Chapter 24

[374]They are figured in Geol. S. E. p. 250; and in Dr. Fitton's Memoir, Geol. Trans, vol. iv. pl. 21.

Lign. 131. Unio Valdensis.(1/3nat.)Wealden; Isle of Wight.

In 1844 I discovered a large species in the Wealden at Brook Point. I have named itUnio Valdensis.[375]I have collected and obtained nearly fifty specimens; they present two varieties, the one contracted and narrow, the other broader and deeper; this difference is probably sexual; the wide and deep shells may be the females; for in the living American Uniones the same characters are observed. Some examples are remarkably well preserved; the ligament remaining in a carbonized state, and the body of the mollusk in the condition of molluskite; even a tint of the original tawny reddish colour of the shell is present. The same species has been found in the Wealden strata, near Tunbridge Wells, by Mr. Barlow, C. E.

[375]Unio Valdensisresembles in form the Mexican species, U. Panacöensis (River Panaco), but is probably more nearly allied to an unnamed Australian species of which Mr. G, Sowerby has numerous examples.

I shall reserve my remarks upon the important aid thesefossils afforded in the determination of the fluviatile origin of the Wealden, for ourExcursion to Tilgate Forest.

Lign. 132. Cyclas and Melanopsis.Wealden; Sussex.

Cyclas.Wond.p. 404.Ly.p. 28.—Another genus of fresh-water bivalves is termedCyclas, of which there are ten species in the Wealden formation: and, with the exception of four or five recent forms, which occur in the tertiary fresh-water strata, none others have been found in England.[376]The shells of the genus Cyclas are oval, transverse, equivalved bivalves, with the hinge-teeth very small: the substance of the shell is thin and fragile; the figures inWond.andLy.accurately represent the appearance of the fossilCycladesof the Wealden, and tertiary strata. Entire layers of two or three species of these shells occur in the argillaceous deposits of the Wealden, generally in a friable state, but from among the masses of crushed shells, perfect specimens may be obtained, and sometimes with the remains of the epidermis and ligament. The hard stone, termed calciferousgrit, in the neighbourhood of Hastings, Tilgate Forest, Horsham, and other places in the Weald of Sussex, abounds in casts of the same species, associated with theUniones, previously described. In the cliffs on the southern shores of the Isle of Wight where the Wealden beds emerge, and also in the Isle of Purbeck, these shells are equally abundant. Together with theUniones, they occasionally appear in the limestone, called Sussex Marble; and in the Isle of Purbeck there are beds of limestone wholly composed of bivalves belonging to these two genera, and presenting, in polished slabs, markings formed by sections of the enclosed shells.

[376]Cyrena, is a genus so nearly related to Cyclas, that it is difficult to distinguish them, and it will be convenient to retain only the former name.

FOSSIL PTEROPODA.

PTEROPODA. GASTEROPODA.

In the Ludlow strata there are found small fragile elongated conical shells without chambers, which are supposed by Professor E. Forbes to be identical with a recent genus of pteropodous mollusca, common in the Mediterranean, called Creseis. They seldom exceed two inches in length.

Of another genus, named Conularia, six Species have been discovered in the Silurian formation.[377]

[377]See Geol. Trans, second series, vol. vi, p. 325.

Lign. 133. Fossil Shells of Gasteropoda.Fig.1.—Paludina fluviorum.Wealden.2.—Limnæa longiscata.Tertiary. Isle of Wight.3.—Cerithium lapidorum.Tertiary, Grignon.4.—Fusus contrarius.Crag. Essex.

FOSSIL SHELLS OF GASTEROPODA.

The univalve shells, as we have previously explained, are the calcareous cases, or coverings, of a more highly organized class of molluscous animals, than the inhabitants of the bivalves (seep. 366.), for they possess a head and mouth with jaws, eyes, and feelers; and while theAcephala, with but few exceptions, are incapable of locomotion, theEncephalaare almost all of them furnished with organs of progression, and can creep, climb, and swim, or float on the surface of the water. Their shells are for the most part formed of one valve, hence the name ofunivalve; but insome species it is composed of several pieces. The most simple form of shell is that of the hollow cone, of which thePatella, or limpet, affords an example; and in the more complicated modifications, the cone is twisted, or convoluted spirally, either in the same plane as in thePlanorbisof our rivers, or obliquely, as in by far the greater number of species. The direction of the spire is generally from left to right, the aperture being dextral to the observer when the shell is placed with its apex uppermost, as inLign.133,figs.1, 2, 3; but in a few species the spire turns in the opposite manner, and the mouth or aperture is to the left, or sinistral, as inLign.133,fig.4. In consequence of the form of the aperture of the shell, the entire or notchedcondition of its margin, and the presence or absence of a canal or siphon always having relation to the soft parts of the animal, these characters afford data by which the genera and species of the shells may be determined, and information obtained as to the structure and economy of the originals.

The Gasteropoda generally creep by means of a fleshy disk, or foot, which is situated under the belly. Some kinds are terrestrial, others inhabit trees, many live in rivers and streams, others in stagnant and brackish waters; but the greater number are denizens of the sea.

FOSSIL GASTEROPODA.

The Common Snail, River Snail, and Periwinkle, are instances of terrestrial, fluviatile, and marine forms. The organs of respiration are situated in the last whorl of the shell; and in some genera the border of the mantle, or integument surrounding the body, is prolonged into a siphon, by which the water is freely admitted, without the head or foot being protruded: in these mollusks the shell has a corresponding channel to receive the siphon, as in the Whelk, or Buccinum, and in the fossil shellLign.133,fig.4. The Gasteropoda are generally provided with an operculum, or movable valve, by which the aperture is closed and defended when the animal retreats within its shell. In some species the operculum is a mere horny pellicle; in others it is a solid calcareous plate of considerable relative thickness. These mollusca, as is but too well known of the terrestrial species, consume large quantities of food. Some are herbivorous, and others carnivorous; many prey on living, and others on decaying animal and vegetable substances.[378]Asin a fossil state the shells alone remain to afford any clue as to the structure and economy of the originals, characters have been sought for, by which the fluviatile or marine nature, and the carnivorous or herbivorous habits of the living mollusca may be determined. As a general rule, it will be found, that the shells of terrestrial and fresh-water Gasteropoda have the aperture entire, as in the Garden Snail, and in the fossil shell,Lign.133,fig.1; and that a large proportion of the marine species have the opening notched or channelled, as in the Whelk, andLign.133,figs.3, 4; and most of the species with entire apertures are herbivorous. But these inferences must be regarded in a very general sense, and it will require corroborative evidence to establish the marine or fresh-water nature of those fossil shells which do not bear a close analogy to known living species.[379]

[378]"AllGasteropodacommence life under the same form, both of shell and animal, namely, a very simple helicoid shell, and an animal furnished with two ciliated wings or lobes, by which it can swim freely through the fluid in which it is contained. At this stage of existence the animal corresponds to the permanent state of thePteropod, and the form is alike, whether it be afterwards a shelled or a shell-less species."—Prof. E. Forbes, Edin. Philos. Journal, vol. xxxvi. p. 326.The well known Tiger Cowry (Cyprcea tigris) in its earliest stage has a minute helicoid (snail-like) shell.[379]SeeLy.p. 30.

The well known Tiger Cowry (Cyprcea tigris) in its earliest stage has a minute helicoid (snail-like) shell.

[379]SeeLy.p. 30.

The various conditions in which the remains of univalve shells occur in the mineral kingdom have already been so fully explained, that but a few additional remarks on that subject are required (seep. 382.).

The Gasteropoda are found to progressively diminish in number with the antiquity of the deposits, and it was once supposed that this type of molluscous organization was not contemporaneous with the ancient Cephalopoda. My discovery of several genera associated with Ammonites in the chalk (seeFoss. South D.pl. xviii, xix) first tended to invalidate this hypothesis; and the subsequent researches of Dr. Fitton, Professor Phillips, and other geologists have shown that the presence or absence of Gasteropoda in a stratum may generally be ascribed to the circumstance ofthe deposit having been formed in shallow, or in deep water. Thus when simple univalves largely predominate under circumstances that indicate they were imbedded in their native habitats, it may be safely concluded that the rock is of littoral formation; or, in other words, was deposited in shallow water, near the sea-shore; and, on the contrary, when Nautili, Ammonites, and the shells of other mollusca known to live in deep waters abound in a formation, it may be presumed that the strata were formed in the tranquil depths of the ocean. The number of described species from the British strata is nearly eight hundred; and these are distributed throughout the sedimentary formations, from the Silurian to the newest Tertiary; the latter containing by far the greater proportion.

FOSSIL FRESH-WATER UNIVALVES.

Fresh-water Univalves.—The fossil shells of Gasteropoda that are undoubtedly fluviatile, comprise but few genera and species, and are confined to those deposits, which, from the corroborative proofs afforded by other organic remains, are unquestionably of fresh-water origin. Such are the intercalated beds of clay and limestone in the London and Paris basins, the Wealden formation, and certain strata in the Carboniferous system. The most numerous specimens are principally referable to the common fluviatile genera,Paludina,Limnæa,Planorbis, andMelanopsis(seeLy.p. 29).

Paludina.Lign. 133, fig. 1.(Wond.p. 401,Ly.p. 29.)—This common river shell is of a conoidal form, and the whorls of the spire, and the aperture, are rounded. Eleven British species are known. In the tertiary fresh-water beds of Headon Hill, at Alum Bay, Paludinæ with the shells perfect, and of a dull white colour, are abundant; and also in the limestone at Shalcombe, in the Isle of Wight, in the state of casts. In both these localities the Paludinæ are associated with other fresh-water shells. But the granddeposit of shells of this genus is the Wealden formation; throughout which there are extensive beds of marble, coarse limestone, and clays, almost wholly composed of Paludinæ, and minute fresh-water Crustaceans, of the genusCypris, which will be described in a subsequent chapter. The compact paludina-limestone of Sussex, called Petworth or Sussex marble, is principally made up of one species, theP. fluviorum,Lign.133,fig.1, and is an aggregation of Paludinæ, held together by crystallized carbonate of lime; the cavities of the shells, and their interstices, being often filled with white calcareous spar. A polished slab, displaying sections of the enclosed shells, is figured inWond.p. 402. Upon examining slices of this marble with the microscope, the cavities of the shells are found to contain myriads of the cases of Cyprides.[380]The Wealden limestone of the Isle of Purbeck,Lign.134, known as Purbeck marble, is, in like manner, composed of Paludinæ, but of a much smaller species. Both these marbles were in great repute with the architects of the middle ages, and there are but few of our cathedrals and ancient churches which do not still contain examples, either in their columns, monuments, or pavements, of one or both varieties. The polished marble columns of Chichester Cathedral, and those of the Temple Church, in London, are of Purbeck marble; in other words, they are composed of the petrified shells of snails, that lived and died in a river, flowing through acountry inhabited by the Iguanodon and other colossal reptiles, all of which have long since become extinct. With the exception of themussel-bandlimestone of the Carboniferous system, previously described, these are the only British fresh-water marbles[381]There are four species of Paludina in the Wealden, and four in the Tertiary strata of Hants.

[380]For a particular account of this marble, see Geol. S. E. pp. 182-187.[381]The collector may obtain specimens, and polished slabs of these limestones, of Mr. Martin, mason, Lewes, Sussex.

[380]For a particular account of this marble, see Geol. S. E. pp. 182-187.

[381]The collector may obtain specimens, and polished slabs of these limestones, of Mr. Martin, mason, Lewes, Sussex.

Lign. 134.Polished Slab of Purbeck Marble.

Limnæa.Lign.133,fig.2.—Several species of these fresh-water mollusks inhabit our lakes and ponds, and may be known by their pointed spire, elongated oval body, and delicate thin shell: on the inner lip of the aperture there is an oblique fold. Fossil shells of this genus are found with Paludinæ in the fresh-water tertiary deposits. Headon Hill and other localities in the Isle of Wight abound in these shells; and in the limestone of Calbourn beautiful casts are very numerous. The Paris basin yields several species; and there are six species in the Isle of Wight Tertiary; I have not observed any decided examples in the Wealden. In the sands and clays the shells are well preserved; in the limestones the casts only remain. Shells of another genus of fresh-water spiral univalves, termedBulimus(Ly.p. 30), are found associated with the above. A large species (B. ellipticus,Min. Conch.tab. 337), occurs in the limestone at Binstead, near Ryde, and at Calbourn; I have collected specimens two inches long from the former locality; they are generally in the state of casts, with a white friable coating of the shell.[382]

[382]A very large species ofLimnæafrom Bavaria (labelledL. maxima) is in the British Museum. It is a cast six and a half inches long, and is placed with the recent shells. Prof. E. Forbes has discovered a Limneïd (Physa) in the Purbeck strata.

Planorbis.Ly.p. 29.Wond.p. 400.—The shells of this genus are also numerous in our rivers and lakes, andmay be distinguished by their discoidal form, the shell being coiled up in a nearly vertical plane. There are about twenty living species; and sixteen are enumerated as fossil in the British tertiary; five occur in the Isle of Wight basin, in the localities of the fresh-water genera already mentioned; Headon Hill, in particular, yields shells of this genus in great abundance and perfection.

Melanopsis.Ly.p. 29.—These are spiral univalves, the appearance of which will be better understood by the figures, than by any description. I allude to this genus because a small species is very numerous, with the other fresh-water shells, at Headon Hill; and two or more species are found in the argillaceous strata of the Wealden (seeGeol. S. E.p. 249, andLign.132).

FOSSIL MARINE UNIVALVES.

Marine Univalves.—Of the fossil marine Gasteropoda there are no less than eighty genera in the strata of the British Islands, and the species amount to several hundreds. To distinguish the species and genera, reference must, of course, be made to works expressly devoted to fossil conchology, as Sowerby'sMineral Conchology, andGenera of Fossil Shells; or to the works of French authors, particularly those of Lamarck, edited by M. Deshayes, and of M. Blainville. ThePenny Cyclopediacontains admirable notices of fossil shells, under the respective heads of the classes, orders, and genera, of the recent Mollusca.

Buccinum, of which the common Whelk is an example.—Fusus,Lign.133,fig.4.Wond.p. 244.—Pleurotoma,Ly.p. 31.Wond.p. 244.—Cerithium,Lign.133,fig.3.Wond.p. 244.—Ancilla,Wond.p. 244.Ly.p. 31.—Voluta,Ly.p. 202,fig.180.—Murex,Ly.p. 164.—Rostellaria,Ly.p. 201.—To the eight genera here enumerated a very large number of the marine simple univalve shells belong; and they are principally found in Tertiary strata.

The animals of these shells are characterized by their respiratory organs, which are formed of one or two pectiniform gills, with a tube or siphon more or less elongated, for the free admission of sea-water to the branchial apparatus. This organization is indicated in the shell, either by a notch, or by a prolonged tubular canal. All the species are, with scarcely any exceptions, inhabitants of the sea, and carnivorous.

I have selected for illustration of the genusFusus, a celebrated shell of the Crag, known among collectors as the "Esssex reversed Whelk,"Lign.133,fig.4; the spire is twisted in the opposite direction to the usual mode, and the mouth is consequently to the left of the observer; the same species occurs with the spire in the common direction. The shells of the genusPleurotomaare distinguished by an incision, or notch, in the side of the right or outer lip; and those ofCerithium, by the form of the mouth, seeLign.133,fig.3. The latter is a very numerous genus, and more than two hundred fossil species are enumerated; it contains many elegant forms. The Tertiary strata at Grignon are particularly rich in these fossils; the shells are of a pearly whiteness, and as perfect as when recent. Some Cerithia are of considerable size; theC. giganteumis from ten to fourteen inches in length. The genusPotamidescomprehends shells closely resembling the Cerithia in form, but which are inhabitants of fresh-water.[383]This is an instance of the difficulty which sometimes exists of arriving at certain conclusions as to the habits of the mollusks, from their testaceous coverings alone.

[383]Mr. Woodward informs me that they can only be distinguished whenfossil, by the absence ofvarices, or "periodic mouths." The recent species are known to be inhabitants of fresh-water, by their dark epidermis, corroded points, and horny multi-spiralopercula.

The Plastic Clay beds at Castle Hill, Newhaven, and in the vicinity of Woolwich, abound in two species of shells,which were originally described by Mr. Sowerby, asCerithia(viz.C. funatumandC. melanoides),[384]but are now referred to the fresh-water genus, Melania; by some conchologists toPotamides. At Castle Hill they are accompanied by fresh-water bivalves, and leaves of dicotyledonous plants.

[384]Foss. South Downs, tab. xvii. figs. 3, 4.

Of the genusRostellaria, there is a remarkable species in the London Clay, calledR. macroptera, from the large wing-like expansion of its outer lip, in adult specimens; seeLy.p. 201. An elegant Rostellaria is found in the Galt, at Folkstone,[385](Foss. South D.tab. xix. figs. 12, 14,) and other localities; and also in the Chalk Marl.

[385]"This shell belongs to the recent genus,Aporrhaïs, and is related to Cerithium, not to Strombus."—Mr. Woodward.

Casts of a large ventricose, globular univalve, calledDolium,[386]have been found in the Chalk Marl, at Clayton, near Hurstpierpoint, in Sussex. This species is distinguished by its transverse tuberculated bands; it is a very rare production of the lower chalk of Sussex (Min. Conch.tab. 326). Turbinated shells related toTrochus, and belonging to several genera, occur in the Cretaceous deposits. As is the case generally with the univalves of this formation, but slight traces of the shells remain; the thin internal nacreous lining is sometimes found adhering to the cast.

[386]This Chalk fossil is not aDolium: it is probably related toRinginella incrassata(Geol. Suss. t. xix.fig.3), one of theTornatellidæ, a family largely developed in the chalk.

In the Chalk of Touraine, species of the generaConus(Lign.135,fig.1) andSolarium(Lign.135,fig.2) are found with the shells preserved. The specimens figured,Lign.135, are selected to familiarize the student with the difference so commonly observable, between the outer surface of the casts, and that of the shells: in both these fossils the shells are marked externally with lines andtubercles; but the casts present only the smooth surface of the interior of the shell in which they were moulded.

Lign. 135. Univalves, from the Chalk of Touraine.—nat.Fig.1.—Conus tuberculatus, with part of the shell remaining attached to the cast.2.—Solarium ornatum, with the shell.2a.—Specimen of the same species, deprived of the shell.

In the most ancient fossiliferous formations, the Carboniferous; Devonian, and Silurian, many species and genera of Gasteropoda have been discovered. Professor Phillips enumerates more than ninety in the mountain limestone of Yorkshire (Phil. York.), belonging to the generaTurbo,Pleurotomaria,Natica,Euomphalus,Loxonema,Macrocheilus,Platyceras, andMetoptoma. Thirty-four species from the Silurian rocks are figured and described inMurch. Sil. Syst.p. 706.

TheNatica,Lign.136,fig.3, sometimes attains thrice the size represented, and has been found in many localities in England and Ireland.

Pleurotomaria.Lign.136,fig.4.—This is an extinct genus, distinguished from Trochus by a fissure on the right lip, the position of which is indicated by the band along theback of the whorl inLign.136; several species occur in the Mountain Limestone; the markings of the original shell are sometimes preserved, as in the example delineated This genus is common in the Oolite; a splendid species, with the shell entire, is found in the Kimmeridge Clay, at Hartwell; limestone casts of the same species are abundant in the Portland stone at Swindon, in Wiltshire.

Lign. 136. Univalves from the Mountain Limestone.Fig.1.—Euomphalus pentangulatus; Upper surface.2.—Polished section of the same species.3.—Natica plicistria.Yorkshire. Mt. L.4.—Pleurotomaria flammigera.(Phil. York.)Mt. L.

There are two species of this genus (formerly namedCirrusby Mr. Sowerby) which are of frequent occurrence in the White Chalk of England, in the state of casts, and are figured in myFoss. South D.tab. xviii., under the names ofCirrus perspectivus, andTrochus linearis. The Chalk Marl of Sussex yields in some localities (Hamsey,Middleham, Clayton) fine casts of Pleurotomaria, which appear to be distinct from those of the upper cretaceous strata.

EUOMPHALUS.

Euomphalus.[387]Lign.136,figs.1, 2.—The shells of this extinct genus are deeply umbilicated, discoidal, spiral univalves, having the innermost whorls of the shell divided by imperforated partitions. The internal structure of these shells will serve to prepare the student for those more complicated forms of the testaceous apparatus presented by the Cephalopoda, which will form the subject of the next chapter. There are several recent univalves the animals of which retreat in the progress of growth from the apex of the spire, and the vacated portion is shut off by a shelly plate. In some genera a series of concave septa are thus formed; but in others (asMagilus) the deserted cavity is filled by a compact accretion of calcareous matter, and a solid elongated shell is produced. TheEuomphalus, of which there are many species in the Silurian, Devonian, and Carboniferous strata, belongs to the former group. As the animal increased in size, it deserted the smaller and innermost portion of the spire, and a nacreous partition was secreted by the posterior part of the mantle, the interspace remaining hollow; as this process was repeated at different periods, several cells were successively formed. This chambered structure is shown in the specimenLign.136,fig.2, in which the cells are filled with spar, but the outer cavity is occupied by limestone like that in which the shell was imbedded; a proof that no communication existed between the chamber occupied by the body of the animal, and the space from which it had withdrawn. The calcareous spar, as in the vegetable remains previously described (p. 71.), has percolated the substance of the fossil, and crystallized inthe innermost cells. We shall again have occasion to refer to this interesting fact, when investigating the chambered cells of the Cephalopoda. It may be necessary to remark, that it does not appear that the vacant interspaces in the Euomphalus served the special purpose of the air-chambers of the Nautilus and Ammonite.

[387]So named by Mr. Sowerby, in allusion to the deeply umbilicated character of the disk.

Lign. 137.Murchisonia angulata.Devonian; Eifel.

Murchisonia.Lign.137. An elongated spiral shell, having the outer lip deeply notched, as in the Pleurotomaria (a,Lign.137). There are upwards of 50 species of this genus, which are characteristic of the palæozoic rocks. They occur in the Permian, Devonian, and Lower Silurian deposits; the specimen figured is from the Devonian, or Old Red of the Eifel.

Chiton.Valves of Chitons have been found in the Magnesian limestone, near Sunderland, by Prof. King, (Permian Fossils,Pal. Soc.p. 202, pl. xvi.), and in the Silurian rocks of Ireland, by Mr. Salter,Geol. Journal, vol. iii. p. 48.

SPHÆRULITES.

Sphærulites.[388]Lign.138.—No vestiges of a shell of this genus had been noticed in the English strata, until my discovery of some fragments in the Lewes Chalk in 1820; from the lamellated structure of these fossils, I mistook them for corals, until specimens were obtained sufficiently perfect to show the form of the originals; these were described in theGeol. S. E.(p. 130), under the name of Hippurites. But these fossils are more nearly related to theSphærulites, which differ from theshells of the former genus in having only one internal longitudinal ridge, and in the external surface being roughened by irregularly raised plates, as inLign.138,fig.1, which is a specimen from the Pyrenees, collected by M. Alex. Brongniart; the operculum is seen ata.

[388]This genus has been referred by some conchologists to the Bivalves, and by others to the Univalves.

Lign. 138. Sphærulites from the Chalk of France and England.Fig.1.—Sphærulite, with itsoperculum,a.2.—Sphærulites Mortoni(G. A. M.),from Lewes:1/2nat.2a.—Cellular structure offig.2, in a transverse section: ×2b.—Structure, as seen in a vertical section: ×

The species found in the Sussex Chalk,Lign.138,fig.2, is characterized by the longitudinal striæ on the outer surface. In some examples there is an external longitudinal furrow, and a corresponding internal ridge.[389]

[389]The specific name is in honour of Dr. George Morton, of Philadelphia, author of the "Synopsis of the Cretaceous Group of the United States."

The Sphærulites sometimes occur in groups in the Sussex chalk; I had a large water-worn mass, consisting of five or six individuals, anchylosed together. Some beautiful specimens collected by the late Mr. Dixon from the Chalk, near Worthing, are now in the British Museum.[390]The structure of the Sphærulite is accurately delineated inLign.138, figs. 2a2b.The cavities of these shells are occasionally filled with flint, but in general with chalk, which may be entirely cleared away, as infig.2. The Hippurites of the limestone of the Pyrenees are frequently occupied by calcareous spar, and the substance of the shells is occasionally transmuted into the same mineral.

[390]Petrifactions, p. 468.

MOLLUSKITE.

Molluskite; or the carbonized remains of the soft parts of mollusca.—Before proceeding to the consideration of that numerous and important division of the mollusca theCephalopoda, I will offer a few remarks on a carbonaceous substance resulting from the gelatinous matter of which the soft bodies of these animals are composed, and for which I have proposed the name ofmolluskite, to indicate its nature and origin.

Lign. 139. Coprolites and Molluskite.Chalk and Greensand.Fig.1.—Coproliteof a fish (Macropoma).Chalk, Lewes.2.—Coproliteof a fish (Squalus).Chalk marl. Ramsey.3.—Molluskiteof aRostellaria. (Mr. Bensted.)Kentish Rag, Maidstone.

This substance is of a dark brown or black colour, and occurs either in shapeless masses, which are irregularly distributed among the shells and other organic remains, in sandstone, limestone, &c., or as casts of shells, or occupying their cavities, as in the specimenLign.139,fig.3, which is a vertical section of a spiral univalve (Rostellaria), filled with the soft parts of the animal, converted into molluskite. Upon analysis this substance is found to contain a large proportion of animal carbon.[391]The rocks of firestone at Southbourne, on the Sussex coast, are mottled with brown molluskite and hard amorphous concretions, consisting of carbon and phosphate of lime, mixed with sand and other extraneous matter. Casts of shells, of the genera Venus,Arca, &c., entirely composed of the same kind of materials, are also abundant in those rocks. The lowermost bed of Galt, at its line of junction with the Greensand beneath, at Folkstone, and in many other localities, is largely composed of similar matter, resembling in appearance the fossils called Coprolites, hereafter described. The outer chamber of the Ammonites and other shells, so abundant in the Galt, are often filled with this substance. But the most interesting deposit of molluskite is in the Kentish Rag of Mr. Bensted's quarry, near Maidstone. This phenomenon had not escaped the notice of that intelligent and accurate observer, who liberally placed at my disposal numerous shells, particularlyofTrigoniæandTerebratulæ, which were filled with molluskite, and large slabs of the sandstone, full of concretionary and amorphous masses of the same. The latter, Mr. Bensted suggested, may have been derived from the soft bodies of the dead Mollusks, which, having become disengaged from their shells and aggregated together, had floated in the sea, until they became enveloped in the sand and mud, which have gradually consolidated into the arenaceous stone termed Kentish Rag, In illustration of this opinion, Mr. Bensted directed my attention to the following remarkable fact, related in theAmerican Journal of Science:—In the year 1836, a fatal epidemic prevailed among the shell-fish of the Muskingum River, in the state of Ohio. It commenced in April, and continued until June, destroying millions of the mollusca that inhabited the beds of the tributary streams, and the river. As the animals died, the valves of the shells opened, and, decomposition commencing, the muscular adhesions gave way, and the fleshy portions rose to the surface of the water, leaving the shells in the bed of the river. As masses of the dead bodies floated down the current, the headlands of islands, piles of drifted wood, and the shores of the river, in many places, were covered with them; and the air in the vicinity was tainted with the putrid effluvium exhaling from these accumulations of decomposing animal matter. The cause of the epidemic was unknown.

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