FOSSIL REMAINS. 



great notice by its singular form and by its being 

 totally different from all the petrifactions which had 

 been previously seen, as well as from every organised 

 body known to exist upon the surface of the earth. 

 There was, however, no hesitation in referring it to 

 the animal kingdom, but a long time elapsed before 

 it could be determined to what class it belonged. 

 There was no doubt, however, of their constituting 

 a perfectly natural family, and the name Entomoli- 

 thus was the first proposed, which was subsequently 

 changed into trilobiies. The body of this singular 

 fossil, as in the greater number of insects, and some 

 Crustacea, is divided transversely into three principal 

 parts. But the most remarkable characteristic, and 

 that which distinguishes it essentially from all known 

 animals, is its longitudinal division into three parts 

 or lobes by two deep furrows parallel to the axis of 

 the body, which remarkable structure has excited the 

 attention of all observers. At first the tails alone 

 were noticed, and as they were considered as shells 

 the name of concha triloba was given them, which 

 designation was afterwards transferred to the whole 

 animals by naming them trilobites, by which name 

 they are still known. They appear to have been 

 marine animals, their constant association in the same 

 rocks with shells and other marine productions 

 leaving no doubt upon this point. They must have 

 had the power of multiplying prodigiously, certain 

 formations being so crowded with them, as to give 

 the appearance of their being entirely formed of 

 their remains. They have been divided by Des- 

 inarest into five genera, each of which contains 

 several species. 



The fossil remains of fishes are found in consider- 

 able abundance. They occur under such different 

 circumstances, in such various states, and in forma- 

 tions of such distant periods, as to lead the curious 

 inquirer to expect much information of the highest 

 interest from their examination. 



In some specimens they are found nearly entire, 

 the harder parts all in their natural situations with 

 the scales and even the skin well preserved. In others 

 all the other parts are removed except the skeleton, 

 and this is more or less perfect, and frequently only 

 the hardest parts remain, as the palates and teeth. 



Fossil fishes are found in so great a variety of 

 situations in various parts of Europe, and in forma- 

 tions so different, as to warrant the conjecture that 

 they were among those animals which were of earliest 

 creation, and whose existence has not been since 

 interrupted. Among them are fish whose analogues 

 live in the Indian ocean and in different seas of 

 Africa and of North and South America. Among 

 the fossil fish collected at Monte Bolca, there were 

 four which were considered as corresponding to 

 species now peculiar to the sea of Otaheite. 



Vertebrae of various species of fish are extremely 

 common, but the parts which occur most frequently 

 in a fossil state are the teeth. They are divided into 

 two groups, the glossopetra or more or less flattened 

 teeth, which have belonged to fishes of the shark 

 tribe, and the bufonites, or more or less rounded teeth, 

 belonging to a certain species of sparus. The figure 

 of a fossil fish given in the plate of fossil remains, is 

 from a beautiful specimen found in the chalk. 



Remains of the testudo or tortoise tribe have been 

 detected in formations of different descriptions. In 

 Great Britain they have been found in the lias near 

 Bristol and in the oolite of Stonesfield, but the most 



perfect specimens are from the clay of the Isle of 

 Sheppy. Cuvier and others enumerate various species 

 of land, freshwater and marine testudines found in 

 various parts of Europe, but all of them apparently 

 of extinct species. 



Two species of crocodile have been found in the 

 neighbourhood of Honfleur and Havre. In England 

 they have been obtained from the Purbeck stone and 

 from the combrash in Oxfordshire. Vertebra; have 

 also been found in clay near Weymouth, and in the , 

 chalk in Sussex. But the most remarkable remains 

 of amphibia are those of extinct genera of saurian 

 animals, which differ from the crocodiles in many 

 important particulars, and which astonish not only 

 by their variety of form, but also by their prodigious 

 length and dimensions. Of these the lacerta gigantea 

 of Sdmering, the mososaurus of Conybeare, is found 

 in the soft limestone of Maestricht. The length of 

 the skeleton is nearly twenty-four feet, the head 

 being a sixth part of the whole length. The tail 

 must have been exceedingly strong, and its width at 

 the extremity must have rendered it a powerful oar, 

 enabling the animal to resist the most agitated 

 waters. 



The ichthyosaurus appears to have been a marine 

 oviparous animal, closely agreeing in the whole 

 osteology of the head and sternum with the saurian 

 tribe, except that the bones approximate to those of 

 fishes in various particulars whence the name indi- 

 cative of its being the fish-like lizard is derived. The 

 extremities terminate in four swimming paws or 

 paddles, composed of a series of flat polygonal bones. 

 Several species occur, found chiefly in the lias lime- 

 stone of England. 



The plesiosaurus is another of these singular fossil 

 animals. It appears from its structure to have formed 

 an intermediate link between the crocodile and the 

 ichthyosaurus. But what chiefly distinguishes this 

 animal is the prodigious length of its neck, by which 

 it must have been enabled to seize its prey when at a 

 considerable distance. This also occurs imbedded in 

 the lias limestone in England. Magnificent plates 

 of these last two genera have been published by 

 Hawkins, in his work on the ichthyosauri and the 

 plesiosanri, the originals of which are now deposited 

 in the British Museum, forming without doul)t, the 

 most splendid collection of the fossil remains of these 

 animals in existence. Various other genera have 

 been noticed, of these the iguanodon, a reptile of 

 enormous size, has been well illustrated by Mr. Mati- 

 tell, by whom it was discovered in the strata of Tilgate 

 forest in Sussex. 



There is a remarkable genus of fossil flying animals 

 about which considerable obscurity exists as to its 

 proper place in the system. Blumenbach considered 

 it as a bird, while Cuvier referred it to the amphibia. 

 This is the pterodactyle or flying lizard. The skull 

 of this singular creature must have been very large in 

 proportion to the size of the skeleton, the jaws 

 themselves being longer than the body, and furnished 

 with sharp slightly incurvated teeth. The orbits of 

 the eyes are exceedingly large, and hence it is pro- 

 bable that it was a nocturnal animal, like the bat, 

 which it also at lirst sight very much resembles in the 

 wirijfs and other particulars. 



The remains of birds are of rare occurrence in a 

 fossil state, and the few specimens yet found afford 

 results far less satisfactory than those obtained by the 

 study of the fossil bones of other animals. Species 



