76 Notices of Memoirs — 3Ir. Pengellys Essays. 



" The hour for definitely deciding this question," he continues, 

 " has not yet arrived, but we can, at least, work towards its solution." 

 The founders of paleontology have paid attention to the differences 

 rather than to the resemblances between fossils and living animals. 

 Cuvier's design was to prove their distinctive character. Moreover, 

 the older writers had not sufficient materials for studying the con- 

 necting links, which are now more and more apparent. 



In the time of Cuvier, it was not known that there were fossil 

 apes, whence have been descended the existing species ; the inter- 

 mediate forms between the dogs and the bears, between hyenas and. 

 civets, between the mastodons and the elephants, between horses and 

 the other pachyderms, were not known at that time ; and further, it 

 was not known that there are certain transitions between reptiles and 

 fishes, between fishes and Crustacea. 



Now we have the labours of Falconer and Oautley, of Lartet, 

 Kaup, Leidy, Owen, Huxley, Hermann von Meyer, Agassiz, Deshayes, 

 Barrande, Pictet, Davidson, Milne Edwards and Haime, Unger, 

 Heer, de Saporta, and a host of others. We must not only admire 

 their works, we must also profit by them. They have accumulated 

 treasures so well that we begin to feel embarrassed by our riches. 



Dr. Gaudry concludes with an outline of subjects to be embraced 

 in his course of paleeontological lectures for the year. 



Commencing with the Lake-dwellings of Switzerland, and the 

 Kitchen-middens of Denmark, he will take the formations in de- 

 scending order, noticing the fauna and flora of each. " Among the 

 molluscs," he remarks, " the Ammonitide, above all, will interest us 

 by the numerous examples of evolution which they present, from the 

 straight Baculite to the spiral Ammonite." And among the Palgeo- 

 zoic Cephalopods the transformations between the simple Aphrag- 

 mites, Ascoceras, to the complicated Nautilus and Goniatites. 

 " Finally," says the Doctor, " I shall say some words on the Eozoon, 

 that rudimentary animal, which, as its name indicates, marks the 

 dawn of life. Arrived at the mysterious point of origins, I shall 

 make some remarks on the evolution of beings, to make apparent the 

 simplicity and beauty of the plan which has been followed by the 

 Author of Natm-e. 



n. — Contributions to the Geology of Devonshire. 



1. The Submerged Forest and the Pebble Eidge of Babnstaple Bay. 



2. The History of the Discovery of Fossil Fish in the Devonian Eocks 



OF Devon and Cornwall. 



3. The Literature of Kent's Cavern, Torquay, prior to 1859. 



By W. Pengelly, F.E.S., F.G.S,, etc. 



[Eeprinted from the Transactions of the Devonshire Association for the Advancement 

 of Science, Literature, and Art, 1868.] 



1. rpHE Pebble Eidge is situated on the southern shore of Barn- 

 I staple Bay, in North Devon, where it forms a natural break- 

 water to protect an extensive, sandy, and grassy plain, but little, if 

 at all, above the level of spring- tide high- water, and known as 



