496 
VERTEBRATED ANIMALS IN THE CRAG OF NORFOLK. 
8KCTION r.-GEOLOr,Y AND GEOGRAPHY. 
Prciftfenf-.-Rev . Dr Buceland, 
Vice Presidents CJaiyFixa, Esq., G. B. 
Geeenocgh, Esq., 
(For Geography) R I Murchison, Esq. 
Secretaries‘—W. Sanders, Esq , S. Stutchbb* 
RY, Esq., T. j. Tohrie, Esq. 
(For Geography) F Harrison Rankin, Esq 
€ommittee--~n T. De la Becl»e, Esq., M. Van 
Breda, Jos. C-irne, Esq, Penzance, Edward 
Charlc.sworlli, E.q , Major Clerke, l ord Cole, 
Rev. William Conybeaie, R. Grilfith, Esq , 
Rev William Hopkin.s, Robert Hotton Esq , 
Boscawen lbho.stson, Esq., Rev. T. T. Dewis, 
JamesMacadam Esq ,SirGeor^e Mackenzie, 
M . Van (lor Mclen. Lord Northampton, Pro- 
fessor Pari<rot. Professor Phil ips Professor 
Sedgwick, William Smith Es j., .lohn Tay or. 
Esq, Dr. William West, Samuel Worsley, 
Esq., Rev. .lames Yates. 
G. B, Greenongb Esq. in llie chair. — 
A memoir was read by Mr. E. Charles- 
worth, lieing a notice of Vertebrated 
Animals found in the Cra',r of Norfolk 
and Suffolk. The principal object in 
bringin^T forward this subject was to es- 
tablish the fact of the remains of mami- 
ferous animals being as.sociated with the 
mollusca of teitiary beds above the 
London clay, in the eastern counties of 
England. These remains are confined 
to the part of the Crag formation, which 
appears to e.\tend from Cromer, in 
Norfolk, to within a few miles of Aid- 
borough, in Suflfolk, and the depth of 
which was very great, wells having 
been sunk in without reachinj; its bot- 
tom. The hones of fish, and a large 
portion of the testacea met with in the 
stratum, differ widely from those of the 
coraline beds, and from tliat jiart of the 
Crag deposit which skirts the southern 
coast of Essex and Suffolk. Among the 
niamalia, wbicli the author states really 
belong to the Crag, is the Mastodon au- 
gustidens, of which several teeth have 
recently been obtained in Norfolk from 
localities adjoining the parish of With- 
ingham, the spot from which D. W. 
Smith states the .‘■pecimen to have been 
procured which is figured in his ‘ Strata 
Identified’ Mr. Charles worth con- 
ceived the discovery of the remains of 
the mastodon in this formation, as af- 
fording an argument to prove the rela- 
tive ages of rocks, as no remains of this 
animal have been found in America in 
beds more ancient than the diluvial. 
The remaining genera of raainmiferous 
animals can be identified with those 
now existing, or with such as are found 
in diluvial and lacustrine dejiosits. The 
author next notices the discovery of the 
mineralized remains of birds, chiefly 
bones of the e.xtreinities of natatorial 
tribes, a solitary instance of a similar j! 
discovery in America being the only one , 
recorded. He was not prepared to 
speak concerning the different kinds of 
fish, but he stated their distribution — , 
species of Sqnalus being found near 
Orford, and what Agassiz conceives to ; 
be Platex, at Cromer. Among the j 
most remarkable is the Carcharias Me- y 
galodan, the teeth of which are found i; 
in Suffolk, is equal in size to specimens | 
from the tertiary formations of Malta. 
He also alluded <o the difference of 
the testacea in different parts of the ; 
Crag, from which he was inclined to 
infer there were several eras in its ! 
formation. No traces of the exi.stence i' 
of reptilia have yet been detected, t 
M’hich would rather support the opi- i; 
nion of Dr. Beck and Deshayes, that ’ 
the climate during the Crag epoch was ;; 
analogous to that of the Polar regions. jj 
Professor Sedgwick stated that ho i 
had long been aware of the existence of '5 
remains of marnalia in the Norfolk Crag, j| 
although this kind had been di 3 [)uted || 
by Mr. Conyheare, in his work on the 1: 
Geology of England and Wales. Ha ' 
was rather inclined to consider the Crag 
as all of one epoch ; and Mr. Lyell ! 
had found e.xisting species as riumer- 1; 
oils in the lower as in the upjier Crag. || 
With regard to Mr. Charles worth’s | 
idea of the extinction of the mastodon |: 
in England before the formation of the j 
diluvial beds, Professor Sedgwick con- 
ceived that was reasoning from a nega- 
tive fact, and that until more extensive | 
search had been made, no such inference i 
could be fairly drawn. He also men- 
tioned that remains of the beaver were li 
found in the alluvions of Cambridge- i 
shire, and that it may have existed in ii 
England a thousand years ago. He was 'j 
confident that no cause still in existence ;! 
could have produced the diluvium on 
the Crag; its whole appearance sug- j 
gested the idea of a great rush of waters. | 
— Mr. Conyheare was perfectly willing 
to correct his ojiinion respecting the ex- '| 
istence of the remains of mammalia 
in the Crag. He was of opinion || 
that that tertiary strata of America ■ 
had not been sufficien tly examined I; 
to justify the conclusion that it did 
not contain remains of the mastodon, 1 
He started a question — which of the j 
species of mastodon found in other coun- 
tries did the British one resemble ? — j 
Mr. Greenough mentioned, as a singu- 
