Fossil Scorpions.
The address of my friend Count Sternberg to the members of the National Museum of Bohemia (Prague, 1835,) contains an account of his discovery of a fossil Scorpion in the ancient Coal formation at the village of Chomle, near Radnitz, on the S. W. of Prague. This most instructive fossil (the first of its kind yet noticed) was found in July, 1834, in a stone-quarry, on the outcrop of the Coal measures, near a spot where coal has been wrought since the sixteenth century. In the same quarry were found four erect trunks of trees, and numerous vegetable remains, of the same species that occur in the great Coal formation of England.
A series of drawings of this Scorpion was submitted to a select committee at the meeting of Naturalists and Physicians of Germany, in Stutgard, 1834; and from their report the subjoined particulars are taken. All our Figures, (Pl. 45'.) are copied from those attached to this Report, in the Transactions of the Museum of Bohemia, April, 1835.[1]
- ↑ This fossil Scorpion differs from existing species, less in general structure than in the position of the eyes. In the latter respect, it approaches nearest to the genus Androctonus, which, like it, has twelve eyes, but differently disposed from those of the fossil species. From the nearly circular arrangement of these organs in the latter animal, it has been ranged under a new genus, Cyclopthalmus.
The sockets of all these twelve eyes are perfectly preserved, (Pl. 46'. fig. 3.) One of the small eyes, and the left large eye, still retain their form, with the cornea preserved in a wrinkled state, and their interior filled with earth.
The jaws also are very distinct, but in a reversed position. (Pl. 46'. fig. 2. a.) Both these jaws have three projecting teeth, and one of them (Pl. 46', Figs. 4. 5.) exhibits, when magnified, the hairs with which its horny integument was covered.
The rings of the thorax, (apparently eight) and of the tail, are too much dislocated for their number to be accurately distinguished, but they differ from all known species. The view of the back (Pl. 46', Fig. 1.) has been obtained by cutting into the stone from behind.The under surface of the animal is well exposed in fig. 2, with its
