189S] NOTES AND COMMENTS 229 



It contains the description of a species new to science, and descrip- 

 tions of the iive other species previously known from the coast of 

 South Africa. The new species is an Amoglossus, and receives 

 the name A. capensis. In these descriptions, as in many others 

 published by the systematists of the British Museum of Natural 

 History, generic characters are unnecessarily repeated, and no 

 attempt is made to point out the characters which distinguish the 

 species from its nearest allies. The new Amoglossus is described 

 from a single specimen 16 cm. long. The sex of the specimen is not 

 stated, nor is any mention made of the depth at which it occurred. 

 Considering the interest that has been exerted by the sexual dimor- 

 phism of the British Amoglossus, some reference to the subject 

 might have been expected in the definition of a new species of 

 the genus. In the case of the other species, beyond the statement 

 of the specific characters, no details concerning the specimens are 

 given. It is to be hoped that other specialists who undertake the 

 examination of Dr Gilchrist's collections will describe the specimens, 

 and not merely identify them, and will give specific definitions. 



A New Ichthyosaurus 



A fine skeleton of Ichthyosaurus has recently been uncovered in a 

 quarry in the Lower Lias at Stockton, a village near Uugby. The 

 owner, Mr Lakin, communicated with the authorities of the British 

 Museum (Natural History), to which institution he has presented 

 the specimen, and arrangements were made for carefully extracting 

 it without disturbing the relative position of the bones. The animal 

 lies in a clayey band, which, is unfortunately, unfavourable for the 

 preservation of any traces of the outlines of the soft parts such as 

 occur in the specimens described by Fraas. The only parts of the 

 skeleton wanting are portions of the pelvic and pectoral girdles and 

 some small bones of the paddles. The total length is about 18 ft. 

 The quarry is said to have been visited by thousands of people, 

 most of whom, no doubt, would not have taken the smallest notice 

 of the skeleton had it happened to be in a glass case. The atten- 

 tion of some of these enthusiasts might perhaps be profitably 

 directed to the County Museum where there are many fine fossils. 



A New Dinosaur 



Another still more important find of reptilian remains has recently 

 been made by Mr A. N. Leeds, whose collections of vertebrate 

 remains from the Oxford clay are so well-known. In this case, a 

 large part of the skeleton of a gigantic Dinosaur has been obtained, 

 including a series of twenty-six caudal vertebrae, sixteen feet 

 long, a hind limb, the femur of which is four feet six inches long, 

 parts of the fore limb and of the pectoral and pelvic girdles. It is 



