BACULITES. 



TESTA recta, gradatim crescens, concamerata, 

 marginibus septorum lobatis, sinuosissimis, si- 

 phone dorsali: ultimo articulo elongato. 



A Genus which is ouly known in a fossil state^ it was first 

 discovered by Faujas de St. Fond in the Limestone of 

 Maestricht, where, however, it does not appear to be so 

 abundant as in a similar Limestone in the the neighbour- 

 hood of Valognes, in Normandy, from which latter place 

 we have occasionally received some very fine specimens 

 by the favour of our kind friend C. D. DeGerville. This 

 Limestone appears to be of a peculiar sort, characterized 

 by the Baculites and Hamites contained in it; all its fossils 

 are casts, and if we were permitted to form our judg- 

 ment of its age from these casts, we should say it appears 

 to us to be nearly contemporaneous with the Calcaire 

 grassier, for it contains casts of several of the shells that 

 are most characteristic of that bed. 



This is a very remarkable Genus, nearly related to 

 Ammonites, and differing from it in being straight; it bears 

 the same relation to Orthoceratites that Ammonites does 

 to Nautilus, having its chambers lobated and very sinuous 

 at their edges. Being only known in a fossil state, we 

 are not of course at all acquainted with its animal, yet we 

 venture to give an opinion that it must have been almost, 

 if not entirely an internal shell. It is probable that there 

 are many species of this Genus, but as we only know the 

 casts of the insides, we cannot indicate the specific 



