ORYCTOLOGY. 
Somersetshire and Dorsetshire, the remains 
of animals apparently of the Lacerta genus 
are frequently found ; but are, as far as we are 
able to judge, really diflereut from any ani- 
mal which is known to us. But in no part of 
the world have such exquisitely fine and 
wonderful remains of animals of this de- 
scription been found as in St. Peter s moun- 
tain near Maestricht. A most beautiful 
specimen of part of the jaw of the fossil 
animal of St. Peter’s mountain was present- 
ed to the Royal Society, by professor Cam- 
per, and is now very properly exhibited in 
the British Museum. A wonderful spe- 
cimen of the head of this animal has been 
also obtained from the same mountain by 
Faiijas St. Fond ; and is delineated in the 
elegant work which he has given to the 
world, descriptive of the fossil riches of 
that mountain. “ Histoire Naturelle de la 
Montague de Saint-Pierre de Maestricht.” 
The plates of St. Fond, as well as the 
specimen of professor Camper, shew that 
these are the remains, indubitably, of an 
enormous animal, different from any at pre- 
sent known. It must however be observed 
that tlie remains of crocodiles, apparently 
of the same species which now exist, have 
also been discovered : part of the head of the 
.Asiatic crocodile was found in very good 
preservation in the quarries of Altdorff 
Fossil fishes have been found imbedded 
in calcareous and argillaceous masses, in 
various parts of Germany, Switzerland, and 
Italy ; but no where in such prodigious 
numbers as in the mountain named Ves- 
tena-Nuova, generally called Monte Bolca, 
in the Veronese ; which extends, in height, 
a thousand feet above tlie quarry, in which 
are found the numerous remains of fislr; 
of which, specimens are to be seen in al- 
most every cabinet of repute in Europe. 
The remains of fishes, from an inch to 
upwards of three feet in length, are found in 
these quarries, and of these several are found 
whose living analogues are said to exist in 
the neighbourhood of Japan, and of Brasil, 
also in Africa and America. The Abbe FortU 
is of opinion that the actual descendants of 
the Veronian fossil fishes are now to be 
found in the sea which washes the shores 
of Otaheite. In Cerigo, (Cytherea) Ales- 
sano, Lesina, in Dalmatia, Oeningen, 
Pappenheim, in Aix, and in several parts 
of France, fossil fishes are found in very 
excellent preservation. In England fossil 
fishes are much more rarely found than in 
France, Germany, or Italy. 
The fossil fish of Vestena Nuova are sup- 
posed to prove, from several circumstances, 
that their privation of life was sudden; 
some having been found with the head of 
their prey still in their months; and others 
with the remains of the fish, which they 
had devoured, still in their stomachs. 
The fossil remains of birds are very rarely 
found ; although frequently mentioned and 
even described by ditiFerent authors. Fos- 
sils very much resembling the beaks of 
birds are sometimes found ; but these are 
much more probably parts of fishes. Se- 
veral of those specimens which have been 
spoken more positively of, as petrifactions 
of whole birds, and of their nests, have 
been merely calcareous incrustations ot 
very modern formation. Bones very much 
resembling the bones of birds have been 
found in the calcareous stone of Oxford- 
shire, and in some parts of France, and of 
Germany. 
The fossil remains of quadrupeds, es- 
pecially those of the larger kind, are such 
as must necessarily excite the attention 
and wonder of every curious inquirer in 
natural history. In various parts ot this 
couutry have been found the remains ot 
elephants, and of other animals of consider- 
able magnitude. In Ireland have been 
found the remains of deer, of a size far ex- 
ceeding any now known ; and in Scotland 
have been found the remains of the elk, as 
well as those of an enormous animal of the 
ox kind, but larger than even the urns. In 
France, Germany, Italy, and indeed in most 
partsofEurope, remains of large animals have 
been found, and in both North and South 
America, the remains of enormous unknovtn 
animals have been discovered. According 
to Pallas, from theTanais to the continental 
angle nearest to America, there is hardly a 
river in this immense space, especially in 
the plains, upon the shores or in the bed 
of which have not been found the bones of 
elephants and of other animals not of that 
climate. From the mountains by which 
Asia is bounded, to the frozen shores of the 
ocean, all Siberia is filled with prodigious 
bones ; the best ivory (fossil) is found in the 
countries nearest to the arctic circle, as 
well as in the eastern countries, which are 
much colder than Europe, under the same 
latitude; countries where only the surface of 
the ground becomes thawed during summer. 
The number of bones which have been dis- 
covered of the rhinoceros is very consider- 
able, not only in Siberia, but in Germany, 
