10 M. E. Beyrich on the Goniatites 



are two or more lateral lobes, they are mostly linguiform, and 

 extend from the back quite to the suture, increasing and di- 

 minishing in a regular manner ; or they present an irregular 

 form, without following any law. 



The Goniatites are extensively distributed in the transition 

 formations ; they are found in very large quantities in the old 

 transition limestone of the Fichtelgebirge. Count Miinster 

 has described a great number of species of that locality*, and 

 they ascend and appear even in the superior beds of the 

 carboniferous measures, properly so called, where they are 

 found amidst the debris of a mighty vegetation, the sole and 

 last remains of the animal kingdom. In the limestone of the 

 Fichtelgebirge, they occur with Trilobites, Orthoceratites and 

 Clymeni(B : the Trilobites and Orthoceratites ascend as far as 

 the carboniferous measures; the ClymenuB, on the contrary, 

 which differ from the Goniatites in the position of the si- 

 phuncle, and ought to be considered as true Nautili, have not 

 hitherto been found either in the carboniferous limestone or in 

 the recent transition formations, amongst which the schistose 

 rocks of the Rhine arrange themselves f. 



The great number of Goniatites now discovered renders it 

 necessary to divide them into natural groups. M. von Buch, 

 who was acquainted with very few species compared to the 

 number at present known, divided them, first, into Goniatites 

 with lobes rounded, and Goniatites with angulose lobes ; after- 

 wards in each of these sections, he separated those which have 

 a simple dorsal lobe, and those which have the dorsal lobe di- 

 vided. 1 think this mode of classification should be discarded, 

 because it appears to me that the character upon which the 

 secondary divisions are founded, that of a simple or divided 

 dorsal lobe, has a more immediate relation to the interior or- 

 ganization of the animal, and is consequently of much greater 

 importance, than the difference between rounded and angulose 

 lobes, which cannot be established with precision. We can 

 very plainly distinguish by the form and number of the lateral 



* See Annales des Sciences Naturelles, 2nd Series, t. ii. 



•f- Since the publication of this pamphlet, an ai'ticle appeared in the Cam- 

 bridge Phil. Trans. 1838, by Dr. T. Ansted, describing the genus Clymenia 

 which occurs in the slate rocks of Cornwall. The name is there changed to 

 Endosiphonites, Clymenia being already appropriated. 



