70 
NATURAL HISTORY 
[north 
the trunk of a coniferous tree converted into semi-opal, presented by 
Lady Chantrey ; — in the window, near the Table Cases containing the 
sulphates, a very large mass of Websterite, from Newhaven, Sussex ; — 
a large specimen of the brown coal of Iceland, called Surturbrand 
two busts carved in jet-like bituminous brown coal, the one of Henry 
VIII. , the other of his daughter the Lady Mary. The sculptured tor¬ 
toise near the centre of this Room, placed on a round table inlaid with 
various antique marbles and other mineral substances, is wrought out 
of nephrite or jade. It was found on the banks of the Jumna, near the 
city of Allahabad, in Hindostan, brought to England by Lieutenant- 
General Kyd, and presented to the Museum by Thomas Wilkinson, Esq. 
The Wall Cases 1 to 4 in Room II. contain osseous remains (and 
casts of the same, marked with asterisks) of Pachydermata and Eden¬ 
tata : among the more prominent specimens belonging to the former of 
these natural orders, maybe particularized the remains of iheDeinotherium , 
the most gigantic of terrestrial mammalia, chiefly found at Eppelsheim, 
forty miles N.W T . of Darmstadt,—jaws, tusks, molar teeth and other 
osseous parts of Elephas primigenius Blumenb., especially those of the 
Siberian variety, the Mammoth of early writers; and, above all, the 
cranium of the Himalayan Elephant among the highly valuable speci¬ 
mens presented by Capt. Cautley, Bengal Artillery, to whose indefati¬ 
gable exertions science is indebted for the formation of a rich assem¬ 
blage of fossil remains obtained in the Siwalic or Sub- Himalayan ridge 
situate between the Jumna and Sutlej rivers, a great portion of which 
collection is deposited in the Museum. From the same collection is 
the most perfect ana instructive skull of a species of Mastodon, distinct 
from those hitherto noticed or described. The cranium and suite of 
molar teeth, &c., of the American Mastodon (M. Ohioticus) also deserve 
particular notice.—x\nother striking object at this side of the room are 
the casts of a great portion of the skeleton of Megatherium found in 
the bed of the Rio Salado, near Buenos Ayres. All these, together 
with the remaining genera of the thick skinned and edentate mammalia, 
of the Rhinoceros, the Hippopotamus, &c., will immediately be trans¬ 
ferred to Room VI., set apart chiefly for these classes of osseous remains. 
A distinct Glass Case at the N. side of this Room contains the fossil 
human skeleton embedded in limestone, brought from Guadaloupe by 
Admiral the Hon. Sir Alexander Cochrane, and presented to the' 
British Museum by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. ( This 
object is about to be removed to Room VI. ). 
The Wall Cases in Rooms III. and IV. are destined for the osseous re¬ 
mains of the Class Reptilia; the greater part of them is already arranged. 
Cases I to 4 are set apart for the Batrachiau, the Chelodonian and 
Emydosaurian reptiles, now under arrangement. To the first named of 
these orders belongs the gigantic Salamander, the subject of Scheuchzer’s 
dissertation, Homo diluvii testis et theoscopos, Tipuri, 1726. Also the 
specimens illustrative of the Chelonians will be placed in one of these 
Wall Cases. Among- the specimens of the third of these orders, may 
be specified the Crocodilian division, containing very interesting objects, 
such as specimens of the head with other bones of the gavial (or rather 
gharial) of Whitby, ( Teleosaurus Chapmanni,) which, though correctly 
determined by its discoverer, Capt. W. Chapman, and also by W T ooller 
(Phil. Trans, for 1758), was subsequently mistaken for a species of 
