A Pictorial Atlas of Fossil Remains, consisting of coloured illustrations selected from Parkinson's "Organic remains of a former world," and Artis's "Antediluvian phytology."

by Gideon Algernon Mantell

Various Fossil Compound Corals.

Fig. 1. A beautiful specimen of Star-coral (Astrea ananas, of Goldfuss), from the Silurian strata of Sweden. At a, is shown "the mode in which, as in proliferous flowers, new polypes bud from the centre of the parent disk. At b, is represented the growth in the recent Madrepora stellaris of Linnæus."—Mr. Parkinson.

Fig. 2. An elegant Cyathophyllum (C. dianthus, of Goldfuss), from the Silurian formation of Sweden. At c, (the lower part of the plate,) is shown its probable mode of increase.

Figs. 3 & 6. A columnar compound coral (Lithostrotion striatum, of Lhwyd), from the mountain limestone of Derbyshire; fig. 3, is a transverse section of fig. 6, showing the basaltiform arrangement of the columns.

Fig. 4. "A fossil madrepore, from Lincolnshire."—Mr. Parkinson.

Fig. 5. A very elegant and abundant coral (Caryophyllia annularis, of Parkinson), in the bed termed "Coral Rag," of the oolite of Wiltshire, Berkshire, &c. Large conglomerated masses of this branched species form a considerable proportion of the fossil coral-reef which traverses some parts of the oolite: and when this bed is worked for road materials, blocks of this coral, more or less changed into calcareous spar, may be seen lying on the way-side. Near Faringdon, in Berkshire, a quarry in the Coral-rag has yielded many beautiful examples.

Fig. 7. Called "Spider-stone," by Mr. Parkinson. It is a species of Astrea: d, is an enlarged view of one of the polype-cells.

Fig. 8. A beautiful fossil coral, from Transylvania (apparently a species of Lithostrotion?).

Fig. 9. The specimen figured is from the mountain limestone of the Mendip Hills. (It is the Michelinia tenuisepta, of Phillips; Manon favosum, of Goldfuss?) It is described by Mr. Parkinson as "bearing somewhat of a honeycomb appearance."