XXIII.—Remarks on the Existence of the Anoplotherium and Palæotherium in the Lower Freshwater Formation at Binstead, near Ryde, in the Isle of Wight.

Abstract

Mr. LYELL, in his very valuable work on the Principles of Geology*, has expressed a doubt whether a tooth of an Anoplotherium in the possession of Mr. Allan, and described by Dr. Buckland in the “Annals of Philosophy †”, had actually been found in the Isle of Wight, as its label indicated. As this doubt appears to have arisen in consequence of the tooth being the only instance in which such remains had been observed in that locality, it will be satisfactory to geologists to be informed, that during the late summer I discovered at Binstead, near Ryde, among other interesting remains, not only a tooth of an Anoplotherium, but also two teeth of two distinct species of the allied genus Palaeotherium; thus, not only removing the chief grounds of Mr. Lyell’s doubts, but likewise more fully establishing the identity of the formations of the two basins of the Isle of Wight and Paris. The quarries at Binstead are, as is well known, situated in the lower freshwater formation, and consist of alternating beds of compact siliceous limestone, sand, and whitish shelly marl, composed almost entirely of comminuted freshwater shells. The marls are more or less indurated, and form several distinct beds, separated by thin seams of clay, the lower of which contain the principal part of the fossil remains observed, although indications of the same may be seen in all the beds. These remains consist of numerous fragments of bones, scales, and teeth. Most of the fragments of bone