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XII. — Description of Bones of the Mammoth found in the deep sea of the 

 British Channel and German Ocean. 



By Capt. J. B. MARTIN, Harbour-Master at Ramsgate. 

 Communicated by Sir JOHN RENNIE, F.G.S. 



[Read June 5th, 1839.] 



X RAGMENTS of fossil remains have been often brought to Ramsgate by 

 the men employed in trawling for ground fish in the North Sea and the Straits 

 of Dover. Charged with worms and covered with fetid marine substances, they 

 have been seldom capable of preservation ; but sometimes perfect specimens have 

 been procured, and 1 have generally succeeded in purchasing them. The fisher- 

 men are also occasionally impeded by masses of granite, serpentine, sandstone, 

 slate, and various other stones which are scattered indiscriminately over the bed 

 of the ocean. Some of these blocks are much worn and rounded ; and in no in- 

 stance do they present that regularity of shape which might lead to the inference 

 of their having formed part of shipwrecked cargoes. The fishermen bring the 

 masses to land for the purpose of clearing their ground. In many localities, the 

 rugged state of the bottom will not allow them to trawl. 



In 1827 an enormous tusk was landed at Ramsgate, and purchased by Mr. 

 Foster. Its length was nine feet and its greatest diameter eight inches ; but the 

 alveolar extremity was wanting, and the dimensions of the tusk must consequently 

 have been much greater. The outer crust consisted of very thin laminse, and the 

 interior portion of a soft substance resembling putty. Being left exposed to the 

 action of the atmosphere it soon mouldered away. I am not aware in what part 

 of the British Channel it was found. 



The next specimen which excited my attention was discovered in the red clay 

 on which the town of Ramsgate stands. It is a fine molar, in the possession of 

 Mr. Fairholme, and was obtained in digging the foundations of a house in King- 

 street. The red clay rests upon chalk, and in different parts of the town varies in 

 thickness from ten to twenty-three feet. 



In 1835 a very large, flat, decayed fragment of bone perforated by worms, and a 



VOL. VI. — SECOND SERIES. Y 



