fishes, are as perfect air-breathing vertebrated animals, as the
terrestrial mammalia, and, like them, give suck to their young. Instead
of fore-feet or arms, they have a pair of fins or paddles, but are
destitute of hinder extremities, the place of the latter organs being
supplied by a powerful cartilaginous horizontal fin, appended to the
tail. The Cetaceans, therefore, differ in this respect from the fossil
marine reptiles, the Ichthyosaurus and Plesiosaurus (see p. 662), which
have two pairs of paddles. This order, as is well known, comprises
the most colossal forms of animal existence,--the Whales. Some are
herbivorous, others carnivorous; many have powerful teeth; others are
edentulous, the jaw being furnished with a series of elongate plates of
the substance familiarly known by the name of _whale-bone_.
[732] _Cetacea_: an order of aquatic mammalia, comprising the W hales,
Narwhals, Porpoises, Dolphins, and Dugongs.
The fossil remains of Cetaceans have, for the most part, been observed
in alluvial silt and beds of drift, in valleys still traversed by
rivers; but many examples have been discovered in elevated sea-beaches,
proving that, although, geologically speaking, these beds are of
modern origin, yet great changes in the relative level of the land and
sea must have taken place since these remains were imbedded. Thus, on
the banks of the river Forth, near Alloa, in Scotland, the skeleton of
a Whale (_Balænoptera_), seventy-two feet long, was discovered imbedded
in clay, twenty feet above the highest tide.[733] Cuvier mentions
the discovery of bones of a _Lamantin_ at Angers; of a Dolphin,
and Rorqual, in Lombardy; and of a Grampus, in the pliocene of the
Sub-Apennines.[734]
[733] Dr. Fleming’s _British Animals_, p. 39.
[734] For notices and descriptions of Cetacean remains found in
England, see Owen’s _Brit. Foss. Mammalia_, p. 516, _et seq._
Otolithes of Cetaceans.--Petro-tympanic bones of several large whales
have been found in great numbers in the red Crag of Felixstow; among
them is one of the genus Physeter, or Sperm-Whale.[735]
[735] Proc. Geol. Soc. for 1845, p. 41; and Brit. Foss. Mam. p. 526, &c.
Brighton Fossil Whale.--An interesting discovery of the anterior half
of one side of the lower jaw of a Whale, undoubtedly coeval with the
extinct Mammoth (_Elephas primigenius_), was made in 1828 in the Cliff,
east of Kemp Town, Brighton, under the following circumstances. On the
face of the Cliff, in the ancient shingle which lies immediately upon
the chalk and is surmounted by beds of calcareous rubble, containing
bones and teeth of Elephants, to the height of one hundred and twenty
feet, some fishermen had observed a huge bone, that had been laid
bare by an unusually high tide and now projected two or three feet
beyond the face of the Cliff. Unable to remove it, they broke off the
extremity, a fragment of which was sent to me. Upon repairing to the
spot a few days afterwards, I found that the fishermen had renewed
their attack, and demolished a considerable portion of the bone in
ineffectual attempts to dislodge it from its bed; and had desisted only
from the apprehension of being buried beneath the overhanging cliff,
which is composed of loosely aggregated materials. Unfortunately,
the bone extended directly into the cliff, and it required several
hours of labour, not unattended with danger, before an excavation was
made sufficiently large to expose the entire specimen. It proved to
be the anterior nine feet of the left branch of the lower jaw of a
whale-bone Whale (_Balæna mysticetus_). It was of a light fawn colour
externally, but the internal coarse osseous structure was delicately
white; it was extremely brittle, and, upon attempting to move it,
broke into a thousand pieces. Time would not permit of the application
of a coating of plaster of Paris, for ere we had completed our task
the tide was rapidly approaching, or this interesting relic might
have been extracted entire. This portion of lower jaw, before it was
mutilated by the fishermen, was twelve feet long, and thirty-six inches
in circumference at the largest extremity. It must have belonged to a
Whale from sixty to seventy feet in length.[736]
[736] The fragments of this jaw that were preserved are now exhibited
in the British Museum, in Room V.
In the fluviatile silt of the valley of the Ouse, near Lewes (_Wond._
p. 63), the skull of a Porpoise and a portion of the cranium, with the
socket of the long straight tooth, of a Narwhal (_Monodon monoceros_),
were found twelve feet beneath the surface of the soil.
The bones of an herbivorous Cetacean, the _Manatus_, a genus now
peculiar to the torrid zone, have been found in the eocene strata in
various parts of France, associated with those of the Palæotheria and
other extinct mammalia of the Paris basin.
[Sidenote: ZEUGLODON.]
Zeuglodon cetoides. _Lign. 249._[737]--The remains of a very remarkable
Cetacean, of an extinct genus, were first made known by Dr. Harlan,
of Philadelphia, who obtained a considerable portion of the jaws with
teeth, vertebræ, and other bones of an animal of enormous size, from
Alabama and Arkansas, United States. These relics were discovered
in tertiary (_eocene_) limestone, associated with a marine shelly
conglomerate, from a cliff near the bed of the river Owachita. When
first observed, the bones extended along the face of the rock, with
intervals between them, to the extent of one hundred feet, and the
animal to which they belonged must have exceeded seventy feet in
length. Dr. Harlan ascribed these bones to an unknown reptile, which
he called Basilosaurus (_king of the lizards_); but a more correct
investigation, by Professor Owen, proved their cetacean character,
and the peculiar form of the worn molar teeth suggested the name of
_Zeuglodon_ (_yoke-tooth_).
[737] Owen, _Geol. Trans._ 2d ser. vol. vi. p. 69, &c., plates vii.
viii. ix.; Harlan’s _Medical and Physical Researches_, p. 337, &c.;
Gibbes, _Journ. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philadelphia_, 2d ser. 1847, vol. i.
pp. 5 and 16; Bulkley, _Silliman's Journal_, vol. xliv. p. 409; Carus,
_Nova Acta Cur. Nat._ vol. xxii. pt. ii. 1848.
[Illustration: Lign. 249.
Zeuglodon cetoides.
Portion of the Jaw, with Teeth, and a Vertebra.
_Eocene._ _Alabama, United Slates._
Fig. 1.--Portion of the Upper Jaw, with three teeth: 1/8 _nat._
_a._ The exposed fang of a tooth.
2.--Transverse section of the base of the crown of a tooth, showing
the deep constriction in the middle: 1/4 _nat._
3.--A caudal vertebra: 1/12 _nat._
]
[Illustration: Lign. 250. Teeth of Zeuglodon: 1/2 _nat._
_Eocene._ _France and N. America._
Fig. 1.--Upper tooth of Z. squalodon; from near Bordeaux.
2.--Molar tooth of Z. cetoides; from Alabama, United States.
3.--Canine tooth of Z. cetoides.
]
The teeth (_Lign. 250_) are of two kinds, some having but one fang, and
others two, implanted in separate sockets and placed obliquely in the
jaw; they are of a compressed, conical form, with an obtuse apex, the
crown being deeply conjugate, or contracted in the middle, as shown
in the transverse section, _Lign. 249, fig. 2_. They are devoid of
enamel, but the dentine is coated with cement, and their structure is
decidedly mammalian; and a microscopical examination, Professor Owen
states, incontestably proves their cetacean character. The longitudinal
diameter of the middle tooth is three inches.
The vertebræ resemble those of the large cetacean known by the name of
_Hyperoodon_; a caudal vertebra is figured _Lign. 249, fig. 3_. The
original animal was related to the Dugong and Cacholot, and appears to
have held an intermediate place between the latter and the herbivorous
species.
[Sidenote: FOSSIL RUMINANTS.]
[Illustration: Lign. 251. Teeth of a Ruminant. _Pleistocene._
_Gibraltar._
Imbedded in a mass of the "osseous breccia."]
II. Fossil Ruminants. (_Owen’s Brit. Foss. Mam._ p. 444, _et
seq._)--The fossil bones of animals of this order are very numerous in
the alluvial deposits, in caves, and in pleistocene deposits, in almost
every part of the world. They are generally associated with the remains
of the next group. The skulls of Oxen, and horns and bones of the Bison
and Auroch, have been found in North Cliff, Yorkshire, at Walton in
Essex, and other parts of England. The fossil oxen appear to have been
one-third larger than the recent species; and the horns are relatively
more massive than in the domestic race; some of the horns measure four
feet across, at the widest expansion. In the immense accumulations of
large mammalia in the tertiary beds of the Sub-Himalayan or Siwalik
range, numerous remains of oxen occur. The teeth of one species are
often found in the Elephant-bed at Brighton.
Of the Deer family the relics of several kinds have been discovered in
Drift and Caverns. The cave of Kirkdale alone contained the remains of
three species.[738] The bones of a species that cannot be distinguished
from the common Bed Deer are found in the modern shell-marls of
Scotland, associated with the remains of oxen, horse, boar, dog, wolf,
and beaver. The bones and antlers of the Reindeer have been found at
Brentford and other places (_Brit. Foss. Mam._ p. 479; and _Rep. Brit.
Assoc._ 1851. Sect. p. 69). The ossiferous caverns, which contain bones
of Carnivora, also yield those of Deer; as the caves of Kirkdale and
Banwell, &c. in England, and the celebrated caverns of Muggendorf, on
the Continent. A species of Musk-deer has been found at Epplesheim; and
bones of deer are associated with those of the Dinotherium, in Rhenish
Hesse, in late Tertiary deposits. The teeth and a lower jaw, with other
bones, of a species of deer, were obtained from the Brighton Elephant
bed (_Wond._ p. 114).
[738] The Rev. Dr. Buckland’s _Reliquiæ Diluvianæ_; or, Observations on
the Organic Remains found in Caves, Fissures, and Gravel; 1 vol. 4to.
1823, pl. viii. and ix.
The most celebrated fossil animal of this family is the Gigantic Stag
or Deer of Ireland (see _Petrif._ p. 455; _Wond._ p. 132), whose bones
and antlers are found in immense quantities in superficial marl, in
Ireland, in the Isle of Man, and occasionally in England. (Geol. Journ.
vol. iv. p. 42.) A skeleton that was found, almost entire, in marl
abounding in fresh-water shells, at the depth of twenty feet, is six
feet high, nine feet long, and nine and a half feet in height, to the
top of the right horn. Some antlers are so large, that the interspace
from one point to the other exceeds twelve feet.[739]
[739] See _Pict. Atlas_, pl. lxxi.; a good figure of the skeleton of
the fossil Irish Deer is given in the Penny Cyclopædia, vol. viii. p.
364; for a detailed account of this gigantic animal, see Owen’s _Foss.
Brit. Mammalia_, p. 444, and _Charlesworth’s Journal_, p. 87.
The Giraffe, the tallest of known quadrupeds, and now restricted to
the deserts of Africa, was once a native of Europe and Asia, for
fossil bones of a species of this remarkable ruminant have been found
at Issoudun, in France, and in the Siwalik mountains, with several
varieties of Elk and Deer.
Of the Camel, the only ruminant with incisor teeth in the upper jaw,
a gigantic species has been discovered by Dr. Falconer and Captain
Cautley, in the Siwalik range.
[Illustration: Lign. 252. Bones of the Feet of Horse, Deer, and
Anoplotherium.]
Fig. 1.--Fore-foot of the Horse.
2. ---- Deer.
3. ---- Anoplotherium gracile.
_m, m._ Metacarpal bones ("canon-bone" in the Horse.)
_s_, in fig. 1, the "splint-bone," or rudimentary metacarpal.
_p, p._ First or proximal phalangeal-bones ("pastern" in the Horse).
_p^2, p^2._ Second phalangeals ("coronet" or "crown-bone" in the Horse).
_u, u._ Unguals, or bones of the hoof ("coffin-bone" in the Horse).
In this category we must notice another most interesting discovery of
the indefatigable and eminent naturalists above mentioned, namely, the
_Sivatherium_ (see _Wond._ p. 163), an extinct animal, which forms,
as it were, a link between the ruminants and the large pachydermata.
The skull has four persistent horns, and was furnished with a nasal
proboscis. The living creature must have resembled an immense Antelope
or Gnu, with a short thick head and an elevated cranium, crested
with two pairs of horns. A splendid specimen of the skull of the
_Sivatherium_ has been placed in the palæontological collection of the
British Museum by Dr. Falconer (_Petrif._ p. 456, _Lign._ 98).
[Sidenote: ELEPHANT. MASTODON.]
III. Pachydermata.[740]--The fossil remains of this order of mammalia
are most abundant, and belong to numerous species, comprising many
extinct genera of a highly interesting character. See Pictet’s
_Paléontologie_, new edit. 1853, vol. i. p. 127, _et seq._
[740] See Owen on the Classification of the Pachydermata, _Quart. Geol.
Journ._ vol. iv. p. 127, &c.
[Illustration: Lign. 253. Elephas Ganesa.
Front view of the Cranium and Tusks. (_The original is 14 feet long._)]
Fossil Elephants and Mastodons. _Lign. 253, 254, 258-260._ _Owen’s
Hist. Brit. Foss. Mam._ p. 217, &c.; _Wond._ pp. 147, 157.--The bones,
teeth, and tusks of Elephants, equal in magnitude to, and distinct from
the existing African and Asiatic species, are scattered throughout the
superficial alluvial and pleistocene accumulations of Europe.
[Illustration: Lign. 254. Mastodon giganteus.
Unworn Molar Tooth: 1/3 _nat. size_.
_Upper Tertiary._ _Banks of the Hudson, N. America._]
The fossil bones and teeth (_Pict. Atlas_, pl. lxxi. lxxiv.) of these
gigantic animals are so abundant, that examples may be found in all the
provincial, and in most private collections; and the British Museum
possesses an unrivalled series of specimens of both groups of these
colossal herbivorous mammalia, namely, the Elephants properly so called
and the Mastodons (_Petrif._ pp. 463, 471). It contains an invaluable
series of specimens from the Siwalik hills, presented by Capt. Cautley
and Dr. Falconer (_Petrif._ p. 469); amongst which are remains in which
the dental organs present every modification of structure, from that
of the mastoid tubercles of the tooth of the Mastodon, to the vertical
laminæ of cement, enamel, and dentine of the Elephant. The Museum also
possesses the entire skeleton of the Mastodon (_Petrif._ _Lign._ 107)
formerly exhibited by M. Koch, as well as the fine suite of jaws and
teeth obtained by the same indefatigable collector. This collection
demonstrates that all the bones and teeth, apparently of several
species, and, as some have supposed, of distinct genera, belong but to
the one grand Mastodon--the _M. giganteus_ of Cuvier; it also clearly
proves that the young mastodon had a pair of tusks placed horizontally
in the lower jaw; and that but one of these tusks became developed in
the adult, and that only in the male.[741]
[741] This remarkable circumstance, in the infancy of palæontological
science, gave rise to a very venial error; it was made to constitute
the character of a new genus, to which the name _Tetracaulodon_ was
applied.
It is therefore unnecessary to enlarge upon this subject, for an
inspection of a few specimens will afford the student a clearer insight
into the structure of the skeletons and teeth of these animals than any
description. The form of the teeth, and the disposition of the dental
elements, are illustrated in _Wond._ p. 143, and _Ly._ p. 159.
[Sidenote: DINOTHERIUM.]
Dinotherium. _Petrif._ p. 474; _Wond._ p. 173; _Bd._ i. p. 135, pl.
ii.--At Epplesheim, forty miles north-east of Darmstadt, in beds of
sand and marl of the median Tertiary formations, the jaws, teeth,
skull, and other remains of the Dinothere, one of the most gigantic of
terrestrial mammalians, have been discovered; they are preserved in the
museum at Darmstadt. The length of the largest species is estimated at
eighteen feet. The teeth had previously been found in France, Bavaria,
and Austria; and, from their close analogy to those of the Tapir, were
described by Cuvier as belonging to an extinct colossal animal of that
genus. But subsequent discoveries have shown that the _Dinotherium_ was
probably a proboscideal animal, and had two large curved tusks directed
downwards in the anterior extremity of the lower jaw.[742]
[742] There are some fine specimens, and good models of the Darmstadt
specimens, in the British Museum (_Petrif._ p. 474).
[Illustration: Lign. 255. Anoplotherium Commune.
_Eocene Tertiary. Montmartre._
Restored outline of the animal; after Cuvier.
(_The original was about the size of an Ass._)]
[Sidenote: CUVIERIAN PACHYDERMS.]
Cuvierian Pachyderms. _Lign. 255, 256._ _Owen’s Brit. Foss. Mam._ p.
299, &c.; _Wond._ p. 254; _Bd._ i. p. 81; _Petrif._ p. 475.--A large
proportion of the numerous bones and teeth which are found in the
Tertiary gypseous deposits at Montmartre, near Paris, are referable
to the several extinct genera of Pachydermata, which the genius of
Cuvier first made known. The _Palæotheria_ and _Anoplotheria_ must
be familiar to the intelligent reader, for the restored outlines of
several species are appended to almost every work that treats of the
ancient inhabitants of our globe. The details of their anatomical
characters are given at length in _Oss. Foss._ tom. iii., illustrated
with numerous plates.
The Palæotheria (_Brit. Foss. Mam._ p. 316, _et seq._) resembled the
Tapirs in their head and short proboscis, while their molar teeth
approached those of the Rhinoceros, and their feet were divided into
three toes, instead of four, as in the Tapirs. Upwards of eleven
species have been discovered, varying from the size of the Rhinoceros
to that of the Hog. Their remains are extensively diffused in the Upper
Eocene strata in various parts of France; and have been found in the
Isle of Wight.
The Lophiodon (_crested-tooth_), a genus distinguished from the former
by the characters of the teeth, which more nearly resemble those of
the Tapirs, comprehends twelve species, all found in the fresh-water
Tertiary marls of France. A canine tooth of a species of _Lophiodon_
was found in the London Clay, in sinking a well on Sydenham Common,
near the railway.[743]
[743] See Mr. Douglas Allport’s interesting _History of Camberwell_, p.
17, and Owen’s _Brit. Foss. Mam._ p. 306.
The Anoplotheria have two characters not observed in any other animal,
namely feet with two toes (see _Lign. 252_), the metacarpal and
metatarsal bones of which do not unite into a single piece, as is the
case in the ruminants; and teeth placed in a continued series without
any interval between them (_Petrif._ _Lign._ 111); man alone has the
teeth arranged in the same manner. I subjoin figures of molar teeth of
_Palæotherium_ and _Anoplotherium_ (_Lign. 256_).
[Illustration: Lign. 256. Teeth of Palæotherium and Anoplotherium.
_Upper Eocene._ _Isle of Wight and Montmartre._
Fig. 1.--Upper molar tooth (external surface) of Palæotherium
magnum. _Binstead._
2.--Lower molar of Palæotherium magnum.
3.--Grinding surface of first upper molar of Anoplotherium
secundarium. _Binstead._
4.--Inner side view of right upper canine of Anoplotherium
commune.
5.--Upper molar of Anoplotherium commune. _Montmartre._
6.--Lower molar of the same animal.
]
There are also sub-genera, as for example, _Xiphodon_ and _Dichobune_,
characterized by peculiarities of dental and osteological structure;
and _Anthracotherium_ (so named from two species having been found in
a bed of Anthracite or Lignite, near Savone), a genus intermediate
between the Palæotheria and Hogs. The skeletons of these remarkable
animals are imbedded with the remains of carnivora, marsupialia, bats,
birds, crocodiles, tortoises, and fishes.
In England, no remains of the extinct Pachydermata of the Paris
Tertiary strata were discovered until a few years since, and they
are still exceedingly rare. There have been found in the fresh-water
limestone at Binstead, near Ryde, and at Seafield, Isle of Wight, (see
_Geol. I. Wight_, 1854, Prefat. Note,) teeth and portions of the jaws
of two species of Anoplotherium, four of Palæotherium, and one of
_Chæropotamus_, an animal allied to the Hog Tribe (_Geol. Trans._ 2d
ser. vol. vi. pl. iv.; and _Brit. Foss. Mam._ p. 413, &c.).
The _Hyopotamus_ (_Lign. 257_) is a genus of Anthracotherioid
pachyderms, two species of which have been determined by Prof. Owen
(_Quart. Geol. Journ._ vol. iv. p. 103, &c.), from specimens of teeth
found in the upper eocene of the north-west coast of the Isle of Wight,
by the Marchioness of Hastings.
The _Palæotherium_, _Dichobune_, _Dichodon_, _Paloplotherium_, and
others occur in the upper eocene fresh-water deposits of Hordwell Cliff
(see _Charlesworth’s Journal_, No. 1, p. 5, and pl. ii.; _Quart. Geol.
Journ._ vol. iv. p. 17, and pl. iii.; and _Rep. Brit. Assoc._ 1851,
_sect._ p. 67).
Two species of a new genus, intermediate between the Hog and the Hyrax,
named by Professor Owen _Hyracotherium_, have been discovered in the
eocene sands at Kyson, in Suffolk, and in the London Clay of the cliffs
at Studd Hill, about a mile to the west of Herne Bay.[744] The latter
specimen consists of a mutilated skull, about the size of that of a
Hare, with the molar teeth perfect.
[744] Geol. Trans. 2d ser. vol. vi. pl. xxi. p. 203; and _Brit. Foss.
Mam._ p. 419, &c.
The _Paloplotherium_, an allied genus, from Hordwell Cliff, is
described in _Geol. Journ._ vol. iv. p. 103.
The other large fossil Pachyderms, belonging to the two existing genera
of Rhinoceros and Hippopotamus, are found very extensively distributed
in alluvial debris, in the ossiferous breccia of caverns, and in other
pleistocene deposits; and their remains are frequently dug up in the
superficial marls, clays, gravel, and sand of England. As the teeth of
these animals will occasionally be met with by the collector, a brief
explanation of their form and structure may be useful.
[Illustration: Lign. 257. Hyopotamus.
Incisor Teeth: _nat. size_. _Upper Eocene._ _Isle of Wight._]
Fig. 1.--Inner surface of an incisor of _Hyopotamus_.
3.--Lateral view of an upper incisor of _Hyopotamus_.
4.--Outer aspect of the crown of the same tooth.
5.--Inner aspect of ditto.
2.--Lateral view of the upper incisor of recent Hog (_Sus scrofa_).
(These figures are from plate vii. _Quart. Geol. Journ._ vol. iv.; but the
drawings have been accidentally reversed.)
[Sidenote: TEETH OF MAMMALIA.]
Teeth of Mammalia.[745]--The organization of the teeth in the
herbivorous mammalia essentially consists in the adaptation of
the three elements of dental structure to the peculiar conditions
required by the habits and economy of the different species. Thus,
in the Elephant (_Lign. 259, 260_), Horse (_Lign. 263_), &c., the
dentine, cement, and enamel are disposed in vertical plates more
or less inflected, the enamel and cement penetrating the body of
the tooth, and embracing corresponding processes of dentine; an
arrangement by which a grinding surface, composed of three substances
of unequal densities, is produced and maintained in every state of
detrition (_Owen_). But these teeth do not possess the symmetrical and
complicated structure observable in those of many of the reptiles and
fishes we have previously investigated. In the carnivorous mammalia,
the enamel constitutes an external shell or case, investing the body
of dentine and presenting sharp cusps or trenchant ridges, adapted for
the laceration of flesh, as in the Tiger, or modified so as to form
instruments for snapping and crushing bones, as in the teeth of the
Hyæna. In the Mastodon, the crown of the tooth, when first emerged
from the gum, presents a series of strong conical eminences (_Lign.
254_), that become worn down by use, at first into disks (_Ly._ p.
157), which, by further detrition, coalesce. The tooth of the Elephant
(_Lign._ 259 and 260), on the contrary, consists of vertical plates
of dentine, with an immediate investment of enamel, over which there
is an external layer of cement that binds together the entire series
of plates, often amounting to twenty or more; the horizontal surface
produced by the detrition of such a structure, gives rise to the
well-known grinding surface of the molars of the elephant (_Lign.
259, 260_; _Wond._ pp. 143 and 160; _Ly._ p. 159; Owens _Brit. Foss.
Mam._ figs. 88-90, &c.). Detached plates of the teeth of Elephants,
particularly of those which belong to the back part of the posterior
grinder, and have not come into use, are puzzling to the inexperienced
collector of fossil remains; and the first indication I obtained of
the existence of the remains of fossil Elephants in Brighton Cliffs
(_Wond._ p. 150), was from a mass of this kind, dug up in sinking a
well in Dorset Gardens, and sent to me as a "petrified cauliflower."
[745] For the minute structure of the dental organs, the modes of
dentition prevalent in the mammalia, and the homologies of the teeth,
we must refer to Prof. Owen’s often-quoted works, the matchless
_Odontography_, and the lucid and compendious Article on Teeth, in the
_Cyclopædia of Anatomy and Physiology_.
[Illustration: Lign. 258.
Tooth of Mastodon elephantoides: 1/6 _nat. size_.
_Upper Tertiary._ _Ava, Burmah._]
[Illustration: Lign. 259.
Tooth of Elephas primigenius: 1/6 _nat. size_.
_Upper Tertiary._ _Big-bone-lick. N. America._]
[Illustration: Lign. 260. Teeth of Elephants: 1/6 _nat. size_.
The grinding surfaces of the teeth exhibit the arrangement of the bands
of enamel, which have an analogous, but somewhat different distribution
in the teeth of the different species of Elephant.
Fig. 1.--The worn surface of a molar tooth of the African Elephant.
2.--That of the Fossil Elephant or Mammoth (_Elephas primigenius_).
3.--That of the Asiatic Elephant.
]
[Sidenote: HIPPOPOTAMUS.]
[Illustration: Lign. 261. Fossil Molar Teeth of Hippopotamus: 2/3 _nat._
_Pleistocene._
Fig. 1.--Grinding surface of a molar tooth, with the cusps partially
worn away. _Kent’s Cavern, Devonshire._
2.--Perfect molar tooth, seen laterally. _Hertfordshire._
]
I subjoin (_Lign. 261, fig. 1_) a figure of the crown of a fossil
molar tooth of a Hippopotamus, from Kent’s Cavern, Devonshire; in this
specimen the summits of the cusps are worn down by use; and another,
_fig._ 2, representing a perfect molar, with the conical cusps of the
crown entire, found in Hertfordshire by W. D. Saull, Esq. The form
of the worn surfaces of the molars of the Rhinoceros,[746] is shown
in two different stages in the fossil teeth represented _Lign. 262_.
Sir C. Lyell has given figures of the teeth of the Horse, Ox, Deer,
&c. (_Ly._ p. 160); but teeth of the recent species are so readily
obtained, and so much more instructive, that I would recommend the
student to procure teeth of the domestic herbivorous, carnivorous,
and rodent animals, and preserve them in his cabinet as objects for
comparison with the fossil mammalian teeth he may discover (see _Pict.
Atlas_, pl. lxxii.).
[746] See Translation of a Memoir by Giebel on the fossil remains of
Rhinoceros in the _Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc._ vol. viii. part ii. p. 9,
&c.
[Illustration: Lign. 262. Fossil Molar Tooth of Rhinoceros: 2/3 _nat._
_Pleistocene._
Fig. 1.--A molar tooth much worn down by use; with the fangs nearly
perfect. _In gravel; Petteridge Common, Surrey._
2.--Large molar, very much worn by use; the fangs broken off.
_Kent’s Cavern, Devonshire._
]
[Sidenote: HORSE.]
Fossil Horse. _Lign. 263_; and Owen’s _Brit. Foss. Mam._ p. 383, _et
seq._--The bones and teeth of one or more species of this widely
distributed genus are found in the alluvium, in osseous breccia, and
in caverns in numerous localities in Europe, Asia, and America. The
teeth and bones of the horse are often met with in the Elephant-bed
in Brighton cliffs; they are referable to a small species, about
the size of a Shetland pony. The blue alluvial clay or silt of our
existing river-valleys contains abundance of the remains of a horse not
distinguishable from the recent.
[Illustration: Lign. 263. Teeth of Fossil Horse: _nat. size_.
_Pleistocene._ _England._
Fig. 1.--Right lower canine tooth of young Equus plicidens; from
the Cave at Oreston (Owen’s _Foss. Mam._ p. 394).
2.--Upper molar of a fossil Horse; from the _Elephant-bed_ of
Brighton Cliffs.
]
In the Siwalik hills, collocated with the gigantic pachydermata,
ruminants, and carnivora, the remains of two or more species of
Horse have been discovered. One form (_Hippotherium_) is remarkably
distinguished from any previously known by the extreme length and
slenderness of its I legs, in which respect it must have closely
resembled the Antelope; it did not surpass in size the common Deer.
IV. Fossil Edentata. _Petrif._ p. 476.--The remains of extinct colossal
mammalia, related to the existing diminutive Sloths in the essential
characters of their organization, but modified to suit the peculiar
conditions in which they were placed and the enormous increase in bulk
of their colossal frames, are strewn all over the vast area of those
alluvial plains of South America, called the Pampas (_Wond._ p. 164).
The deposits of these regions[747] consist of--1. Beds of clay, sand,
and limestone, containing marine shells and teeth of sharks; these
are the lowermost strata. 2. Indurated marl. 3. Red clayey earth with
calcareous concretions, in which the bones of colossal terrestrial
mammalia are abundant. This vertical section demonstrates, that an
extensive bay of salt-water was gradually encroached upon, and at
length converted into a muddy estuary, by detritus brought down from
the interior of the country, and in which carcases of land-animals
floated and ultimately became engulphed in the silt. It is in these
last deposits, which now form the immediate subsoil of the Pampas, that
the teeth of the _Megatherium_, _Mylodon_, _Glyptodon_, _Mastodon_,
_Horse_, &c. have been found.[748]
[747] See "Buenos Ayres," &c., by Sir Woodbine Parish, 1852, pp.
209-223.
[748] See the charming volume entitled, "Journal of the Voyage of
H. M. S. _Beagle_," by Charles Darwin, Esq; see also Prof. Owen’s
descriptions in the "Zoology of the _Beagle_," and his Report, laid
before the British Association in 1847.
The Megatherium (_Petrif._ p. 478, _Lign._ 112, 113; _Wond._ p. 167;
_Bd._ p. 139, and pl. v.) is the best known to the general reader, from
the graphic exposition of its configuration and habits by Dr. Buckland,
and the splendid remains of its skeleton presented to the Hunterian
Museum by Sir Woodbine Parish; but this animal is only one of several
species of _Edentata_, equally interesting, and almost rivalling it in
magnitude, which the labours of our own naturalists, Sir W. Parish, Mr.
Darwin, and Mr. Pentland, and of Dr. Lund and other foreign savants,
have brought to light. I can only advert to two other genera, namely,
the _Glyptodon_ and _Mylodon_.[749]
[749] An able memoir in the Penny Cyclopædia, Art. Megatheridæ, and
another under the title "Unau," will present the student with an
epitome of all that is at present known of these extinct beings.
[Sidenote: GLYPTODON.]
Glyptodon (_sculptured-tooth_) clavipes. _Lign. 264._--The bony
tesselated carapace, or shield, which was formerly assigned to the
Megatherium (_Bd._ i. p. 159) has been proved,[750] by the discovery
of other specimens, to belong to a gigantic animal, whose bones are
occasionally found associated with those of the Megatherium, and
which is closely allied to the Armadillo. This discovery was made by
my friend, Sir Woodbine Parish, to whose indefatigable exertions the
Hunterian Museum is indebted for its most splendid relics of fossil
Edentata.[751] The bony dermal coat of the Glyptodon (a fine specimen
of which is in the Hunterian Museum) was not disposed in rings as
in the Armadillo, but is made up of polygonal pieces, accurately
articulating with each other, and continuous over the whole of the
upper part of the body and part of the tail; the tail also is enclosed
in a case of this kind, like a sword in its scabbard (_Petrif._ p. 359,
_Lign._ 75).
[750] See _Geol. Trans._ 1835, p. 438, &c.; and Prof. Owen’s elaborate
Memoir on the Glyptodon in _Geol. Trans._ 2d ser. p. 81, pl. x. xiii.
[751] A restored figure of the Glyptodon, together with the skeletons
of the Megathere and the Mylodon, are beautifully illustrated in the
interesting volume on "Buenos Ayres and the Provinces of Rio de la
Plata." 2d Edit. By Sir Woodbine Parish, K. C. H. &c.
The teeth of this animal, which are eight in number on each side of
each jaw, are sculptured laterally, by two wide and deep channels
(_Lign. 264, fig. 1_), which divide the grinding surface of the
tooth into three portions (_Lign. 264, fig. 2_). The hind foot is
very peculiar (see _Lign. 264, fig. 3_), presenting an extreme
modification of the same general plan of structure as that of the
Armadillo. The skeleton of this animal constitutes the type of a
distinct genus (_Glyptodon_), related to the Armadillo (_Dasypus_).
[Illustration: Lign. 264. Glyptodon clavipes.
Tooth and Bones of the Left Foot of a colossal Quadruped allied to the
Armadillo (_reduced size_).
_Pleistocene, near Monte Video._
Fig. 1.--Side view of a tooth, showing the deep lateral channels. The
original four inches long.
2.--Grinding surface of the same.
3.--Outside view of the left hind-foot. Length of the original about
fourteen inches, from the heel to the toe.
(_From the Geol. Trans. 2d. ser. vol. vi. pl. x._)
]
[Sidenote: MYLODON.]
Mylodon.[752]--By this name is designated a gigantic edentate animal,
allied to the Sloth, and formerly described as a species of Megalonyx,
an almost perfect skeleton of which has been obtained from a fluviatile
deposit, a few leagues to the north of the city of Buenos Ayres, and
is now articulated and exhibited in the Museum of the Royal College
of Surgeons of England.[753] The animal appears to have been imbedded
entire, and soon after its death, for the parts of the skeleton were
found but little displaced, and the very few bones that are wanting,
are such as might easily have escaped the search of the collector.
But this magnificent specimen of the extinct fauna of South America
must be seen to be properly appreciated. The skeleton measures eleven
feet from the fore part of the skull to the extremity of the tail,
the latter being three feet in length; the circumference of the trunk
around the tenth pair of ribs is nine feet nine inches; the Megatherium
is eighteen feet in length, and its girth fourteen and a half feet.
These particulars will serve to convey an idea of the relative size of
these gigantic animals. From certain peculiarities in the construction
of the skeleton of the Mylodon, Prof. Owen, perceiving from the teeth
that it was a vegetable feeder, and probably lived on leaves and the
tender buds of trees, and its enormous bulk and weight forbidding
the assumption that it climbed up trees and suspended itself by the
branches, like the diminutive existing Sloths,--assigns to this
creature the task of uprooting and felling trees, and feeding upon the
foliage of the forests it laid prostrate. A remarkable development
of the substance of the bones of the skull is presumed to hare been
a provision against the fatal effects of a fracture of the cranium,
to which the Mylodon, from its supposed uprooting propensities, is
conjectured to have been peculiarly exposed; and the skull of the
specimen in the College bears proofs of having had two fractures, from
both of which the animal recovered. But whoever looks at the skeleton
will perceive that the fore-feet are admirably adapted for seizing
and wrenching oft the branches, and the hinder feet for clasping the
trunk of a large tree; and there is nothing to forbid the supposition,
that the animal could obtain a constant and ready supply of food, by
climbing up the stem to a sufficient height, and wrenching off the
branches. Prof. Owen states, that the Mylodon unites the two great
groups of the _Unguiculata_ (animals with nails and claws), and the
_Ungulata_ (hoofed animals), for it has both hoofs and claws on the
same feet.
[752] Signifying _molar-tooth_,--a name intended to express that the
animal has only teeth adapted for grinding; but this term is equally
applicable to all the other megatheroid animals.
[753] See "Description of the Skeleton of an extinct gigantic Sloth
(_Mylodon robustus_)," &c., by Richard Owen, F.R.S. Hunterian Professor
of the Royal College of Surgeons, 1 vol. 4to. with twenty-four plates,
1842. The lithographs in this work, by Mr. Scharf, are of the highest
excellence: the figure of the entire skeleton of the animal, on a scale
of two inches to a foot, is admirable.
The dental organs consist of four molars on each side the lower, and
five on each side the upper jaw. The teeth are implanted in very deep
sockets, and are of the same size and form throughout, with a conical
pulp-cavity at the base, indicating that their growth continued
during the life of the animal. In structure they resemble those of
the Megatherium and Sloth (_Bradypus_); being composed of a pillar of
coarse dentine, traversed by numerous vascular or medullary canals,
which is invested with a layer of very fine, dense dentine, with minute
calcigerous tubes, and the whole surrounded by a thick coating of
cementum: no enamel enters into their composition. (_Owen._)
V. Fossil Rodents.--Of the mammalia termed _Rodentia_ or Gnawers (see
_Wond._ p. 143), of which the Mouse, Rabbit, and Beaver are examples,
the remains of several genera are found in a fossil state; particularly
in the caverns containing the bones of Carnivora. Dr. Buckland
collected from Kirkdale Cave-bones of a species of Hare or Rabbit,
Mouse and Water-Rat (_Reliq. Diluv._ pl. xi.).
In the eocene gypseous strata of France, two species of Dormouse and
two of Squirrel have been found. From the tertiary sand at Epplesheim,
with the bones of the Dinotherium, those of a species of Hamster or
German Dormouse (_Cricetus_) were obtained.
Fossil teeth of a species of Porcupine (_Hystrix_) occur in the
pliocene deposits of Tuscany.
Of the Beaver (_Castor_), some undoubted remains have been collected in
this country. Those of a species apparently identical with the recent
Beaver of the Danube, have been discovered in the fresh-water deposits
of Essex,[754] Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, and Berks, and in Scotland; and
the remains of the very large extinct species first observed in Russia
(and named, by M. Fischer, _Trogontherium_,) have been found in the
subterranean forest at Bacton, in Suffolk.[755]
[754] See Mr. Brown’s Paper on Copford, _Quart. Geol. Journ._ vol.
viii. p. 188.
[755] See _Hist. Brit. Foss. Mam._ p. 184, &c.; _Quart. Journ. Geol.
Soc._ vol. iv. p. 42; and _Petrif._ p. 357.
[Sidenote: FOSSIL MARSUPIALIA.]
VI. Fossil Marsupialia.[756]--That the remains of an extinct species
of gigantic _Kangaroo_ should be found in the fissures of the rocks
and in the caverns of Australia, a country in which marsupial animals
are the principal existing mammalia, is a fact that will not excite
much surprise; but that beings of this remarkable type of organization
should ever have inhabited the countries situated in the latitude of
the European continent and of Great Britain, would never have been
suspected, but for the researches of the geologist. The fossil remains
of this class discovered in Australia[757] occur in the pleistocene
deposits of Darling Downs, Melbourne, &c. and in fissures and caves
in the limestone of Wellington Valley, imbedded in red ochreous loam,
and are often incrusted by stalactitic concretions. One of the species
exceeds the largest existing Kangaroo, and its bones are associated
with those of the Wombat, and other marsupial animals (_Ly._ p. 155).
[756] Marsupialia; animals that carry their young in a pouch
(_marsupium_), as the Kangaroo.
[757] Rep. Brit. Assoc. 1844, p. 223.
A species of Didelphys (_Opossum_) has been discovered in the gypseous
limestone of Montmartre, and is figured and described by Cuvier (_Oss.
Foss._ vol. iii. pl. lxxi.; see also _Brit. Foss. Mam._ p. 76). It
consists of a considerable part of the skeleton of a small animal,
imbedded in gypsum; the block containing the specimen has been split
asunder, and some of the bones are attached to the surface of one
moiety, and the remainder to the other. From the character of the
jaws and teeth, Cuvier pronounced that the animal was related to the
Opossum, and confidently predicted that the two peculiar bones which
support the pouch in these animals would be found attached to the
fore-part of the pelvis; accordingly he chiselled away the stone, and
disclosed these _marsupial_ bones; thus proving the truth of those
laws of correlation of structure, which he was the first to enunciate
and establish. But as there are true marsupials in which the _ossa
marsupialia_ are merely rudimentary, for example, in the Dog-headed
Opossum, or "Hyæna" of the Tasmanian colonists (_Thylacinus Harrisii_),
in which they are merely two small, oblong, flattened fibro-cartilages,
imbedded in the internal pillars of the abdominal rings, and are only
six lines long and three or four lines broad,--it follows that in a
fossil state the pelvis of a true marsupial animal may be destitute
of those appendages which are commonly supposed to be an essential
character of the marsupial skeleton. Thus the fossil pelvis of the
Thylacinus, had that species been long ago, as it is soon likely to be,
extinct, would not have afforded the certain evidence of its marsupial
character to which Cuvier triumphantly appealed in demonstration of
the Didelphys of the gypsum quarries of Montmartre; yet the Thylacinus
would not therefore have been less essentially a marsupial animal.[758]
[758] See Prof. Owen, _Zoological Society’s Proceedings_, Dec. 1844.
[Sidenote: FOSSIL MAMMALIA.]
In the Eocene sand at Kyson, near Woodbridge, in Suffolk, among
other mammalian remains (_Ly._ p. 203), Mr. Colchester, of Ipswich,
whose researches have been rewarded by many interesting fossils,
found a fragment of the jaw, with one premolar tooth having two
fangs, of a small animal (_Didelphys Colchesteri_, Owen); and which
Mr. Charlesworth (Curator of the Philosophical Institution of York)
ascertained to belong to a marsupial animal allied to the Opossum.[759]
[759] See _Mag. Nat. Hist._ 1839, p. 450; _Rep. Brit. Assoc._ 1842, p.
73; and _Brit. Foss. Mam._ p. 71, _fig._ 22.
But the specimens above described are far surpassed in interest by
those discovered in the Triassic Bone-bed of Würtemberg and in the
Oolite of Stonesfield; the latter consisting of several jaws and teeth
of marsupial animals.
Triassic Mammalian Teeth.--In the thin layer of rolled bones, teeth,
scales, and coprolite, so extensively spread over the top of the Trias
and at the base of the Lias, both in England and in Würtemberg, and
well known to collectors as the "Bone-bed" of Aust Cliff, &c. (_Wond._
p. 529), a few minute _mammalian_ teeth have been discovered by M.
Plieninger at Diegerloch, near Stuttgart, Würtemberg. They appear to
have belonged to one or more small Insectivorous quadrupeds, and have
been described by Plieninger and Jäger. Sir C. Lyell, in the Prefatory
Note to his Manual, 1852, fully treats of these interesting and most
ancient mammalian remains, and gives several exact figures of the teeth.
[Sidenote: STONESFIELD MAMMALIA.]
Fossil Mammalia of Stonesfield.[760] _Lign. 265._ (_Bd._ pl. ii. _Ly._
p. 268. _Wond._ p. 510.)--The best known examples of the fossil remains
of mammalia in the Secondary formations, and, excepting the teeth just
mentioned, of the highest antiquity, according to our present knowledge
of the earth’s physical history, are several mutilated lower jaws with
teeth, of some very small animals, which are supposed to belong to
insectivorous marsupial quadrupeds.[761]
[760] See Owen’s _Brit. Foss. Mam._ pp. 29-70, figs. 15-20; and
_Petrifactions_, p. 401, _et seq._
[761] A small mammalian vertebra from Stonesfield is in Mr. Morris’s
collection, and has been figured by Mr. Bowerbank, _Quat. Geol. Jour._
vol. iv. pl. i. fig. 4, and pl. ii. fig. 6.
[Illustration: Lign. 265. Lower Jaws of Mammalia; _nat._
_Great Oolite._ _Stonesfield._
Fig. 1.--Phascolotherium Bucklandi. The right branch of the lower
jaw, seen from within, with seven grinders, one canine tooth,
and three incisors.
2.--Amphitherium Broderipii. The left branch of the lower jaw
the inner side; the incisor and canine teeth are wanting
The upper figures are enlarged views of three molar teeth.
(_Geol. Trans._ 2d ser. vol. vi. pl. vi.)
]
These most important organic remains have all been found in the
oolitic calcareous flag-stones of Stonesfield: deposits which, as we
have already had occasion to notice, teem with other relics of great
interest. Two specimens of the natural size are represented _Lign.
265_, and will serve for reference to the collector who may visit that
interesting locality.
The existence of undoubted mammalia in the secondary formations was
first made known by Dr. Buckland (in 1823), who, upon the authority of
Cuvier, stated that the two specimens then discovered at Stonesfield
belonged to marsupials allied to the Opossum (_Didelphys_). These
fossils were the left branches of two lower jaws; both were imbedded in
the stone by the external surface, the inner side only being exposed.
One of the specimens has ten molar teeth in a row; the other (the
beautiful fossil, _fig. 1, Lign. 265_, now in the British Museum,)
has seven molars, one canine tooth, and three incisors. Five other
specimens have since been found.[762]
[762] See _Brit. Foss. Mam._ pp. 15-70, for ample details of their
anatomical characters, and physiological relations.
The _Amphitherium_ had thirty-two teeth in the lower jaw, that is,
sixteen on each side; it is presumed to have been insectivorous, and
to have belonged to the _placental_ mammalia. The _Phascolotherium_
had four true molar teeth, and three or four false molars, one canine,
and three incisors in each branch of the lower jaw; and closely
approximates to _marsupial_ genera now restricted to New South Wales
and Van Diemen’s Land. It is, indeed, as Professor Phillips first
remarked, an interesting fact, that the other organic remains of the
British Oolite correspond with the existing forms now confined to
the Australian continent and neighbouring seas; for in those distant
latitudes, the _Cestracionts_, _Trigoniæ_, and _Terebratulæ_ inhabit
the ocean, and the _Cycadeæ_ and _Araucariæ_ flourish on the dry land
(_Wond._ p. 894).
Thus we have evidence of the existence of the Marsupial order during
the Secondary and Tertiary formations, a proof, as Dr. Buckland
observes (_Bd._ p. 73), that this order, instead of being, as was once
supposed, of more recent introduction than other orders of mammalia,
was, in reality, the most ancient condition under which animals of
this class first existed in the earlier geological epochs, and was
coexistent with many other orders throughout Europe in the Eocene
period; while its geographical distribution in the existing fauna is
restricted to North and South America, and to New Holland, and the
adjacent islands.
VII. Fossil Carnivora.--The fossil bones and teeth of numerous species
of _Carnivora_, the order comprising the mammalia which prey on other
animals, of which the Weasel, Bear, Cat, Dog, &c. are examples, abound
in fissures and caverns, in conglomerated rocks, and in drifted sand
and gravel. The remains of the colossal Pachyderms, the Mastodons and
Elephants, lie buried, for the most part, as we have previously shown,
in the superficial alluvial deposits; but the Carnivora, although
occasionally entombed with the Herbivora in superficial gravels and
loams, are principally found imbedded in the floors of extensive
caverns.[763] In many instances, such immense quantities of bones and
teeth of individuals of all ages, and belonging to but one or two
species, occur in certain caves, as to render it probable that these
were for a long period the dens of the extinct species of Bears,
Hyænas, &c. whose bones they enclose.
[763] _Rep. Brit. Assoc._ 1842, sect. p. 62. For an account of the
ossiferous caves of the Brazils, see _Petrif._ p. 483.
Another remarkable geological condition in which fossil bones
of Carnivora occur, is that of an ossiferous conglomerate, or
_bone-breccia_; that is, a conglomerate formed of fragments of
limestone and bones, cemented together into a hard rock by a reddish
calcareous concretion. This breccia is found in almost all the islands
on the shores of the basin of the Mediterranean Sea; as for example,
at Gibraltar, Cette, Nice, Cerigo, Corsica, Palermo, &c. The most
celebrated of the bone-caves are situated in Franconia, and in many
parts of the Hartz. That of Gailenreuth has long been known for its
fossil treasures, which principally consist of the bones and teeth
of two extinct species of Bears. One of these is equal in size to a
large horse, and is termed _Ursus spelæus_ (Bear of the Caverns); and
skeletons have been found of all ages, from the adult to the cub but
a few days old (see _Wond._ pp. 176, 177). There are numerous caverns
in the neighbouring district, some of which are equally rich in the
remains of Carnivora.[764] Similar fossils are also found in the
consolidated gravel and drift in various parts of Germany, and in the
fissures of rocks containing iron-ore, at Kropp, in Carniola.
[764] A highly interesting account of the Ossiferous Caves of the Hartz
and Franconia, by Sir Philip Grey Egerton, Bart, was published in 1834,
_Geol. Proc._ vol. ii. p. 94. See also Captain Montagu’s notice of the
Sophienhöhle further on, at p. 820.
[Sidenote: BONE-CAVERNS.]
Even in Australia, caves with ossiferous breccia are numerous; but the
bones belong to extinct marsupial animals of genera still existing
in the country (see _Rep. Brit. Assoc._ 1844; _Petrif._ p. 133; and
_Wond._ p. 188). In England, several caverns presenting similar
phenomena have been discovered. That of Kirkdale, near Kirby Moorside,
Yorkshire, is well known from the celebrity it acquired by the graphic
illustration of its contents by Dr. Buckland.[765] This cave, or
rather fissure, for its dimensions were too limited to merit the name
of cavern, was situated in oolitic limestone; it was two hundred and
fifty feet long, from two to fourteen high, and six or seven wide. The
floor was occupied by a bed of indurated mud, covered over with a thick
crust of stalagmite; the roof and sides being invested with a similar
calcareous sparry coating, as is commonly the case in all fissures in
limestone rocks.[766] From this cave were obtained numerous bones of
Hyænas, associated with bones, more or less fractured, of Tiger, Bear,
Wolf, Fox, Weasel, Elephant, Rhinoceros, Hippopotamus, Horse, Deer,
Ox, Hare or Rabbit, Mouse, Water-rat, and fragments of skeletons of
Ravens, Pigeons, Larks, and Ducks. Many of the bones exhibited marks
of having been gnawed, and crushed by the teeth of some animals. From
all the facts observed, and which are detailed by Dr. Buckland with
his wonted graphic power, it is inferred that the cave was inhabited
for a considerable period by Hyænas; that many of the remains found
there were of individuals carried in and devoured by those animals, and
that in some instances the hyænas preyed upon each other. The portions
of bone referable to the elephant seem to prove that occasionally the
large mammalia were also obtained for food; but it is probable that
the smaller animals were either drifted in by currents of water, or
fell into the chasm through fissures now closed up by stalactitical
incrustations.
[765] Dr. Buckland’s celebrated work, "Reliquiæ Diluvianæ," contains
an admirable description of these caverns and their contents, with
numerous plates. The student, in consulting this volume, must separate
the _facts_ from the diluvial theory, which, at the period of its
publication (1823), they were supposed by Dr. Buckland and other
eminent geologists to confirm.
[766] For a general description of the cave at Kirkdale, see _Wond._ p.
179; and for details, _Reliq. Diluv._ pp. 1-19. The ossiferous caves at
Kirkdale, Torquay, and Banwell are noticed, _Petrif._ p. 482.
Kent’s Cave, near Torquay, Oreston Cave, near Plymouth, and several
other caves in Devonshire, have yielded great numbers of bones and
teeth of Carnivora and Pachydermata (see _Reliq. Diluv._ p. 67).
Kent’s Hole is the most productive ossiferous cavern in England,
and its vicinity to Torquay renders it of easy access. An extensive
collection of teeth and bones was obtained from this cave by the
late Rev. J. MacEnery, comprising, in addition to the usual extinct
Carnivora, skulls and teeth of Badger (_Meles taxus_), Otter (_Lutra
vulgaris_), Pole-cat (_Putorius vulgaris_), Stoat or Ermine (_P.
erminius_), &c. A selection of the choicest specimens in this
collection is deposited in the British Museum.
In Glamorganshire, two large caverns, called Goat’s Hole, and Paviland
Cave, containing numerous bones of Bear, Hyæna, Wolf, Fox, Rhinoceros,
Elephant, &c., are situated in a lofty cliff of limestone, between
Oxwich Bay and the Worm’s Head, on the property of Earl Talbot, fifteen
miles west of Swansea (_Reliq. Diluv._ p. 82).
[Sidenote: FOSSIL CARNIVORA.]
In the western district of the Mendip Hills, in Somersetshire, there
are several ossiferous fissures and caves. The most interesting are
those of Hutton, on the northern escarpment of Bleadon Hill; and of
Banwell, lying about a mile to the east of Hutton. They contain remains
of two species of bear, one (_Ursus spelæus_) of immense size and
strength; and of Tiger, Hyæna, Wolf, Fox, Deer, Ox, and Elephant.[767]
[767] See a Memoir "On the Caverns and Fissures in the Western District
of the Mendip Hills," by the late Rev. D. Williams. Proc. Royal
Society, June 2, 1831, p. 55.
From the caves at Hutton, the Rev. D. Williams obtained the milk-teeth
and other remains of a calf-elephant, about two years old, and those
of a young tiger, just shedding its milk-teeth; also the grinders of a
young horse, that were casting their coronary surfaces; and remains of
two species of hyæna.
But one instance of the fossil bones of Carnivora has been observed
in the south-east of England. It occurred in a fissure in a quarry of
sandstone at Boughton, near Maidstone; among other bones, the lower
jaw of a Hyæna (see Frontispiece of Vol. I.), with the teeth, was
obtained.[768]
[768] See _Mag. Nat. Hist._ 1836, vol. ix. p. 593; and _Quart. Journ.
Geol. Soc._ vol. vii. p. 383.
In the modern silt of our alluvial districts, the remains of
carnivorous animals, formerly indigenous to this island, are
occasionally met with; and the skeleton of the Brown Bear (a species
which inhabited Scotland eight centuries ago), and of the Wolf,
whose extinction is of a yet later date, have been discovered. The
Woodwardian Museum at Cambridge contains an entire skull of the Brown
Bear (_Ursus arctos_), found in the Manea Fen of Cambridgeshire;[769]
in an ancient fresh-water deposit, near Bacton, in Norfolk, the right
lower jaw of the Bear of the Caverns (_Ursus spelæus_), has been
discovered;[770] and the phalangeal bone of a large Bear has been found
by Mr. J. Brown in the pleistocene deposits at Copford, Essex, with
the remains of Beaver, Elephant, Stag, &c. (_Geol. Journ._ vol. viii.
p. 187.)
[769] A beautiful lignograph of this specimen is given in _Hist. Brit.
Foss. Mam._ p. 77, _fig._ 24.
[770] Hist. Brit. Foss. Mam. p. 89.
Thus the remains of fossil Carnivora discovered in England comprise
several kinds of Bear[771] (including the two species of the caverns
of Germany, _U. priscus_ and _U. spelæus_), and of Tiger, Hyæna, Wolf,
Fox, &c.
[771] _Petrif._ p. 398. In the _Pict. Atlas_, pl. lxxiii., is a good
figure of a large Bear’s tooth. Teeth of Bear, Tiger, Hyæna, and
Arvicola, are figured in _Ly._ p. 161.
Although we cannot dwell on foreign localities of Carnivora, I may
mention that the lacustrine pliocene formation of Œningen occasionally
yields fine remains. A splendid specimen, obtained from that locality
by Sir R. I. Murchison, displays almost the entire skeleton of a
Fox-like animal, the _Galecynus Œningensis_ of Prof. Owen.[772]
[772] See _Geol. Trans._ 2d ser. vol. iii. pl. xxxiii.; and _Quart.
Geol. Journ._ vol. iii. p. 55.
The Seal, which is one of the marine carnivorous mammalia, also occurs
in a fossil state in England. A femur of a species of _Phoca_ has been
found, with the remains of a Monkey and Bat, in a tertiary deposit in
Suffolk. In the tertiary strata of Malta an extinct species of Seal has
also been discovered. In the bone-beds of New Zealand my son frequently
found bones and teeth of Seals, probably of the species now inhabiting
the South Pacific. (_Petrif._ p. 130.)
Of the Insectivora, the fossil remains of several genera occur.
In England, the jaw with teeth of a large species of Mole (named
Palæospalax,[773] _ancient mole_), has been discovered in a lacustrine
deposit at Ostend, near Bacton, on the coast of Norfolk, associated
with bones of Elephant, Deer, Roebuck, and Beaver. This animal must
have been as large as a hedgehog. The only part of the skeleton
hitherto obtained is a portion of the left side of the lower jaw,
containing six molars; its natural affinities have therefore been
inferred from the characters of the crowns of the teeth.
[773] _Hist. Brit. Foss. Mam._ p. 25.
[Sidenote: FOSSIL CHEIROPTERA AND QUADRUMANA.]
The Cheiroptera (_hand-wings_) or Bats, are mammalia which have the
power of flight, from the bones of the phalanges or fingers being
enormously elongated and giving support to a fine membranous expansion;
they are rarely found fossil, although, from their habits of haunting
and hybernating in fissures and caves, their skeletons often occur
mingled in the earth of the floor of caverns, and imbedded in crannies
of rocks, with bones of extinct animals.
The remains of a considerable portion of the skeleton of one species
of Bat was discovered by Cuvier in the gypsum of Montmartre,[774] and
another example in a gypseous deposit, at Köstritz, in Germany, with
remains of extinct species of other mammalia. Two instances of British
fossil Bats are recorded;[775] the one from Kent’s Cavern, collocated
with the extinct Carnivora, and referred to the Horse-shoe Bat
(_Rhinolophus_); the other from Kyson, in Suffolk, found in the same
deposit with the remains of the Monkey, presently to be noticed.
[774] Discours sur les Révolutions de la Surface du Globe, par Baron
G. Cuvier, 4to. 1826, pl. ii. _fig._ 1.
[775] _Rep. Brit. Assoc._ 1842, and _Brit. Foss. Mam._ pp. 11-18.
VIII. Fossil Quadrumana, or Monkeys.--The illustrious Cuvier, when
commenting on the extraordinary fact, that among the innumerable
fossil relics of the mammalia which peopled the continents and islands
of our planet, through the vast periods comprehended in the tertiary
formations, no traces of Man or of his works occur, emphatically
remarked, that it was a phenomenon not less surprising, that no
remains of the quadrumanous races, which rank next to Man in physical
conformation, should have been found in a fossil state; and that the
circumstance was the more remarkable, because the majority of the
mammalia found in the younger and older tertiary strata have their
congeners at the present time in the warmest regions of the globe; in
those intertropical climates where the existing quadrumana are almost
exclusively located.[776]
[776] Discours sur les Révolutions de la Surface du Globe, p. 171.
Fossil Ape of France.--But the remains of this order have at length
been discovered in the most ancient of the tertiary deposits, and
under circumstances which admit of no doubt as to the antiquity of the
fossils or the strata in which they were imbedded; and almost at the
same time in France and in the Sub-Himalayas; and very recently in the
Brazils and in England. The first European specimen was discovered at
Sansan, near Auch, about forty miles west of Toulouse, by M. Lartet,
with remains of the Rhinoceros, Deer, Antelope, Palæotherium, &c. It
consists of the lower jaw, almost complete, with all the teeth, of an
adult animal, of an extinct species, related to the long-limbed and
tailed monkey, called _Semnopithecus_, of which the Negro Monkey is an
example. A fragment of another jaw has been found in the same locality.
Fossil Monkey of the Sub-Himalayas.--In the inexhaustible mine of
fossil bones, discovered by British Officers in India, the upper jaw of
an Ape was found by Messrs. Baker and Durand, and fragments of other
jaws and some bones were subsequently collected by Dr. Falconer and
Captain Cautley. These relics conjointly established the existence of
a gigantic quadrumanous animal in the groves of India at the Eocene
epoch, when the gigantic Tortoise, the lofty Sivatherium, and the
colossal Mastodon tenanted the plains, and Hippopotami frequented
the marshes and rivers. This fossil Ape also is related to the
_Semnopithecus_.
Fossil Monkey of South America.--Dr. Lund, the eminent Danish
naturalist, to whose indefatigable researches, and successful
determination of the colossal Edentata, we have previously alluded, has
discovered the bones of a gigantic Ape, four feet in height, related
to the Capuchin Monkey, in the ossiferous breccia of the caves of
Brazil.
British Fossil Monkeys, _Ly._ p. 202.--The first fossil relic of a
quadrumanous animal from the British strata was obtained in 1839, from
a bed of Eocene sand, at Kyson, a few miles east of Woodbridge, in
Suffolk, by W. Colchester, Esq. The first specimen found consisted of a
small fragment of the right side of the lower jaw, with the last molar
tooth entire in its socket; another relic is the crown of one fang of
the first molar tooth, of the same species. These relics have been
referred to an extinct species of Monkey, related to the _Macacus_,
which has been named _Macacus eocænus_, in allusion to the geological
age of the stratum in which the remains were discovered.[777] In this
Eocene sand have also been discovered the remains of a Bat (p. 813),
and of a Marsupial (_Didelphys_, p. 805), and numerous fish-teeth
(_Lamna_, p. 594); whilst in the clay overlying this sand were found
the vertebra of a Serpent (_Palæophis_, p. 738) and several teeth of
a Pachyderm (_Hyracotherium_, p. 791). Prof. Owen in the _Hist. Brit.
Foss. Mam._ p. xlvi. figures and briefly notices the relics of another
species of _Macacus_, from the newer pliocene, or pleistocene, brick
earth at Grays, Essex.
[777] Owen, British Fossil Mammalia, p. 1, figs. 1, 3.
Fossil Human Bones.--In the Swabian Alps, human teeth and several
perfect human skulls are said to have been found in deposits in which
elephantine remains also occur. This subject was brought before the
meeting of the German Association for the Advancement of Science at
Tubingen, by Fraas and Jäger, and, if correctly reported, naturally
leads to the conclusion that human beings were contemporaneous with
the extinct elephants and some of the other large pachydermata in the
regions referred to.
[Sidenote: ON COLLECTING FOSSIL MAMMALIA.]
On Collecting and Developing the Fossil Remains of Mammalia.--But few
directions for the developing and repairing of the fossil remains
of mammalia will be required in this place, the suggestions already
offered, and particularly those in vol. i. pp. 45-49, embracing full
instructions on this head.[778] On the method recommended in p. 46, for
strengthening the friable bones of the large mammalia, I may observe,
that the _drying-oil_ is prepared by boiling _litharge_ in oil, in the
proportion of one ounce of the litharge to a pint of oil.
[778] Cement.--The following formula was given me by an eminent
collector and developer of fossils:--
Gum mastic, one ounce;
Rectified spirit of wine, sufficient to dissolve it.
Isinglass, one ounce, soaked in water until soft; then dissolve it in
pure rum or brandy until it is in the state of stiff glue: add to this
a quarter of an ounce of gum ammoniacum, well rubbed and mixed.
Put the two solutions together in an earthen vessel, over a gentle
heat; when thoroughly melted and united, put the mixture into smooth,
well-corked bottles.
_Use._--Immerse the bottle in hot water until the cement is
sufficiently liquid for use.
The search for fossils of this class is attended with much less
certainty of success than for other animal remains. In the following
list, page 818, the localities most likely to be productive are
enumerated; but we have no caverns, as in Germany, so rich in remains
of this kind as to ensure the discovery of specimens by the casual
visitor; for the treasures of the most productive cave, that of
Banwell, are prohibited; the proprietor carefully preserving every
fragment. A short residence near some of the best localities and daily
research are required for obtaining interesting specimens. For example,
a residence at Ryde, for a search in the fresh-water tertiary limestone
at Binstead; at Torquay, for Kent’s cavern; or some other town or
village near the other caves in Devonshire; Herne Bay, for the London
Clay at Studd’s Hill, that produced the Hyracotherium; Woodbridge or
Kyson, for the Suffolk mammalia; Walton and Clacton, in Essex, for
remains of Elephants in the pleistocene deposits of that coast.
In searching for bones and teeth in an unexplored cave, the following
suggestions by Dr. Buckland will be found of great value. Select the
lowest parts in the cavern or fissure into which any mud or clay
can have been drifted or accumulated; and then break through the
stalagmitic crust of the floor, and dig down into the silt and pebbles,
&c. below, in which bones and teeth will be found, if the spot contains
any relics of this kind. As a test for distinguishing the ancient
bones found in these caves from those which may have been recently
introduced, the tongue should be applied to them when dry, and they
will adhere in consequence of the loss of their animal gluten, without
the substitution of any mineral substance, such as we commonly find
in the fossil bones of the regular strata. Human bones found in caves
always possess too much animal gluten to adhere to the tongue when
dry.[779]
[779] Dr. Buckland on Fossil Bones of Bears in the Grotto of Osselles,
near Besançon, in France. _Geol. Proc._ vol. i. p. 22.
Along the eastern coast of England, and often off the mouth of the
Thames, the fishermen dredge up teeth, tusks, and bones of Elephants;
and good specimens may sometimes be thus procured. The Ramsgate
fishermen employed in trawling in the North Sea and English channel,
frequently bring up in their gear fragments of fossil bones of
Mammoths, and other mammalia. From the bank of the Goodwin-sands,
large tusks have been procured. On the shore near Herne Bay, very
fine mammalian remains are occasionally obtained. In the Museum at
Canterbury, there was (and I believe is) a good collection of fossil
bones of large Pachydermata procured from the neighbouring coast. It is
a remarkable fact, that immense quantities of the bones of Mammoths,
or fossil Elephants, are strewn over the bed of the German Ocean and
English Channel.[780] The late Mr. Woodward informed me, that the
teeth and tusks of Elephants collected along the Norfolk and Suffolk
coasts, within his own cognizance, must have belonged to upwards of
five hundred individuals.
[780] _Geol. Trans._ 2d ser. vol. vi. p. 161.
BRITISH LOCALITIES OF FOSSIL MAMMALIA.
Bacton, Norfolk. See _Ostend_.
Banwell Cave, fifteen miles from Bristol, and three from Banwell
Station. Bones and teeth of Bears, Hyænas, a Felis larger than the
Lion; but chiefly of Deer and Oxen.
Berry Head, Devonshire; Cave. Carnivora; as Bear, Badger, Tiger,
Pole-cat, Stoat.
Binstead, near Ryde, Isle of Wight. _Upper Eocene._ Fresh-water
limestone. Teeth and bones of Anoplotherium, Palæotherium,
Chæropotamus, Dichobune.
Brighton Cliffs. Between Kemptown and Rottingdean, in the beds above
the Chalk. _Pleistocene._ Teeth and bones of Elephant, Horse, Deer,
Oxen; jaw of a Whale.
Copford, Essex. _Pleistocene._ Elephant, Stag, Ox, Beaver, Bear, &c.
Crayford, Kent. _Pleistocene._ Elephant, Horse, &c.
Easton, a mile and a half north of Southwold. Mastodon tooth, and
Carnivora.
Folkstone, Kent. _Pleistocene._ On the top of the west cliff and in
the valley; bones of Elephant, Hyæna, Hippopotamus, Ox, Horse, Stag,
&c. (_Quart. Geol. Journ._ vol. vii. p. 257.)
Grays, Essex. _Pleistocene._ Elephant, Monkey, &c.
Harwich, Essex. _Pleistocene._ Elephant’s teeth, &c.
Herne Bay. In _London Clay_; Hyracotherium, Chæropotamus. In
_Pleistocene_ deposits; Elephant, Whale.
Hoe, near Plymouth, raised Beach at. _Pleistocene._ Elephant,
Rhinoceros, Bear, Deer, Whale, &c.
Horstead, Norfolk. _Pleistocene._ Mastodon tooth.
Hutton Caves, near Banwell, Somersetshire. Carnivora, Pachydermata,
&c. See p. 783.
Isle of Man. _Pleistocene._ The gigantic Irish Deer (_Cervus
megaceros._)
Kent’s Cave, near Torquay. The most productive of the British
ossiferous caverns (see p. 813). Bear, Badger, Tiger, Wolf, and other
Carnivora; Rhinoceros, Elephant, and other Pachydermata.
Kirkdale, by Kirby Moorside, Yorkshire (see p. 783). I know not if any
accessible part of this celebrated cave remains.
Kyson, near Woodbridge, Suffolk. On the side of the river Deben, about
a mile from Woodbridge, in the parish of Kyson (Kingston). The strata
consist of, 1. Red crag, the uppermost. 2. London clay, about twelve
feet. 3. White and yellow sand. In this lower Eocene bed the relics of
_Monkey_, _Didelphys_, and _Bat_.
Manea Fen, Cambridgeshire. _Pleistocene._ Skull of Bear.
Newbourn, Suffolk. _Pleistocene._ Mastodon tooth. Leopard.
Newbury, Berks. _Pleistocene._ In the peat and shell-marl, Boar, Ox,
Roebuck, Stag, Beaver, Wolf, Ass, &c.
Norwich. _Pleistocene._ Mammoth’s teeth and bones.
Oreston Cave, near Plymouth. Carnivora, Wolf, Bear, Hyæna, &c.
Ostend, near Bacton, on the coast of Norfolk. In a lacustrine deposit
of dark clay and greenish sand, with charred trunks and branches of
trees. A section presents--1. Uppermost: Drift. 2. Black earth, with
shells. 3. Reddish sand. 4. Norwich crag, in patches. 5. Chalk. Nos.
2 and 3 are lacustrine; and in these Pleistocene beds have been found
Gigantic Mole (_Palæospalax_), Elephant, Deer, Roebuck, fossil Beaver
(_Trogontherium_), jaw of Bear (_Ursus spelæus_). See Hist. Brit.
Foss. Mam. p. 85.
Paviland Cave, fifteen miles west of Swansea; between Oxwich Bay and
the Worm’s Head, Glamorganshire. Rhinoceros, Mammoth, Hyæna, Wolf.
Plymouth. Caverns near elevated Beach, at the Hoe. Elephant,
Rhinoceros, Bear, &c.
Postwick, near Norwich. _Pleistocene._ Tooth of Mastodon.
Seafield, Isle of Wight. _Upper Eocene._ Palæotherium.
Southbourn, Sussex. _Pleistocene._ The plain of alluvial mud and clay,
called the "_Wish:_" a section seen on the sea-shore between the
Sea-houses and the foot of the chalk hills. Elephant, Hippopotamus,
Deer, Horse, Ox.
Southwold, Suffolk. _Pleistocene._ Elephant, Rhinoceros, Horse, Deer,
Mastodon: Otter, in Red Crag.
Stonesfield, near Woodstock, Oxfordshire. _Great Oolite._ The only
known locality in England of remains of mammalia of the Secondary
period. See p. 805.
Studd Hill, a mile westward of Herne Bay. _London clay._
_Hyracotherium_.
Swansea (Paviland Cave, near). See Paviland.
Wirksworth, Dream Cave. A perfect skull of Rhinoceros; in Dr.
Buckland’s museum, at Oxford.
Woodbridge, Suffolk. At Kyson, near Woodbridge. _Eocene._ Teeth of
Monkey, &c.
_Note._--For notices of the occurrence of Mammalian Bones at
Betchworth, Brighton, Dover, East Bourn, Folkstone, Maidstone, Marden,
Peasemarsh, the valley of the Wey, Stonesfield Slate, Thames Valley,
&c., see _Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc._ vol. vii. (consult Index). Of
foreign localities, Tibet, Upper Punjab, Siwalik Hills, Vichy, &c., are
also referred to in the same volume.
BONE CAVES IN FRANCONIA.
⁂ Captain Willoughby Montagu having favoured me in 1844
with an account of the state of the principal caves in Franconian
Switzerland, which he had lately visited, the subjoined extract may
be useful to the continental traveller. The cave of _Sophienhöhle_
appears to be highly interesting; the stalactites remaining uninjured,
and the ossiferous floor in the state in which it was discovered;
whilst the much-frequented caverns have been stripped of every relic
by the spoliations of visitors during the last century and a half.
"The northern part of Bavaria, which is denominated 'Franconian
Switzerland,' is situated about the centre of a triangle, formed
between Bamberg on the N.W., Bayreuth N.E., and Nuremberg S.; the best
road from this latter city diverging beyond Erlangen to the north.
"The nearest route from London is through Belgium, from Ostend or
Antwerp, by the line of railroad which (since October, 1843) passes
on from Liege and Verviers, by Aix-la-Chapelle to Cologne. Thence by
steam up the Rhine, by Coblentz to Mayence, and again by railway to
Frankfort. In summer there are steam boats up and down the Maine,
as far as Wurzburg, daily, and higher up, between Schweinfurt and
Bamberg, which latter distance is performed in eight hours going up.
and five down. Or there is a diligence (_eilwagen_) from Frankfort
direct to Nuremberg, from which place (or Bamberg, &c.) a carriage
must be hired to Muggendorf, the principal village of that interesting
district. It lies about half way on the post road between Erlangen and
Bayreuth, and has two tolerable country inns; the people are civil,
and moderate in their charges, at least for the freshest trout and
good wine of Bavaria.
"This charming spot and neighbourhood attracts not only the geologist
and lover of the picturesque, but also the angler, who finds
excellent fishing in the clear, rapidly-winding streams of the
Wiesent, with its tributary waters, all of which are romantically
placed in the suddenly deep dales of this table-land. The Wiesent
flows through Forchheim into the Regnitz, westward, and this into the
Maine, north.
"As to the time necessary to get there, during the summer days it
would only require one to pass through Belgium to Aix, including the
transit of this frontier into Prussia, with slight search of baggage.
Then, in between four and five hours to Cologne, where the steamers
generally wait for the arrival of these trains; and, taking the first
boat up, it is possible to reach Bingen (if not Mayence late) the
same evening. From Frankfort, by diligence, starting at 11 A.M., and
travelling all night, Nuremberg may be reached on the second day; and
the centre of operations, about Muggendorf, on the fifth from quitting
the sea-coast. In returning by the Maine,--from Wurzburg to Mayence
maybe performed in one long day, and then on the Rhine, the descent
being much quicker than the upward course against the streams, the
return homewards may be accomplished in one day less.
"The nearest way to Ostend is by the South-Eastern Railroad to Dover,
and embark for Belgium.
"The newly-discovered cave, called _Sophienhöhle_, lies on the
right bank of a streamlet, which gives its name to a romantic and
rocky valley, _Ahorn-thal_, and flows S.W. toward Gösweinstein,
until it falls into the Wiesent. The situation of the cave is near
Klaustemerhöhle, and opposite to Ludwigshöhle: and it is far easier
of access than Gailenreuth, and may be inspected by ladies with the
greatest facility. An intelligent female showed us through its lofty
and interesting details. This cave is nearly 300 feet wide, and 150
feet in height. The quantity of fossil bones strewed about the floor
was very great, notwithstanding many of the finest specimens had been
removed, and were to be seen in the neighbouring castle of Count
S----; added to this, the long, pendant curtains of stalactite, and
the stupendous size of the cavern, contributed to make it appear
to me far surpassing in interest that near Gailenreuth, called
_Zoolithen-Höhle_, which I had visited the day before. The keys of
this cavern--for this, as well as the other celebrated caves, is
locked up, to guard against depredations--are kept at the large farm
or steward’s house, hard by. The state of the weather prevented our
visiting Forstershöhle (_Forest Cavern_), which lies further N.E.
beyond the little town of Weischenfeld, near Zeubach; but which, we
were informed, was equal in interest to this of Sophienhöhle. The
tourist desirous of visiting this interesting district, will find Mr.
Murray’s Handbook of Southern Germany an excellent guide: I can vouch
for its accuracy."
RETROSPECT.
_"Ce que nous connaissons est peu de chose; ce que nous ignorons
est immense."_
La Place.
We have now arrived at the close of this argument; we have taken a
general survey of the fossilized relics of the various classes of the
animal and vegetable kingdoms, and have explained the methods by which
the inscriptions on these "Medals of Creation" may be deciphered.
But numerous as are the facts that have passed in review before us,
and great as the accession of geological knowledge has been during
the last fifty years, the data hitherto obtained are insufficient to
elucidate many of the obscure pages of the earth’s physical history;
and to future discoveries must be left the full interpretation of many
phenomena as yet obscurely presented to us.
In vain we endeavour to penetrate the veil which shrouds from our
view many of the mighty events that preceded the history of our race,
for,--although the shades of colossal and unknown forms belonging to
the remote ages of a past eternity obey the spell of the true magician
Science,--yet of the innumerable beings which through countless
centuries
"The Earth has gather’d to her breast again,
And yet again, the millions that were born
Of her unnumber’d, unremember’d tribes--"
how few, comparatively, could even the transcendent genius of Cuvier
reveal!
If we endeavour to trace the order of succession, in which the extinct
and existing types of animal and vegetable organization have appeared
upon the face of our globe, as demonstrated by fossil remains, we at
once perceive how imperfectly our knowledge enables us to present
a true picture of the development of organic life as it existed in
the remotest ages. Ascending from the _Granite_--that shroud which
conceals for ever from human ken the earliest scenes of the earth’s
physical drama--the first glimpses we obtain of animated nature are a
few sea-weeds, shells, and Crustacea. But can we doubt for a moment
that that ancient sea had its boundaries and its shores--that then,
as now, there were islands and continents, and hills and valleys, and
streams and rivers, teeming with appropriate inhabitants? The little
Lycopodiaceous seed-vessels in the Ludlow bone-bed afford as certain
indication of dry land, as the olive branch which the dove brought back
to the Ark; one fact of this kind overthrows a host of theories based
upon negative evidence.
Throughout the lower palæozoic rocks organic life presents numerous
modifications; and the remains of small placoid fishes appear in the
uppermost Silurian. In the Devonian we meet with rare reptilian remains
and foot-prints. In the Carboniferous rocks the sauroid Batrachians
have left their relics and their foot-tracks. In the succeeding
period these reptiles predominate; and on the sands of the Triassic
ocean we have the foot-prints of monster reptiles and the tracks of
bipeds--colossal bird-footed creatures--of which no other vestiges
remain, and to which the existing order of creation affords no parallel.
The last bed of the Trias affords the first indication of Mammalian
life.
We now enter upon that marvellous epoch, during which reptilian
organization obtained its fullest development--when the Iguanodon and
Megalosaurus--
"Mighty Pre-Adamites who walked the earth,
Of which ours is the wreck--"
Byron.
were the principal inhabitants of vast islands and continents. But
here, as at an earlier period, we have proof that warm-blooded animals
existed; and the diminutive marsupial insectivorous Mammalia of the
Oolite and the birds of the Wealden attest that the system of animal
creation was complete.
Leaving behind us the Age of Reptiles, we approach that of the colossal
Mammalia, when extensive countries were peopled by the enormous
herbivorous Megatheres, the Mastodons, and gigantic Pachyderms, long
since become extinct. But with these lost forms many existing races
were contemporary; including the Monkey tribes, which, of all animals,
approach nearest to man in their physical organization. Thus, by slow
and almost insensible gradations, we arrive at the present state of
animate and inanimate nature. But even after the existing continents
had attained their present configuration, in the period immediately
antecedent to the human epoch, innumerable tribes of carnivorous
animals swarmed throughout the temperate climates of Europe; the Tiger,
Hyæna, and Bear prowled through the woods and inhabited the caverns;
and the Horse and Elephant, with gigantic Deer and Oxen, tenanted the
plains.
But of Man and of his works not a vestige appears throughout the vast
periods embraced in this review. Yet were any of the existing islands
or continents to be engulphed in the depths of the ocean, and loaded
with marine detritus, and in future ages be elevated above the waters,
covered with consolidated mud and sand, how different would be the
characters of those strata from any which have preceded them! Their
most striking features would be the remains of Man, and the productions
of human art--the domes of his temples, the columns of his palaces,
the arches of his stupendous bridges of iron and stone, the ruins of
his towns and cities, and the durable remains of his earthly tenement
imbedded in the rocks and strata--these would be the "Medals of
Creation" of the _Human Epoch_, and transmit to the remotest periods of
time a faithful record of the present condition of the surface of the
earth, and of its inhabitants.[781]
[781] See Sir H. Davy’s Last Days of a Philosopher.
APPENDIX TO PART III.
PROFESSOR OWEN’S CLASSIFICATION OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM.
(_From the Hunterian Lectures for 1843._)
Kingdom--ANIMALIA (_animals_).
Sub-kingdom--Vertebrata (_having a spinal column_).
Class--Mammalia (_animals that give suck_).
Aves (_birds_).
Reptilia (_reptiles_).
Pisces (_fishes_).
Sub-kingdom--Articulata (_having external-jointed skeletons_).
Class--Crustacea (_having an external crust, or hard skin_).
Arachnida (_spiders_).
Insecta (_insects_).
Annelata (_composed of rings_).
Cirripedia (_having curled-feet_).
Sub-kingdom--Mollusca (_soft animals_).
Class--Cephalopoda (_feet around the head_).
Gasteropoda (_belly-feet_).
Pteropoda (_wing-like feet_).
Lamellibranchiata (_with lamellated gills_).
Palliobranchiata (_mantle-gilled_).
Tunicata (_enveloped in a cloak_).
Sub-kingdom Radiata (_radiated animals_).
|
/-----------------------------------------\
Nematoneura Acrita
(_with thread-nerves_). (_with indistinct nerves_).
Class--Radiaria (_rayed animals_).
|
/---------------------------------------\
Echinodermata Acalephæ
(_having a spinous skin_). (_with a stinging skin_).
Class--Polypi (_polypes_).
|
/-----------------------------|-------------------\
Ciliobrachiata Anthozoa Nudibrachiata
(_with ciliated arms_). (_flower animals_). (_with naked arms_).
Class--Entozoa (_internal animals_).
|
/-----------------------------------------\
Cœlelmintha Sterelmintha
(_hollow worms_). (_solid worms_).
Class--Infusoria (_infusorial animalcules_).
|
/----------------------------------------\
Rotifera Polygastrica
(_wheel animalcules_). (_with many digestive sacs_).
PART IV.
NOTES OF EXCURSIONS,
IN ILLUSTRATION OF THE
MODE OF INVESTIGATING GEOLOGICAL PHENOMENA,
AND OF COLLECTING
ORGANIC REMAINS.
GEOLOGICAL EXCURSIONS.
------------ "Let the moon
Shine on thee in thy solitary walk;
And let the misty mountain winds be free
To blow against thee; and in after years,
When these wild ecstasies shall be matured
Into a sober pleasure,--when thy mind
Shall be a mansion for all lovely forms,
Thy memory be a dwelling place
For all sweet sounds and harmonies, oh! then
If solitude, or fear, or pain, or grief
Should be thy portion, with what healing thoughts
Of tender joy wilt thou remember me
And these my benedictions!"
Wordsworth.
I now propose to conduct the reader to a few British localities, and
point out the mode of examining geological phenomena in the field,
and of collecting organic remains from the rocks and strata; in other
words, afford a practical illustration of the advantages to be derived
from the knowledge acquired by our previous investigations. But from
want of space, only one or two excursions can be described in detail;
and I must restrict myself in a great measure to extracts from my
note-book, and explanatory remarks and suggestions for the guidance
of the student and collector. The subjects will be arranged in the
following manner:--
1. Instructions for collecting specimens.
2. Excursions illustrative of the geological character and organic
remains of the Tertiary deposits of the London and Hampshire basins;
namely, to the Isle of Sheppey, Bracklesham Bay, &c.
3. Notes for a geological Excursion over the Chalk and Wealden
districts of the South-east of England; from London, by Tilgate Forest,
to Brighton. Also, from Brighton to Rottingdean.
4. Geological notes of various places on the line of the Great Western
Railway, from London to Clifton.
5. Excursion to Matlock and its vicinity; to examine the nature and
position of the mountain limestone and associated strata of that part
of Derbyshire.
6. Geological Notes for an examination of the central group of the
plutonic or igneous rocks of England, and of the Carboniferous and
Slate strata through which they are protruded: in an Excursion to
Charnwood Forest, by Leicester, Mount Sorel, Swithland, Woodhouse, &c.
to Whitwick.
CHAPTER XX.
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE COLLECTION OF SPECIMENS.
"And some rin up hill and down dale, knapping the chucky stones
to pieces wi’ hammers like sae many road-makers run daft--they say
’tis to see how the world was made."
St. Ronan’s Well.
Before we proceed on a geological excursion, it is necessary to be
provided with suitable instruments to detach specimens from the rocks,
and extract fossils from the strata in which we may find them imbedded,
and with materials for packing up our treasures, and noting their
localities on the spot. For this purpose, the following articles will
be found more or less requisite, according to the particular object of
the collector:--
1. A hammer of one of the forms figured in _Lign. 266_. Fig. 3 will be
found most generally useful.
2. A leather or strong camlet bag, and one or two of smaller size; the
former with strings, or with a strap for the shoulder. If travelling in
a carriage, a box or basket may also be provided.
3. Stout and thin paper, and some of a soft kind, for wrapping up
specimens.
4. Chip boxes, and raw cotton, wadding, or tow, for the same purpose.
5. String, sealing-wax, and writing paper gummed on one side, for
labels to affix to specimens on the spot.
6. A strong pair of gloves, and a pair of eye preservers; common
spectacle frames covered with fine black crape will be more agreeable
than glass.
7. A measuring tape, a pocket compass, and drawing materials will be
required, if the observer intend to note the geological characters of
the district.[783]
[783] On the construction of geological maps and sections, see the
Appendix to De la Beche’s _Geological Observer_.
8. A good geological map of the country; if this cannot be procured,
the best geographical map.
9. A strong double-bladed knife; one or more chisels.
10. A pocket set of single lenses of three powers, to examine minute
objects; blank memorandum books.
[Illustration: Lign. 266. Geological and Mineralogical Hammers.
Fig. 1 and 4, 6, are adapted for breaking large stones or masses of
hard rock; the thinner ends are convenient for splitting and trimming
fragments to a moderate size. The head should be from four to five
inches long, one and a half inch wide on the crown, and from two to
three pounds in weight; the length of the handle from eighteen to
twenty inches.
2 and 3.--This is my favourite hammer, and will be found most
generally useful; the short square head for breaking, and the pick
for splitting stones, and extracting fossils of moderate size; weight
of the head two pounds, length seven inches; width of the crown one
and a half inch; handle from twelve to fourteen inches long, and one
inch wide at the lower part, for the convenience of a firm hold. If
the handle be graduated as a foot measure, as in _fig._ 5, it will be
found useful.[782]
[782] Hammers of this kind may be obtained at Messrs. Knight’s,
Foster-lane, London; and at 49, Cockspur-street, Charing Cross: care
should be taken that the heads are of well-tempered steel, and the
handles of tough wood.
5 and 8, 7, are smaller hammers for breaking and chipping stones and
minerals; the heads from three to four inches long, and one and a half
pound in weight; the handle one foot long.
]
Such are the articles that will be required for a geological excursion
intended to comprehend a scientific examination of a district; but
for a mere trip to collect fossil remains, several may be dispensed
with. Some years since, an eminent geologist, Dr. Fitton, drew up
some excellent instructions for collecting specimens, for the use of
the party employed under Captain King to survey the Western coast of
Australia; by permission of the author, they are here subjoined.[784]
[784] For the collection of rock specimens, and for the mode of
observing the phenomena of physical geology, Sir H. De la Beche s
instructive volume, "_How to Observe_," should be consulted.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR COLLECTING GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS.
"It may be proper to premise, that two of the principal objects
of geological inquiry are, to determine--1st, the nature of the
_materials_ of which the earth is composed: and, 2dly, the relative
_order_ in which these materials are disposed in relation to each
other.
"1. Specimens of rocks ought not, in general, to be taken from loose
pieces, but from large masses in their native place, or which have
recently fallen from their natural situation.
"2. The specimens should consist of the stone unchanged by exposure to
the elements, which sometimes alter the characters to a considerable
depth from the surface. Petrifactions, however, are often best
distinguishable in masses somewhat decomposed; and are thus even
rendered visible in many cases where no trace of any organized body
can be discerned in the recent fracture.
"3. The specimens ought not to be very small;--about three inches
square, and three quarters of an inch in thickness, is a convenient
size.
"4. seldom happens that large masses, even of the same kind of rock,
are uniform throughout any considerable space; so that the general
character is ascertained by geologists, who examine rocks in their
native places, from the average of an extensive surface. A collection
ought, therefore, to embrace specimens of the most characteristic
varieties; and _the most splendid examples are, in general, not the
most instructive_. Where several specimens are taken from the same
place, a series of numbers should be added to the note of their
locality.
"5. One of the most advantageous situations for obtaining specimens
and examining the relations of rocks is in the sections afforded
by cliffs on the sea-shore; especially after recent falls of large
masses, t commonly happens that the beds thus exposed are more or
less inclined; and in this case, if any of them be inaccessible at a
particular point, the decline of the strata will frequently enable
the collector to supply himself with the required specimens, within a
short distance.
"6. To examine the _interior_ of an unknown country, more skill and
practice are required; the rocks being generally concealed by the
soil, accumulations of sand, gravel, &c., and by the vegetation of
the surface. But the strata are commonly disclosed in the sides of
ravines,--in the beds of rivers and mountain-streams; and these,
especially where they cross the direction of the strata, may be found,
by careful examination, to afford instructive sections.
"The mud and gravel in the beds of rivers and in deltas often contain
grains of _gold_, _platina_, and other native metals, rubies,
sapphires, and other precious stones; and a general knowledge of the
rocks of an unexplored country often may be gained from the detritus
at the embouchure of a river.
"7. Among the contents of the strata, the remains of organized
bodies,--shells, corals and other zoophytes,--the bones and teeth of
animals,--wood, and the impressions of vegetable stems, roots, or
leaves, &c. are of the greatest importance; affording generally the
most marked characters of the beds in which they occur. These should,
therefore, be particularly sought after, and their relative abundance
or rarity in different situations noticed. The fossils should, if
possible, be kept united with portions of the rock or matrix in which
they are found; and where they are numerous,--in sand, clay, or any
moist or friable matrix,--it is, in general, better to retain a large
portion of the whole mass, to be examined afterwards, than to attempt
their separation at the time of collecting.
"8. The _loose substances_ which are found above the solid rocks, in
the form of gravel, silt, rolled pebbles, &c., should be carefully
distinguished from the _solid strata_ upon which they rest. And the
more ancient of these water-worn materials, found on the sides or
summits of hills, &c., should be distinguished from the recent mud,
sand, and gravel, brought down by land-floods or by rivers. The bones
and teeth of quadrupeds are not unfrequently found in the more ancient
gravel; and the collection of these remains from distant quarters of
the globe is an object of the greatest interest to geology.
"9. Besides a note of the locality, there ought, if possible,
to accompany every specimen a short notice of its geological
circumstances; as, for example, whether it be found in large shapeless
masses, or in strata? If in strata,--what are the thickness,
inclination to the horizon, and direction with respect to the compass,
of the beds? If these cannot be measured, an estimate should always
be recorded while the objects are in view. Are they uniform in dip
and direction?--curved, or contorted?--continuous, or interrupted by
fissures or veins? Is the whole cliff, or mass of strata in sight, of
uniform composition?--or does it consist of different kinds of stone?
If the strata be different, what is the order in which they are placed
above each other successively?
"10. A _label_, distinctly written, should accompany every specimen,
stating its native place, its relative situation, &c., and these
labels should be attached to the specimens immediately, on the spot
where they were found. This injunction may appear to be superfluous;
but so much valuable information has been lost to geology from the
neglect of it, that every observer of experience will acknowledge its
necessity. It is useful to mark on the labels the day, and even the
hour, when each specimen is collected. This, with a corresponding
note in the memorandum-book, prevents confusion, and will be found to
assist the memory.
"11. A _sketch_ of a coast or cliff, however slight, frequently
conveys more information respecting the disposition and relations of
rocks, than a long memorandum. If numbers, denoting the situation
of the specimens collected, be marked upon such sketches, much time
may be saved at the moment of collecting. But in all such cases,
the memorandum should be looked over soon afterwards, and labels,
distinctly explaining their situation, &c. be attached to the
specimens.
"12. The specimens should be so packed, that the surfaces may be
defended from exposure to air, moisture, and friction: for which
purpose, if strong paper cannot be obtained, dry moss, or straw,
or leaves may be employed. Where paper is used for wrapping the
specimens, they are best secured by fastening the envelope with
sealing-wax.
"Lastly. The collector must not be discouraged, nor be prevented from
collecting, by finding that the place which he may chance to visit in
a remote situation has not a stinking appearance, or the rocks within
his view a very interesting character; _since it frequently, and even
commonly happens, that facts and specimens, in themselves of very
little importance, become valuable by subsequent comparison; so that
scarcely any observation, if recorded with accuracy, will be thrown
away_."
These general instructions will suffice to prepare the reader for an
excursion to some known locality, where his researches will certainly
be rewarded by many interesting organic remains; and he may be so
fortunate as to meet with some rare fossils, and perhaps with one or
two that have not previously been discovered; for there is always a
chance of finding relics hitherto unknown, even in a cliff or quarry
that is daily visited by collectors. And as an old sportsman desirous
of inspiring a novice with a love of field sports, takes him at first
to preserves where game is plentiful, in like manner I would initiate
my reader in the delightful pursuit of collecting _Medals of Creation_,
by conducting him to a spot where these antiquities of nature are
scattered about in great profusion and variety.
CHAPTER XXI.
EXCURSIONS ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE GEOLOGICAL CHARACTERS AND ORGANIC
REMAINS OF THE TERTIARY DEPOSITS OF THE LONDON BASIN.
In leaving London for any part of England, the reader will remember
that the area on which the metropolis is situated, as well as the
surrounding district to a distance varying from a radius of ten to
twenty or thirty miles, consists of the marine Tertiary _eocene_
strata (see p. 24), which have been deposited in, and still occupy,
a depression, or excavation of the Chalk, called the _London Basin_
(_Wond._ p. 229). Around this formation, the Chalk forms a distinct
boundary on the south, west, and north, rising up into chains of hills
or downs; but on the east the range is broken, and the Tertiary basin
lies open to the sea, affording a passage for the Thames and its
tributary streams. From this geological character of the metropolitan
district, it results, that all the lines of railroad proceeding from
London traverse, for the first ten or twenty miles, beds of clay, loam,
and loosely aggregated sand and gravel; hence the numerous slips that
have taken place in the embankments; as for example, at New Cross,
Wandsworth Common, near Hanwell, &c.; and in all these lines it is
obvious, from the nature of the strata and the steepness of many of the
cuttings, that similar catastrophes will again occur.
The next geological feature observable in the lines of all the
London railroads is the Chalk, which is invariably passed either
by steep cuttings, or tunnels, or both; as for example, from near
Croydon to Merstham, by the South-Eastern; from near Basingstoke to
beyond Winchester, by the South-Western; from Maidenhead to beyond
Wallingford, by the Great Western; and from beyond Watford to near
Ivinghoe, by the Birmingham line.
After passing through the Chalk, and over the marls and sandstone
strata of the Cretaceous formation, the Oolitic group (consisting of
Portland stone, Kimmeridge clay, &c.), the Lias, New Red or Triassic,
and Carboniferous deposits successively appear on the lines of
railroad; excepting on those of the South-Eastern, which, upon leaving
the Chalk-formation, traverse the fluviatile beds of the Wealden, as we
shall hereafter more particularly describe.
EXCURSION TO THE ISLE OF SHEPPEY.
Every one knows that Sheppey is a small island about ten miles in
length, lying at the mouth of the Thames, at the distance of between
forty and fifty miles east from London; but every one does not
know that the Isle of Sheppey is an inexhaustible mine of fossil
treasures; and that from its cliffs, and on its shores, may be gathered
innumerable relics of tropical plants, of quadrupeds, birds, serpents,
turtles, fishes, crabs, lobsters, shells, &c. all belonging to species
that now no longer exist.
A visit to the town of Queenborough afforded me, when a boy, the
first opportunity of beholding fossil remains in such a state of
preservation, and in such profusion, as to excite in my mind an
uncontrollable desire to investigate the nature and origin of objects
which I had been taught to believe were either produced spontaneously
in the earth, or were left in their present situations by the waters
of a universal deluge. At a short distance from the inn where we
sojourned, was a vitriol manufactory, and considerable plots of ground
were covered with the pyritous clay, obtained from the neighbourhood.
To my great astonishment, I perceived that masses of this fossil earth
were almost wholly made up of stems, twigs, and fragments of wood, with
innumerable fruits, seed-vessels, and berries, of kinds altogether
unknown to me. These fossils were of a dark colour, some quite black,
very heavy, and permeated with the mineral substance termed sulphuret
of iron, or pyrites. Many were so brittle as to fall to pieces upon
being handled, but others were of a stony hardness, and I quickly
filled a handkerchief with my newly discovered treasures, and hastened
home to examine them at leisure. They consisted of the usual kinds of
fossil fruits so abundant in the island (see _Lign._ 63 and 64, p.
188), with casts of shells, and a few claws of crabs, and teeth of
fishes.
Most of the specimens fell to pieces in the course of three or four
months, but a few were durable, and these still occupy a corner in
my cabinet as precious mementos of my juvenile researches. Many
years afterwards I revisited Sheppey, and made a large collection of
its fossils, which is now in the British Museum. Of late years, the
increasing taste for Palæontology has brought numerous visitors to
the island, which steam navigation has now placed within a few hours’
distance of the metropolis; and the demand for choice fossils has
given rise to several local dealers. The student may, with but little
trouble or expense, visit the island, make himself familiar with its
geological character, and return laden with the fruits of the ancient
spice islands, of whose ruins this mass of clay, in the embouchure of
the Thames, is almost wholly composed. As it is some years since I
last visited this interesting spot, I have obtained, as a Cicerone for
the reader, the most indefatigable and successful investigator of its
fossil Flora, Mr. Bowerbank; and as the courtesy of this gentleman is
equal to his intelligence and scientific attainments, the traveller
will have no reason to regret the absence of the author. A trip from
London to Sheppey and back, affording time to procure a good collection
of fossils, may be easily accomplished in three days.
EXCURSION TO THE ISLE OF SHEPPEY, BY J. S. BOWERBANK, ESQ. F.R.S.[785]
[785] Abridged from the Annals of Philosophy, by permission of the
author.
"The best conveyance is by the Southend and Sheerness steam-packets,
which leave London-bridge on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, at 11
o’clock in the morning, and reach Sheerness about 4 or 5 o’clock in
the afternoon. The town is divided into two parts,--the one contained
within the limits of the garrison being designated the Blue town,
while that beyond the fortifications to the north-east is designated
the Mile-town; and it is to this portion that I should recommend the
visitor to proceed, and take up his quarters either at the Royal
Hotel, or at the Wellington: the latter is an exceedingly snug and
comfortable house, to which I have resorted for many years. After
having established himself in the inn, he should request the attendance
of Mr. Hays (better known perhaps by the name of _Paddy Hays_), from
whom he may purchase, at a reasonable rate, some good fossils, such as
crabs, lobsters, heads and portions of fishes, and numerous species of
fossil fruits. Our traveller will then have accomplished all that can
be done towards the acquisition of fossils until the following morning;
there not being, I believe, any other collector in the town from whom
purchases can be made.
"On the following morning an early breakfast is desirable, as a
considerable extent of ground is to be traversed. It is advisable to
go provided with live or six sheets of soft paper, to wrap fragile
specimens in; and a few cotton or linen bags, of about four or five
inches in diameter, to separate the large from the small fossils; the
whole to be carried in a good-sized blue bag, or haversack; a chisel
and light hammer are the only instruments required. If the geologist
has a desire to view the great section of the London Clay, afforded
by the cliffs on the north shore of Sheppey, and is content with the
comparatively few fossils which he may be able to procure by his own
exertions, he may proceed in the following manner:--Leaving Sheerness
by the new town, he will pass along the sea-wall, towards Minster,
until he reaches Scaps-gate, where the cliffs begin to rise from the
low lands of the western end of Sheppey. A few cottages are scattered
round this point, some of the inhabitants of which work upon the beach,
collecting either cement-stone or _pyrites_, the latter being better
known by the name of _copperas_. To these application should be made
for ‘curiosities,’ and very frequently excellent specimens, and at a
small price, may be thus procured. From this point the route will be
under the cliffs upon the shingle, amidst which, dark patches, ten
or fifteen yards in length, will be observed, composed of nodules of
_pyrites_, intermixed with pyritized fragments of branches of trees, in
great abundance. It is at such spots that the numerous and beautiful
specimens of fossil fruits are found; but, to ensure success, the
collector must be content to go upon his knees, and carefully search
among the fragments. The whole of the beach, from about the parallel
of Minster church to Warden Point, abounds with these patches of
_pyrites_; and I have by this means obtained in the course of a morning
upwards of one hundred fine fruits of various sizes. Care must be taken
in such an investigation of the coast, that it be undertaken during the
falling of the tide, or unpleasant consequences may arise from being
shut in between the banks of mud which are projected into the sea at
many points of the coast.