i 7 8 
LIFE OF DEAN BUCK LAND. 
[CH. VII. 
and Prome. The bones were found in soil which chiefly 
consisted of barren sandhills mixed with gravel intersected 
by deep ravines ; beneath these hills are strata containing 
shells and lignite, through which wells are sunk about two 
hundred feet to collect petroleum. Buckland, in his report, 
suggests that it would be an interesting subject “ of 
inquiry, whether any fossil remains of elephant, rhinoceros, 
hippopotamus, and hyena exist in the diluvium of tropical 
climates ; and, if they do, whether they agree with the 
recent species of these genera or with those extinct species 
whose remains are dispersed so largely over the temperate 
and frigid zones of the northern hemisphere.” “ It deserves 
remark,” he adds, “ that the gavial and several other 
pachydermata found by Mr. Crawfurd 1 do not now inhabit 
the Burmese country.” 
In 1835 another large consignment of specimens arrived 
from Connecticut and other parts of America. The most 
important of these were the fossil footprints preserved in 
sandstone of a gigantic Dinosaur, a link between reptiles 
and birds, whose feet measured sixteen inches in length 
exclusive of a large claw measuring two inches. The 
most frequent distance which intervenes between the larger 
of these footsteps is four feet; sometimes they are six 
feet asunder : the latter were probably made by the animal 
while running. There were also tracks of another gigantic 
species, having three toes of a more slender character : these 
tracks are from fifteen to sixteen inches long, exclusive of 
a remarkable appendage extending backwards from the 
1 Mr. Crawfurd was the first to find these extinct animals in Asia; 
most of his specimens are at the Geological Museum, Jermyn Street. 
