322 
MISCELLANY. 
are pulverulents, the interstices being filled with the concrete and conglomerated 
chalk of the river; others are enveloped in a layer of spar ; others, lastly, entirely 
fossilized, are of a blackish brown, shining, heavy, brittle, of a conchoidal frac¬ 
ture, and retaining but little of the phosphate in their composition. These last are 
almost converted into hydrate of oxide of iron. The hard enamel of the teeth 
resists this transformation a longer time, and its whiteness contrasts with the 
coloured mass in which it is enveloped. The specific weight of these osseolites — 
if they may be so termed-—is 4.5, and their composition is as follows:—■ 
Phosphate and carbonate of lime 17.5 
Water . 6.0 
Red oxide of iron... 76.5 
100 
The engineer Dean, to whom the discovery of these fossils is owing, thought 
he had found some human bones, but the anatomists of Calcutta demonstrated 
his error, and that which he had mistaken for the neck of the femur of a man, 
appeared to be the outside of a large Stag’s horn! 
Independently of numbers of remains of Elephants, teeth, remarkably well- 
preserved, and easily recognized by the ridges and other lines on their crowns, 
were found among the bones of a fossil Hippopotamus. This animal has always 
been regarded as a stranger in India. It is therefore an interesting discovery 
among the fossil remains of animals evidently originally belonging to the country. 
The bones considered by Mr. Dean as belonging to the Camel—which would 
likewise have been an important discovery—have been determined to appertain 
to an animal of the Ox family. 
The other bones belong to several species of Stags, Antelopes, Oxen, Horses, 
Pigs, Rats, &c., with teeth and vertebrse of Saurians, and, lastly, a curious specimen 
resembling a cervical vertebra of the Giraffe.— Bibliotheque Universelle de 
Geneve. 
CHAPTER OF MISCELLANIES. 
ZOOLOGY. 
Ornithological Notes. —I found the eggs of the Thrush (Turdus jnusiciis) 
and Blackbird (T. merida) on the 4th of April, 1836. The Hooded Crow 
(Corvus comix) sitting on the 10th. The Sand Swallow (Hirundo riparia) 
appeared on the 11th. Migratory songsters arrived generally on the 12th, a few 
on the 6th. In the present year they did not appear so early, but probably I 
