FOSSIL FAUNA. 



PLATE X.-KX.IV.— continued. 



for evidence of the soft parts of animal bodies entombed in the strata. It was the first step in the 

 right direction, and led to the detection of many highly interesting phenomena. In Dr. Buck- 

 land's Bridgevvater Essay will be found figures and descriptions of the eyes of Crustacea : of the 

 wings, elytra or wing-covers, and the integuments of the body of insects ; of the skin of reptiles ; 

 and, in the " Wonders of Geology," and '■ Medals of Creation," of the membranes of the air- 

 bladder, and of the capsule of the eye of fishes ; of the soft parts of the animalcules called 

 foraminifera, &c. The bodies of mollusca, or shell-fish, converted into a dark brown mass (mol- 

 lushite), occur in such abundance in some deposits, as to yield a rich manure from the quantity of 

 phosphate of lime. The excrementitious substances termed by Dr. Buckland " Coprolites," are 

 also iised for agricultural purposes. 



