THE PALMS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD. 181 



land and river shells, and the bones of birds 

 and (juadrupeds. A cotemporancous bed is 

 known in England as the London clay. This 

 bed overlies a great part of IMiddlesex, (whence 

 its name,) Essex, and Hampshire. The Isle of 

 Sheppey is entirely composed of London clay, 

 and is remarkable for the immense numbers of 

 vegetable remains, together with those of crabs, 

 turtles, crocodiles, snakes, and vultures, which 

 are imbedded there. The vegetable remains 

 are chiefly fruits, of which many hundred 

 species have been collected. Among them are 

 the fruits of no less than thirteen species of a 

 pahn, {Nipadites,) nearly allied to the genus 

 Nipa. Nipce are low, shrub-like plants, having 

 the character and aspect of palms, which grow 

 in marshy tracts at the mouths of rivers in the 

 IMoluccas and Philippine Islands, particularly 

 where the waters are brackish. They arc allied 

 to the cocoa nuts on the one hand, and to the 

 Pandani or screw pines on the other. Species 

 of cocoa nuts are also found imbedded in the 

 London clay of Sheppey, as well as other kinds 

 of palms. The fruits and seeds of various 

 kinds of acacia also occur in profusion, — those 

 of various species of the melon and gourd 

 tribe ; three species of Anona or custard apple, 

 etc. Masses of fossil wood, also, accompany 



