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One of the most perplexing enigmas in palseontology has lately 

 been solved by Dr. Buckland, who has discovered that some cu- 

 rious fossils of the oolitic and cretaceous strata, which had long 

 baffled the skill of comparative anatomists, are in fact the upper 

 and lower jaws of extinct species of Chimsera, a rare genus of 

 living fish. These fossils had been found by Sir P. Egerton in the 

 Kimmeridge clay, by Mr. Townsend in the Portland stone, and by 

 Mr. Mantell in the chalk. They belong to four distinct species, 

 of which the characters are given by Mr. Agassiz. The scientific 

 world is indebted to the splendid museum of comparative ana- 

 tomy at Leyden for the opportunities enjoyed by Dr. Buckland 

 of comparing the skeleton of the recent Chimasra with the fossils 

 alluded to. 



Mr. Agassiz has described two very singular genera of fossil fish 

 from the lias, one of which has been known under the name of 

 Squalo-raia from Lyme Regis ; the other from Whitby, called Gy-' 

 rostris mirabilis, probably the largest linown fish. 



Hitherto the new red sandstone in Great Britain had been desti- 

 tute of all organic remains, but some distinct impressions of fish of 

 the genus Palasoniscus, Ag., have now been observed in this for- 

 mation near Dungannon in Ireland. The geological position of these 

 has been pointed out by Mr. Murchison, and a slab of sandstone 

 presented to the Society by Mr. Greer exhibits on a single surface 

 only two feet square, impressions of about 250 fishes. 



I have already had occasion to allude more than once to the 

 name of Agassiz, on whom the Council have this day conferred the 

 WoUaston Medal. I may say with pleasure, that in his second 

 visit to England, as in that of the preceding year, he has given an 

 impulse to the study of fossil remains in various departments which 

 will long be felt in this country. It is not merely sound knowledge 

 which he has freely communicated to all who have enjoyed his so- 

 ciety, but what is even of more lasting profit, a generous enthusiasm 

 for the study of every department of natural history and particularly 

 of fossils. The great work on which he is now engaged yields not 

 in importance to any that has ever been undertaken for the illustra- 

 tion of organic remains, and the progress which he has already made 

 at so early an age, holds out the most encouraging prospects of his 

 future success. 



When we consider the strong ties of affinity which unite together 

 all animals of the vertebrate classes, and reflect that man himself, 

 viewed in reference to his organization, belongs to this great divi- 

 sion of the animal kingdom, we cannot but feel the highest interest 

 in tracing the remains of the vertebrate animals through geological 

 formations of every age, from the newest to the most ancient. In a 

 small part of Europe alone more than 800 species of ichthyolites 

 have already been determined. They are distributed through strata 

 of all epochs; no less than 54 species have already been discovered 

 in the carboniferous rocks, and five or six have been met with in 

 the still older Silurian formations. 



The museums of Great Britain alone have afforded to Mr. Agassiz 



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