194 THE CRUISE OF THE BETSEY ; OR, 



posterior fins and tail of the creature were not preserved. I 

 may mention, for the satisfaction of the geologist, that I saw 

 this unique fossil in the possession of the late Lady Gumming 

 of Altyre, a few weeks previous to the lamented death of her 

 ladyship ; and that, on assuring her it was as new in relation 

 to the Cromarty and Caithness fish-beds as to those of Moray, 

 she intimated an intention of forthwith sending a drawing 

 of it to Agassis ; but her untimely decease in all probability 

 interfered with the design, and I have not since heard of 

 this new genus of ichthyolite, or of her ladyship's interest- 

 ing specimen, hitherto apparently its only representative and 

 memorial. In the Morayshire, as in the Cromarty beds, the 

 limestone nodules take very generally the form of the fish 

 which they inclose : they are stone coffins, carefully moulded 

 to express the outline of the corpses within. Is the fish en- 

 tire 1 the nodule is of a spindle form, broader at the head 

 and narrower at the tail. Is it slightly curved, in the atti- 

 tude of violent death 1 the nodule has also its slight curve. 

 Is it bent round, so that the extremities of the creature meet 1 

 the nodule, in conformity with the outline, is circular. Is 

 it disjointed and broken ? the nodule is correspondingly ir- 

 regular. In nine cases out of ten, the inclosing coffin, like 

 that of an old mummy, conforms to the outline of the organ- 

 ism which it incloses. It is further worthy of remark, too, 

 that a large fish forms generally a large nodule, and a small 

 fish a small one. Here, for instance, is a nodule fifteen inches 

 in length, here a nodule of only three inches, and here a no- 

 dule of intermediate size, that measures eight inches. We 

 find that the large nodule contains a Cheirolepis thirteen 

 inches in length, the small one a Diplacanthus of but two and 

 a half inches in length, and the intermediate one a Cheir- 

 acanthus of seven inches. The size of the fish evidently regu- 

 lated that of the nodule. The coffin is generally as good a 

 fit in size as in form ; and the bulk of the nodule bears al- 



