Antediluvid7i Zoology. ^63 



Fishes, — The most common form in which they are found 

 is compressed between the laminag of sandstones, schists, cal- 

 careous slates, and Purbeck marble. Their teeth, scales, and 

 vertebrae are abundant in many formations between the lias and 

 London clay, particularly in the latter, and are even yet more 

 plentiful in the Suffolk crag beds. These teeth are commonly 

 ascribed to varieties of sharks. Palates, or " dentes molares," 

 are found in the oolites, and are beautifully preserved in 

 chalk. No animal remains are common to so many forma- 

 tions, from the transition limestone to the crag, as the spinous 

 radii of some species of Balistes. 



Mr. Mantell has observed eighteen or more kinds of fishes 

 in the Sussex chalk, and several genera and species in the 

 Tilgate stone. The mineralised remains of fishes, particularly 

 towards the upper portion of our strata, are found to accord 

 with existing genera, and even with some species, more than 

 most fossils. Much remains to be done in this department of 

 natural history. 



One fact like that observed in the Testacea, mentioned by 

 several writers, is too interesting to be passed over, the con- 

 centration of many genera of fossil fishes which are now dis- 

 persed in various seas. A vast collection of impressions of fish 

 have long been known to exist in the calcareous schist of 

 Monte Bolca, many of which have been identified with living 

 species. In M. Bozza*s collection, out of 1 00 known fishes, 4« 

 were ascertained to be similar to those living in the seas of 

 Otaheite. 



In the Paris museum, containing 62 species, 28 are said to 

 be common to European seas ; 1 4 to Indian seas ; 2 to Afri- 

 can ; 1 3 to South American ; and 5 to North American. 



In another collection, of 105 species, from the same place, 

 M. Saussure decided that 34 resemble those of European 

 seas; 39 Asiatic ; 3 African; 1 8 South American ; 11 North 

 American. 



Recent observation and more critical examination have 

 determined that a larger proportion than is here assigned may 

 be classed with the inhabitants of our seas. 



Professor Sedgewick and Mr. Murchison discovered nume- 

 rous fossil fish in the calcareo-bituminous schist of Caithness 

 and the Orkneys. Some of these, on being submitted to the 

 inspection of Baron Cuvier, were considered by him to be 

 analogous to the bony pike. On examination of more perfect 

 specimens, Mr. Pentland confirmed the conjecture of Baron 

 Cuvier, and ascertained two new genera, one of which con- 

 tains four, the other two, species of Ichthyolites. They are 



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