Discussion.
Mr. Seeley thought it likely that Mr. Hulke would eventually be led to reestablish his genus Enthekiodon. He remarked on the peculiar characters presented by the specimen, and referred especially to the coracoids, which were unlike those of Ichthyosaurus, but presented a close resemblance to those of Plesiosaurus. He considered that there were indications of its having been connected with a cartilaginous sternum. The scapula furnished an important difference in its widening, which formed a distinct acromion process. Mr. Seeley remarked that double-headed ribs similarly attached occur only in animals with a four-chambered heart, and that, considering this and other characters, there was no reason for placing Ichthyosaurus lower than among the highest Saurians*. He considered that the Teleosaurian snout differed from all known types.
Dr. Macdonald believed that what is called the coracoid has nothing to do with the shoulder-girdle, and thought it might be a part of the palate.
Mr. Mansel stated, in answer to the President, that the fossils were obtained from about the middle of the Kimmeridge Clay.
Mr. Etheridge suggested that it would be desirable to ascertain whether the horizon of the Ichthyosaurus described was the same as that of the specimens from Ely.
Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys inquired as to the food and habits of the Ichthyosaurus.
Mr. Hulke, in reply, stated that, from the presence of a stain and of numerous small scales under the ribs, the food of the Ichthyosaurus probably consisted of Squids and small fishes. He showed that the so-called coracoid was clearly a part of the shoulder-girdle.
June 21, 1871.
Robert John Watson, Esq., B.A., Assistant Master at Dulwich College; W. T. Scarth, Esq., Baby Castle, near Darlington; Gen. A. C. Bentinck, of East Court, Wokingham, and John Brooke, Esq., of the Collegiate School, Newark, were elected Fellows of the Society.
The following communications were read : —
1. ON SOME SUPPOSED VEGETABLE FOSSILS. By WILLIAM CARRUTHERS.
[Plate XIX.]
The baneful influence of the imagination in science is seldom more clearly seen than in the way in which fossil botany has been too often pursued. The determination of the name of a recognizable
- Having since seen the specimen, Mr. Seeley believes that the truncated
margin was anterior, and abutted against the interclavicle (episternum) ; so that the posterior margins of these coracoid bones are similar to the same margins in Ichthyosaurus, and there is no evidence of the animal having had a sternum.
