12 Ervnn Ilinchley Barbour 



If the burrow of an animal, and in no way related to a plant, 

 then it seems strange thar these delicate tubes should pervade 

 the whole specimen. If a burrow of an animal, then it is very 

 remarkable indeed that animals could bore holes with such un- 

 varying precision: some with a central axis, some without; 

 some big and some little, but each and every one of them in- 

 habited by a plant, which grew unmolested by the rightful 

 occupant. 



As has already been mentioned in the first paper relating to 

 these peculiar fossils, a small rodent was found in the trans- 

 verse piece at the base of the spiral of Daimonelix. This ro- 

 dent is apparently well preserved, and although small and ex- 

 ceedingly difficult to work out, yet it is believed that when 

 time for the work can be found, every bone can be correctly 

 figured and described. When the rodent already mentioned 

 has been studied, it may have a very direct bearing on the 

 matter. Its size agrees entirely with what we might expect. 



But in this connection one should keep in mind the fact that 

 while we have in this rodent an animal small enough to have 

 been the original occupant of a fossil corkscrew, yet Plate lY 

 shows the bones of an animal of such structure and size that it 

 is entirely impossible that it burrowed. The smaller animal 

 was found enclosed within the fossil corkscrew; so was the 

 larger one. If the one is proof of a burrowing animal, why is 

 not the other? It is an animal fully the size of a large deer. 

 The femur and tibia are doubled together and a series of verte- 

 brae laid across them. Just enough of this specimen has been 

 cleaned from the encasing corkscrew to show its nature, without 

 disturbing any more of the fossil which enclosed it than seemed 

 absolutely necessary. The length of the femur is about thir- 

 teen inches, that of the tibia about the same. 



If the mere fact of finding bones within this fossil proves 

 that it is a burrow, then why have we not proof that this large 

 animal burrowed as well as the small one? 



The fact that these two animals are found within these fos- 



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