FOSSIL FAUNA. 107 



PLATE XLIV. 

 Fossil Zoophytes. 



Fig. 1. A spongite [Scyplda costata, of Goldfuss), from Switzerland. The fossil spongeous bodies 

 named Scyphia, are characterized by the " mass or body being either cylindrical, 

 simple or branched ; fistulous, and terminating in a rounded pit ; entirely composed 

 of a firm reticulated tissue." ' Like the other bodies comprised in the group of 

 Amorphozoa, the form in this genus is exceedingly diversified, and as the structure is 

 often but obscurely shown, the determination of these fossils is oftentimes impossible. 

 It is however convenient, in the present state of our knowledge, to distinguish the 

 principal kinds by names which may be modified or abandoned, when the structure 

 and natural affinities of the original organisms are more accurately determined. 



Fig. 2. Another species of Scyphia from Switzerland ; a small portion of the surface magnified 

 is seen at a. 



Fig. 3. The peculiar form and tissue of another genus of Amorphozoa {Gnemidium rimulosum, of 

 Goldfuss), are shown in this beautiful specimen. 



Fig. 4, is a section of a chalk flint, from Wycombe Heath ; the purple body, partially invested 

 by a white border, is evidently a mass of the soft parts of some zoophyte, which 

 served as a nucleus to the siliceous nodule. A purple or pink hue often prevails in 

 the sections of zoophytes immersed in flint, and doubtless depends on the original 

 colour of the living animal. 



Fig. 5. A very fine spongite [Chenendopora fangiformis, of Michelin), from France. 



Fig. 6. This is evidently a fossil zoophyte, but the structure exposed is not sufficiently 

 characteristic to determine the genus. 



Fig. 7. A beautiful fungiform Scyphia. 



Fig. 8. This elegant specimen, which Mr. Parkinson highly valued, is evidently a Clioatiite 

 imbedded in flint. The body retains a pink colour, and is surrounded by a white 

 band, which is probably the remains of the cortical or external tissue of the original 

 zoophyte. I have seen many transverse sections in which the central mass was 

 either of a pink or purple colour, and encircled by a white zone, in the squared flints 

 of the walls of churches and other ancient edifices in Sussex.' 



' Medals of Creation, p. 237. 



2 Polished specimens of the pebbles of the Isle of Wight, exhibiting sections of the Choanites, A'entriculites, &e., may be 

 obtained of Mr. Fowlestone, Lapidary, i, A''ictoria Arcade, Ryde ; who also has generally on sale a good series of the fossils 

 of the Island. The minute organisms that occur in flints, many of which are highly interesting objects when seen by trans- 

 mitted light under a good microscope, can be procured of Mr. Topping, that well-known preparer of microscopic objects, 

 New Winchester Street, Pentonville Hill ; and fossil infusorial earths, &o. in great perfection of Jlr. Poulton, Microscopic 

 Artist, Reading, Berks. 



