259 



as Bufonites, and are also called Serpents' eyes, Batrachites, and Crapau- 

 dines, from the notion of their having been formed in the heads of ser- 

 pents, toads, or frogs ; and, on account of their assumed virtues, were 

 preserved, and set in rings and other ornamental articles. A large spe- 

 cimen of this kind is represented Plate XIX. Fig. 6. 



Their real origin has however been long ascertained. They are the 

 rounded grinders of the jaw and palate of fishes of the genus Anarhicas, 

 and chiefly, perhaps, of the Anarhicas lupus. In this fish there are six 

 and more sharp and conical fore-teeth in each jaw ; and behind these, 

 in the lower jaw and in the palate, are disposed the round molares, or 

 bufonites. With these weapons they are able to crush the crustaceous 

 or testaceous coverings of different marine animals, and thus obtain their 

 prey. It is even said, they will gnaw, and leave the marks of their 

 teeth on the anchors of ships. From the considerable size of these bodies^ 

 in the teeth of recent fish, it does not appear that the size of the fishes, 

 in the jaws of which the bufonites, or fossil teeth, had been formed, had 

 vastly exceeded that of the wolf-fish of the present day. In part of a 

 recent jaw before me, these molar teeth are of a very large size in propor- 

 tion to the bones of the jaw. 



It is extremely probable, that some of the smaller bufonites are the molar 

 teeth offish of the genus Spams ; and particularly S. sargus, S. dente.v, and 

 S. aurata, or Gilthead, similar teeth existing in the jaw r s of these fishes. 

 In the recent jaws and palates of these fishes, secondary teeth of this 

 kind may be seen concealed in the cancellous part of the bone, ready to 

 be propelled, as any of those already in use are broken away. Plate XIX. 

 Fig. 7, is an interesting specimen, displaying three rows of moderate- 

 sized bufonitae, imbedded in their original bone. Plate XIX. Fig. 12, 

 are two bufonitae, attached to a part of the jaw, and supported by their 

 original columnar bony processes. 



Sir Hans Sloane relates, that a"mong some fossils which were shown to 

 him from Maryland, he perceived one which agreed very closely with 

 the bony tongue of a fish which he had seen in Jamaica; and on com- 



