428 FOSSIL FISH. 



are justly divided into two groups, — the glossopetrw or lamio- 

 dontes, that is, teeth more or less flatted, which have belonged 

 to the family of Squali, &c. ; and bufonites, batrachites, &c., 

 meaning teeth more or less rounded, and which are still very 

 generally regarded as having proceeded from some species of 

 Sparus, or Anarrychas. The denomination of glossopetrce, or 

 petrified tongues, seems to have been derived from an erro- 

 neous notion, formerly entertained concerning the form of the 

 tongue of the serpent ; and especially from another ludicrous 

 prejudice, that the apostle Paul, in passing by Malta, had 

 destroyed all the serpents of that island, and that the fossil 

 teeth of Squali, foUnd there in such abundance, were the 

 petrified tongues of those reptiles. 



These fossils often preserve their native composition in the 

 bosom of the earth, ,and very often pretty nearly their natural 

 colour ; some are, however, changed in this last particular, 

 being coloured of a blackish blue, or of an ochreous red, 

 according to the character of the strata in which they have 

 been buried : the colour thus proves an indication of the lo- 

 cality. Many of them have been altered in their chemical 

 composition ; some are mentioned, from the locality of Sienna 

 and Placenza, which are converted into turquoises. The 

 places in which they are most frequently found, are the islands 

 of Malta and Sicily, which appear to be almost sown with 

 them in certain parts. They are equally common in Calabria, 

 in Tuscany, in the territories of Sienna and Placenza, and very 

 probably in all the sub-apennine hills ; also, in the neighbour- 

 hood of Brussels, in the mountain of St. Pierre, near Maes- 

 tricht, in the environs of Montpellier, those of Paris, of Lon- 

 don, in the Isle of Wight, &c., they are in great abundance. 



The nature of the strata in which the numerous tribe of 

 Squali, which are in various collections, have been found, does 

 not appear to have been sufficiently studied ; there are none 

 which seem very certainly to have proceeded from the schis- 

 tose or transition strata, nor even from the compact limestone; 



