bones imbedded in those lacustrine limestones, this skeleton was 

 invested with a hard calcareous crust, so that the general outline of the 

 concealed bones was alone visible. At the request of my distinguished 

 friend, I undertook the development of this choice relic, and after 

 devoting the leisure hours of some weeks, succeeded in completely 



