Fig. 13.—Fossil Wood, from the Carboniferous Limestone of Mayo, showing the rings of Annual Growth.
CHAPTER XI.
FOSSIL REMAINS—THE EXPLORATION.
From the museum to the quarry—Fossil fish in the limestone rocks of Monte Bolca—In the quarries of Aix—In the chalk of Sussex—The ichthyosaurus or fish-like lizard—Gigantic dimensions of this ancient monster—Its predatory habits—The plesiosaurus—The megatherium or great wild beast—History of its discovery—The mylodon—Profusion of fossil shells—Petrified trees erect in the limestone rock of Portland—Fossil plants of the coal measures—The sigillaria—The fern—The calamite—The lepidodendron—Coal mine of Treuil—Fossil remains afford undeniable evidence of former animal and vegetable life—Their existence cannot be accounted for by the plastic power of nature—Nor can it reasonably be ascribed to a special act of creation.
From the galleries of the Museum we must now descend into the subterranean recesses of the mine and the quarry. For it is not enough to be familiar with the appearance of Fossil Remains, as they are laid out for show by human hands: we must see them also as they lie embedded in the successive strata of the Earth’s Crust, which are the shelves of Nature’s cabinet. We shall begin with the celebrated quarries of Monte Bolca, in Northern Italy, not far from Verona. Here, in the hard limestone rock, fifty miles from the nearest sea, entire skeletons of many different species of fish are found embedded in profuse abundance, and in a wonderful state of preservation. They lie parallel to the layers of the rock; and, though flattened by pressure, still retain their scales, bones, fins, nay, even their muscular tissue, undisturbed and unharmed. Their color is a deep brown, which forms a remarkable contrast with the creamy hue of the limestone in which they are enveloped. The quarries have been worked only by students of Natural History for the sake of Organic remains, and are, therefore, of very limited extent; yet so abundant are these fossil treasures that upward of a hundred different species have been discovered, and thousands of specimens have been dispersed over the cabinets of Europe. So closely are they sometimes packed together that many individuals are contained in a single block.
Fig. 14.—Platax Papilio.
From the limestone of Monte Bolca.
