XIX. FOSSIL MAMMALIA…

XIX. FOSSIL MAMMALIA

The remains of Mammalia discovered in a fossil state include an immense number of species, and furnish examples of almost every living genus, and of numerous genera, and even orders, of which no existing species are known. Yet amidst the vast accumulations of the skeletons of the higher orders of vertebrata contained in the tertiary deposits, and in the superficial drift, belonging to species which have successively appeared on the surface of our planet, flourished for indefinite periods of time, and then become annihilated, no vestiges of Man, or of his works, have been detected. Human skeletons, naturally imbedded, have hitherto only been observed in the silt of modern alluvial plains,[729] in peat-bogs (Wond. p. 64), and in conglomerates of recent date, such as are in the progress of formation on the sea-shores, particularly where the water is loaded with the detritus of shells and corals, and the waves transport the calcareous matter along the margins of creeks and bays, or deposit it in the shallows along the coast (see Wond. p. 87, and Petrif. p. 483).

[729] There seems, however, reason to believe that the human skulls and bones found with elephantine and other remains in the Alps of Swabia, are of contemporaneous origin with these extinct mammals. (See Literary Gazette, 1853, p. 1027.)

The geological distribution of fossil mammalia,[730]--the occurrence of the entire carcases of extinct species of Elephant and Rhinoceros in blocks of ice (Wond. p. 151),--of recent species in the superficial alluvial clay and silt,--of recent and extinct forms in the Drift or Pleistocene deposits (Wond. p. 147),--of the gradual preponderance of unknown species and genera, in proportion as we carry back our retrospect to the most ancient Tertiary strata (Wond. p. 254), --the sudden disappearance of all vestiges of the entire Class of Mammalia, with the last bed of the Eocene deposits,--with the exception of a few minute jaws in one set of beds of the Oolite in England (Wond. p. 510), and of a few teeth in the Trias (?) of Germany,[731] the sole records of the existence of any of the highest types of animal organization throughout the vast periods of the secondary formations--are so fully treated of in the Wonders of Geology, that I need not dwell upon the subject in the present volumes. Neither is it desirable to enter at large upon this department of Palæontology, for it were vain to attempt the elucidation of the anatomical characters of but one extinct species of Mammalia, without giving details of structure, that could only be successfully demonstrated in a work expressly devoted to the subject. Referring, therefore, to Cuvier’s Ossemens Fossiles, and to Professor Owen’s "History of the British Fossil Mammalia," 8vo. 1846, I must limit my remarks on the Fossil Mammalia to a brief summary of modern discoveries, with suggestions for the identification and collection of some of the most interesting or prevalent remains.

[730] For a notice of the distribution of mammalian remains in the Upper Tertiaries of Europe, see Phillips’s Geology, 1853, vol. i. p. 45, &c.

[731] For an account of these teeth of small insectivorous mammals from the "bone-bed" of Würtemberg, which has an analogous position at the top of the Trias with the "bone-bed" of Axmouth and Aust Cliff, see Ly. p. xiv. figs. 529-531.

The fossil remains of Mammalia will be considered under the following heads:--

I. Cetacea, or animals of the Whale tribe.

II. Ruminantia; including the Camel, Giraffe, Deer, Sheep, Ox, &c.

III. Pachydermata; comprising the Proboscideans, as the Elephant, and the ordinary Pachyderms, as the Rhinoceros, Horse, Swine, &c.

IV. Edentata: animals without teeth, or with only molars, as the Ant-eater, Sloth, Megatherium, Mylodon, &c.

V. Rodentia, or Gnawers; as the Hare, Beaver, Rat, &c.

VI. Marsupialia; animals with an abdominal pouch, as the Kangaroo, Opossum, &c.

VII. Carnivora; including the Bats, Moles, and the carnivorous tribes in general.

VIII. Quadrumana; Apes and Monkeys.

IX. Bimana; or Man.

[Sidenote: FOSSIL WHALES.]

I. Fossil Cetacea.[732]--The Cetaceans, although popularly termed 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.

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.]

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.

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.

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.

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).

[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).

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.

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.

[Sidenote: HIPPOPOTAMUS.]

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.

[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.

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).

[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.

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.

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.

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.

"If the principal object be the attainment of the greatest quantity of fossils, a different course should be pursued. The collector should then, after having made his purchases at Scaps-gate, direct his steps towards Minster church, passing which, he will proceed on the road towards Warden. About three-quarters of a mile beyond the church there is a lane on the left hand, leading towards the Royal Oak, in which lives a woman named Mummery, and several others, who work upon the beach, and from whom fossils are frequently to be procured. These people will direct him to the cottage of a family named Crockford, who have usually a good assortment of fossils; and to many other parties who also work upon the beach, and reside between this point and Hensbrook, to which place he must now direct his steps. At Hensbrook inquiry should be made for a man named Pead, who has generally a considerable number of good specimens in his possession. From this point (Hensbrook) the collector must proceed along the top of the cliff towards Warden, calling at the various cottages in his way, until he arrives at Warden Point, at which place he must inquire for Mud-row, many of the inhabitants of which work upon the beach, and from whom a considerable addition to the specimens already collected may be purchased. Beyond this point nothing will be obtained, and the best way to return to Sheerness, is by the road which runs through the most level portion of the country; the path along the north cliff undulates very considerably more than the road.

"The course of proceeding thus sketched applies to the supposition that the time is limited to three days, but if a longer period can be spared, I should recommend the tourist not to leave Sheerness without viewing the dock-yard; and the return to London may be made by the way of Chatham and Gravesend, affording the gratification of a view of the dock-yard and lines at Chatham, and of the fine old cathedral and castle at Rochester; at the same time, enabling him to arrive in London on the evening of the day that he quits Sheerness."

[Sidenote: HERNE BAY. GRAVESEND.]

If the student’s time will permit, a day or two may be profitably spent at Herne Bay on his return; and search should be made for fossils under Swale Cliff and Studd Hill, where numerous fruits and some unique mammalian remains have been found by William Richardson, Esq. (see p. 791). Should he land at Gravesend, as recommended by Mr. Bowerbank, he should proceed towards the lime-kilns which lie on the London side of the pier, on the right bank of the Thames. To the left of the lime-kilns he will perceive a road leading by some bold chalk cliffs to the high ground above Gravesend; and on the right hand there is a row of cottages, or rather huts, inhabited by the labourers that work in the quarries and kilns. Many of the usual fossils of the Kentish Chalk may be obtained of the women or children in these huts; and sometimes Cidares, or turban Echinites (p. 314), with spines; and Star-fish (p. 306). A visit to the chalk-pits at Purfleet, on the opposite side of the river, is very desirable; many interesting fossils having been found in that locality. The Kentish Chalk in this district is much softer than that of Sussex, and the fossils may be easily cleared with a penknife, or by brushing in water; care should be taken not to wash them roughly, as they will readily separate from the chalk.

The fossils procured from the Isle of Sheppey, by such an excursion, will probably consist of portions of stems and branches of trees, and fragments of wood, perforated by Teredines (see p. 193); specimens of the fruits of palms, resembling the recent Nipas of the Moluccas (p. 188), and of plants allied to the Cucumber, Bean, Cypress, Laburnum, &c. (p. 189); claws and fragments of the shields of Crabs (p. 512); bones of Crocodiles, Serpents, and Turtles; bones and teeth of Sharks (p. 591); Rays (p. 598), and other fishes; and several species of the usual shells of the London Clay (p. 383), and a specimen or two of Nautilus (p. 469).

NOTES FOR AN EXCURSION TO BRACKLESHAM BAT, ON THE WESTERN COAST OF SUSSEX.

The line of low cliffs extending from Selsea Bill to the mouth of Chichester Harbour exhibits a section of the Eocene deposits, varying in height from five or six feet to ten or twelve; it is covered at its base by a bed of shingle, fifteen or twenty yards wide, that extends towards the sea. The space between the termination of the shingle and the limit of low-water-mark is occupied by a bed of dark grey and greenish sand; and at certain seasons, numberless specimens of the fossil shells common in the Eocene strata of the London and Paris basins are thickly spread over this area.

Mr. Webster first directed attention to this locality, in his celebrated Memoir on the Tertiary Strata of England; and my friend, the late John Hawkins, Esq. of Bignor Park, followed up the inquiry. In 1821 I made a fine collection of the Bracklesham fossils, and published a list of them in Foss. South D. and Geol. S. E. Messrs. Bowerbank, Saull, Dixon, Coombe, &c. have subsequently made considerable and important additions to the catalogue; and besides many new species of shells, the vertebræ and other bones of Turtles, Serpents, and Crocodiles have been discovered. An excellent notice of this locality, from the pen of Mr. Bowerbank, appeared in Mag. Nat. Hist. (1840); and I am indebted to the kindness of the author for the following notes for the guidance of my readers.

"The part of the bay most interesting to the geologist is that immediately in the neighbourhood of Bracklesham Barn, especially at about a furlong to the east of that spot, where there is a small break or chine in the low clay cliff. At this place, and at a few paces east and west of it, beneath about six or seven feet of clay, there is a stratum of light green marly sand, abounding in remains of Venericardia planicosta and other shells, but which is often entirely hidden by thrown-up shingle, and it is very rarely that more than a few feet in length of this bed can be seen. It is from this bed, or from one exceedingly like it, somewhat lower in the series, that perhaps most of the interesting shells of this district are to be procured. If we proceed from this little break or chine westward, for about forty paces parallel to the coast, and then in the direction of a line at right angles to the cliff, and at the time of low water, we shall find, near the low-water-mark, the bed we have described as abounding in fossils exposed by the action of the sea in the most favourable manner. At this spot Venericardia planicosta is found literally by thousands, with the valves united, the shells resting upon their edges, and packed close to each other, exactly in the manner that we might expect to have found them, supposing them to have been recent shells with the animals yet inhabiting them. Comparatively very few are gaping, and their condition and position strikingly impress upon the mind the idea that when alive they must have inhabited the spot from which they are now disinterred; especially as there are numerous small and fragile species of other well-known London Clay shells, which could not have remained whole had they been subjected to much attrition amid the larger shells surrounding them. On the sands in the vicinity of this spot, I found large masses of Nummulites lævigatus cemented together, and numerous detached specimens of the same shell.

"At the eastern extremity of this bed, which, at the time of my visit, was opened for about fifty yards, I found Sanguinolaria Hollowaysii, a rare and fragile, but very beautiful shell, in a fine state of preservation. At about twenty or thirty yards westward of the western end of this interesting patch of shells, there are large blocks of this bed, which, being of a firmer texture than the surrounding parts of the deposit, have suffered less from the action of the water, and project about twelve or eighteen inches above the surrounding sand, and, by presenting an obstruction to the ebbing tide, they usually induce the formation of a small pool amidst which they stand. At the south-eastern side of this pool on one occasion I found the stratum, which is usually covered by the sand, completely exposed. At this spot there was scarcely a specimen of Venericardia planicosta to be seen, but instead of this shell, Turritella conoidea and T. edita were imbedded in a dark green marly sand; and among them, together with Fusus longævus and other well-known London Clay shells, I found Venericardia acuticostata and V. mitis, and a splendid specimen of Conus deperditus, fully equal in size to the one figured by Deshayes. Westward of this point I did not meet with anything particularly interesting.

"About midway between Bracklesham Barn and the Thorney coast-guard station, a series of patches of a deposit of chalk-flints was exposed; the first of these was nearly at low-water-mark, and the remainder of them ran, at short distances from each other, in a diagonal line towards the coast, nearly in the direction of a straight line drawn from their western extremity to the Thorney station-houses. Apparently, this stratum of flints has not, at any time, exceeded eight inches or a foot in thickness; they are, indeed, so thinly scattered, as rarely to occur piled upon each other: very few of them have suffered from attrition, and the greater part retain their original form and whitened surface. They are imbedded in the same light green marly sand which I before described as occurring at the bottom of the London Clay in the neighbourhood of the little chine near Bracklesham Barn. Amongst the flints there are numerous remains of the roots of trees, in the state of soft bog-wood; which indicate that this portion of the strata has been very thinly covered by the superimposed clay.

"Upon one of the bouldered flints, firmly imbedded in the marly sand. I found the most interesting of the valuable series of fossils which I had the good fortune to obtain during this excursion, namely, a fine specimen of Astræa[786] attached to the upper and exposed surface of a flint."

[786] Astræa, a species of coral; see p. 262.

As to the accommodation that may be procured near this interesting geological locality, Mr. Bowerbank informs me that homely fare can be obtained at the little inn at Bracklesham, but there is only one spare bed. At Selsea, about six miles distant, there is a much better inn.

NOTES FOR AN EXCURSION TO THE TERTIARY STRATA OF THE ISLE OF WIGHT.

[See Geological Excursions round the Isle of Wight, and along the adjacent Coasts of Dorsetshire, by the Author. 8vo. 3d edit. With Prefatory Note by T. Rupert Jones. 1854. Bohn. London.]

Land at Cowes; examine the blocks of fresh-water limestone along the shore, which abound in shells. Drive to Alum Bay (Wond. p. 241), taking Calbourn in your route, where there are quarries of the fresh-water limestone, with innumerable casts of Paludina, Helix, Bulimus, &c. Put up at Groves’ Hotel, on the summit of the hill, commanding a glorious view of Alum Bay, with the Hampshire coast, and the Isle of Purbeck on the right, and Portland Island looming in the remote distance; and on the left, the vertical cliffs of Chalk, and the Needles. The pathway that leads down to the sea-shore traverses a chasm, separating Headon-hill on the right, from Alum Bay on the left; in the former, fresh-water shells--in the vertical beds of clay, in the latter, marine shells--may be obtained in great abundance and variety.

If you land at Ryde, the small quarries at Binstead are worthy of constant research, for the chance of mammalian remains (see p. 791).

The following extract from the splendid work of Sir Henry Englefield on the Isle of Wight describes certain geological changes still in progress on the shore near Ryde, that are well deserving the visitor’s attention.

"A great and very singular change has taken place within no very distant period of time on the shores of the Solent, near to Ryde; and which seems to be still sensibly proceeding. When Fielding, in the year 1753, was at Ryde, on his voyage to Lisbon, he describes the town as totally inaccessible by sea except at or near high-water; as the tide, on its recess, left a vast extent of mud, too soft to bear the lightest weight. This mud-bank is now entirely covered by a stratum of fine white sand, smooth and firm enough to bear wheel-carriages, and which renders the bathing at all times safe and agreeable. This bed of sand now reaches to Binstead, having covered at least two miles of the shore within the last half-century; and the inhabitants say that it is still extending to the westward. On digging through the sand, the old mud presently appears, the sand stratum being very thin. To what cause this change is owing it is difficult to guess; but it is an example of the alternation of deposits from the action of the sea, in circumstances apparently unchanged, which may afford cause for reflection to the geologist."[787]

[787] Sir H. Englefield’s Isle of Wight, p. 16.Return to passage

If the visitor have leisure, he should make a tour of this interesting island, from Ryde to Shanklin and Ventnor, along the beautiful scenery of the Under Cliff, formed by the slips of the Lower Green Sand; to Black Gang Chine, and Fresh-water Bay; visiting Brook-Point (Wond. p. 378) to collect fossils from the Wealden strata on the sea-shore.

Chapter XXII

NOTES FOR A GEOLOGICAL EXCURSION, OVER THE CHALK AND WEALDEN FORMATIONS OF THE SOUTH-EAST OF ENGLAND, FROM LONDON TO BRIGHTON, AND FROM BRIGHTON TO ROTTINGDEAN.

In travelling from London to Brighton by the railway, the following geological features of the country may be observed; by a reference to Wond. p. 360, the structure of this remarkable district may be easily understood.

Leaving the station at London Bridge, the London Clay, with its characteristic fossils, is seen beyond Deptford, by New Cross, Sydenham, &c.; and approaching Croydon, beds of gravel appear, with interspersions of olive-green sand. These strata belong to the Eocene formation, and lie above and upon the Chalk. The valley beyond Croydon (Smitham Bottom), along the side of which the railroad is carried, is composed of gravel resting on chalk; beyond the station called Stoat’s Nest, there is a fine section of the chalk, with layers of flint, and two parallel seams of marl, at the distance of six or eight feet from each other. These extend, with but little interruption, several miles, preserving their parallelism, although the strata in many places have sustained considerable disturbance. The Merstham Tunnel, through the Surrey chalk hills, is now entered. At Merstham the chalk, chalk-marl, and firestone are intersected, and the Lower Greensand of Red Hill appears; and from thence to Horley station, the lower sands and clays of the Chalk formation are passed over or cut through; affording sections of sandstone, ironstone, and fuller’s earth.

The strata we have hitherto traversed are of marine origin, and contain fossil shells, fishes, Crustacea, &c., and remains of other inhabitants of former oceans. But we now enter upon the series of river deposits[788] which form the Wealden, and contain the relics of terrestrial or fresh-water animals and plants.

[788] A limited intercalation of a marine character occurs in the Hasting Sands of Swanage Bay; this was discovered by Mr. R. A. C. Austen, and is noticed Quart. Geol. Journ. vol. vii. p. lix.

At Horley the weald clay appears, and is succeeded by sand, sandstone, and shale, to Crawley. Passing through the tunnel of the Wealden strata, we arrive at Balcombe, where sandstone in laminæ and in thick beds, having the surface at the lines of junction covered with ripple marks, is seen on each side the railroad; the dip of the strata is to the north-east. After crossing the deep valley at Balcombe, over the magnificent viaduct, the line runs along alternations of sand and clay, dipping south-west; we have thus passed over what is termed the anticlinal axis of the Wealden. Arriving at Hayward’s Heath station, the tunnel exposes a good section of the Wealden sand, sandstone, shale, and blue marl or oak-tree clay, to a depth of about thirty-six yards. The strata are disposed in the same order and thickness as in the quarries around Cuckfield; namely, fawn-coloured sand and sandstone, like those of Little Horsted, with beds of calciferous grit or Tilgate stone; and, beneath, layers of the blue clay. The strata are very barren in organic remains; several hours’ research only afforded imperfect vegetable relics, such as comminuted stems and leaves of the various species of ferns, which occur in Tilgate Forest (see Wond. p. 392). Some of the grey laminated sandstones and shales at this place very closely resemble certain strata of the Coal measures.

Proceeding over the Weald clay with the Sussex marble of St. John’s Common, the line encounters the Lower Greensand of Sussex, at Stone-pound gate. Here then we quit the fresh-water strata of the Wealden, and again enter upon the marine deposits of the Chalk-formation. At the foot of the northern escarpment of the South downs, the Chalk is penetrated at the base of Clayton Hill, the tunnel running through the lower members of the Chalk--the Galt and Chalk-marl--and emerging at Piecombe through the White Chalk; from thence to Brighton, the sections and tunnels intersect or perforate the same cretaceous deposits.

[Sidenote: LONDON AND BRIGHTON RAILWAY.]

In our traverse we shall have seen that the various strata cut through, are repeated on the north and south of a line drawn from east to west through the Forest Ridge (see Wond. Geol. Map, pl. 1). Thus, the railroad has to pass through two ranges of chalk hills by tunnels those of Merstham and Clayton; two principal ridges of Wealden strata--at Balcombe and Hayward’s Heath; and the Shanklin or Lower Greensand at Red Hill, in Surrey, and near Hurstpierpoint, in Sussex. There is no railroad in the kingdom that, in the distance of fifty miles, exhibits geological phenomena of greater variety or interest.

If the student will refer to Wond. p. 362, the stratification above pointed out will be better comprehended. The sections visible on the turnpike road from London to Brighton are described, Wond. p. 363.

The neighbourhood of Balcombe station will afford some sections of easy access; and from Hayward s Heath station, Cuckfield is about two miles distant. The quarries on the hill above that town were formerly very productive, and the usual Wealden fossils may still be obtained; namely, casts of several species of fresh-water shells (p. 416), scales and teeth of fishes (Lepidotus, p. 604), bones of reptiles, and vegetable remains.

Chap. XXII.

GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE OF BRIGHTON CLIFFS.

"Yes! where the huntsman winds his matin horn, And the couch’d hare beneath the covert trembles; Where shepherds tend their flocks, and grows the corn; Where Fashion on our gay Parade assembles-- Wild Horses, Deer, and Elephants have strayed, Treading beneath their feet old Ocean’s races."

Horace Smith.

A stroll from Kemptown along the sea-shore to Rottingdean is replete with interest, for the strata of which the cliffs are composed clearly demonstrate that in very remote periods great changes have taken place in the relative position of the sea and land along the Sussex coast.

Some years since, the bare face of the Cliffs, from the entrance to the esplanade of the Chain-pier at the Old Steyne, to Kemptown, was completely exposed, and presented a most interesting section of the strata. But at the present time, as every one knows, no portion of the cliffs is visible west of the groin below Kemptown and the sections in my first work (Foss. South D. pl. iv. and v.) are the only records of the appearances formerly presented, and now concealed by the sea-wall. Even the cliffs immediately beyond Kemptown are rapidly diminishing from the action of the waves, which dash with greater violence against their base in consequence of the means taken to protect the adjoining terraces from the encroachments of the sea.

The appearance of the Cliffs east of Kemptown is shown in the sketch, Lign. 267. But further along the shore, towards Rottingdean, in a ravine excavated by the encroachments of the sea, the ancient chalk-cliff behind the mass of strata seen above is exposed; this is represented in Lign. 268. A description of the appearances at this point will elucidate the nature of the strata of which these cliffs are composed.

Upon examining the shore at low-water, masses of chalk, covered with fuci (sea-weed), &c. are seen protruding through the sands; and towards the base of the cliff a bed of sea-beach is spread upon the sand; a low wall or terrace of white chalk constitutes the boundary of this shingle, as seen in Lign. 267, c. Thus we perceive, that the present shore is formed by the continuation of the chalk strata of the neighbouring Downs, partially covered with sand and beach, which are the detritus of the flints that have been washed out of previously existing layers of chalk, and ground down by the action of the waves. Now, along the eastern part of the coast, towards Rottingdean and Newhaven, the chalk rises into mural precipices immediately from the sea-shore; but at this place the cliffs are composed of very different materials.[789]

[789] Wond. p. 113; and Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. vii. pp. 365, 396.

1. In the first place, there is, lying immediately on the terrace of chalk that forms the boundary-wall of the base of the cliff (Lign. 267, c, and Lign. 268, c c,), a bed of sand (denoted by the letter o, Lign. 268), of irregular thickness and variable extent: from this sand marine shells and the jaw of a Whale (see p. 778), have been obtained.

2. Upon the sand is a bed of loose shingle--a regular sea-beach appearing in no respect different, to the common observer, from that forming at the foot of the cliffs at the present moment; this bed is marked b, in Lign. 267, and 268. Upon examining this shingle, it is found to contain numerous pebbles and boulders of granite, porphyry, syenite, and other plutonic rocks (see p. 34), none of which occur in the present beach. And in this ancient shingle, teeth and bones of extinct species of Elephant, Horse, and Deer have been discovered. We have here, then, unquestionable evidence that this beach has been formed under conditions altogether different from those which now prevail; for not only is this shingle-bed elevated above the present sea-level, but its contents are of such a nature as could not have been thrown up by the sea, in its present relation to the countries that form its shores.

3. A series of loosely aggregated calcareous deposits, obscurely stratified, rests upon this bed of shingle, and forms the upper portion of the cliff, varying in total thickness from fifty to one hundred and twenty feet. These strata are composed of chalk rubble and loam, with flints partially water-worn, and boulders and pebbles of tertiary sandstone; the whole promiscuously intermingled, and deposited in nearly horizontal layers, from one to three or four feet thick. But the face of the cliff generally presents a weather-worn and crumbling aspect, and large masses are constantly falling down, in consequence of the removal of the ancient shingle, by the effects of the waves at the spring-tides. From the loose state of aggregation of these beds, the fallen masses are speedily washed away, but here and there blocks of great hardness, provincially termed Coombe-rock, remain upon the shore; and, but a few years since, there was a group of high rocks of this kind near the Chain-pier. This compact conglomerate has been produced simply by an infiltration of calcareous spar, which has cemented together the fragments of chalk, flint, &c. In some places, this infiltration has reached the bed of ancient shingle below, and large blocks are occasionally found, consisting of pebbles of flint, granite, &c. held together by veins of calc-spar, in acicular or needle-like crystals. In these sparry conglomerates, the teeth and bones of the mammalia previously noticed are sometimes found.[790]

[790] My daughter discovered part of the lower jaw of a Deer, with teeth, imbedded in this conglomerate, in a mass on the shore near Rottingdean.

It is in this accumulation of calcareous strata that numerous bones and teeth of the Mammoth, or fossil Elephant, have been discovered; I have therefore designated it, the Elephant-bed, to distinguish it from other loose calcareous deposits.

As seen immediately beyond Kemptown (Lign. 267), the cliffs appear to be entirely composed of the materials above described; but farther on, the face of the ancient chalk-cliff is exposed (see Lign. 268); and if we extend our walk to Rottingdean, we find in many places the Chalk alone forming the present cliff; the Elephant-bed and its associated shingle and sand having been swept away. A like destruction awaits the remainder of these interesting deposits at no very distant period.[791]

[791] See Foss. South D. p. 277, pl. iv.; and Geol. S. E. p. 30; Wond. p. 113.

After collecting specimens of the Elephant-bed, both of the friable varieties, and of the coombe-rock, and a few of the pebbles of granite, porphyry, &c. from the ancient beach, and also some of the sand beneath the shingle, to examine microscopically on our return home, let us sit down on this mass of fallen chalk, and consider the nature of those changes in the relative position of the land and sea, which the phenomena before us appear to indicate.

We have seen that these cliffs are composed of the following deposits:--1. The Elephant-bed (Lign. 267 and 268, a); a series of calcareous strata, with bones and teeth of Elephants, Horses, Deer, and Oxen. 2. An ancient sea-beach (b), with pebbles and boulders of plutonic rocks, and bones of mammalia; and a bed of sand beneath, in which cetacea and mollusca (apparently of existing species) have been found. 3. Lastly, the regular Chalk-strata (Lign. 268, c, c), extending far out to sea.

These appearances demonstrate the following sequence of physical changes, namely--

1stly. The Chalk terrace (c, c), on which the ancient shingle-bed (b) rests, was on a level with the sea for a long period; for this beach must have been formed, like the modern, by the action of the waves on the then existing chalk cliffs (see Lign. 268, Chalk). But there must have been some cause in operation, by which pebbles and boulders of granite, porphyry, and other rocks, foreign to our shores, and bones of Elephants, &c. were thrown up on the strand, and imbedded in the beach then in the progress of formation. These transported materials may have been floated to the Sussex coast by icebergs; an agency by which the delicate bones and teeth might be deposited without injury, although surrounded by the water-worn detritus (see p. 43).

2dly. The whole line of coast, with the ancient shingle, must have subsided to such a depth, as to have allowed of the deposition of the calcareous strata, forming the Elephant-bed. And from the absence of gravel and beach, and the circumstance of the chalk-rubble, of which they are largely composed, often presenting angular fragments, it would appear that this deposition took place in some tranquil bay or inland sea.

Lastly. The land was elevated to its present level; and at this period the formation of the existing sea-beach and line of cliffs commenced.

The reader must not conclude, from our remarks being restricted to the cliffs before us, that the phenomena here contemplated were limited to this district; on the contrary, if our space would permit, it might be shown that they are referable to extensive geological changes, which took place in the period immediately antecedent to the present. In all the valleys of the South-east and East of England that open into the sea, traces, more or less extensive and important, of similar deposits exist. The level plain, called the Steyne, at Brighton, is entirely formed of the Elephant-bed, which extends up the valley to Preston and Patcham; in the latter place bones and teeth of Elephants have been found. At Southbourn, the plain at the foot of the Chalk hills, called "The Wish," containing remains of the Elephant, Rhinoceros, and Hippopotamus, evidently belongs to the same epoch. At Folkstone, Mr. H. Carr has discovered large blocks of Coombe-rock, and Mr. S. J. Mackie abundance of bones; and at Dover, above the Chalk, similar masses occur. On the opposite coast of Franco there are also indications of these deposits. All these phenomena are no doubt connected with the occurrence of immense quantities of mammalian remains in the superficial loam, &c. on the eastern coasts of England, and are referable to the same geological epoch.

Imbedded in the Chalk, which is exposed at low water along the shore, very large Ammonites may sometimes be found between Kemptown and Rottingdean; and numerous examples of fossil sponges and other amorphozoa (p. 219).

The teeth and bones of mammalia are rare in these cliffs, and it is not probable that any will be obtained in a first visit; but from the fishermen and boys seen strolling along the shore, specimens may often be purchased.

Chapter XXIII

GEOLOGICAL NOTES OF VARIOUS PLACES ON THE LINE OF THE GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD, FROM LONDON TO CLIFTON.

That splendid railway, the Great Western, by which the geologist may be transported in five or six hours from the Tertiary strata of the metropolis to the magnificent cliffs of Mountain limestone at Clifton, exposes in its course several fine sections, and passes within a moderate distance of some interesting localities of organic remains.

This railroad traverses the Tertiary strata by Ealing, Hanwell, and Slough, entering the Chalk near Maidenhead, and pursuing rather a circuitous route to Wallingford, beyond which station it passes over the Oolite, and displays some bold sections of the limestones and clays of that formation. Near Bath it emerges on the Lias, and crossing a narrow belt of the New Red, passes on to the Carboniferous strata of the Bristol coal measures.[792] In this route, there are four places particularly deserving a visit from the geological student, and collector of organic remains, namely, Farringdon, Swindon, Caine, and Chippenham.

[792] See Geological Map of England.

Visit to Farringdon.--The railway station is reached in from two to two and a half hours from London; and an omnibus meets the morning and evening trains, to convey passengers to the town of Farringdon, which is about five miles distant.[793] There are two Inns in the town, the Crown and the Bell, where comfortable accommodation may be obtained.

[793] As there is not a conveyance from Farringdon to meet every train that stops at the station, the visitor who objects to a long walk should previously ascertain the time when the omnibus or coach does arrive, and select a train accordingly.

The town is situated in a valley, between Farringdon Hill, an eminence seen from a considerable distance in the approach from Oxford, and Badbury Hill (see Lign. 269). A small stream divides the town into two tithings, called Port and West-port, and flows into the Thames on the north. The summits of the highest eminences near Farringdon consist of beds of sand and gravel, resting on Coral Bag and Kimmeridge Clay, and belonging to the Cretaceous formation, being the littoral deposits in this area of some sea of that period. The Lower Green or Shanklin Sand, the Galt, Chalk-marl, and Chalk successively appear in the valley below Coxwell Furze up to the White Horse Downs.

[Sidenote: EXCURSION TO FARRINGDON.]

I have not observed any organic remains in the strata on the top of Farringdon and Badbury Hills, but from the pits in the low country numerous fossil sponges and other amorphozoa (see pp. 227-229) maybe obtained. One of the most productive "gravel-pits," as they are here termed, is situated on the road to Little Coxwell, about three quarters of a mile from Farringdon. It lies on the left of the road leading to the pretty village of Shrivenham. In this pit, the strata consist of a coarse aggregate of siliceous particles, with some lenticular masses in the state of compact conglomerate; the lower beds are of a whitish grey, the upper of a deep ferruginous colour. The Windmill public-house, close by, is kept by the owner of the pit (Panting), and specimens of the "petrified salt-cellars" (see p. 228) and other sponges may generally be obtained of the inmates; but the collector, in a few hours, will be able to gather an extensive and interesting collection; the pick-hammer, Lign. 266, fig. 2, will be found the most convenient instrument. There are two other pits within a moderate distance of Panting s pit, which are also rich in fossils. The principal organic remains to be obtained from these beds are the zoophytes figured p. 227, and Wond. p. 637. The reader should recollect that the beautiful cup-shaped sponge, Chenendopora fungiformis (Lign. 71), is the "petrified salt-cellar" of the quarry-men. As many specimens as possible of the interesting coral, Verticellipora (p. 227, Lign. 70, fig. 4,) should be procured, to examine the internal structure at leisure. The cup-shaped sponges should be collected uncleared, for they are often full of minute corals, shells, echinital spines, &c. There are also numerous specimens to be met with of Terebratulæ, Ostreæ, Nautili, and other shells; also rolled Belemnites from the Oolite, and bones of Plesiosauri and Ichthyosauri.

Fossils of the Coralline Oolite.--At a short distance from the town there is a large quarry of Coral-rag, called Lamb-close-pit, from which Cidarites (p. 316) and spines, and several species of corals and shells may be procured. Occasionally Ammonites and Belemnites are met with in the limestone at this place.

Stanford pit, about three miles south-east of Farringdon, is well worthy of a visit; it consists of the following strata:--

1. Uppermost; Coral-rag, three and a half feet.

2. Limestone, containing an abundance of shells, particularly of Trigoniæ (p. 412), &c. four and a half feet.

3. Portland sand, of an olive-green colour, three feet.

4. Kimmeridge clay.

Some shells are extremely numerous; principally of the genera Trigonia, Gervillia, Pecten, Ostrea, Terebratula, &c.; fine Belemnites also occur. The oolitic structure is very apparent in the upper beds of limestone.

Swindon, Wilts.--Fourteen miles beyond the Farringdon station of the railway, we arrive at that of Swindon. About a mile from this station, on the rising ground to the south, stands the little, and formerly retired, town of Swindon. Here, when a schoolboy, my curiosity was strongly excited by the so-called petrified "ram’s horns," and "oak," so abundant in the solid masses of stone in the neighbouring quarries, and which daily came under my notice in my rambles around the town. It is indeed a locality most prolific in the Ammonites and other shells, and in the fossil wood peculiar to the upper division of the Oolite formation--the Portland beds; the hill on which the town is built consisting of those strata; the Kimmeridge Clay, on which they rest, is exposed in the railway cuttings in the valley on the north. There are two little Inns, the Bell and the Goddard Arms, where the visitor may meet with accommodation. The quarries, which are in the immediate vicinity of the town, abound in Ammonites, Trigoniæ, and other shells: and some layers are entirely composed of the casts of several species. The Ammonites are principally of two kinds, viz. A. biplex and A. triplicatus, and vary in size from a few inches to upwards of three feet in diameter; the specimens are casts only, no vestiges of the shells remaining. At Aylesbury the same species occur in clay, with the shells entire (see p. 481). A large collection may be made in a few hours; and from some of the quarry-men the less common forms may probably be obtained. Casts of the bivalves called Gervillia and Perna abound in the quarry on the right hand of the road. I have collected from this place, in addition to those above mentioned, casts of the genera Buccinum, Cardium, Cytherea or Venus, Nerita, Terebra, Pullastra, Pecten; and of the large species of Pleurotomaria which occurs in the Kimmeridge clay of Hartwell, with the shell perfect (p. 428); also vertebræ of Ichthyosauri.

A section of the strata from Swindon to the nearest point of the chalk hills would pass over, in succession,--1. Portland Oolite; 2. Lower Greensand; 3. Galt; 4. Upper Greensand; 5. Chalk-marl; and, 6. Chalk.

[Sidenote: EXCURSION TO CHIPPENHAM AND CALNE.]

Chippenham and Calne.--In from three and a half to four hours the traveller from London reaches the town of Chippenham, ninety-three miles from London, and situated on the Oxford clay; the locality where Mr. William Bye obtained those interesting specimens of Belemnoteuthis, that contain vestiges of the soft bodies and arms (see page 459, and Lign. 145).

Calne, about six miles from Chippenham, stands on Oolitic limestone; and the quarries around the town have long been celebrated for the perfection and abundance of their fossil remains; particularly of various species of the turban echinites (Cidarites, see p. 316), and their spines. A day or two at each of these towns will be well spent by the geologist and the collector of organic remains.

Bath and Bristol.--The immediate vicinities of these cities are rich in interesting localities for the geologist. A visit to the public museums in Bath and Bristol cannot fail to gratify the student, and will at once point out to him the places most worthy his examination. That of Bristol is admirably arranged, and contains, among other treasures, the specimen of fossil Squaloraia (see p. 596); the remains of the reptiles of the magnesian conglomerate, the Thecodontosaurus (p. 713); and the celebrated collection of Crinoidea (p. 283) formed by the late Mr. Miller.

[Sidenote: EXCURSION TO CLIFTON.]

Clifton.--The stupendous rocks of mountain limestone which flank both sides of the Avon in its course from Clifton to the Severn are too well known to render a general description necessary, and our limits will not admit of details. The geological student should first obtain a coup d’œil of the appearance and position of the strata, by sailing down to the embouchure of the river in a steam-packet, and afterwards visit on foot the most interesting localities. On the right bank of the river, near the "Black Rock," the teeth of several kinds of fishes of the genera Psammodus (p. 587), Hybodus (p. 591), Ceratodus (p. 587), &c. may be obtained, and shells and corals of the mountain limestone. Polished specimens of the coralline marbles may be purchased at the shops.

Portishead, a pretty little village on the south-east bank of the Severn, is well worth a visit; and, by going in the morning steamer and returning in the evening, several hours may be agreeably spent along the shore below the hotel; and fossil plants and shells, from the blocks of millstone grit, and numerous rock specimens may be collected.

A sail to Chepstow, and up the Wye as far as Tintern Abbey, returning on foot, or in a carriage, by Piercefield to Chepstow, is an excursion replete with the highest interest and enjoyment. The picturesque beauties of the Wye are dependent, like those of Clifton and Matlock, on the disruptions which the strata of mountain limestone have sustained. The magnificent scenery as we pass up the river, and the interesting associations connected with the ruins of Tintern Abbey, cannot fail to delight the traveller; but the enchanting scene that bursts upon the sight from the heights of Piercefield is magnificent in the extreme, and equal to the grandest views on the Rhine. Looking down from those elevated pinnacles of rock, which are covered with the most luxuriant vegetation, and crested with forests of pine, oak, and beech, we perceive the Wye pursuing its tortuous course at our feet, and winding along, around promontories of limestone, towards Chepstow; while immediately beyond, and apparently separated from the opposite bank of the river only by a precipitous rampart or mountain limestone, the Severn appears as a vast inland sea, bounded in the remote distance by the country around Gloucester, and extending on the right to the Bristol Channel.

Among other interesting geological sites within a few miles of Clifton and Bristol, may be mentioned--

1. Aust Cliff; a section of the Lias, from which many interesting fossils have been procured.

2. Banwell Cave; which is particularly deserving of examination (see p. 809).

3. Cheddar Cliffs; which are equally interesting to the geologist and to the lover of picturesque scenery. They are about twenty miles from Bristol; and a carriage and pair will be required, if the visitor intends to return the same day. The best arrangement is to visit the cavern at Banwell, remain in the neighbouring town the following night, and make an excursion to Cheddar Cliffs the next day.

There has lately been opened at Cheddar a cavern which surpasses in the beauty of its stalactites any hitherto discovered in England. The Rev. W. D. Conybeare states, that it is the only one that at all realizes any idea we have of the far-famed Grotto of Antiparos. It consists of one grand arch, or porch, and three or four lateral branches and narrow fissures, about ten or twelve feet broad, and from thirty to forty feet high, vested and draped with the most fantastic hangings of stalactite. The floor is a mass of stalagmite, covering a bed of gravel of the mountain limestone, which fills up about ten feet of the bottom. I am not aware that any fossil bones have been observed.

When visiting Banwell, inquiry should be made if there be any Cave at Hutton accessible to the visitor.

The above remarks must be regarded only as suggestions; for it would require a volume to particularize the geological objects of interest within a short distance of Bristol. The coal-mines in the neighbourhood of Bath and Bristol should be visited, and fossil plants collected.

XXIV. GEOLOGICAL EXCURSION TO MATLOCK

------ "In famed Attica such lovely dales Are rarely seen; nor can fair Tempè boast A charm they know not."

Lord Byron.

The beautiful and romantic Dale of Matlock, although one hundred and forty-two miles distant, is now brought within nine hours of the metropolis. Leaving London from the Euston-square station of the Birmingham Railway, at eleven o’clock (taking the precaution to have a ticket that will ensure a passage from Rugby by the Midland Counties Railroad to Derby), we pass over in succession the clays, sands, and beds of gravel, composing the Tertiary strata of the London basin; and at Watford, steep cuttings of these deposits are seen on each side of the station. A long tunnel through the White Chalk of Hertfordshire is then passed; and at Tring we arrive at the termination of the Chalk, and obtain a fine view of the north-west escarpment of the Downs, which is seen extending on the right towards Ivinghoe, and attaining an elevation of 900 feet. The railway then proceeds over the Chalk-marl, Galt, and Lower Greensand, to near Leighton, where these members of the Cretaceous system are succeeded by the Oolite of Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire; and the line crosses the Grand Junction Canal near the emergence of the Lias; the Rugby station being situated in the midst of that formation. We then enter the Midland Counties line, and pass on to Stoney Stanton, where the Lias terminates, and the Triassic or New Red strata appear; proceeding towards Leicester, clays and marls of a dull red colour, denoting the Triassic deposits, constitute the slopes on each side the railway. As we approach Leicester, the craggy summits of Charnwood Forest appear in the distance On the left, with here and there an isolated conical hill, indicating the protruded masses of granite, porphyry, and syenite, which belong to the group of plutonic rocks of the central county of England. The granitic mass of Mount Sorel is seen along the railway from Sileby to Barrow, Charnwood Forest appearing in the distance.

Leaving Leicester for Derby, the route continues along Triassic strata; and a good section of the variegated marls, with veins of white fibrous gypsum, may be observed at Red Hill, where a short tunnel perforates a ridge of the same deposits. The railroad then emerges on the verdant alluvial plain through which the Trent, its waters increased by the confluence of the Dove and the Soar, pursues its course towards the north, and joins the Humber at Alkborough, whence the united streams flow on, and empty themselves into the German Ocean.

At Derby, where the train arrives at half-past five, half an hour is allowed for dinner; and we then proceed by the North Midland line, by Duffield and Helper, through a beautiful valley watered by the Derwent, which is seen winding its way towards Derby. The high grounds skirting this valley are composed of the millstone-grit and sandstone of the Carboniferous system (see p. 31). Ten miles beyond Derby, we arrive at Amber Gate station, where an omnibus and other conveyances are in waiting, to convey passengers to Cromford and Matlock.[794]

[794] As it frequently happens that more passengers are brought by the train, than the omnibus or coach can convey, some activity is necessary to secure an outside place, which it is most desirable for the s geological tourist to possess, that he may command a good view of the splendid scenery, which will be constantly opening on his sight, through the romantic pass that leads to Matlock.

[Sidenote: EXCURSION TO MATLOCK DALE.]

The road from Amber Gate leads through a succession of picturesque scenes of surpassing beauty. At Whatstandwell-bridge[795] (see Lign. 273), over which the Derwent is crossed, the view is most imposing. The river is seen rapidly pursuing its course between richly wooded ravines, fringed with luxuriant foliage to the water’s edge.[796] As we advance, the bold mountain ridge of Crich Hill appears on the light, with the village of Holloway at a considerable elevation, and Lea Mills near the base of the range; while on the left are the hills and overhanging woods of Alderwasley. Ascending to the Inn at Cromford, the road turns suddenly to the right, and by an opening cut through a mass of strata twenty feet thick, called Scarthing Rock, conducts to the southern entrance of Matlock Dale. On passing this chasm, the glorious features of this enchanting region burst on the view. On the east is a range of limestone cliffs, richly wooded, with Willersley Castle, the seat of the Arkwrights, embosomed in trees on a commanding eminence; and on the west, a rocky precipice, crested with forests, and its sides partially covered with copses and brushwood; while the river, dashing through the ravine on the right, completes the magic of the picture--

"So wond’rous wild, the whole might seem. The scenery of a fairy dream."

Lady of the Lake.

[795] Hotstandwell in the guide-books; Whatstandwell in the Ordnance Map.

[796] The pedestrian should alight at the little Inn at Whatstandwell, and walk on to Matlock the following morning.

At the distance of about half a mile, we pass the toll-gate, and a bold mural precipice of mountain limestone suddenly appears on the eastern bank of the river; while on the western, a steep slope, clothed with verdure, rises rapidly to the lofty pine-clad eminence called Masson Hill, an elevation of upwards of 1,000 feet. The base of this mountain stretches directly across the dale in front, and apparently presents a barrier to an egress from the valley on the north; but as we advance, the road is seen to wind round its foot by a defile along the left bank of the river; and the magnificent rock called the High Tor rises in majestic grandeur on the right. The valley now gradually expands, and, at the distance of about two and a half miles from the entrance at Scarthing’s rock, terminates in the champaign country beyond Matlock village.[797] From the precipitous nature of the escarpment of mountain limestone which forms the eastern boundary of the dale, the buildings at Matlock Bath are confined to the left or western side of the Derwent, and are scattered here and there among the trees, on the projecting plots and terraces formed by the fallen cliffs of sandstone, which, during the lapse of ages, have become partially disintegrated and are more or less concealed by vegetable soil; the projecting rocks are covered with lichens, mosses, and ferns.

[797] The proper name of the hamlet in the valley, generally called Matlock, is Matlock Bath.

The hotels, of which there are several, are all delightfully situated; but the Temple Hotel, which stands on a terrace on the side of Masson Hill, about a hundred feet above the river, has the preference in my estimation; its elevated situation, its seclusion from the noise and bustle of the village, and its bowers and hedge-rows of sweet-briar and roses, imparting a character of sylvan beauty to the spot, peculiarly grateful to the traveller who wishes to enjoy a quiet sojourn at Matlock Dale. The local guide-books afford the necessary information to direct the visitor to the celebrated picturesque spots of this beautiful region; our immediate object is to point out the most important geological phenomena.[798]

[798] The book entitled "The Gem of the Peak," by W. Adams, price Is., and the "Brief Remarks on the Geology and Botany of Derbyshire," by the same author, price 1_s._, will be found to contain much valuable information. The "Derbyshire Tourist’s Guide," with plates, 8vo., by E. Rhodes, price 6_s._, is a delightful hand-book.

[Sidenote: LONDON TO MATLOCK.]

Geological Position of Matlock Dale.--That the reader may clearly comprehend the geological character of the romantic district in which he is now situated, we will briefly enumerate the several formations over which we passed, in our rapid transit from London; by the aid of the geological map, the following description will be easily comprehended.

Our route from the metropolis commenced from the centre of the Tertiary strata, upon which London is situated, and which fills up an extensive depression or basin in the Chalk; we then passed over, or rather (by the tunnel) through the north-west boundary of the Chalk basin, and successively came upon the Portland stone and other beds of the Oolite, and the Lias; the strata of these formations successively rising from beneath each other as we proceeded. In Leicestershire, the beds of the New Red or Triassic formation emerged from under the Lias; and at the Trent Junction the nature of the deposits was concealed by the alluvial plains of the river. Beyond Derby, we entered upon strata of the Carboniferous system, the Millstone grits and sandstones, and finally reached the Mountain limestone and its associated Magnesian limestones, which compose the mountainous district of Derbyshire. The following diagram will serve to illustrate this description.

The immediate vicinity of Matlock is, therefore, a region of Carboniferous limestone and millstone strata, which, as we have previously explained (see p. 31), are of marine origin; and those beds that contain organic remains abound in extinct species of shells and crinoidea. These rocks are also the grand depository of the ores of lead (see Wond. p. 681), calamine, &c., and contain a variety of minerals of great beauty and interest. This district has also been the theatre, in very remote periods, of great physical changes, and the strata have been upheaved and displaced by volcanic action, the solid rocks rent asunder, and beds of mineral substances, rendered fluid by intense heat, have been injected between the layers, and into the fissures of the sedimentary strata; to these revolutions, the present bold and picturesque features of the country are attributable. Here then are phenomena replete with the highest interest; the very beds of lava may still be seen--the rents and fissures caused by their explosive action, and now lined with rich metallic ores and spars, may be examined--and the thermal waters, rising in perpetual fountains from an incalculable depth, testify that the internal fires, the sources of these catastrophes, though latent, are not extinguished.

[Sidenote: MATLOCK INCRUSTING SPRINGS.]

A Walk to the Incrusting Springs.--The so-called "petrifying springs and wells" of Derbyshire are celebrated throughout England for the incrusted birds’ nests, baskets, &c. which are very generally purchased by visitors, as mementos of a trip into this county. The nature of this deposition of calcareous matter has already been explained (see p. 39; and Wond. p. 75); and, although the objects above mentioned are scarcely worthy of notice, the natural operations by which the tufa and travertine are produced, are extremely interesting.[799]

[799] If the proprietors of these springs could be induced to follow the example of the Italians at San Filippo (see Wond. p. 75), or of the French, in Auvergne, or the Germans at Carlsbad, elegant bas-reliefs and other beautiful objects might be obtained, for the incrusting power of the Matlock waters is very considerable.

Our first stroll shall therefore be to the beds of tufa which have been formed in remote ages by this operation and which now constitute the terrace on which the Old Bath and two other hotels, and the elegant modern Church are situated. Proceeding from our Inn, the tufaceous rock may be seen protruding in masses on the right hand, in front of the beautiful parterres of the hotels; and upon crossing the road, where a narrow path leads down to the bed of the river, and nearly opposite to the new church, the lower beds of tufa are exposed in a quarry, from which large blocks of the coarse, porous stone are extracted for grotto and rock-work. From this spot I collected very fine impressions of the foliage of the oak, elm, and hazel, leaves of adder’s tongue (scolopendrium), &c. and large portions of moss, beautifully incrusted.[800]

[800] I could not obtain any specimens of this kind from the quarry-men nor from the shops or museums, as they are termed; such objects not being deemed "curiosities" by the good folks of Matlock; and the workmen forbade me to search for more in the quarry!

The origin of this deposit of tufa, which covers so huge an area along the western flank of the mountain range of Masson Hill, is attributable to the thermal springs having, at some very remote period, issued from a much higher source than at present, and flowing down the side of the hill into the river at its foot, the water, as it cooled, deposited the lime with which it was charged on the stems, branches, leaves, and other extraneous bodies. At this time the springs escape from crevices in the rocks at an elevation of about one hundred feet above the bed of the river; the waters, at their source, have a temperature of from 66° to 68°, and contain free carbonic acid and minute quantities of muriates and sulphates of magnesia, lime, and soda. Their origin is now concealed, and the water conducted by pipes to the various baths and fountains; but wherever a rill escapes, and flows down the hill, the moss, &c. is quickly incrusted. I was informed, that in about eight mouths a basket of eggs would be entirely enveloped in a thick mass of tufa. The uniform high temperature of these waters shows that they emanate from a very deep source; and it is probable that they originate from steam, which is cooled and condensed as it approaches the surface of the earth. The miners assured me, that the springs burst out from beneath the volcanic rock, here termed toadstone, and that the water, when it first issues, is of a higher temperature than the Matlock Bath water; but its heat is reduced by the cool land-springs with which it becomes intermingled.

Most waters that flow through limestone districts deposit travertine more or less abundantly; and I observed several streams in my rambles in the neighbourhood of Matlock which appeared to possess this property in as great a degree as the thermal springs. There is a lovely waterfall, which issues from the side of a mountain that flanks the road leading by Via Gellia to Middleton Moor, at an elevation of two hundred feet, and flows into the adjacent valley, bounding and dancing from one mossy knoll to another, and appearing from the opposite hill like a stream of molten silver, undulating through a carpet of emerald green. The waters of this cascade have formed a thick bed of travertine along the side of the hill; and the stone is of so firm a texture, that the walls of a cottage hard by are constructed of it.

I gathered from the banks of this waterfall, bundles of moss and groups of small shells incrusted with a beautiful white tufa; and impressions of leaves, twigs, &c. were observable in the blocks of travertine recently quarried.

In contemplating the effects produced by these limpid streams, by which perishable leaves and fragile shells are preserved for ages in solid masses of rock, we are reminded of the forcible and eloquent remarks of Sir Humphry Davy, when observing similar phenomena in the volcanic regions of Italy. "How marvellous are those laws, by which even the humblest types of organic existence are preserved though born amidst the sources of their destruction; and by which a species of immortality is given to generations, floating, as it were, like evanescent bubbles on a stream raised from the deepest caverns of the earth, and instantly losing what may be called its spirit in the atmosphere!"[801]

[801] "Consolations in Travel; or, the Last Days of a Philosopher;" by Sir Humphry Davy. See also Wond. p. 77.

[Sidenote: CAVERN OF THE HIGH TOR.]

Visit to the Cavern of the High Tor.--After the visitor has taken a general view of the romantic scenery around him, a visit to the cavern at the foot of the High Tor will enable him to comprehend the nature of those physical changes which have imparted to this district its picturesque character. Descending into the valley and passing northwards, through the only street in Matlock Bath, along the banks of the Derwent, which are beautifully overshadowed by copses and forest trees, the bold cliff of mountain limestone, called the High Tor, the most imposing feature in the dale, suddenly appears on the right bank of the river. This rock rises to the height of four hundred feet; the upper half forming a bare and nearly perpendicular wall of limestone; the lower portion being concealed by brushwood and luxuriant foliage to the river s edge. At this spot, a rude wooden hand-rail is stretched across the Derwent, which is here of considerable breadth, and dashes along over fallen masses of rock in its course towards the south. The High Tor (Lign. 270) consists of a capping of Drift and of Millstone grit (2); of a series of beds of limestone with encrinites and shells, slightly inclined southward (1); of a layer of volcanic matter, termed in Derbyshire toadstone, from its mottled yellow and greenish appearance (3); and of a bed of Trap, or toadstone (b), at the base, and near the floor at the entrance of the fissure or excavation in the limestone forming the cavern (a); which trap rock also appears on the opposite bank of the river (c), beneath the highly inclined and dislocated masses of limestone, forming part of the base of Masson Hill. The upper bed of toadstone (3) cannot be seen, for the face of the cliff (although represented bare for the sake of perspicuity in the plan, Lign. 270) is entirely concealed, half-way up, by dense foliage; but an intelligent miner assured me that such was the fact, and that, in sinking a shaft in the opposite hill, toadstone was found in a corresponding situation. Upon entering the cavern, which is not of considerable extent, the first phenomenon to be observed is the bed of toadstone, which protrudes near the floor, beneath a stratum of limestone. The limestone in contact with the trap is in some places changed to a light green colour, and has a slaty texture, from the effects of intense heat under great pressure; it is often permeated with veins of pyrites, and white calcareous spar. The inner recesses of the cavern are literally covered, both on the floor and sides, with very large rhomboidal crystals of carbonite of lime, of the form commonly called dog-tooth spar; the cave surpasses, in this respect, every other in Derbyshire.

Within a few hundred yards of the cavern, a gallery has been driven into the cliff, and a vein of lead (galena) discovered, and worked with some success. Tine masses of blue fluor (provincially termed blue John) and double refracting calcareous spar were also obtained. On the opposite bank of the Derwent, beneath the limestone, and extending along the road-side for two or three hundred yards, a bed of toadstone, evidently the continuation of that at the base of the High Tor, is distinctly exposed.

Proceeding northwards, the line of mural precipices, of which the High Tor is the most elevated point, gradually descends; but there is a bold and bare rock, called the Church Tor, from the church of the village of Matlock being situated near its summit, that requires particular remark; for on the face of this cliff the strata present a series of curves, or rather arches, nowhere broken, but having such an appearance as would result from an expansive force from beneath uplifting a group of horizontal strata, while yet in a soft or plastic state. The upper beds of limestone at the Church Tor abound in marine shells (Spirifer, see p. 390, particularly the large species, S. giganteus). Such are the appearances presented by the strata in this locality, on the right bank of the Derwent. On the opposite side of the valley are beds of limestone, many of them varying in mineral constitution from those we have examined, being of a light yellowish dun or cream colour (hence called Dun-stone), and containing magnesia; in these strata traces of fossil plants are occasionally found. These magnesian limestones are of a granular texture and extremely hard; they are said to be very rich in lead and calamine, and have been extensively worked. The prevailing rocks on this (the western) side of the valley belong to this group.

[Sidenote: FORMATIONS OF DERBYSHIRE.]

Geological Formations of Derbyshire.--Before we proceed on our walk, let us sit down awhile on this mossy bank, beneath the magnificent knoll of trees that here overshadows the river, and, by a reference to the geological table (p. 31) and the geological map, obtain a clear idea of the nature and succession of the strata around us; in other words, the order of superposition of the deposits of Derbyshire.

1. Lowermost. A bed of compact Basalt or Trap (in Derbyshire called Toadstone), of uncertain thickness and extent. This rock consists of mineral matter that has undergone complete fusion, and been erupted from the profound depths of some internal source of intense heat (see Wond. pp. 684, 848). The upheaving force thus put in action having been unequally exerted in different places, the superincumbent beds of limestone have been protruded in dome-shaped masses through the upper strata; and are now seen bent and curved, forming what is termed arched stratification.[802]

[802] My excellent friend, the late Robert Bakewell, Esq., was the first geologist who correctly explained the phenomena here described. See his Introduction to Geology, 5th edit. p. 147.

Vesicular or amygdaloidal Toadstone. This partakes more of the character of scoriæ, being full of little cells or cavities formed by air bubbles; when these cavities are filled with other mineral matter, as is often the case, the rock is termed amygdaloidal. This bed of Trap was formerly considered to be distinct from the lowermost; but it is now supposed, and with much probability, that all the masses of igneous rock that pierce, or are intercalated with, the sedimentary strata, have sprung from one common source, and are but lateral protrusions from some grand mass of erupted materials.[803]

[803] See an analogous example, Wond. p. 857.

2. Limestones with intervening layers of clay, and Magnesian limestones, or Dunstones.

3. Alternation of Limestone and Shale. Many of these limestones abound in organic remains; and it is in this group that the ornamental marbles of Derbyshire are comprised. The upper beds are generally of a slaty texture, and contain layers and nodules of chert, which often afford exquisite siliceous casts of the stems of Crinoidea (pulley-stones, see p. 284; and Wond. p. 650), and shells; white chert or porcelain-stone, and black jasper or flinty slate also occur in these beds.

4. Millstone Grit and Shale, and coarse sandstones; these form the subsoil of the principal heights of the mountain ranges, their sterile soil supporting only a covering of ling and heath.

5. Coal Measures; consisting of beds of Coal, with intervening layers of shale, clay, and ironstone (see p. 80).

6. Permian and Triassic strata (see pp. 29, 30).

The mineral substances found in the above strata in Derbyshire are very numerous, and the organic remains equally so, and of a highly interesting character.[804]

[804] A good, catalogue of the principal varieties will be found in Mr. Adams’s pamphlet previously recommended; and specimens may be obtained at his museum in Matlock, and from Mr. Tennant (Professor of Mineralogy to King’s College), 149, Strand, London.

This enumeration of the geological formations of which the country around Matlock is composed will enable us to proceed on our rambles without further digression, and should the reader be at a loss to comprehend the nature of any of the rocks or strata we may meet with on our way, he can refer to the above description.

Mr. Bakewell, with his wonted penetration, first detected the true character of the stratification of the High Tor, previous writers having described this cliff as being composed of nearly horizontal layers. But this is a deceptive appearance; for, although, when viewed in front, or in the direction of their planes, the strata appear to be horizontal, yet they are in reality highly inclined, as may be seen in the line of dip, and enfold or envelope the back of the cliff; and they are continued into the hill (Masson) on the opposite side of the valley, where they present a similar arrangement. The continuity of the strata is broken by the vale of the Derwent, which has evidently originated in a fissure extending along the axis of elevation, in a direction from north to south; thus forming the water channel for the drainage of the country on the north, and the bed of the present river. We have already pointed out the curved position of the strata on the face of the Church Tor.

[Sidenote: EXCURSION TO CRICH HILL.]

Excursion to Crich Hill.--The appearances observable at the High Tor are of so striking a character, and involve the consideration of so many interesting phenomena relating to the physical mutations which this district has undergone, that it is desirable, while they are strongly impressed upon the mind, to take an excursion to Crich, a few miles to the south-east of Matlock. Here there is an entire mountain of limestone, formed by a protrusion of numerous strata, many hundred feet in thickness, through the once superincumbent beds of millstone grit and sandstone, into a dome-shaped mass, upwards of 800 feet high. And there it stands, a stupendous monument of one of the past revolutions of the globe, with its arches of rifted rock, supported by a central mound of erupted mineral matter, now cooled down into an amorphous mass of compact basalt! Were there no other object of interest near Matlock, Crich Hill would alone render it worthy of resort.

From the heights above our hotel, looking towards the south-east, a mountain remarkable for its elevation and obtusely conical configuration, and distinguished by a tower on the summit, forms a striking object on the horizon, at an apparent distance of three or four miles--this is Crich Hill; and on the same range, to the right, is seen the church-spire of Crich village (see Lign. 272).

A long summer’s day is not too long to visit this mountain, and examine all its interesting details. A good pedestrian should proceed with his hammer and haversack, for every step of the road is replete with interest; and as numerous specimens will be obtained, bags, paper, and boxes should be taken. If an invalid or ladies be of the party, it will be desirable to have a carriage for the day, and dine at the little village of Crich;[805] and, if time permit, the interesting ruins of South Wingfield Manor-House (once the prison of Mary of Scotland), about two miles from Crich, may also be visited.

[805] A good, guide will be a great acquisition, and save much, time and trouble; and Benjamin Froggatt, who has conducted Dr. Buckland and other geologists to the principal localities in the neighbourhood, will be found an obliging and intelligent attendant, perfectly conversant with the richest geological and botanical sites around Matlock.

The shortest drive from Matlock to Crich Hill is over Cromford-bridge; but a far more picturesque route is by the Derby-road to Whatstandwell-bridge (see Lign. 273), and from thence ascending the hill to Crich, and returning home by Holloway; making the entire distance about twelve miles. As our immediate object is to examine the geological features of the mountain, we shall proceed by the nearest road; and upon reaching Scarthing Rock, turn to the left, by Wellersley Castle grounds, having on the right a bold escarpment of mountain limestone, with layers of chert in nodules and amorphous masses. At Cromford Canal, the limestone suddenly terminates, and sinks beneath the surrounding alluvial silt of the river valley, and the millstone grit. We will chip off a few specimens of the chert, to examine at leisure. Crossing the bridge, the road winds round the foot of the hills of sandstone, which lie on our left, while on the right is the valley of the Derwent, and the river is seen here and there through openings in the copses and hedge-rows, meandering through the rich meadow-lands of the valley, which are flanked on the west by a magnificent range of lofty hills, clothed with the luxuriant woods of Alderwasley. The character of the scenery from this point of the road, till we ascend the high ground, is faithfully and graphically portrayed by Mr. Rhodes.[806]

[806] Derbyshire Tourist’s Guide, p. 48.

"The road lies through a beautiful valley by the side of the Derwent; sloping meadows, crowned high above with a long range of magnificent woods, skirt the road-side on the left: on the right the river, pursuing its winding way beneath the umbrageous branches of oak, ash, alder, hazel, and sycamore, and bubbling as it passes along, is a beautiful object. About two miles below Cromford-bridge, the road leaves the more open part of the valley, and plunges into the thick woods that environ the little hamlet of Lea; a lovely spot, romantically situated by the side of a sparkling stream, in a deep hollow, amongst steep hills covered with foliage, and fields of the freshest verdure. The houses of this secluded village, with the exception of here and there a comfortable cottage, are handsome residences, nestling among orchards and parterres of flowers. Everything was flourishing most luxuriantly; and when we passed through the place, the hollyhocks, dahlias, and roses were in full blossom, and gave an extremely bright and cheerful aspect to the scene. The road continues through Lea Wood to Holloway by a very steep ascent, and from the toll-gate at the top of the hill it traverses the side of a mountainous ridge, covered with wood and intervening rock. The prospect is now magnificent: on the right a scene of great extent opens to the view, rich in all that constitutes the highest beauty in landscape. The summits of the two ranges of hills that form the eastern and western boundaries of the fertile valley at our feet are here from three to four miles apart; and the extent from north to south is from ten to twelve. Many minor eminences, rich with wood and intervening verdure, adorn this enchanting scene, through which the Derwent, sometimes hidden by overhanging trees, and sometimes sparkling with light, flows with busy speed and uninterrupted current by Belper, Milford, and Duffield, to Derby; the whole presenting an assemblage of splendid scenery finely diversified and rich in picturesque beauty. The woods of Alderwasley, that cover the hills from below Whatstandwell-bridge, to the dark pine-crowned eminence of Stonnis, are peculiarly imposing and magnificent."

Near the village of Holloway there are several quarries opened on the side of the hill, which enable us to ascertain that this range is composed of strata of millstone grit and sandstone, highly inclined and dipping from the hill. The beds are so split and shattered in every direction, that no large blocks can be procured, and the stone, although a good building material, is therefore only employed in the construction of the cottages and houses in the immediate vicinity. The vignette of this volume represents a mass of the inclined sandstone strata near this place. The reader will recollect that the hills on the opposite side of the valley, on our right, are also composed of similar strata; and that the ridge, covered with fir-trees, marks the bold escarpment of the millstone grit at Stonnis, over Cromford; so that the geological horizon of the valley, as seen from this spot, is wholly formed by the millstone grits and sandstones. A mile beyond Holloway toll-gate, the road turns to the left, and the bare dome of mountain limestone of Crich Hill is before us. We soon arrive at a limestone quarry, in which the strata are seen to be distinctly arched (see Lign. 271, p. 886), as in the cliff at Matlock Church Tor.

We will alight here to examine the rock more closely, and obtain specimens. Here we see that the strata are inclined both to the right and to the left, and also lean towards the central axis of the hill in front of us; presenting such an appearance as would be afforded by an excavation made in an onion, or other spheroidal body, formed of a series of concentric layers. The limestone in this quarry is of the usual subcrystalline character, abounding in shells, principally Spirifer. There are numerous vertical and oblique fissures in the rock, and these are more or less incrusted with minerals and spars, which have evidently been deposited by electro-chemical action, and admirably exemplify the manner in which the rich veins of lead, &c. are distributed in the strata of the interior of the mountain. In a crevice of the rock, in which the mineral contents were undisturbed, the arrangement of the prevailing minerals of this part of Derbyshire, namely, galena (sulphuret of lead), sulphate of barytes (here termed cawk), and fluor spar, was beautifully displayed. A layer of the blue sulphuret of lead, or galena, was spread over the surface of limestone forming the walls of the fissure: upon this was a thick stratum of white sulphate of barytes; and on the latter, fluor spar, of a light blue colour, forming cubic crystals on the surface nearest the cavity of the fissure, which therefore appeared to be lined with crystals of fluor.[807]

[807] The workmen at this and the other quarries generally have specimens of the fossils and minerals for sale, at moderate prices.

[Sidenote: TRAP OF CRICH HILL.]

About half a mile beyond, we arrive at Wakebridge, near which there are several very productive lead mines. The "Glory-mine," one of the richest in Derbyshire, is said, some ten years since, to have been worth from thirty to forty thousand pounds a-year.[808] A mining establishment, on the left hand, where a powerful steam-engine is constantly at work, affords numerous specimens of the usual I Derbyshire spars and minerals; and from among the heaps of refuse thrown by the visitor may make an interesting collection. Near this spot, a vertical shaft was sunk in the side of the hill, in search for lead ore, and at the depth of twenty fathoms, a rock of compact Trap was reached; the work was continued for a few yards deeper, but ultimately abandoned as fruitless. A gallery was subsequently driven into the side of the hill, lower down, and here, too, the trap was found; thus proving the existence of a central protrusion of igneous rock, over which the bent strata of mountain limestone are now disposed in consecutive layers. Numerous blocks of this compact trap or basalt, some of which are veined with red jasper, lie scattered about the site of the old shaft, and an interesting suite of specimens may be collected. Pursuing our way, the limestone strata are seen in openings on the hill side, having the same remarkable arrangement as those before described.

[808] Derbyshire Tourist, p. 50.

Upon arriving where the road divides,[809] we must proceed on foot and visit the quarries, and examine the exposed masses of rock, that we may clearly comprehend the structure of the mountain. We will now ascend by the pathway that leads to the summit, and on the left several good sections of the strata are displayed. On reaching the tower on the crest of the mountain (Lign. 272, p. 887), a magnificent panorama bursts upon our sight; but which no language can adequately describe. Here and there bare pinnacles of rifted rock protrude through the green sward; and masses of white, yellowish, and pink sulphate of barytes, pyrites, fluor, and other minerals lie strewn upon the surface.[810]

[809] The carriage should here be sent on to the village, and orders given for refreshments.

[810] Good specimens may often be obtained from the piles of stones, and from the walls on the side of the hill.

Having reposed for some time at the foot of the tower to enjoy the glorious prospect spread around us, correct our notes, look over, trim, and wrap up our specimens, we will now descend to the north-eastern side of the hill, that the appearance of the strata on that aspect may also be examined. But ere we leave the summit, again let me call your attention to its external configuration. Were it not on too extended a scale, we might suppose that we were standing on an ancient earth-work, or encampment, formed of limestone, surrounded by a deep fosse or ditch, and flanked by precipitous embankments of millstone grit and sandstone, so strongly defined are the physical features of this remarkable mountain.

We will now visit a large quarry on the eastern side, which presents a fine section of the limestone strata, above 100 feet thick (see Lign. 271), and which, like those we have previously observed, are disposed in curves, and enfold, as it were, the central axis of the hill; and the rock is shivered and fissured in every direction. A thick bed of drift, or alluvial debris, covers the limestone strata, as shown in Lign. 271; and in it, partially rolled blocks of sandstone, some of them of great size, are imbedded. The direction of the dip of the strata in this quarry is indicated by the arrows.

[Sidenote: VIEW OF CRICH HILL.]

Let us now take a retrospect of the facts investigate during this morning’s ramble, and consider how far Mr. Bakewell’s interpretation of these phenomena (see p. 879) is in accordance with the data we have obtained. The outline of Crich Hill, as seen from a moderate distance, is that of an insulated oblong dome, encircled by precipitous escarpments, or angular eminences of less elevation. The annexed sketch (Lign. 272), by my friend, Henry Carr, Esq. C.E., of Duffield, to whom I am also indebted for a survey of Crich Hill, and admeasurements of the dip of the strata, will render this feature in the physical geography of the country more apparent.

In Lign. 272, the protruded elongated cone of mountain limestone is denoted by the tower, or Stand, on the summit; and the other heights, and the foreground, are composed of millstone grit and sandstone. The highest point of limestone is 716 feet above the level of the Derwent in the adjacent valley; and was estimated by Mr. Bakewell at about 900 feet above the level of the sea. The hill of sandstone on the right, on which the mill stands, is 402 feet high, and conceals Crich village in this view; that in the middle distance, on the left, marked a, is 400 feet high.

This disposition of the millstone escarpments around the central cone of elevated limestone is shown more in detail in the ground-plan, Lign. 273.

Thus we perceive that the strata of mountain-limestone dip from the centre of the hill in every direction, as indicated by the arrows, at various angles, from 20° to 50°; and those of the sandstone hills, which form an irregular zone around Crich, are also highly inclined, and in like manner dip from the central axis, as is shown by the direction of the arrows. Now we know, by observations made in places where the relative position of the Millstone and Limestone has suffered no disturbance, that these two series of strata were originally disposed horizontally and conformably upon each other, thus--

1. Uppermost--Millstone Grit and Sandstone. ----------------------------- 2. Lowermost--Mountain Limestone.

[Sidenote: GROUND PLAN OF CRICH HILL.]

The area, enclosed within a line, and marked Stand, Crich Hill, is the elevated oblong dome of limestone. All the surrounding country is composed of millstone grit and sandstone.

The arrows on the boundary line of Crich Hill denote the direction of the dip of the limestone strata in nine positions measured and determined by Mr. Carr. The dip vanes from 20 to 50, the greatest inclination is on the south-east of the tower.

The arrows on the surrounding millstone escarpments mark the dip of those strata in a sufficient number of stations, to convey a general idea of the position of the mountain masses environing Crich Hill.[811]

[811] At Whatstandwell, abridge crosses the Derwent; and dose by, there is the Bull Inn, where good accommodation and sleeping apartments maybe obtained.

[Sidenote: CRICH HILL.]

A, B.--Strata of Millstone Grit, highly inclined, and dipping from the central axis. Protrusion of the Mountain Limestone, on the summit of which is Crich Tower, 716 feet above the level of the river Derwent. Central mass of Trap, reached by a vertical shaft from above, and by a gallery on the side of the hill.

It is therefore evident, that at Crich the strata No. 2 must have been forced up, and protruded through the strata No. 1, or they could not occupy their present position. We remarked, on ascending Holloway Hill, the great disturbance which the Millstone beds had sustained (see the vignette of this volume); and the shaft and gallery near Wakebridge (p. 884) disclosed the existence of a mass of basalt, or trap, of unknown extent, beneath the limestone, in the centre of the mountain; while the fissures and crevices, filled with metallic ores and spars, attest the action of intense heat, under great pressure. According to a survey made by my son, a section in the line marked A--B on the plan, Lign. 273, presents the arrangement of the strata seen in Lign. 274: the heights are from actual admeasurements.

From the data thus obtained, we may construct an ideal section in illustration of these phenomena, as in the following diagram (Lign. 275).

Here then, as Mr. Bakewell forcibly observed, "we have cause and effect in conjunction." Here is the cooled and consolidated molten rock, whose expansive force elevated the horizontal strata of limestone, and forced them through the superincumbent beds of grit and sandstone. But this eruption must have taken place under great pressure, and at the bottom of the sea; for, had the phenomena been sub-aërial, the result would have been altogether of a different nature; and we should have had cooled lava streams, and not masses of basalt.

We have seen that the strata rise round and enfold this central nucleus of volcanic rock, displaying nearly hemispherical segments and curves. Now if we suppose a vertical transverse fissure across such a hill as that represented in the diagram (Lign. 275), the face of the remaining strata would be in every respect similar to that of the High Tor (see Lign. 270, p. 876); namely, a mass of Trap, or toadstone, at the base, and a series of arched strata of limestone above; with fissures containing ores of lead, zinc, barytes, &c. and various kinds of spar.

A, A.--Highly inclined strata of Millstone Grit.

B, B.--Arched strata of Mountain Limestone.

C.--A central nucleus of Trap or Toadstone.

To a mind accustomed to investigations of this nature, a slight examination of the phenomena under review will, I apprehend, suffice to demonstrate the correctness of these deductions; but I may have failed to place the subject before the general reader in an intelligible and lucid point of view; should this be the case, still, if the attempt to present a familiar exposition of the physical structure of this remarkable district shall induce him to visit the scenes I have so imperfectly portrayed, and interrogate Nature in a right spirit, the hours we have passed together in our excursion to Crich Hill will not have been spent in vain; for in the beautiful language of the noble bard:--

"To sit on rocks, to muse o’er flood and fell, To slowly trace the forest’s shady scene, Where things that own not man’s dominion dwell, And mortal foot hath ne’er or rarely been; To climb the trackless mountain all unseen, With the wild flock that never needs a fold; Alone o’er steeps and foaming falls to lean; This is not solitude; ’tis but to hold Converse with Nature’s charms, and view her stores unroll’d."--Childe Harold, Canto II. xxv.

Specimens of Fossils and Minerals.--On our return, our first care must be to look over all the specimens we have gathered, arrange them, and select those which are the most illustrative of the phenomena we have examined; and ticket every specimen, as recommended in the Instructions. The fossils, consisting of several species of spirifer and other brachiopoda, and of portions of encrinital stems, require no particular care. The rocks should comprise specimens of the different varieties of limestone and sandstone; and of the green limestone, altered by contact with the toadstone; and examples of the compact trap, and of the variety veined with red jasper,--of the amygdaloidal toadstone,--and the vesicular, or that in which the cavities are empty. The minerals should comprise the ores of lead, zinc, barytes, fluor, and calcareous spar; of the last some good clear pieces should be selected, that will exhibit its double refracting property. Of the common metal, Pyrites, a few specimens should be preserved; this mineral, from its splendid yellow appearance, is often mistaken for gold; but a mere blow of the hammer will immediately detect it, for Pyrites is brittle, and readily cracks to pieces, while gold, as is well known, is remarkably ductile. If the collector be not satisfied with the fruits of his day’s researches, he should look over the catalogue of Mr. Adams, and purchase such specimens as will render his collection sufficiently extensive to present a full illustration of the geological character of the scenes he has this day visited.

There is a variety of sulphate of barytes from near Youlgreave exhibited in the shops at Matlock, of which one or two examples should be obtained. The surface of the polished specimens much resembles the rich variegated appearance of dark tortoise-shell. This mineral has been formed, like the common calcareous stalactite, by infiltration through some porous rock; transverse sections exhibit concentric layers of various shades; while the longitudinal have the varied colours disposed like those in tortoise-shell.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: BONSAL VALLEY.]

NOTES FOR A GEOLOGICAL EXCURSION BY CROMFORD, UP BONSAL VALLEY, BY VIA GELLIA, TO MIDDLETON MOOR; RETURNING BY STONNIS.

This excursion will present many objects of interest, and one day at least should be devoted to the examination of the different localities pointed out in the following notes.[812] To Cromford, and then take the road that leads through Bonsal vale. A fine range of limestone on the right, and a sparkling stream (Bonsal-brook) on the left. On the banks of this brook there is a manufactory of mineral colours (Pooley’s) well worthy a visit. But before we reach this establishment, there is an opening on the hill side where the strata are exposed, and a bed of Trap is seen beneath the limestone; near this place specimens of fluor, calc-spar, &c., that have been thrown out in forming the excavation, may be collected. From beneath the trap a warm spring issues and flows into the neighbouring brook.

[812] Benjamin Froggatt should be engaged to conduct the pedestrian; and a carriage party would also do well to place themselves under his guidance.

Proceed up the road leading to Via Gellia, and through a valley flanked with high ranges of limestone and dun-stone. On the right, is the beautiful cascade previously mentioned, near Dunsley. This valley is a celebrated botanical region, for several species of plants which are of great rarity or unknown elsewhere are here met with. At the direction post, turn to the left up the steep hill that leads to Middleton Moor. On each side numerous fossils of the mountain limestone may be collected from the blocks lying on the flanks of the hill. Views splendid in picturesque scenery and of a highly interesting geological character are obtained as we ascend. On the summit of Middleton Moor, which is from 1,300 to 1,400 feet above the level of the sea, a most extensive panoramic view of the surrounding country may be obtained. The geological map will enable the observer to identify the crags of Charnwood Forest, the High Peak, &c. &c. Almost every part of the Moor is studded with the disused shafts of exhausted mines, and which are so carelessly covered over as to be extremely dangerous, and the visitor must bear this caution in mind; for the heaps of stone placed at irregular intervals on the hill, and which tempt the geologist to seek for specimens, are for the most part piled over the openings of deep shafts.[813]

[813] My son narrowly escaped being drawn in by a heap of stones which gave way under his feet, and suddenly disappeared in the chasm below. In rambles of this kind in a mining country, the young geologist must, therefore, be upon his guard, or he may be engulphed with masses of limestone in some deep chasm, and his bones, incrusted with stalactite, form an ossiferous breccia, that in future ages may perplex some collector of organic remains to determine its relative antiquity!

Pass on by Worksworth, to the quarries of mountain limestone, where the encrinital marble, so largely employed for side-boards, chimney-pieces, &c. is procured. Near the approach to the entrance of the quarry, an instructive example of curved strata of limestone is seen on the left; and on the right, a fine vertical artificial section. On the weathered surface of the left side of this entrance, and on the face nearest the quarry, good specimens of the stems I and ossicula of the usual Derbyshire crinoidea may be extracted (p. 284) from the layers of reddish limestone; and good blocks of the marble may be selected. Large spirifers can be procured from the limestone in these quarries; the quarry-men often have specimens. On the right hand of the entrance, layers of flinty slate (called partings of black bind by the miners) occur between the beds of limestone. In a field near this quarry, on the left of the road leading to Cromford, where some mining operations are going on, blocks of the stone called chert have been thrown up, and often contain beautiful examples of the pulley-stones (p. 285), or siliceous casts of the stems of the crinoidea. A large collection of fossils may be gathered in the localities above mentioned.

We now drive to the escarpment of millstone grit at Stonnis, called Black-rock, whose pine-clad summit forms so conspicuous an object in the view from Crich Hill; it is about a mile from Cromford, and overlooks Matlock Dale.

On the right of the road, the refuse workings of a mine cover the side of the hill; among which some specimens of spars or minerals may perhaps be found.

[Sidenote: VIEW FROM STONNIS.]

But the grand attraction of Stonnis is the view of Matlock Dale and the surrounding mountains, obtained from the verge of the precipitous escarpment of sandstone rocks, under the knoll of pines. It is, indeed, a scene of transcendent beauty and magnificence, and is said, by one who has ascended every mountain top and traversed every ravine and valley in this district, to be unrivalled.

"In that species of beauty which in landscape scenery approaches to grandeur, it is unequalled in Derbyshire. The parts of which it is composed are of the first order of fine things, and they are combined with a felicity that but rarely occurs in nature. Scarthing Rock, the woods of Willersley Castle, Matlock High Tor, the hills of Masson, Crich, and Riber are all noble objects; and the rude masses that constitute the foreground of the picture are thrown together, and grouped and coloured in a manner strikingly picturesque. I have scaled the highest eminences in the mountainous districts of Derbyshire--seen from their summits the lovely dales that repose in H tranquil beauty at their base--marked the multitude of hills included within the wide horizon they command, and my heart has thrilled with emotion at the sight; but not an eminence that I ever before ascended--not a prospect, however rich, and varied, which I thence beheld--is at all comparable with the view from Stonnis."[814]

[814] Derbyshire Tourist’s Guide, p. 42.Return to passage

Every one possessed of taste and feeling who gazes upon this glorious landscape will partake, in a greater or lesser degree, of the emotions thus finely expressed by the ardent lover of the sublime and beautiful in nature; but to the natural philosopher the physical characters of this enchanting region are fraught with a deeper interest, and present subjects for the most profound contemplation. To him the rocks and the mountains are the grand monuments of nature, on which are inscribed the history of the physical revolutions of the globe which took place in periods incalculably remote and long antecedent to the creation of the human race. They present to his mind a succession of events, each so vast as to be beyond his finite comprehension; ages of tranquillity, with lands and seas teeming with life and happiness, succeeded by periods in which the earthquake and the volcano spread universal ruin and destruction--and they teach him that all these awful changes bear the impress of the Almighty’s hand, and were subservient to the eternal purpose of rendering this planet the fit abode of man, during his mortal pilgrimage.