Chapter II: Preface

In the hope of promoting the diffusion of a taste for the cultivation of a peculiarly interesting and attractive branch of Natural History, I have been induced, in compliance with the suggestion of the eminent publisher of this volume, to arrange in a connected series the Plates of the late Mr. Parkinson's "Organic Remains of a Former World," and of Mr. Artis's "Antediluvian Phytology," with descriptions of the specimens represented.

As I have been enabled, with the valuable assistance of my friend, John Morris, Esq. F.G.S., the author of "A Catalogue of British Fossils," to append, in almost every instance, the generic and specific names adopted by the most recent authorities, the volume will, I trust, not only prove interesting to the general reader, as a beautiful _Pictorial Atlas_ of some of the most remarkable relics of the animals and plants of a "Former World," but also constitute a valuable book of reference in the library of the Geologist and Palæontologist, since it contains the names and localities of no inconsiderable number of species and genera.

For the guidance of the unscientific reader who may desire further information on any of the subjects treated of in the following pages, references are given to a few general works on Geology and Fossil Remains.

Chester Square, Pimlico,
_August 1850._

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PAGE
Preface v

Description of the Frontispiece x

Introduction 13

Descriptions of the Plates.

FOSSIL REMAINS OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM.

(_Plates I. to XXXIII. inclusive._)

Plate

I.--Various specimens of Fossil Wood, and fragments of Plants 19

II.--Chiefly examples of silicified Wood 21

III.--Stigmaria, Calamites, and Wood 23

IV.--Fronds of various Fossil Ferns 25

V.--Different species of Ferns and other Plants 27

VI.--Principally Fossil Fruits from the London clay of the
Isle of Sheppey 29

VII.--Specimens of the Fruit of a species of _Nipas_, or
Molucca Palm; from the Isle of Sheppey 31

VIII.--Figures of different portions of beautiful silicified
Stems of Plants allied to the Arborescent Ferns;
from Chemnitz 33

IX.--Fossil Seed-vessels or Cones (_Lepidostrobus_) of
the Lepidodendron 35

X.--An aquatic Plant (_Hydatica_) in Coal shale 37

XI.--A fine specimen of another species of Hydatica 39

XII.--A delicate aquatic Plant (_Myriophyllites_) in Coal
shale 41

XIII.--Portion of the Stem of the _Calamites ramosus_ 43

XIV.--Fragment of Stems of another species of Calamite
(_Calamites dubius_) 45

XV.--Stem of a Calamite very much resembling the Bamboo
(_Calamites pseudo-bambusia_) 47

XVI.--Another species of Calamite (_Calamites approximatus_) 49

XVII.--Stem of another kind of Calamite (_Calamites decoratus_) 51

XVIII.--Fossil Stems allied to the Pandanus or Yucca
(_Sternbergia transversa_) 53

XIX.--Stem of a species of Sigillaria (_Sigillaria fibrosa_) 55

XX.--Stem of another kind of Sigillaria 57

XXI.--Fossil Roots of Sigillaria (_Stigmaria ficoides_) 59

XXII.--Another species of Stigmaria (_Stigmaria verrucosa_) 61

XXIII.--Fragment of a Stigmaria with large tubercles 63

XXIV.--Part of a Stem of a tree allied to Sigillaria
(_Aspidiaria cristata_) 65

XXV.--Stem of a Plant allied to the Arborescent Ferns
(_Megaphyton_) 67

XXVI.--Stem of a species of Lepidodendron 69

XXVII.--Fossil Plant allied to the Lepidodendron 71

XXVIII.--A beautiful fossil Fern resembling Osmunda regalis
(_Neuropteris auriculata_) 73

XXIX.--An elegant trifoliate Fern in Coal shale
(_Neuropteris trifoliata_) 75

XXX.--An exquisite specimen of fossil Fern (_Pecopteris Miltoni_) 77

XXXI.--Another elegant Fern in Coal shale (_Pecopteris plumosa_) 79

XXXII.--A very beautiful plumose Fern in Coal shale
(_Alethopteris decurrens_) 81

XXXIII.--A fossil Fruit or Seed-vessel in Coal shale
(_Carpolithes marginatus_) 83

FOSSIL REMAINS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM.

(_Plates XXXIV. to LXXIV: inclusive._)

XXXIV.--A beautiful mass of Coral (_Syringopora geniculata_) on
Carboniferous limestone 87

XXXV.--Several kinds of fossil Corals (_Syringopora ramulosa_,
_Catenipora escharoides_, &c.) 89

XXXVI.--Corals from different formations (_Fungia_,
_Cyathophyllum_) 91

XXXVII.--Various fossil Corals (_Astrea_, _Lithostrotion_,
_Caryophyllia annularis_) 93

XXXVIII.--Corals and Coral marbles (_Cyathophyllum_, _Astrea_,
_Lithodendron_) 95

XXXIX.--Fossil Corals, and Sponges or Amorphozoa (_Siphonia_,
_Favosites_, _Explanaria_) 97

XL.--Various fossil Zoophytes (_Clionites_, _Millepora_) 99

XLI.--A beautiful specimen of a cyathiform fossil Zoophyte
(_Chenendopora Parkinsoni_) 101

XLII.--Several kinds of Zoophytes in Flint (_Choanites_,
_Siphonia_, _Jerea_) 103

XLIII.--Various Corals and other Zoophytes (_Fungia polymorpha_,
_Jerea pyriformis_, _Ventriculite_) 105

XLIV.--Silicified Sponges and other Zoophytes (_Scyphia_,
_Cnemidium_, _Chenendopora_) 107

XLV.--Several kinds of calcareous and silicified Corals and
other Zoophytes 109

XLVI.--A recent Pentacrinus (_P. caput medusæ_), and a
beautiful Fossil species 111

XLVII.--Numerous specimens of portions of Stems, separate
Ossicles, and Receptacles, of various kinds of
Encrinites and Pentacrinites 113

XLVIII.--The Lily Encrinite (_Encrinites monileformis_) 115

XLIX.--Remains of several kinds of Encrinites and Encrinital
marbles 117

L.--Chiefly specimens of the Pear Encrinite of Bradford, in
Wiltshire (_Apiocrinus Parkinsoni_) 119

LI.--Several kinds of Crinoidea (_Actinocrinites_,
_Pentacrinites_) 121

LII.--Specimens of Pentacrinites from Lyme Regis 123

LIII.--Fossil Star-fishes (_Goniaster_, _Ophiura_, _Cidaris_) 125

LIV.--Various kinds of Echinites or fossil Sea-urchins
(_Clypeaster_, _Ananchytes_, _Discoidea_, _Conulus_) 127

LV.--Several varieties of fossil Echini (_Cidaris_,
_Nucleolites_, _Micraster_, _Spatangus_) 129

LVI.--Echinites and echinital Spines 131

LVII.--Fossil univalve Shells (_Euomphalus_, &c.) and
_Cololites_ 133

LVIII.--Fossil Shells of various kinds of Cephalopoda
(_Nautilus_, _Orthoceras_, _Lituties_, &c.) 135

LIX.--Belemnites, Orthoceratites, and Hippurites, &c. 137

LX.--Belemnites and Ammonites 139

LXI.--Hamites of several species; Scaphites, Nummulites, &c. 141

LXII.--Fossil Foraminifera of several genera 143

LXIII.--Several species of Trigonia 145

LXIV.--Fossil bivalve Shells (_Cucullæa_, _Crassatella_,
_Lima_, _Cardium_, &c.), and the anomalous bodies
termed _Trigonellites_ 147

LXV.--Fossil Shells of the genera _Panopæa_, _Teredina_, &c. 149

LXVI.--Fossil Shells of the genera _Ostrea_, _Perna_,
_Gryphea_, &c. 151

LXVII.--Chiefly Shells of brachiopodous Mollusca,
(_Terebratula_, _Spirifer_, _Productus_, &c.) 153

LXVIII.--Fossil Crabs from Sheppey; Trilobites, Insects, &c. 155

LXIX.--Remains of Turtles from Sheppey, and Vertebræ of
Crocodilian Reptiles from Havre, and of the _Mosasaurus_ 157

LXX.--The Jaws of the fossil Reptile of Maestricht
(_Mosasaurus_); and Teeth of various kinds of
Sharks and Rays (_Carcharias_, _Miliobatis_,
_Pthychodus_, &c.) 159

LXXI.--Skull and Antlers of the fossil Elk of Ireland, and Teeth
of the Mammoth 161

LXXII.--Fossil teeth of _Hippopotamus_, _Rhinoceros_,
_Dinotherium_, _Palæotherium_, and _Anoplotherium_;
and ungueal bone of Megalonyx 163

LXXIII.--Skeleton of the _Megatherium_, and Teeth of the fossil
_Bears_ of the Caverns 165

LXXIV.--Molar Teeth of _Mastodon giganteus_, from Big-bone Lick,
Kentucky 167

Frontispiece.--Foot of the Moa of New Zealand.

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.

1. Fossil Bears of the Caverns 166

2. The Belemnite _ib._

3. Fossil Remains of Birds--Moa of New Zealand 172

4. Botanical Arrangement of Fossil Vegetables 175

5. Cephalopoda--Nautilus, Ammonite, &c. 180

6. Carboniferous Formations 181

7. Coal 182

8. Corals _ib._

9. Cuvier's Principles of Palæontology 183

10. Fossil Edentata, Megatherium, &c. 184

11. Flint: Animal Remains in Siliceous Nodules 185

12. Foraminifera 186

13. The Gigantic extinct Irish Elk: Cervus megaloceros 189

14. Fossil Infusoria _ib._

15. The Mosasaurus, or Fossil Animal of Maestricht 191

16. Fossil Reptiles 192

17. --------------- of the Wealden: the Iguanodon 193, 202

18. ------------------------------ the Pelorosaurus 197

19. Silicification and Siliceous Petrifactions _ib._

20. Stigmariæ and Sigillariæ 198

WORKS REFERRED TO IN THE DESCRIPTIONS.

Michelin, Iconographie Zoophytologie, Paris, 4to.

Göppert, H. R. Die Fossilen, Farrnkrauter,--forming vol. xvii. of
the Nova Acta Academiæ C. L. C. Naturæ Curiosorum. 1836, 4to.

Presl, C. B., Sternberg, Dr. G. Flora der Vorwelt, Part VII. and
VIII. edited by Presl.

Goldfuss, Dr. A., Petrefacta Germaniæ, folio, Dusseldorf, 1841-44.

Fossil Flora of Great Britain, by Dr. Lindley and Mr. Button.

Dr. Buckland's Bridgewater Essay on Geology and Mineralogy, 2 vols,
with numerous Plates.

The Wonders of Geology, 3 vols, sixth edition, 1849.

The Medals of Creation, 2 vols. 1844.

Geological Excursions round the Isle of Wight and along the
adjacent Coast of Dorsetshire, 1 vol. numerous Plates.

Thoughts on Animalcules, 1 vol. numerous coloured Plates, second
edition, 1850.

Thoughts on a Pebble, with 30 Illustrations, eighth edition, 1850.

Lyell, Sir Charles, Travels in. America, 1845, and 1849.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FRONTISPIECE.

THE MOA OF NEW ZEALAND.

The Frontispiece represents the entire series of bones composing the right foot of the Moa (_Dinornis robustus_), found imbedded in an erect position, with the corresponding foot a yard in advance, in a turbary deposit, at Waikouaiti, in the Middle Island of New Zealand, in 1849. The figures are one-third less in linear dimensions than the originals.

Figures 1^_a_, 2^_a_, 3^_a_, show the palmar, or under surface of the respective toes, and exhibit the trochlear or articulating extremities of the phalangeal bones.

* * * * *

The ancient swamp or morass in which these matchless specimens were imbedded, is situated on the shore, in a little creek or bay near Island Point, at the mouth of the river Waikouaiti, and is covered by the sea except at the lowest tides. Many remains of the largest species of Moa have from time to time been obtained from this deposit; the bones sent to England by Dr. Mackellar, Mr. Percy Earle, and others, figured and described in the Zoological Transactions by Professor Owen, were from this locality.

The specimens figured were obtained by Mr. Walter Mantell, in 1849, when visiting Waikouaiti, as Government Commissioner for the settlement of Native claims. On the recession of the tide, the upper (or proximal) ends of the metatarsals were just visible above the surface: these were carefully dug up, and all the bones of the respective toes numbered, one by one, as they were extracted from the soil. In this state they were sent to me, and have subsequently been articulated under my direction, in their natural order of arrangement.[1]

[Footnote 1: By the well-known eminent anatomical artist, Mr. Flower, of 22, Lambeth Terrace, Lambeth Road.]

The condition and position of the bones, and the nature of the deposit,--evidently an ancient morass, in which the New Zealand flax (_phormium tenax_) once grew luxuriantly,--remind us of the very similar circumstances in which the extinct gigantic Elks in Ireland, and the Mastodons in America, have occasionally been found engulfed in peat bogs and morasses; and, as my son emphatically observes, it is impossible to arrive at any other conclusion than that the Moa to which these feet belonged, had sunk down in the swamp, and perished on the spot. Vertebræ and other parts of a skeleton of a bird of the same proportions, were dug up near the feet.

As the specimens under examination are the first examples in which the entire series of the phalangeal and ungueal bones have been found in natural connexion with the metatarsals, I subjoin the admeasurements of the several parts, to render the peculiar construction of the feet in one species of the lost race of the colossal birds of New Zealand, more obvious to those who may feel interested in the subject.

TARSO-METATARSAL BONES.

Inches. Lines.

Length of the shaft from the distal end of the middle
trochlea to the proximal extremity 17 0

Circumference of the proximal end 11 9

Transverse diameter, or width, of ditto 4 6

Antero-posterior diameter of ditto 3 6

Circumference of the middle of the shaft 6 3

Antero-posterior diameter of ditto 1 8

Transverse diameter of ditto 3 6

Width of the distal, or trochlear, end 6 3

Circumference of the trochlear end 15 6

Antero-posterior diameter of the middle trochlea 3 9

PHALANGEAL BONES.

Inner Toe. Middle Toe. Outer Toe.
(Fig. 1.) (Fig. 2.) (Fig. 3.)
Inches. Lines. Inches. Lines. Inches. Lines.

First, or proximal phalanx
{ Length 4 9 -- 4 3 -- 3 2
{ Circumference of proximal end 6 6 -- 6 9 -- 5 9

Second phalangeal bone.
{ Length 1 9 -- 2 6 -- 1 9
{ Circumference of proximal end 3 0 -- 5 3 -- 4 9

Third phalangeal bone Ungueal.
{ Length {3 0} -- 1 9 -- 1 0
{ Circumference of proximal end {4 0} -- 4 6 -- 4 6

Third phalangeal bone Ungueal.
{ Length {3 0} -- 0 11
{ Circumference of proximal end {4 2} -- 4 0

Fifth ungueal bone
{ Length 2 6
{ Circumference of proximal end 3 9

The total length of the toes is as follows:--inner digit, 9½ inch.; middle, 11½ inch.; outer, 9-1/3 inch. The transverse diameter of the expanse of the foot, from the distal extremity of the inner toe (fig. 1^a), to that of the outer one (fig. 3^a), is 15½ inches. The length from the posterior part of the trochlear extremity of the metatarsal to the distal end of the ungueal of the middle toe (fig. 2^a), is 13 inches. If to the actual dimensions of the bones be added the proportional thickness of the cartilaginous integuments, nails, &c., the length of the foot of the living bird may be estimated at about 16 inches, and the breadth at 17 or 18 inches.

From the great width and solidity of the metatarsals, and the form and corresponding size and strength of the phalangeals and ungueals, the ornithologist will perceive that the feet of the Moa must have constituted powerful instruments for scratching, digging, and uprooting the sub-terrestrial vegetable substances, which Professor Owen, with great probability, infers, formed the chief sustenance of the extinct colossal birds of New Zealand.

According to the relative proportions of the bones composing the hinder extremities of the gigantic species of Moa, the corresponding _tibia_, or leg-bone, of the feet above described, would be two feet nine inches in length, and the _femur_, or thigh bone, nine and a half inches; the total height of the bird was probably about ten feet.

Tibiæ, femora, and other bones of much larger proportions, (apparently of _Dinornis giganteus_ and _D. ingens_,) were obtained from the same locality; some of these indicate birds of eleven or twelve feet in height; dimensions exceeding by one-third those of the largest known existing species of Struthionidæ--the Ostrich.[2]

[Footnote 2: Even from this imperfect description (and further anatomical details would be irrelevant in the present work), the ornithologist cannot fail to observe the peculiar characters exhibited by these extremities of the remarkable family of birds, of which the diminutive Apteryx appears to be the only living representative. But the Apteryx differs most essentially in the structure of the cranium and mandibles, from the extinct types to which Professor Owen has given the names of Dinornis, Palapteryx, Aptornis, &c.

With regard to the construction of the feet it may be further remarked, that the length of the inner and outer toes is nearly equal, as in the Cassowary; but the middle toe, which in the Cassowary is one-third longer than the other digits, in the Moa scarcely exceeds in length by one-fifth, the inner and outer toes. The ungueal segments are very large, being equal to one-third the length of the toes. The phalangeals are relatively much shorter than in the Cassowary and Ostrich, and wider than in the former, and more arched than in either of these living struthious birds.

In the metatarsal the presence of the three elements whose fusion constitutes the bone, is strongly marked; there does not appear to be any certain indications of a posterior or hind toe, though Professor Owen imagines he has detected feeble traces of a fourth digit: in that case the bird to which my specimens belonged, would be termed _Palapteryx_. The crania found by Mr. Walter Mantell at Waingongoro, and figured and described by Professor Owen in the Zoological Transactions (Vol. III., Plates 52, 53, 54, 55), as Dinornis and Palapteryx, must have belonged to birds of comparatively small stature. The skull with the adze-like upper mandible, and the enormously-developed _basi-occipitals_ and _basi-sphenoids_ (_Dinornis_, of Professor Owen, Plate 53), was found associated with many vertebræ of the neck and back, and bones of the leg, of the same bird; and these my son states indicated a height of from six to seven feet. The skull and the rest of the skeleton were found imbedded in sand, and lying in their natural relative position; unfortunately, all these precious remains, except the cranium, were destroyed by a sudden rush of the natives to seize upon the exhumed relics! It therefore yet remains to discover the cranial type that characterized the colossal forms at present known only by other parts of the skeleton.]

Referring the reader to the additional account of the fossil birds of New Zealand given in a subsequent part of this volume (see _Supplementary Notes_, p. 173), I will conclude this notice with a few general remarks. From the numerous facts relating to the fossil remains of birds from our Antipodean colony, that have now been brought under the consideration of the naturalists and geologists of this country, we may safely conclude, that at a period geologically recent, but of immense antiquity in relation to the human inhabitants of those Islands, New Zealand was densely peopled by tribes of colossal struthious bipeds, of species and genera that have long since become extinct. I believe that ages ere the advent of the Maori tribes, the Moa and its kindred were the chief inhabitants of the country, and that from the period when those Islands were taken possession of by man, the race gradually diminished, and the colossal types were finally annihilated by human agency. That some of the largest species were contemporary with the Maories, there can now be no reasonable doubt. Apart from native traditions, and songs and tales in which allusions are made to the gigantic magnitude and flowing plumage of the Moa, the collocation of calcined and half roasted bones of the Dinornis, of dogs, and of the human species, in the ancient fire-heaps of the aborigines, and the unequivocal marks of the celt or axe of jade on some of the tibiæ,--the chips or cuts having evidently been made on the bones when recent,--afford incontrovertible proof that the last of the Moas, like the last of the Dodos, was annihilated by human agency.

From the remarkable size and strength of the thighs, legs, and feet of the Moas, it is clear that the hinder limbs must have constituted powerful locomotive organs; and when we consider the vast swarms of the largest species which existed at some remote period, it seems highly probable that this family of colossal birds,--a family unknown in any other part of the world,--was not originally confined within the narrow geographical limits of modern New Zealand, but ranged over a vast continent now submerged, and of which Phillip and Norfolk Islands, and Chatham and Auckland Islands, and those of New Zealand, are the culminating points.

But whatever may be the result of future discoveries as to the relative age of the bone-deposits, or the existence or extinction of any of the colossal species of Moa, or the former extension of the race over countries now submerged, one astounding fact must ever remain unassailable--the vast preponderance of the class Aves or Birds, that prevailed, and which still prevails, in the fauna of New Zealand, to the almost entire exclusion of mammalia and reptiles. Any palæontologist who saw only the collections sent over by my son, must have been astonished at their extent and variety. I may venture to affirm that such an assemblage of the fossil bones of birds was never before seen in Europe: nearly fifteen hundred specimens, collected from various parts of the country, with scarcely any intermixture of the remains of any other class;--it is a phenomenon as startling as the exclusively reptilian character of the fauna of the Wealden epoch. But the fauna of New Zealand, even at the present time, presents a character as ornithic and as anomalous as its ancient one; for while there are upwards of fifty or sixty genera of birds, there is but one indigenous mammalian quadruped known to naturalists--a species of rat! In this respect, therefore, as well as in its flora, in which ferns and other cellulosæ of peculiar types prevail to an extent unknown elsewhere, the country offers a striking example of that now acknowledged fact in natural history--a centre or focus of creation of certain organic types. And this law, with whose operation during the palæozoic and secondary ages modern geological researches have made us familiar, appears to have continued in unabated energy to the present moment.

From what has been advanced, it is manifest that the present geographical distribution of special groups of terrestrial animals and plants, displays as many anomalies in the relative predominance of the different classes and orders over certain areas, without relation to climatorial or other obvious physical conditions, as can be traced in the natural records of the earlier ages of the world. The conclusion therefore forces itself upon the mind, that throughout the vast periods of time to which our retrospective knowledge extends, the geological changes of the earth's surface, and the appearance and obliteration of species and genera, have been governed by the same physical and organic laws; and that notwithstanding the variable conditions of the land and the water, indicated by the sedimentary formations, there was at no period a greater discrepancy in the assemblages of certain types of the animal and vegetable kingdoms, than exists at present.

Of the nature of that law by which the extinction of a race of highly organized beings is determined, and whose effects through innumerable ages palæontology has in part revealed, we are as utterly ignorant as of that which governs the first appearance of the minutest living animalcule which the powers of the microscope enable us to descry; both are veiled in inscrutable mystery, the results only are within the scope of our finite comprehension.[3]

[Footnote 3: See the concluding part of Lecture VIII. § 46, Wonders of Geology, vol. ii. p. 890.]