FOSSIL REMAINS. 



523 



referred to the following genera are enumerated as 

 found in the gypsum and limestone of the Paris for- 

 mation?, owl, buzzard, starling, ibis, quail, tern, cur- 

 lew and pelican. 



Among the most extraordinary fossil remains of 

 the class mammalia, we must mention those of the 

 extinct genera of the sloth kind. These, although 

 not numerous, deserve notice on account of their 

 magnitude and singular organisation. Two species 

 have been described : the megatherium, properly so 

 called, and the megalonyx. Of the first of these a 

 complete skeleton was found in diluvial soil near 

 Buenos Ayres, and sent to Madrid, where it was set 

 up. It is fourteen feet long, and seven Spanish feet 

 in height. The skeleton is so exceedingly rude and 

 unshapely, that the clumsy skeletons of the elephant 

 and hippopotamus when placed beside it would 

 appear quite slender and light. Some of the bones 

 of this extinct monster are in the museum of the 

 College of Surgeons casts of which have been taken 

 and set up in the British Museum, where they excite 

 great attention. It is one of the largest and most 

 massive of the fossil quadrupeds hitherto discovered. 

 Judging from its structure it must have been exceed- 

 ingly slow and dragging in its motions ; and, with the 

 exception of its enormous claws, it appears to have 

 been more defenceless than any of the other large 

 animals. The form of its teeth prove it to have lived 

 upon vegetables, and its huge claws were possibly 

 used for digging up the roots upon which it is sup- 

 posed to have fed. The megalonyx agrees in its 

 general form and structure with the megatherium, and 

 also resembles it in other respects. It has been 

 found only in limestone caverns in Virginia. 



The fossil remains of the elephant or mammoth, as 

 it is commonly called, are found in vast abundance. 

 Single bones, teeth, and even perfect skeletons occur, 

 and one instance is on record of the whole animal 

 being found in a perfect state imbedded in ice. The 

 circumstances of this fact are so extraordinary as to 

 merit a more detailed account. In the year 1799, a 

 Tongoose fisherman observed on the borders of the 

 Icy Sea near the mouth of the Neva, in the midst ol 

 fragments of ice, a shapeless mass, the nature of which 

 he could not conjecture. Every succeeding year 

 it became more developed, until at length it fell out 

 of the ice upon a bank of sand. The fisherman pos- 

 sessed himself of the tusks, which he sold. Two 

 ^ years after one of the associates of the academy, o: 

 St. Petersburgh was informed of this discovery and 

 immediately repaired to the spot. He found the 

 animal already greatly mutilated. The flesh hac 

 been partly cut away by the Yakoots for their dogs 

 and some of it had been devoured by wild beasts 

 still, however, the skeleton was entire, with the ex- 

 ception of one of the fore legs. The head was 

 covered with a hard skin. One of the ears, in high pre- 

 servation, was furnished with a tuft of hair, and the 

 pupil of the eye was discernible. The skin was 

 covered with black hair and an under coat of wool of a 

 reddish yellow colour. The neck was furnished witl: 

 a long mane. There were stiff black bristles from 

 twelve to fifteen inches long, which belonged to the 

 mane, tail, and ears. The remains were so heavy 

 that ten persons had much difficulty in removing 

 them. More than thirty pounds weight of hairs anc 

 bristles were carried away. The tusks were more 

 than nine feet long. The remains of this singular anc 

 valuable relic of a former world were collected with 



he utmost care, and are at present in the possession 

 )f the Emperor of Russia. From the wool which was 

 bund next the skin of this animal, Cuvier thinks it pro- 

 )able that the northern fossil elephants were inhabit- 

 ants of those cold countries where their remains are 

 bund. The discovery of this body in so perfect a 

 state also proves another important point, namely, 

 that these animals must have been arrested by the ice 

 mmediately after their death, and consequently could 

 not have floated there from distant southern regions. 

 These remains are found in the greatest abundance 

 in Siberia ; and one of the islands to the north of that 

 country abounds so much in these and other fossil 

 bones, that the whole island is described as appearing 

 to be entirely composed of them. This is doubtless 

 an exaggeration, but it serves to show the wonderful 

 abundance of these fossil remains. 



The remarkable fossil genus mastodon is chiefly 

 confined to North America. From a nearly com- 

 plete skeleton discovered and set up by Mr. Wilson 

 Neale.of Philadelphia, we learn that the species called 

 the great mastodon of the Ohio was about as tall as 

 an elephant, but with longer and thicker limbs. It 

 was probably provided with a proboscis, or trunk, and 

 had tusks similar to those of the elephant. In one of 

 the depots of these remains in Virginia, was found, 

 inclosed with bones, a mass of roots, little branches, 

 grass, and leaves, in a half bruised state, the whole 

 enveloped in a kind of sac, which was considered to 

 be the stomach of the animal. From this it appears 

 to have lived on roots and the fleshy parts of plants, 

 and hence this kind of food attracted it to soft marshy 

 places, where its fossil remains are chiefly found. It 

 is more common in North America than in any other 

 part of the world, although its remains have also been 

 found in Siberia. Another species, rather smaller, is 

 described, which is found in Europe, and also in 

 North America. Remains of several other species 

 are also said to exist. 



The fossil Pachydermata discovered by Cuvier in 

 the plaster quarries of Paris, are also of the highest 

 interest. In the Anoplof/ieria and Pal(Bothcriav;e are 

 presented with a view of an animal population of a 

 former period of the earth's existence, which has been 

 totally destroyed. Wherever these remains have 

 been discovered, there are vast superincumbent beds 

 of marine formation ; proving the invasion and long 

 continuance of the sea in the countries inhabited by 

 those races. 



The bones also which have been found in caverns 

 in Germany, England, &c., although belonging to a 

 far more recent period, deserve attention. In the 

 cavern at Kirkdale, in Yorkshire, Dr. Buckland found 

 bones of the hyena, tiger, bear, wolf, fox, weasel, ele- 

 phant, horse, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, ox, deer, hare, 

 rabbit, water rat, mouse, and others which were con- 

 sidered as belonging to various birds. In the German 

 caverns at Gaileureuth, &c.,we meet with two extinct 

 species of bear, hyama, fox, polecat, and wolf. These 

 remains are embedded in a sedimentary deposit, which 

 is usually covered with a stalagmitic crust. They 

 occur in such abundance as in many places to be used 

 for manuring the adjacent lands. The animals to which 

 these bones belonged decidedly constituted the popu- 

 lation which occupied our part of the world, at the 

 era of the last great catastrophe which destroyed 

 their races, and prepared the soil on which animals 

 of our own era exist. Whatever resemblances certain 

 of their species may present to those of our own times 



