FOSSIL REPTILES. 271 



teeth fragments of jaws, and oth6r bones of palseotherium 

 were discovered there. It also presented a great number of 

 manifest fragments of tortoises, especially of trionyx. By one 

 of the last, M. Cuvier thinks himself authorized to pronounce 

 these fragments to belong to a different species from the 

 living. 



This was a fragment broken in two, and rather mutilated, 

 of the first piece of the carapace, the unequal and transverse 

 piece which adheres neither to the ribs nor vertebrae. This 

 is easily recognised by the irregular crest which traverses ob- 

 liquely its lower face, and by the oblique foramina which are 

 pierced there for the vessels. The species of Java most nearly 

 approaches this, but is still very far from resembling it alto- 

 gether. This trionyx appeared to have equalled that of the 

 Nile in size. In parts of France more fragments have been 

 found referable to this subgenus, but by no means so well 

 characterized as to justify specific distinction. 



On the left bank of the Aar, to the north of the town of 

 Soleure, are numerous quarries, in which many discoveries of 

 fossil remains have been made. They are excavated in a small 

 hill which borders the valley, and is situated at the foot of that 

 portion of the lofty chain of Jura, nearest to Switzerland, which 

 ends at that part of the Rhine close to the confluence of the 

 Aar, and partly separates the canton of Soleure from that of Bale 

 and the territory of Porentruy. The stone of which they are 

 composed is a limestone of the recent formations of Jura. It 

 is hard but not brittle, of a whitish colour, approaching to grey, 

 to bluish, and sometimes to yellowish. Its strata are generally 

 horizontal In many places they rest on the marly banks of 

 intermediate formation, and they constitute no part of complete 

 and regular chains. Many similar strata are found on the 

 other side of the great crest of Jura. 



There are eight or nine banks worked in these quarries of 

 Soleure. In the upper one, the stone, left in various directions, 

 serves for no other purpose than making lime. It contains 



