XXIII. — Remarks on the Existence of the Anoplothe7mm and Palceothe- 

 rium in the Lower Freshwater Formation at Binstead, near Hyde, 

 in the Isle of Wight. 



By SAMUEL PEACE PRATT, Esq., P.G.S. P.L.S. 



[Read November 17, 1830.] 



JVlR. LYELL, in his very valuable work on the Principles of Geology*, has 

 expressed a doubt whether a tooth of an Anoplotherium in the possession of 

 Mr. Allan, and described by Dr. Buckland in the "Annals of Philosophy f'^ 

 had actually been found in the Isle of Wight, as its label indicated. As 

 this doubt appears to have arisen in consequence of the tooth being- the only 

 instance in which such remains had been observed in that locality, it will be 

 satisfactory to geologists to be informed, that during- the late summer I dis- 

 covered at Binstead, near Ryde, among other interesting remains, not only a 

 tooth of an Anoplotherium, but also two teeth of two distinct species of the 

 allied genus Palaeotherium ; thus, not only removing the chief grounds of 

 Mr. Lyell's doubts, but likewise more fully establishing the identity of the 

 formations of the two basins of the Isle of Wight and Paris. 



The quarries at Binstead are, as is well known, situated in the lower fresh- 

 water formation, and consist of alternating beds of compact siliceous lime- 

 stone, sand, and whitish shelly marl, composed almost entirely of comminuted 

 freshwater shells. The marls are more or less indurated, and form several 

 distinct beds^ separated by thin seams of clay, the lower of which contain the 

 principal part of the fossil remains observed, although indications of the same 

 may be seen in all the beds. These remains consist of numerous fragments 

 of bones, scales, and teeth. Most of the fragments of bone have been rounded, 

 and they are generally so much injured as to make it difficult to class them- 

 One specimen, however, appears to be the head of a humerus, another a bone 

 of a foot, both probably belonging to the Pachydermata above mentioned, as 

 they were found in connexion with the teeth. The greater number of the 



* Vol. i. p. 153, note, First Edition. In the subsequent editions the correctness of Mr. Allan's 

 label is acknowledged. 



f New Series, November 1825, vol. x. p. 300. 



