502 Mr. Hen slow’s Supplementary Observations to 
apparent where a light or dark line has traced their figure ; in 
short a better idea cannot be conveyed of the appearance presented, 
than by conceiving a mass of peat converted to a loose, earthy, 
calcareous substance. When fresh dug it is moist, and possesses a 
peculiar odour, somewhat resembling that of hydrogen, which it 
loses upon exposure, and though it retains its texture, does not 
become indurated, but is easily reduced to powder between the 
fingers. 
Upon connecting the several appearances here presented, it seems 
probable that an extensive forest was formerly overwhelmed by an 
incursion of the sea, bringing with it a large portion of sand. 
This sand would be sufficient to crush and keep down the main 
body, but some dry branches and leaves would rise to the surface 
and together with the insects form a scum there, which on the 
subsidence of the waters would remain resting on a bed of sand. 
It would appear also that a herd of Elks must have here perished, 
so numerous are the remains which have been discovered within a 
small compass ; but at the same time many of their bones have 
disappeared, if we may judge from the few which accompany the 
head and horns of each animal.* 
Native phosphate of iron, in an earthy and pulverulent state, 
is sometimes found in contact with the bones ; a similar substance 
I have observed coating the external surface of the empty shells of 
the Mytilus cygneus of Linnaeus, which lie scattered over the fens 
of Cambridgeshire, after the crows have extracted the animals. 
* Whilst I was on the island, in August, 1819, two heads with the branches and a vast 
number of bones were dug up in the finest preservation. An ingenious blacksmith in the 
neighbourhood, taking the skeleton of a horse for his model, has contrived to put together 
these bones with great accuracy, and form a skeleton in which the only parts wanting 
are the half of one hoof and the end bones of the tail. It has a most magnificent 
appearance, stands six feet sjx inches to the top of the back, and thirteen feet to the tip 
of the horns. 
