FOSSIL TURTLES. 113 



limestones and sands of the Isle of Wight. It is 

 very rarely, however, that any of the bones are 

 sufficiently perfect to indicate the affinities of the 

 original animal. The most instructive specimen 

 I have obtained is the fossil represented in lign. G ; 

 it is from the bed of sand marked No. 6, in the 

 section p. 106, and when found was so thickly 

 encrusted, that its characters were altogether con- 

 cealed till the investing sand was removed. 



It is one of the bones (ineso-sternaT) of the plas- 

 tron, or sternum, of a turtle belonging to the 

 predaceous tribe of freshwater chelonians, termed 

 Trionyx, from having three claws. This is evident 

 from the peculiar form of the bone, and the can- 

 cellated outer surface, which is well represented 

 in the lignograph : an outline of the corresponding 

 portion is added to show the position of the bone 

 in the sternum.* 



That specimens of great interest and beauty may 

 reward more active and judicious research than 

 has hitherto been bestowed on the palasontological 

 treasures of the Island, is manifest from the 

 discovery a few years since, of one of the most 

 remarkable fossil chelonians hitherto found in 

 this country. It was obtained from the tertiary 

 limestone that occurs in a low cliff" near St. 



* See Medals of Creation, vol. ii. p. 766. 



