26(5 FOSSIL TOAD AND SAL'llUS. 



ruarkable of these is that described by Scheuchzer, un- 

 der the name " Homme Fossile," and which some natu- 

 ralists, as Gesner, maintained to be the siluris glanis oi 

 Linnaeus, but which is, in reality, nothing more than an 

 unknown, and probably extinct species of salamander or 

 proteus. It was found imbedded in the limestone of 

 Aeningen, 



Bufo. Toad. 



Fossil remains of an animal of this tribe occur in the 

 slaty limestone of Aeningen. Dr. Karg, who has pub- 

 lished a long description of the Aeningen quarries, is of 

 opinion, that this petrifaction is that of a common toad ; 

 whereas Cuvier is inclined to refer it to some species 

 nearly allied to the bufo calamita. 



Fossil Saurus of Cuvier. 



Only one specimen of this remarkable fossil animal has 

 hitherto been found, and is now, I believe, in the cabi- 

 net of the King of Bavaria. It was formerly in the pos- 

 session of Collini, and, according to the German journal- 

 ists, was long concealed, to be out of the reach of the 

 French, who, it is alleged, wished to secure for their own 

 Museum so valuable an object of natural history. This 

 is denied by M. Cuvier, who, in a letter to me on this 

 subject, declares, that after the time of the Directory no 

 plundering was authorized ; on the contrary, that the 

 French government rather bestowed donations than com- 

 mitted robberies. 



In regard to this remarkable specimen, it may be re- 

 marked, that some naturalists have taken it for a bird, 

 others for a bat, but Cuvier is of opinion that it belongs 

 to the class amphibia. Its true nature is still unascer- 





