OP THE NORFOLK " FOREST-BED. 



319 



Norfolk coast; for Mr. T. South weU ("Fauna of Norfolk," Trans. 

 Norf. and Norwich Nat. Hist. Soc. vol. i. p. 71) refers to a record of 

 a Sperm- Whale being washed on shore at Wells, and another at 

 Hunstanton, early in the 17th century. 



Another interesting example of a " Forest-bed " fossil Cetacean 

 (PL XI. figs. 5, 7) is in the possession of Mr. Jas. Backhouse, of York, 

 who has been good enough to allow me to make use of it for these notes. 

 The specimen is a x^ortion of the ankylosed cervical vertebrae of a large 

 Whale, belonging to a genus not hitherto recognized in these Norfolk 

 deposits. Before describing this fossil, it will be well to give some 

 explanation of its condition and origin. The presence of oysters 

 and polyzoa on the surface would lead one to suspect that it had 

 been dredged, and that its age was therefore uncertain ; such, how- 

 ever, is not the case. The fossil was obtained through Mr. A. Savin, 

 of Cromer ; and in a letter he tells me that this mass of vertebrae 

 came from a low ledge of rocks (" Forest-bed") opposite Overstrand, 

 near Cromer, which is only exposed at very low spring-tides ; and as 

 these rocks would be for a greater part of the time in deep water, 

 the presence of oysters &c. adhering to the specimen is fully ac- 

 counted for ; moreover other examples of fossil bones covered with 

 marine organisms have been obtained from the same spot. I am 

 the more anxious to call attention to these facts because bones and 

 teeth in a similar condition to this specimen are not uncommon in 

 collections, and although many of them have doubtless been dredged, 

 this is not always the case, and such specimens may be true "Forest- 

 bed " fossils. 



Mr. Backhouse's specimen is the right half of the seven cervical 

 vertebrae of a Whale, so' closely ankylosed that only the slightest 

 trace of their original distinctness is now discernible. The centra 

 have been broken through longitudinally and vertically, as nearly 

 as may be, in the middle line, and all the neural arches and processes 

 have been more or less broken away ; but sufficient remains to 

 enable one ^o trace the positions of the six intervertebral foramina 

 and thus to show that seven vertebrae are combined to form the mass 

 (fig. 5). Between these foramina, or grooves as they now are, may 

 be seen the surfaces from which the neural arches have been broken 

 away. Judging from these broken surfaces, the first neural arch 

 and superior transverse process were far larger than any of the 

 others. The second neural arch seems to have been next in point 

 of size, and then the seventh and fifth. The third, fourth, and 

 sixth are nearly of the same size and smaller than the others. The 

 first and second superior transverse processes seem to have been 

 closely united. The inferior transverse process of the second verte- 

 bra was large, as indicated by the broken base ; those of the third 

 and fourth vertebrae were slender, while the hinder three vertebrae 

 have no trace whatever of inferior transverse processes. The 

 double cup of the atlas for the reception of the condyles of the 

 skull must, when perfect, have been at least 17 inches across (the 

 one half being a little more than 8| inches). The outer edge of the 

 cup is to some extent denuded. 



