THE TEMNOSPONDYLOUS AMPHIBIA. 1 95 



better suited for devouring worms, larvae, or soft -skinned fishes, while those of the larger 

 Di-ndrerpetoit- were better adapted to deal with the mailed ganoids of the period, or with 

 those smaller reptiles which \M-IV mure or less protected with bony or horny scales. 



REMAINS OF SKIN AND HORNY SCALES. 



' ' In one of my earliest explorations of the reptile-bearing stumps of the Joggins, I 

 observed on some of the surfaces patches of a shining black substance, which on minute 

 examination proved to be the remains of cuticle, with horny scales and other appendages. 

 The fragments were preserved; but I found it impossible to determine with certainty to 

 which of the species whose bones occur with them they belonged, or even to ascertain the 

 precise relations of the several fragments to each other. I therefore merely mentioned them 

 in general terms, and stated my belief that they may have belonged to the species of Hylono- 

 mus* More recently other specimens have been obtained, and I have undertaken the 

 detailed examination of the whole. I shall now endeavor to describe the principal or most 

 continuous fragments, and afterward to consider the probabilities of their having belonged 

 to certain of the reptiles entombed with them. I do this here, rather than under the titles 

 of these several animals, on account of the uncertainty w T hich still rests on the assignment 

 of certain portions of this cuticle to the species in question, and which renders it more con- 

 venient to consider these peculiar remains in one place and to compare the different portions 

 with each other. 



"(i) One of my specimens is a flattened portion of cuticle 2.25 inches in length. The 

 greater part of the surface is smooth and shining to the naked eye, and under the micro- 

 scope shows only a minute granulation. A limited portion of the upper and, I suppose, 

 anterior part is covered with imbricated scales, which must have been membranous or horny 

 and generally have a small spot or pore near the outer margin, some having in addition 

 smaller scales or points on their surfaces. In contact with the upper part of this specimen 

 there were many fragments of the skull of Dendrerpeton oweui. 



"(2) Another portion of the cuticle, similarly marked, appears to preserve the form of 

 the posterior part of the body and tail of the animal, and also a mark representing the point 

 of attachment of the hind leg; near to which, and along the dorsal ridge, is a portion of the 

 skin covered with much smaller scales. This was found in close proximity to a mass of 

 bones of Dendrerpeton oweni, mingled with some of Hylonomus lyelli. 



"(3) A third and still larger surface of integument with similar markings has upon 

 it a number of vertebras and detached bones of the small reptile Hylonomus wymatii, 

 to be described in the sequel ; for which species, however, it would be much too large a 

 covering. 



"(4) Another well-preserved fragment, less than 2 inches in length, exhibits very dif- 

 erent markings. It is nearly covered with very small imbricated scales, thicker than those 

 on the specimens previously described. On either side of what seems to have been the mid- 

 dle line of the back, there is a series of pointed flat horny processes, which probably formed a 

 double spinous crest. Without these there are tufts of strong bristles, and exteriorly to 

 these last are rows of flat, thick, horny plates, transversely wrinkled. Near to these was a 

 row of conical truncated tubercles. Sections of these appendages show them to have been 

 horny and attached to the cuticle. None of them have bony structure. 



"(5) Near this last portion of cuticle, and possibly belonging to it, are pointed and 

 probably membranous appendages, marked on each side with rows of scales not overlapping 

 and each with a pore in its center. The manner in which these appendages are bent and 

 wrinkled shows that they must have been soft, except at the tips, which seem to have been 

 hard and horny, and they are arranged in series, as if originally placed along the sides of the 



* Journal of Geological Society, vol. xvi. 



