82 
NATURAL HISTORY. (Fossils.) 
[NORT H 
PHODELEiE, such asthe Dracaena Benstedii, (from the Iguanodon quarry 
near Maidstone,) so called after the discoverer of the fine specimens pre¬ 
sented to the Museum. To these are added very perfect specimens, 
from Dr. Mantell’s collection, of the Clathraria Lyellii from the Weal- 
den : the generic name, formerly synonymous with Sigillaria, is now ex¬ 
clusively given to this remarkable vegetable. Sternbergia transversa 
of Artis, (Artisia of Sternberg,) hitherto described and figured from 
very imperfect specimens, also probably belongs to this natural order. 
Another interesting vegetable of Dr. Mantell’s discovery is the Endo- 
genites erosa, of which many specimens from Hastings, &c., are de¬ 
posited, exhibiting its structure : it seems related to the Palmse, and is 
no doubt a congener of Cotta’s Porosus marginatus , of which a speci¬ 
men is added ; but neither of those generic appellations appear to be 
admissible. There are also remains of real Palm^e in this Case, such 
as the fruits from Sheppey, the cut and polished specimens of wood from 
Antigua, &c. Whether or not Ndggerathia fiabelliforrnis and a related 
species are referable to them, remains doubtful. 
The upper division of Case 6 contains only specimens of Stiginaria, 
a genus totally distinct from any other known of the natural orders of 
Lycopodiacese or Filices, to both of which its species have been referred 
by authors. Their internal structure, as proved by transversal sections 
of the stem, approximates to that of the Euphorbiace^:. Below these, 
in the same Case, are placed various interesting specimens belonging to 
species of genera of Conifers, such as Pinus , Araucaria , Thugtes, 
Volzia , JBrachypliyllum , &c. In another part of the same Case are 
deposited interesting remains of the natural order of Cycade^, (among 
which may be specified the fine specimens from the oolitic formation 
at Whitby,) of various species of Pteropliylium , Zamia , Ctetiis, and (on 
the top of the Case) the globular trunks (two of them cut and polished) 
of Mantellia nidiformis of Brongniart, from the oolite of Portland.—. 
Various other vegetable remains, especially of Dicotyledonous plants, 
such as those from the fresh water formation of Oeningen, &c., will 
hereafter be arranged in Table Cases to be made for their reception. 
On the lower shelves of the Cases 8, 4, and 5, is placed a very ex¬ 
tensive series of cut and polished specimens of fossil wood, most of them 
from the red sandstone formation of Chemnitz in Saxony, and New 
Paka in Bohemia, and many of them described and figured in Cotta’s 
work: Die Dendrolithen, Dresden , 1832. The genera Tubicaulis, 
Psaronius ( Staar-stein) and Porosus , no doubt belong to the Filices ; 
many of the remainder are referable to the Palms, and a still greater 
portion of them to the Coniferee ; in the vicinity of which natural orders 
they are respectively placed in the Wall Cases. 
The slabs of sandstone on the north wall of this Room with the sup¬ 
posed tracks of an unknowm animal called Chirotherium, are, that on 
the left, from the quarries of Hildburghausen in Saxony; and that in 
the centre, from those of Storton Hill, near Liverpool, (the latter pre¬ 
sented by J. Tomkinson, Esq.) On the right hand are placed slabs 
from the same new red sandstone formation, with equally enigmatical 
imprests of various dimensions, called Ornithiclmites, being very like 
foot marks of birds: they occur in the sandstone beds near Greenfield, 
Massachusetts, at a cataract in the Connecticut river, known by the 
name of Turner’s Falls. 
