Gideon Mantell

“ When living, the solid stony polyparium is enclosed in the gelatinous mass by which it was secreted, and there are numerous tentacula around the central cavity, or sac. These zoophytes may be compared to the Actiniæ, or Sea-Anemones, from which they differ only in having a calcareous axis, while the Actiniæ have a tough albuminous integument. (Wond. pl. vi. fig. 15, represents the living animal; and Lign. 141, fig. 2, p. 641, and Lign. 58, fig. 4, two fossil species) . ”

“ The only hypothesis that will account for the appearance of these univalves in their present position, is that of supposing that the Nerites crawled into the cavities made in the mass of timber, after the shells of the Pholades had been removed; and that the wood became imbedded in a sand-bank, and the univalves enclosed in the cavities; the ligneous structure in a great measure perished, and the stony casts of the perforations of the borers, with the imprisoned univalves, remained. The Nerites, as shown in the example figured, do not occupy any particular position in the tubes ”

“ Two species occur in the Galt (Foss. South D. pl. xix. fig. 5, 6, 9) , at Ringmer, Folkstone, Bletchingley, &c., sometimes with the shell perfect, but generally in the state of casts composed of indurated clay, and having impressions of the muscles and of the two rows of hinge-teeth. The shell of one species is marked with fine transverse grooves, or striæ (N. pectinata) ; the other is of a flattened ovate form, and the surface smooth (N. ovata) .
The most beautiful species of Nucula are the N. bivirgata of the Galt of Folkstone, and F. Cobboldiæ of the Norwich Crag. ”

“ In addition to the ophidian relics above referred to, fossil vertebræ of a small serpent (Palæophis?) have been found in the Eocene sand below the Bed Crag, at Kyson in Suffolk; [694] a locality that has yielded other organic remains of great interest (see chap. xix.; and Wond. p. 258) . The only fossils of this order of reptiles known to Baron Cuvier appear to have been some vertebræ from the bone-breccia of Cette (Oss. Foss. tom. iv. p. 177) . ”

“ The pores are united by grooves; the outlet is in a deep furrow on the superior face; the mouth is sub-central. One species occurs in the Tertiary strata, and there is a recent species inhabits the seas of Australia. There are coloured figures of Nucleolites in Pict. Atlas, pl. liv. fig. 5, pl. lv. figs. 6, 8.
Spatangidæ.—In this tribe of echinites, the case is oblong or cordiform. The mouth, elongated transversely and destitute of proper jaws, is situated in front of the centre of the base, near the anterior border of the periphery. The outlet is towards the posterior margin. ”

“ A common form is that figured in Lign. 91, which is part of the receptacle of a crinoid, named as above; it differs from the other Apiocrinites of the chalk in the articulating surfaces of the ossicles not being radiated, « 292 » and in the receptacle, which is small and pyriform, not having a distinct cavity; there is only a median canal, which is seen in a vertical section: but the entire structure of the summit does not appear to be shown in any specimens hitherto observed. ”

“ The outer integument was reticulated, that is, disposed in meshes, like net-work; and the inner surface studded with regular openings, apparently the orifices of tubular cells. The substance « 246 » of the mass appears to have been sufficiently flexible to expand and contract without laceration. This opinion is based on the fact, that in many specimens the zoophyte is a nearly flat circular disc (Lign. 81, figs. 1, 2) ; and in others a subcylindrical pouch. In the former state the outer reticulated structure is elongated, while in the latter, it is corrugated ”

“ 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. ”

“ The Foraminifera vary considerably in magnitude; by far the greater number of species are invisible to the unassisted eye, and the aid of a lens or microscope is required to define the structure even of the largest; yet many are of sufficient size to be recognized, as for example the Spirolinæ, Lign. 112. A few genera are from a quarter of an inch to nearly an inch in diameter, as the Orbitoides Mantelli of the « 344 » tertiary formations of North America, [312] and the Nummulina, commonly termed Nummulites, of Europe, Lign. ”

“ The discoidal forms, as the Rotalia, Rosalina, Cristellaria, &c. are involute, like the Nautilus, and divided by septa or partitions, which, like the enveloping shell, are perforated. The lobes of the body occupy contemporaneously every chamber, and are connected by a tube that extends through the entire series. In « 341 » the spiral form, as the Textularia, &c., the same structure is apparent.
Whatever the form of the body, the filaments always consist of a colourless transparent matter; they are capable of being elongated to six times the diameter of the shell. ”

“ Lign. 112.—The general form resembles that of Lituola: the young shell being a discoidal, involute, and « 350 » becoming produced by age; but the internal structure is different; the cells are simple cavities.
The chalk and flints of Sussex abound in these crosier-like shells, whose existence in the cretaceous rocks was first made known by my deeply lamented friend, the late Marquis of Northampton. The annexed lignograph, from drawings by his lordship, shows the form and structure as displayed by sections in fractured flints. Four species were named by Lord Northampton (see Wond. p. 32-5) ”

“ The absence or presence of a true cortical investment, or bark, is important, for a distinct bark is the characteristic of the exogenous class: [42] a cortical integument, or rind, not separable from the enclosed structure, indicates the monocotyledons; and the entire absence of any rind, the cryptogamia.
[42] An apparent exception to this rule is found in the fossil genus Clathraria, described hereafter, which has a distinct hollow cortical cylinder, that separates from the internal axis: this is not true bark, but is formed by the consolidation of the bases of the petioles or leaf-stalks ”

“ If the pallial imprint is notched by a sinus, it shows the presence and size of the tubes of the mantle. Whether there be one or two muscular impressions is of far less importance.
[351] For an extended notice of the geographical distribution of testacea, see Prof. Edward Forbes, British Marine Zoology, Part I. p. 141.
The number of living species of mollusca known to naturalists, not including the shell-less genera, exceeds twelve « 381 » thousand; and almost every day is adding new species, for scarcely a vessel arrives from distant seas without enriching the stores of the conchologist. ”

“ It is not unusual to find flints with a cavity, occasioned by the solution and removal of the calcareous guard, and having a siliceous conical cast of the alveolus, occupying the upper part of the interspace. The reader will recollect that the pulley-stones of the Derbyshire Encrinites were produced by a similar process (see p. 285, vol. i.) . ”

“ The lateral walls of these vessels have longitudinal rows of areolæ, which are generally circular or elliptical, but when in contact are angular and polygonal: each areola has a small pore or punctation in the centre. These discs, glands, or ducts, as they are called, are variously arranged in different genera; they are generally confined to the contiguous and corresponding lateral surfaces of the fibres; and occur rarely, if ever, on the inner and outer aspects of the vessels. In the recent genus Pinus the rows of ducts are single in some species ”

“ A remarkable macrurous crustacean (Eryon Cuvieri) is found in the Jurassic limestone of Solenhofen. Perfect specimens of this species are occasionally seen in collections; it is distinguished by its very large, flat, oval shell, with the front lateral margins strongly dentated, and by its short setaceous antennæ; the front claws are as long as the body, and armed with pincers; the post-abdomen consists of six segments, terminating in a caudal appendage or tail.
In the United States several fossil crustaceans have been noticed in the Cretaceous strata of New Jersey ”

“ Sowerby figures and describes a very curious fossil, from the London Clay at Highgate, which seems to hold an intermediate place between the Cuttle-fish and the Spirulirostra. The guard, which is of an oblong form, with an obtuse apex, has the structure of the osselet of the Sepia, and contains in its upper part a phragmocone, the cells of which are very narrow. In strata of the same age, in France, three species have been discovered by M. Deshayes. I allude to these shells, that the attention of the collector may be directed to the search after other examples in our tertiary deposits. ”

“ In the Galt, or Folkstone-marl, two small species of this genus are to be found in every locality I have visited. They were first figured and described by Mr. Parkinson, under the name of Inoceramus sulcatus, and I. concentricus (Wond. p. 330, fig. 1 and 3) . In most examples the shell is in « 403 » the state of a white, friable earth, and readily decomposes, leaving patches of iridescent nacre on the casts; but I have seen examples which prove that the originals were of a fibrous structure, like the Inocerami of the Chalk.
Lign. 130. Flint, with fragments of Inoceramus.
Chalk. Lewes. a. ”

“ The first notice of these remarkable remains appeared in the invaluable work of Sir R. I. Murchison on the Silurian System. [430] The living species of Nereis (Dorsibranchiate) are « 505 » free, agile animals, having a distinct head, provided with either eyes or antennæ, or both; they are the most perfect in structure of all the Annelides. The fossil represented in Lign. 166 indicates that the body of the original was composed of about one hundred and twenty segments; the feet were half the length of a segment of the body ”

“ Lign. 175, fig. 2; Ly. fig. 432.—This genus comprises several small forms which are found in the Lower Silurian rocks of England, and occur in the equivalent deposits of Sweden, Norway, and Russia. [485] In the Trinucleus, the cephalic shield is obtuse, trilobed, rounded, and terminating in lateral spikes; and its margin is marked by numerous pit-like depressions. There are six body-rings or thoracic segments. The caudal shield is large and somewhat triangular. There are no distinct eyes. ”

“ The fossil Lepidoti are found, for the most part, in fluviatile « 605 » deposits, as in the Purbeck and Wealden strata; and it is probable they inhabited the rivers or sea-coasts, and not deep waters.
[536] Poiss. Foss. tom. ii. p. 233.
Lign. 196. Scales and Fin of Lepidotus Mantelli. Wealden.
Tilgate Forest. (Nat. size.)
The scales and teeth figured Lign. 196, 197, belong to the larger species of the Wealden. The remains of this fish were first collected in Tilgate Forest, and several teeth and: scales are figured Foss. Til. For. pl. v. and x. ”

“ Towards the end of his life Dr Mantell retired to London, where he died on the 10th of November 1852. His eldest son, Walter Baldock Durrant Mantell (1820–1895) , settled in New Zealand, and there attained high public positions, eventually being secretary for Crown-lands. He obtained remains of the Notornis, a recently extinct bird, and also brought forward evidence to show that the moas were contemporaries of man. ”

“ The semi-diaphanous pebbles on the Sussex coast, more frequently contain Choanites than any other zoophytes. From the beautiful and varied markings observable in the polished sections, they are in great request for brooches, and are termed petrified sea-animal flowers [214] by the lapidaries; among the shingle on the sea-shore at Bognor, Worthing, and other places, very fine examples may be collected.
[213] Foss. S. D. p. 178.
[214] From the supposition that the original was an Actinia, or Sea-Anemone. ”

“ Not a mote in the beam, not an herb on the mountain, not a pebble on the shore, not a seed far-blown into the wilderness, but contributes to the lore that seeks in all the true principle of life—the beautiful—the joyous—the immortal. ”

“ One species (Mytilus Lyellii, Wond. p. 405, fig. 2) occurs in the Wealden, associated with fresh-water shells.
Of the genus termed Modiola, which comprises those mussels that have a rounded anterior termination, nearly forty British species have been discovered; ranging through the fossiliferous strata, from the Silurian to the Crag. A beautiful species (Modiola elegans. Min. Conch. tab. 9) , with the shell generally retaining its pearly coat, is found in the London Clay, and in the limestone of Bognor. ”

“ From the south of the belt of ice which encircles the globe, to the highest latitudes reached by man, this vegetation is everywhere conspicuous, from the contrast between its colour and that of the white snow and ice in which it is imbedded. ”

“ Plate IV. fig. 12.—The frustules are siliceous, and of a slender, elongated form. The plant is attached by the base (fig. 12 a.) in youth, and afterwards becomes free. It is found fossil in the Mountain-meal of Santa Flora, and many other deposits.
Podosphenia. Plate IV. fig. 13.—The frustule is cruciform, or wedge-shaped, and attached in youth by the small end, but afterwards becomes free. These plants are often arranged in clusters, as in the figure. M. Ehrenberg states that they inhabit the sea, and not fresh-water ”