[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]
INTRODUCTION.
The publication of Mr. Parkinson's "Organic Remains of a former World," at the commencement of the present century, must be regarded as a memorable event in the history of British Palæontology: it was the first attempt to give a familiar and scientific account of the fossil relics of animals and plants, accompanied by figures of the specimens described.
The three volumes[4] of which the work consisted, appeared at considerable intervals; the last was published in 1811. Although nearly forty years have since elapsed, and hundreds of geological works, of all kinds and degrees of merit, have subsequently been issued, Mr. Parkinson's Plates, owing to their fidelity and beauty, are still in such request, as to induce the proprietor, Mr. Bohn, now that the work is out of print, to publish them, with the descriptions and modern names of the fossils represented.
[4] Three volumes, in 4to.; price 10l. 10s.
I have added a few explanatory remarks, and in the "Supplementary Notes," have given extended notices of some of the most interesting subjects, with the view of rendering the volume more intelligible and acceptable to the general reader.
In looking through the original work of Mr. Parkinson, the instructed observer will not fail to perceive the immense progress which the study of fossil animals and plants has made since the period of its first appearance in 1811. At that time, the terms Geology and Palæontology were unknown; all the sedimentary strata have since been accurately defined and arranged, and names assigned to the respective systems or formations; while the so-called Diluvial Epoch, which Mr. Parkinson, and even Baron Cuvier, considered as established by incontrovertible physical evidence, has been expunged from the chronology of geology. In Mr. Parkinson's volumes, no allusion will be found to that most remarkable era in the earth's history which modern researches have brought to light—the Age of Reptiles; the terms Ichthyosauri, Plesiosauri, Iguanodon, Megalosaurus—now familiar as household words—are not inscribed on their pages; all those marvellous beings of past ages have been discovered during the last forty years; in short, the remark of an eminent critic is as true as it is beautiful:—"Geology is a philosophy which never rests; its law is progress; a point which yesterday was invisible is its goal to-day, and will be its starting-post to-morrow."
I gladly avail myself of this opportunity to make a passing allusion to the excellent and accomplished author, Mr. Parkinson. I had the pleasure and privilege of his acquaintance in my youth, immediately after the publication of the third volume of his valuable work. Mr. Parkinson was rather below the middle stature, with an energetic, intelligent, and pleasing expression of countenance, and of mild and courteous manners; readily imparting information, either on his favourite science, or on professional subjects; for he was at that time actively engaged in medical practice in Hoxton Square, and was the author of several valuable medical treatises. He kindly showed and explained to me the principal objects in his cabinets, and pointed out every source of information on fossil remains; a department of natural knowledge at that time but little cultivated in England, but which peculiar circumstances had contributed to render the engrossing object of my young and ardent mind. In after years Mr. Parkinson warmly encouraged my attempts to elucidate the nature of the strata and organic remains of my native county, Sussex, a district which was then supposed to be destitute of geological interest; and he revised my drawings, and favoured me with his remarks on many subjects treated of in my first work—"The Fossils of the South Downs."[5]
[5] Published in 1822.
In 1822, Mr. Parkinson published "An Introduction to the Study of Fossil Organic Remains, especially of those found in the British Strata; intended to aid the Student in his Inquiries respecting the Nature of Fossils, and their Connexion with the Formation of the Earth;" 1 vol. 8vo. with ten plates, principally of the genera of fossil shells. He also contributed a few papers to the early volumes of the Geological Society of London, of which he was one of the original members. After Mr. Parkinson's death, his beautiful and choice collection was sold by auction, and its contents widely dispersed. The fine series of silicified zoophytes was purchased by Mr. Featherstonhaugh, and taken to America; and some years afterwards was destroyed by a fire which consumed the museum in which it was placed.
As illustrative of the pleasing style of Mr. Parkinson's work, I subjoin an abstract of the chapter, On the Pleasure and Advantages of a Knowledge of Fossil Remains. The epistolary style was adopted; and the first letter is supposed to be penned by a friend desirous of learning the nature of certain fossils he had observed on his journey to Oxford:—
"I have lived long enough to witness many sad disappointments to the fond dreams of happiness indulged by persons who, only intent on the acquisition of riches, had neglected to cultivate any intellectual or ennobling pursuit; so that on retiring from active life, they were unable to enjoy the leisure so dearly earned by years of anxiety and care, and either relapsed into a state of miserable ennui, or gave themselves up to the excitement of frivolous or vicious indulgences.
"Aware of the necessity of devoting the few leisure hours, which the duties of my calling left at my disposal, to some rational and amusing occupation, I have always cultivated, more or less assiduously, some branch of art or science, and thence acquired an enthusiastic admiration for the beauties of nature, and an insatiable curiosity to pry into the mysteries of the natural world. With this state of mind, I have at length resolved to avail myself of the means my little fortune affords me to indulge those feelings, and have, I trust, quitted the busy scenes of the world for ever.
"In pursuance of a plan long entertained of visiting the most interesting parts of our island, I left London last week, accompanied by my daughter, and our old friend, Frank Wilton, whose lively disposition and agreeable manners render him, as you well know, an excellent companion. But he has made himself most acceptable to us on another account;—his resolute scepticism with respect to the more rational, and his submissive credulity as to the popular and traditional explanations of such natural phenomena as are beyond his comprehension, are frequently productive of remarks so quaint and humorous, as to contribute in no small degree to our enjoyment.
"Ere our first day's journey was completed, I discovered how insufficient was the knowledge I possessed to enable me to form even a conjecture, as to the nature of the very first objects which particularly arrested our attention. We were within a few miles of Oxford, when Wilton, looking out of the carriage window, exclaimed, 'Bless me! never before did I see roads mended with such materials!' This, of course, drew my attention to what had so strongly excited his wonder; and I must confess that my astonishment was but little less than his own; for I beheld a labourer with a large hammer breaking to pieces a nearly circular ornamented stone, half as large as the fore-wheel of our carriage, and resembling in form a coiled-up serpent, or snake. We instantly stopped the chaise, and inquired of the man the name of the stone, and where it came from. 'This, Sir,' he replied, 'is a snake-stone, and comes from yonder quarry, where there are thousands of them.' Upon hearing this, we all alighted, and with surprise examined some of the unbroken stones, which, though evidently bearing the form of an unknown animal, were composed of solid rock. As we sauntered along, the carriage following us, we came to a neat building on the road-side, which a sign in the hedge opposite denoted to be a house of public entertainment. Hoping to gain more satisfactory information respecting the objects that had so much excited our curiosity, we entered this literally hedge ale-house, and on being shown into a neat room, the casement of which, surrounded by roses and honeysuckles in full bloom, opened into a garden redolent with fragrance and beauty, from the wild profusion of its flowers and shrubs, we determined to rest awhile, and partake of such refreshment as the cottage might afford. While these were preparing, Frank Wilton, whose restless curiosity leaves nothing unobserved, was examining the contents of the old oaken mantel-shelf, and suddenly cried out, 'Well! if the object of travelling is to behold novelties and wonders, surely this county will afford that gratification in the highest degree; for among the curious things on this mantel-piece, there is not one of which I have ever seen its like before.' The articles now passed under my examination, and with no better success; for I had never observed anything similar, nor could I form a rational conjecture respecting their nature.
"While thus engaged, our landlady made her appearance, and from her we learnt that this was her collection of curiosities, gathered from the neighbouring country; and she readily imparted to us all she knew of the subject. Taking up one of the stones, which resembled those we had seen on the road,—'This,' she said, 'is a petrified snake, with which this neighbourhood abounds. These were once fairies that inhabited these parts, and, for their crimes, were turned first into snakes, and then into stones. Here'—showing a stone of a conical form—'is one of the fairies' night-caps,[6] now also become stone.' 'Do, madam,' addressing Emma, 'pray observe this pattern; is it possible lace-work like this should ever have been worked by human hands? This—and this—are pieces of bones of giants, who lived here after the fairies were destroyed.' These bones, she informed us, were frequently dug up in several parts of the county, as well as innumerable thunderbolts,[7] some of which she also showed us, affirming that they were the very thunderbolts by which the giants were in their turn annihilated.
[6] A Cidaris, or turban-echinite; see Plate LIII.
"We all listened attentively to this discourse, and on my smiling, when she withdrew, at the romantic account we had received, Wilton strenuously defended our good landlady's narration, and declared, he thought it was not without a fair share of probability. On the return of our hostess, I did not venture to express any doubt of the truth of her story, but merely requested to know if she was aware of there being anywhere a more extensive collection of similar curiosities. 'To be sure. Sir,' she replied, 'our University has a museum full of them; and if you be going through Oxford, it will be well worth your while to see it.'
"After taking refreshment, we left our kind and communicative hostess, but not with an intention of immediately visiting the Museum of the University. On the contrary, I felt that, without some previous knowledge of the objects to be examined, our curiosity would be only excited, not gratified; and I resolved to defer our visit to Oxford, until we had obtained the information necessary to insure us both pleasure and profit in the investigation of the relics of interest it contained.
"Thus, my dear friend, at the very outset of my long anticipated holidays, I have experienced considerable disappointment, and I confidently appeal to you to afford me the information I require; for I know that you have successfully cultivated the science which teaches the nature of these figured stones, or petrifactions, and possess a valuable collection of these most extraordinary objects. You now, therefore, have it in your power to add greatly to the delight and instruction I am anticipating from my travels, by giving me an insight into the origin and nature of the petrified remains which, I am told, are every where to be met with in the districts we are about to visit."
Of Mr. Artis's Work, I need only mention that it was intended, as its title expresses, to illustrate "The Fossil Remains of Plants peculiar to the Coal Formations of Great Britain; selected for their novelty and interest from upwards of a Thousand Specimens in the possession of the Author; by Edmund Tyrell Artis, Esq. F.S.A. F.G.S." It was published by Nichols & Son, 1838. The plates are well executed, and faithfully portray the original specimens.
Gallery of Organic Remains in the British Museum.
The collection of fossils in our national museum is now so varied and extensive, and so admirably arranged by its eminent Curator, Charles König, Esq., F.R.S., and his able assistants, Mr. Waterhouse and Mr. Woodward, that the intelligent reader whose interest may be awakened by the beautiful and curious objects figured and described in this volume, cannot fail to be highly gratified by inspecting leisurely the various organic remains from all parts of the world, that are there displayed.
I gladly avail myself of this opportunity gratefully to acknowledge the liberality and kindness I have at all times experienced from the Officers of the several departments of Natural History in the British Museum, in promoting my scientific researches, by affording me every facility to examine the vast stores of Information placed under their guardianship.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES.
PART I.
FOSSIL FLORA.
Plates I. to XXXIII. inclusive.
PLATE I.
(Plates I. to IX. inclusive are from Parkinson's Organic Remains.)
Fossil Woods and Leaves.
Fig. 1. Fossil coniferous wood, from a bed of clay at Blackwall. This wood is simply bituminized, and has undergone no other mineral transmutation; it is in the usual condition of wood in peat-bogs.
Fig. 2. A piece of bituminous wood, containing Mellite, or Honey-stone (honigstein of Werner), the yellow crystallized substance in the middle of the specimen. It is a fossil resin, allied to amber: from Thuringia.
Fig. 3. Carbonized coniferous wood, from the so-called "Bovey Coal" formation of Devonshire.
Fig, 4. A piece of calcareous wood, showing very distinctly the ligneous structure on the surface.
Fig. 5. Lignite, or carbonized wood, in clay; the cracks or fissures in the wood are filled up with white calcareous spar. Specimens of this kind are common in many argillaceous strata, as well as in limestone.
Fig. 6. A fragment of shale, covered with the imprints of the leaf-stalks that have been shed. It is a species of Lepidodendron. See description of Plate XXVI.
Fig. 7. This fossil vegetable is part of the stem of a tree; and possibly of a species of Sigillaria.
Fig. 8. Portion of a nodule of ironstone, enclosing some pinnules or leaflets of a beautiful fern (Neuropteris): from Coalbrook Dale, Shropshire.
PLATE II.
Petrified Woods.
Fig. 1. Silicified bituminized wood; probably from New Holland.
Fig. 2. Silicified root of a coniferous tree, (Rhizolithes, of the early collectors,) "resembling in structure that of the larch."—Mr. Parkinson.
Fig. 3. A similar example of silicified bituminous wood, or root.
Fig. 4. Fossil coniferous wood, a longitudinal section.
Fig. 5. Another section of the same fossil wood.
Fig. 6. "Petrified larch-tree," from Mount Krappe in Hungary.
Fig. 7. Silicified bituminous wood.
Fig. 8. "Jasperized wood, resembling in structure that of the hazel."—Mr. Parkinson.
Fig. 9. Silicified coniferous wood; apparently a dried and withered mass, before it underwent petrifaction.
Fig. 10. Silicified wood, having a cavity lined with mammillated chalcedony; appearing as if the silex had percolated through the substance of the mass, and had slowly oozed into the hollow.
Fig. 11. Silicified bituminous wood. In this specimen the siliceous matter occurs in yellow semi-pellucid globules; the colour is supposed to have been derived from the bitumen.
The silicified woods delineated above, belong to the division which Mr. Parkinson denominated opaline; he conceived their peculiar characters to have resulted from an infiltration of fluid silex into the ligneous tissue, which, having previously undergone bituminization, was in a permeable state; hence originated the conchoidal fracture and peculiar resinous lustre which these specimens exhibit.
The specimen, fig. 7, Mr. Parkinson describes as corroborating the opinion that the ligneous tissues were converted into a bituminous substance, and subsequently impregnated with siliceous matter. "In that fossil there is a knot of wood which differs not the least in appearance from that in a recent piece, but it is perfectly impregnated with opaline silex. Is it possible that the change this knot has suffered could have been effected by an abstraction of the greater part or of the whole of its constituent molecules, and a substitution of particles of a different nature? Its hardness and closeness of texture oppose an insuperable bar to the supposition: whilst the mysteriousness of the change is entirely dispelled by admitting of the softening operation of bituminization, and consequent admission of silex in a fluid state."—Mr. Parkinson.
PLATE III.
Petrified Stems and Leaves.
Fig. 1. A portion of the trunk of the fossil vegetable called Stigmaria ficoides (of M. Alex. Brongniart); it is the root of a tree common in the coal deposits; see Supplementary Notes, Art. Stigmaria, p. 198, for a description of the nature and mode of occurrence of these fossils.
Fig. 2. Impressions of dicotyledonous leaves in travertine; a modern calcareous deposit; from Campania.[8]
[8] Medals of Creation, vol. i. p. 193.
Fig. 3. Part of the stem of a reed-like plant (Calamites dubius, Brongniart); from the coal deposits of Yorkshire. See description of Calamites.
Fig. 4. Appears to be a fragment of the stem of a species of Lepidodendron.
Fig. 5. Fragment of the leaf of a Cycadeous plant, from the oolite of Stonesfield. (Zamia pectinata.)
Fig. 6. Portion of an ironstone nodule, split asunder, showing part of the terminal branch of a Lepidodendron, from Coalbrook Dale. See description of Lepidodendron.
Fig. 7. "A pebble that appears to have been partly enveloped in a leaf while in a soft state, which has produced the markings on its surface."—Mr. Parkinson.
Fig. 8. "Ligniform pitchstone;" fossil wood having a resinous transparency; supposed by Mr. Parkinson to have originated from an intermixture of silex and bitumen; the internal part is opalized.
Fig. 9. Fragment of calcareous coniferous wood from the Lias of Charmouth, Dorsetshire: the vegetable structure is well preserved.
PLATE IV.
Fossil Fern Leaves.
Figs. 1, & 2. An ironstone nodule, split asunder, showing an inclosed fern-leaf (Alethopteris lonchitidis, of Sternberg); from the coal-beds of Newcastle.
Figs. 3, & 4. The corresponding parts of another nodule, containing a fern-leaf of a different kind (Neuropteris).
Fig. 5. A very beautiful fossil fern (Cheilanthes microlobus, of Göppert; Sphenopteris, of Brongniart); from the coal formation.
Fig. 6. A slab of coal-shale with fronds of ferns (Alethopteris Serlii, of Göppert); from Dunkerton.
Fig. 7. A beautiful fern (Pecopteris) in coal-shale; from Newcastle.
PLATE V.
Fossil Ferns and Stems.
Fig. 1. A beautiful delicate plant, belonging to a family of which numerous species occur in the coal deposits; named, from the stellular form of the foliage, Asterophyllites.
Fig. 2. A fern in coal-shale, from Yorkshire. (Sphenopteris trifoliata, of Artis.)
Fig. 3. Another species of star-leaf plant (Annularia brevifolia), from the coal of Silesia.
Fig. 4. A dicotyledonous leaf in sandstone, in a beautiful state of preservation; from the tertiary strata of Œningen.
Fig. 5. A frond of a remarkable species of extinct fern (Cyclopteris orbicularis, of Brongniart); from the coal of Shropshire.
Fig. 6. An elegant fern (Pecopteris), from coal shale; Newcastle.
Fig. 7. A delicate plant (Sphenophyllum erosum, vel dentatum, of Sternberg), with wedge-shaped pinnules, from the coal formation.
Fig. 8. Portion of a stem, flattened by compression, of a species of Sigillaria (Sigillaria tesselata, of Brongniart). From the coal of Yorkshire.
Fig. 9. Fern (Pecopteris oreopteridis, of Brongniart); from the coal of South Wales.
Figs. 10, & 11. Two specimens of Asterophyllites in ironstone nodules, from Coalbrook Dale. The white appearance is occasioned by a deposition of hydrate of alumina.
PLATE VI.
Fossil Fruits from Sheppey.
The greater number of the specimens here figured, are from the London clay of the Isle of Sheppey.[9]
[9] For an account of the circumstances under which fossil fruits, &c. occur in that celebrated locality, see Medals of Creation, vol. ii.
These fossils are strongly impregnated with pyrites (sulphuret of iron), and are liable to decompose after exposure to the air for a few weeks or months, even when placed in closed cabinets: when first found they are remarkably beautiful. An excellent work on the fossil fruits of the Isle of Sheppey, was commenced by J. S. Bowerbank, Esq. F.K.S. of Highbury Grove; but which, it is much to be regretted, was discontinued after only three numbers were published.
Fig. 1. Portion of a branch of a tree, completely mineralized by pyrites; it is the "pyritous fossil wood" of Mr. Parkinson.
Figs. 2, & 3. Vegetable substances, too imperfect to determine.
Figs. 4, 8, 9, & 13. The berries of an extinct genus of plants, (named Wetherellia, by Mr. Bowerbank, in honour of Mr. Wetherell of Highgate,) which, from their appearance when split asunder, are called by the local collectors, "coffee berries." The natural affinities of these fossils are not determined.
Figs. 5, 6, & 7. The fruit or seed-vessel of a palm allied to the recent Nipa, a native of the Molucca Islands; the fossil is therefore named Nipadites.[10] See the next Plate.
[10] Medals of Creation, vol. i. p, 180.
Figs. 10, & 12. Fossil fruits of plants belonging to the Cucumber tribe (hence named Cucumites, by Mr. Bowerbank).[11]
[11] Plate xiii. of Mr. Bowerbank's work on the Fossil Fruits of the London Clay, contains numerous figures of Cucumites.
Fig. 11. A transverse section of Fig. 16.
Figs. 14, 18, 24, & 26, are varieties of Cucumites.
Fig. 16. Calcareous wood from Oxfordshire.
Fig. 19. Wood mineralized by copper (Cupreous fossil-wood of Parkinson), from Souxson, in Siberia.
Fig. 18. Fossil fruit resembling the seed-vessels of plants of the genus Cupania (Amomocarpum, of Brongniart; Cupanoides, of Bowerbank); M. Brongniart considers the original to have been related to the Cardamoms (Amomum).
Fig. 21. Probably a species of Cupanoides.
Figs. 20, & 22. Pericarp of a fruit; its affinities unknown.
Fig. 23. A piece of pyritous wood.
Fig. 25. A rolled specimen of Nipadites.
Figs. 24, & 26. Two fruits of plants of the Cucumber family (Cucumites).
Figs. 27, & 29. Specimens of the stems of a species of extinct Club-moss (Lycopodites squamatus); fossils of this kind are abundant in the pyritous clay of Sheppey.
Fig. 28. A fragment of silicified wood, rounded by attrition; from the gravel-pits at Hackney.
Figs. 15, & 17. I have purposely reserved the description of these fossils for this place, because notwithstanding their close resemblance to the aments or cones of a pine or larch, which led the earlier collectors to regard them as fruits, they do not belong to the vegetable but to the animal kingdom, being the hardened excrementitious contents (Coprolites) of the intestines of the fishes, with whose remains they are associated in the chalk.[12] The specimens figured are from Cherry Hinton, in Cambridgeshire; similar fossils occur in the Chalk and Chalk-marl of Sussex, Kent, &c.
[12] See Medals of Creation, vol. i. p. 432; and Dr. Buckland's Bridgewater Essays, vol. ii. pl. 15.
PLATE VII.
Fossil Fruits of Palms.
Figs. 1-5. Splendid specimens of one of the most remarkable of the fossil fruits that occur in the London clay of the Isle of Sheppey. The nut in its pericarp or husk is shown in fig. 1, the separate pericarp in fig. 2, and the nut itself in fig. 3. Figs. 4 and 5, represent another beautiful fossil of the same species.
These fossil fruits, which Mr. Parkinson considered as belonging to a species of Cocos, or Cocoa, and M. Brongniart referred to the Pandanus or Screw-pine, Mr. Bowerbank has demonstrated to be closely related to the recent Nipa, or Malucca Palm; a low shrub-like monocotyledonous plant, that inhabits marshy tracts near the mouths of great rivers, particularly where the waters are brackish.
Mr. Bowerbank has figured and described eleven species. The species represented in this plate is distinguished as Nipadites Parkinsonis: M. Brongniart had previously named it Pandanocarpum Parkinsonis.[13]
[13] See an account of an "Excursion to the Isle of Sheppey," Medals of Creation, vol. ii. p. 897.
The following is Mr. Bowerbank's description of these fossils:—
"The fruits of which the group I propose to name Nipadites is composed, are known among the women and children by whom they are usually collected, by the name of 'petrified figs.' The epicarp and endocarp are thin and membranous; the sarcocarp is thick and pulpy, composed of cellular tissue, through which run numerous bundles of vessels. The cells are about the 8/100th part of an inch in diameter. Nearly in the centre of the pericarp is situated a large seed, which, when broken, is found to be more or less hollow. It is frequently not more than half a line in thickness; but in perfect specimens it presents the appearance of a closely granulated structure, in which small apertures containing carbonaceous matter occasionally occur. The seed in Nipadites Parkinsonis, consists of regular layers of cells radiating from a spot situated near the middle of the seed, and apparently enclosing a central embryo.
"If the habits of the plants which produced these fossil fruits were similar to those of the recent Nipa, it will account for their amazing abundance in the London Clay of the Isle of Sheppey; which formation, from the great variety of fossilized stems and branches, mixed up with asteria, mollusca, and conchifera of numerous marine and fresh-water genera, is strikingly characterized as having been the delta of an immense river, which probably flowed from near the Equator towards the spot where these interesting remains are now deposited."[14]