226 Dr Hibbert on the Limestone of Burdiehouse, 



elaborated, seem to have been more favourable to the develop- 

 ment of animal life than any other medium. 



One observation, however, I have not unfrequently made, 

 which is this : that in portions of the limestone remarkable both 

 for the quantity of entomostraca, as well as diffused vegetable 

 matter which they contain, numerous remains of fish are not un- 

 frequently found. In Plate VII. fig. 6., for instance, is a frag- 

 ment which includes, along with microscopic entomostraca, the 

 vegetable remains of the Lepidostrobus, and the fish to which the 

 name has been assigned of Pala^oniscus Robisoni. 



SECTION XVII— THE ACQUISITION OF ORGANIC REMAINS WHICH MAY BE 

 EXPECTED DURING THE PROCESS OF QUARRYING. 



I have at length described the mineral character, and the 

 various organic remains enclosed in the freshwater limestone of 

 Burdiehouse ; its plants ; its entomostraca ; its smaller fish ; the 

 entombed relics of its larger monsters, the scaly Megalichthys, 

 and the Gyracanthus formosus, the latter armed with immense 

 and beautifully configurated rays. 



An investigation of the rich treasures of the quarry is only at 

 its commencement. From the multitude of vegetable remains 

 which every explosion of the quarry brings to light, the limestone 

 appears as if it had been destined to enclose a whole grove which 

 had existed of Lycopodiaceae, and other kindred plants, beset 

 with a dense undergrowth of smaller ferns. Under these circum- 

 stances, a rich field must surely await the fossil botanist. 



Nor is the field of research less promising to the entomologist 

 who has leisure to study the countless entomostraca with which 

 the deposit, in its original state, must have almost seemed alive. 

 Although many genera or species may be detected, only three 

 have been yet noticed, chiefly on account of the less complex 

 character which they display. 



But the great treasures of the quarry consist in its verte- 

 bral animals. Upon the valuable additions to fossil ichthyology, 



