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

Plate XLIV.

PLATE XLIV.

Fossil Zoophytes.

Fig. 1. A spongite (Scyphia costata, of Goldfuss), from Switzerland. The fossil spongeous bodies named Scyphia, are characterized by the "mass or body being either cylindrical, simple or branched; fistulous, and terminating in a rounded pit; entirely composed of a firm reticulated tissue."[35] Like the other bodies comprised in the group of Amorphozoa, the form in this genus is exceedingly diversified, and as the structure is often but obscurely shown, the determination of these fossils is oftentimes impossible. It is however convenient, in the present state of our knowledge, to distinguish the principal kinds by names which may be modified or abandoned, when the structure and natural affinities of the original organisms are more accurately determined.

[35] Medals of Creation, p. 237.

Fig. 2. Another species of Scyphia from Switzerland; a small portion of the surface magnified is seen at a.

Fig. 3. The peculiar form and tissue of another genus of Amorphozoa (Cnemidium rimulosum, of Goldfuss), are shown in this beautiful specimen.

Fig. 4, is a section of a chalk flint, from Wycombe Heath; the purple body, partially invested by a white border, is evidently a mass of the soft parts of some zoophyte, which served as a nucleus to the siliceous nodule. A purple or pink hue often prevails in the sections of zoophytes immersed in flint, and doubtless depends on the original colour of the living animal.

Fig. 5. A very fine spongite (Chenendopora fungiformis, of Michelin), from France.