1 Mantellian Museum at Lewes, 



discoveries of Mr. Mantell were made in the beds of Weald-clay, 

 sand, and sandstone below the chalk and green sand formation. 

 He observed, that though the latter strata, as is well known, 

 contain exclusively the remains of marine animals, such as Nau- 

 tilites, Ammonites, and Belemnites, with other shells of marine 

 genera, the strata of the former contain almost exclusively 

 the remains of terrestrial plants, and shells analogous to fresh- 

 water shells, or the bones of vertebrated animals, some of 

 which were of enormous magnitude, and were evidently formed 

 for walking on solid ground. The strata in which these remains 

 are found must have been deposited in a fresh-water lake or 

 estuary, or in the bed of a mighty river, on the sides of which 

 lived and flourished plants and animals analogous to those 

 of tropical climates ; these strata compose a great fresh-water 

 formation below the chalk.* 



The labours of Mr. Mantell did not in the first instance re- 

 ceive the attention that they justly merited. There is a certain 

 prejudice more or less prevalent among the members of scientific 

 societies in large cities, such as London or Paris, which makes 

 them unwilling to believe that persons residing in provincial 

 towns or in the country {les esprits campagnai-ds, as they are 

 called) can do any thing important for science; and it is 

 strangely imagined, that a city geologist, who 'runs over a 

 district in a few days, can make greater discoveries than 

 any one residing in it, who is in the habit of daily and 

 repeated observation. It is true, indeed, that the local 

 geologist may sometimes be liable to draw erroneous in- 

 ferences which more extended researches might have cor- 

 rected ; but his record of facts, if faithfully given, will always 

 possess the highest value, and contribute to remove geology 

 from the dominion of theory to the empire of truth and to 

 place it on a solid basis. 



It was fortunate that the ardent and intelligent mind of Mr. 

 Mantell, enlightened by anatomical and physiological science 

 connected with his professional pursuits, perceived the true 

 value of his discoveries; but,to make them properly appreciated 

 by his own countrymen, the testimony of Baron Cuvier was 

 ^vanting. This illustrious anatomist pronounced the Iguanodon, 

 discovered by Mr. Mantell, to be a reptile more extraordinary 

 than all those which have been hitherto known {encore plus 



* Some geologists would restrict the term fresh-water formations to beds 

 deposited in lakes, but this appears taking a hypothesis for a fact ; we 

 know too little of the ancient surface of the earth, to decide whether what 

 are called fresh-water basins were originally lakes, or estuaries, or the beds 

 of immense rivers. From the occasional occurrence of oyster shells in the 

 Sussex-beds, it is highly probable they were deposited in an estuary. 



