FOSSIL PENS. 305 
ferred to a fossil state, without much diminution 
of its bulk.* 
PI. 28, Fig. 5, represents an ink-bag of a 
recent Cuttle Fish, in which the ink is preserved 
in a desiccated state, being not much diminished 
from its original volume. Its form is similar to 
that of many fossil ink-bags (PI. 29, Figs. 3—10), 
and the indurated ink within it differs only from 
the fossil ink, inasmuch as the latter is impreg- 
nated with carbonate of lime. 
In a communication to the Geological Society, 
February 1829, I announced that these fossil 
ink-bags had been discovered in the Lias at 
Lyme Regis, in connexion with horny bodies, 
resembling the pen of a recent Loligo. 
These fossil pens are without any trace of 
nacre, and are composed of a thin, laminated, 
* So completely are the character and qualities of the ink 
retained in its fossil state, that when, in 1826, I submitted a 
portion of it to my friend Sir Francis Chantrey, requesting him 
to try its power as a pigment, and he had prepared a drawing 
with a triturated portion of this fossil substance ; the drawing 
was shewn to a celebrated painter, without any information as 
to its origin, and he immediately pronounced it to be tinted 
with sepia of excellent quality, and begged to be informed by 
what colourman it was prepared. The common sepia used in 
drawing is from the ink-bag of an oriental species of cuttle-fish. 
The ink of the cuttle fishes, in its natural state, is said to be 
soluble only in water, through which it diffuses itself instanta- 
neously ; being thus remarkably adapted to its peculiar service 
in the only fluid wherein it is naturally employed. 
GEOL. X 
