564 



FOSSILS FROM FOLKESTONE. 



XXIII. NOTES ON A COLLECTION OF FOSSIL BONES 



DISCOVEEED IN A SECTION OF GEAVEL 



IN EXCAVATING THE FOLKESTONE BAT- 



TEEY. 1 



The fossil remains to be noticed in the sequel were disclosed during 

 the excavation of the Folkestone Battery. A careful section of the 

 ground was made by Lieut. Eobert Vetch of the Royal Engineers, con- 

 sisting first of the lower greensand and blocks of Kentish rag to a depth 

 of 10 ft. 8 in. : next, in ascending order, a bed of marl and flint gravel, 

 which immediately caps the lower greensand, and in which alone the 

 fossil bones were found; this bed was 18 in. thick: next, a whitish 

 loam, varying from 4 ft. 6 in. to 7 ft. 6 in., which is used as a brick- 

 earth : and above all was a superficial layer of made earth 6 in. deep. 



At the bottom of the section abundant remains of Perna and 2 



were found, these being characteristic greensand fossils. The collection 

 of fossil bones is of great interest from the unusual association of old 

 and glacial forms of Mammalia which it discloses, including Hippopo- 

 tamus major and the Irish Elk {Cerims euri/cerus), with remains of 

 Rhinoceros and other forms. They are all in precisely the same 

 mineral condition, and some of the largest bones are in a state of 

 such perfect integrity that it is clear they cannot be other than of local 

 origin, and that they cannot have undergone any considerable amount 

 of rolling. 



Hippopotamus major. — The bones of this species are numerous, and 

 in such integrity of preservation as I believe have nowhere as yet been 

 met with elsewhere in Great Britain, with the exception of the remains 

 found in the Valley of the Aire, near Leeds. Of these, the mist 

 remarkable are the bones of a right fore-leg, consisting of the humerus 

 (No. 1) and united radius and ulna (No. 2), perfectly entire, of an 

 adult animal. The articular surfaces of the bones are as smooth and 

 perfect as if they had been yielded by a recent animal. Dimensions of 

 humerus : — 



Extreme length, outer side, 20- in. Extreme length, inner side, 17'75 in. Girth 

 of lower articulation, 20' in. Transverse diameter of articular surface, 4 - 3 in. 

 Girth of shaft at constriction, 10- in. Girth of ditto at tuberosity, 12o in. Girth 

 of ditto above tuberosity, 12-75 in. Girth of articular head and bicipital tube- 

 rosity, 21-5 in. Antero-posterior diameter, 9' in. Transverse diameter of arti- 

 cular head alone, 4'4 in. Antero-posterior ditto, 4-3 in. 



The right radius and ulna are completely anchylosed, with the ex- 



1 These notes were written in March 

 1863, but were never published. The 

 collection of bones to which they refer 

 is in the Museum of the Geological 

 Societv. Dr. Falconer's Note-books also 



contain full descriptions of fossils from 

 similar excavations, in Mr. Mackie's 

 collection at Folkestone. — [Ed.] 

 2 Blank in MS.-[Ed.] 



