The foffil figured by Lhwydd, Lithoph. No. 1702. Tab. 21. as Belemnites minor cinereus ari piftillum referens; the shelled belemnite of Grew, Rarities of Gresham College, Pla. 2c; Belemnites fulcatus niger major, of Langius, Hift. Lap. Helv. Tab. 37. fig. 3; Utrinque perquam acuminatus of Baier, Ory&. Noric. Tab. 1. fig. 7; and others fimilar, he conceives, fhould be confi dered as fpines of echini, and fimilar to thofe, which he received from Studtgard; but thofe foffils, which poffefs the conical cavity, the canalicula, and the alveola, he thinks muft ftill remain among the belemnites. It is with much pleasure that I find myself able, not only to confirm the observations made by Klein, but to point out the probable circumftance on which the perplexing ambiguity with refpect to thefe bodies has depended. It appears, that the original matter of the palifadoe-like echinal fpine, and that of the belemnite, are both of fuch a nature, that on the impregnation with a fluid, holding carbonate of lime in folution, they become a fpathofe fubftance, fimilar in colour and in form of crystallization; a fact, which, I truft, will be found to affift very much in making out the original nature of that curious fubftance, the belemnite. The echinical fpines, which are found in chalk, are known by the chalk-diggers by the names of files, and chalk bottles: by the former, are meant the ftriated and prolonged cucur. merine claviculæ ; and by the latter, thofe which are of an olive form. The belemnites have alfo, from early times, been diftinguifhed by them as pencils. About two years fince, among the chalk foffils, which I had obtained from Kent, were feveral pen ́cils; and among them one, which, when cleared of the chalk, and carefully examined with a lens, I could plainly perceive was not only not a belemnite, but a complete palifadoe fpine, poffeffing a perfect circular articulating cavity, and a grained furface, fomewhat refembling the manufactured surface of feal-skin. Like most of the recent fpines of this genus, it is of a triquetral form, at the end which is attached to the fhell: but, unlike all thofe figured by Klein, it not only foon becomes larger and rounded, but terminates in a rounded cone. Its colour, at its articulating end, is of a very light fawn colour, which fhades off to nearly white, at about one third of the length of the fpine, the remaining part being again of a fawn colour, but much darker than that in the other part of the fpine.

"As a collector, I highly eftimated a fofiil, which I had not hitherto known to exift, and confequently treafared it with fome care. But comparison with some fpecimens of the Folkstone belemnites, which poffefs fomewhat of a fimilar form with that of this foffil, and at the fame time the tranfparency of the Pruffian fofils, which although generally as belemnites, had been fufpected by Klein to be echinital fpines, induced me to fufpect a fimilarity of fubftance in both foils. To determine this I broke the foffil fpine in two, and was aftonished to find its fubftance exactly agree. ing with that which is constantly found in belemnites :—a dark

brown

brown fpar, with ftriæ radiating from the centre, and interfected by concentric circles.

Having thus got rid of this erroneoufly affumed mark of diftinction, the brown radiating fpar, and afcertained that a body, indifputably an echinital fpine, had, by its mineralization, been rendered fimilar in its fubftance to belemnites; and having thereby established the pofition of Klein, that every body poffeff ing a fimilar structure with the belemnite, is not therefore to be. confidered as one of thofe foffils, we are abfolutely left without any diftinctive character, by which in many inftances thefe foffile can be feparated. It is true, that we fometimes have, on the one hand, as in the fpecimen juft fpoken of, not only the articulating termination, but fo much of the colour and furface preferved, as determines its echinital origin; and on the other hand, we have the concamerated fhell, or the alveola which contained it, evinc. ing the foffil to be a belemnite. But much more frequently we meet with foffils, in which, from having been broken, rubbed down, or otherwife injured, thefe parts are entirely removed, and their figure fo altered, that it is no longer poffible to determine in which clafs of foffils they are to be placed. The difcovery of this fpecimen induced me to examine, with more care, those foffils in my poffeffion, which had been hitherto regarded as belemnites; and I was much pleafed at foon perceiving that many which I fhould before, without hefitation, have termed belemnites, were in all probability spines of echini." P. 41.

The author proceeds to illuftrate these observations by a reference to the plates, which exhibit feveral fpecimens in proof of his affertions, but as we have already allotted fo large a fpace to this fubject, we muft haften to others, more important, and to the generality of our readers perhaps more amufing. We therefore pafs over the long catalogue of foffil fhells as defcribed according to the arrangement of Lamarck,. occupying about two hundred pages; and for the fame reason we are obliged to omit the account of foffil fith, Entomolithi, infects in Pappenheim limeftone, in coal flate, crabs, to: toises, crocodiles, &c. and proceed at once to the foffil remains of Mammalia. Even here it is impoffible to follow this induftrious writer through the long detail of animals, but rarely found in a foflil state, and we muft felect those which appear to be moft frequently met with, or which have excited the greatest degree of curiofity.

The remains of the horfe are rarely found imbedded in chemical depofitions, and not even in limeftone, but ufually in peat beds, in gravel and loam. As they are found very near the furface, and do not differ from the bones of the fpecies of the prefent day, they excite but little attention; but as they are often found mingled with thofe of animals, that Q92

muft

must have exifted at a very diftant period, they become equally objects of curiofity and enquiry. Mr. P. informs us, that he has met with them in this country, in the fame ftratum which has yielded the bones of the great Irish elk, of the ele phant, rhinoceros, and hippopotamus, and perhaps the mammoth. They have been alfo found in France, Italy, and Germany, mixed with bones of a fimilar defcription, "This," as is juftly obferved by M. Cuvier, "is defervedly interefting; fince, from the remains of the animals with which they are affociated, it is probable they lived before our continents exifted in their prefent state."

The mastodon, or mammoth, next demands our attention; an animal, not known at prefent to exift in any part of the world, but whofe foffil remains have within these few years excited much attention. The first mention we find of the remains of this animal is in a letter from Dr. Mather, of Bofton, to Dr. Woodward, in 1712; but they are there described as, teeth and bones of an enormous size, and fuppofed to be human. In 1740 great numbers of these bones were found in Kentucky, either wafhed from the banks of the Ohio, or dug up in its neighbourhood. Thefe were quickly difperfed over Europe, fo that no complete skeleton was known to exift. As the bones were found in large quantities in the ftate of New York, Mr. Peale, of Philadelphia, in 1801, purchased what were found, with the right of digging for the remainder, and after much labour and many ineffectual attempts, at length fucceeded in colle&ing two perfect skeletons of the animal. One of these we underftand is erected in the Mufeum at Philadelphia, the other was, in 1802, exhibited in this kingdom.

"From a careful attention to every circumstance, M. Cuvier conceives that we have a right to conclude, that this great mastodon, or animal of the Ohio, did not furpafs the elephant in height, but was a little longer in proportion; its limbs rather thicker; and its belly fmaller. It feems very much to have resembled the ele phant in its tusks, and indeed in the whole of its ofteology; and it alfo appears to have had a trunk. But notwithstanding its refemblance to the elephant, in fo many particulars, the form and ftructure of the grinders are fufficiently different from those of the elephant, to demand its being placed in a diftinct genus. From the later difcoveries refpecting this animal, he is alfo inclined to fuppofe that its food must have been fimilar to that of the hippopotamus and the boar, but preferring the roots and fleshy parts of vegetables; in the fearch of which fpecies of food it would, of courfe, be led to fuch foft and marthy fpots as he appears to have inhabited. It does not, however, appear to have been at all formed for fwimming, or for living much in the waters, like the hippopotamus,

1.

hippopotamus, but rather feems entirely to have been a terrestrial animal." P. 361.

Other teeth and bones of a large fize have been long known, which have a clofe analogy with thofe of the American animal, and evidently belonging to animals of the fame genus. By comparing thefe, M. Cuvier has been able to dif tinguifh five fpecies of this genus. 1. The maftodon of the Ohio. 2. The mastodon with narrow teeth, found at Simorre, and elsewhere. 3. The small mastodon, with small teeth. 4. The mastodon of the Cordilleras, the large animal with fquare teeth. 5. The mastodon of De Humbold, which is the malleft. No individual of either of thefe fpecies is at prefent known to exift.

The following pages, to page 440, contain the hiftory of other foffil animal remains, of which we fhall not attempt to give a particular account. We haflen therefore to the con cluding letter. This we cannot abridge without injuftice to the author, and it is too long for infertion in its prefent ftate. Its principal object is to fhow that the various kinds of foffi's are for the most part particularly connected with, or appropri ate to the various flrata in which they are contained: thus, the Entrochal limestones of Derbyshire, (being the lowest ftratum, and which according to Mr. Farey's calculation, mufl have been three miles perpendicularly lower than the upper part of the chalk ftrata) contain the entrochi, and other encrinal remains. With these remains of different fpecies of encrini, these limeftones are in some parts, and to a very wide extent, entirely filled. These remains are not to be found in any of the fuperior ftrata, and the animal which afforded them, appears to have ceafed to exift from the time in which this very ancient ftratum was originally formed. The fame obfervation may be alfo made with regard to the fuperior ftrata, each of them, with more or lefs variation indeed, appears to poffefs fofils peculiar to themfelves, and with almoft fufficient regularity to allow a fcale to be drawn of their va rious fituations and contents. The conclufions to be drawn from thefe wonderful facts, corroborate with unquestionable evidence the Mofaic account of the creation, as far as relates to the order of it, although the time employed in it, which is there denominated a day, may ftill remain in mystery. We fhall extract this conclufion in the words of the author.

"In the first of thefe periods, (i. e. the days of the Mofaic hiftory), the granitic and other primary rocks were feparated from the water, (Genefis i. 9.) That this feparation took place as is itated in the fcriptural record, previous to the creation of vegeta

bles

bles and animals, is evident from no remains of any organized fubftance having been ever found in any of thefe fubftances. In the next period we are informed, by fcripture, that the creation of vegetables took place. (Gen. i. 12.) Almoft every circum. ftance in the fituation of coal, accords with this order of creation; excepting that in many of the coal measures, the alternating lime. ftones are full of the remains of fhells. The creation of the fuc ceeding period, according to the feriptural relation, was that of the inhabitants of the water and of the air. (Gen. verse 20.) In agreement with this order of the creation, are the contents of all the numerous ftrata lying above thofe already mentioned; includ ing the blue clay, which we have feen difpofed in many places almoft at the furface. In all thefe ftrata, no remains are to be found but thofe of the inhabitants of the waters: excepting those of birds, which exift, though rarely, in fome particular spots. But in none of these ftrata has a fingle relic been met with, which can be fuppofed to have belonged to any terreftrial animal. In the next period it is ftated, that the beafts of the earth, cattle, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth, were made. The agreement of the fituations in which the remains of land animals are found with this ftated order of the creation is exceeding exact; fince it is only the furface, or in fome fuperficial ftratum, or in comparatively fome lately formed depofition, that any remains of these animals are to be found. The creation of man, we are in. formed, was the work of the laft period: (verse 26), and in agree. ment with his having been created after all the other inhabitants of the earth, is the fact; that not a fingle decided foffil relic of man has been difcovered. This laft circumftance will be confidered by many as contradictory of the account of the Deluge, by which the earth with man, was faid to have been destroyed; fince in the remains of the deluged world man might be expected to be found in fubterraneous fituations. The fact, however, is, that although no remains of man are found, the furface of the earth, which is inhabited by man, difplays even at the prefent day, ma. nifeft and decifive marks of the mechanical agency of violent cur rents of water. Nor is there a fingle ftratum of all thofe, which have been mentioned, which does not exhibit undeniable proofs of its having been broken, and even diflocated, by fome tremendous power, which has acted with confiderable violence on this planet, fince the depofition of ftrata of even the latest formation.” P. 449.

Thefe facts, indeed, appear to us highly important, and feem to demand a more careful inveftigation; they are pleafing, and as Mr. P. obferves, unexpected. That fo close an agreement fhould be found of the order of creation, as stated in fcripture, with the actual appearances of the order of stratification, which has been difcovered in modern times, muft fatisfy or furprise every one. Mofes could not have learned this accordance from the Egyptians."

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