OF CREATION. 



153 



magnitude or importance that they possessed in the 

 more ancient seas. The Pachycormus^ however, 

 of which there are at least nine species found in 

 England (chiefly at Whitby), must in some cases 

 have been a most formidable animal for it grew to 

 a considerable size, and was provided with power- 

 ful rows of sharp teeth; while the Lepidotus^ belong- 

 ing to another group, was represented by ten lias 

 species, and a still greater number of oolitic ones, 

 and, although not so large as the Pachycormus, was 

 doubtless an important fish. A restored representa- 

 tion of the latter genus is given in the next chapter. 



Among the other lias fishes, there were one or two 

 very remarkable Rays, one of them supposed to have 

 possessed some curious analogies with the sharks: 

 these are of moderately large size, but, as might be 

 expected with an animal whose skeleton is so soft, 

 the remains are extremely rare, but the knowledge of 

 their existence is a very interesting point. The form 

 of the scale of this fish is represented in fig. 21, p. 61. 



On the whole, it does not appear, either from the 

 general character of the lias invertebrate animals 

 (such as the encrinites, the crustaceans and the 

 molluscs) or from the fishes, that this deposit took 

 place in deep water. We might conclude rather, 

 both from the general character, and also from the 

 nature of the bed, and the vast abundance of fossils 

 in particular spots, that it was a rapidly forming 

 shoal, or mud-bank, or perhaps a great bay like the 

 Yellow Sea, with land at no great distance, the resort 

 of a vast number of such animals as commonly inhabit 



* Ho^y; (pachys), thick ; xo^og (kormos\ a block or stump : from 

 the clumsy appearance of the fish. 



H 5 



