Short Communications. 75 



passed through them without it, as soaking is deemed to 

 lessen, somewhat, the brightness of their natural polish. As, 

 too, the threading is frequently begun before the soaking is 

 found to be necessary, the moistening them in the warm 

 spittle is a very natural resource for producing the softening 

 required at the instant. — J. D. 



New Species of enormous fossil Reptile. — At a meeting of 

 the Geological Society, on Wednesday, December 5., Mr. 

 Mantel I of Lewes exhibited a magnificent specimen of the 

 remains of a new species of fossil reptile, discovered in the 

 strata of Tilgate Forest, embedded in calcareous grit. The 

 animal was of smaller dimensions than the great Iguanodon, 

 which the same gentleman discovered id similar strata a few 

 years since, of which an anatomical description, with plates, 

 was given by Mr. Mantell, in the Philosophical Transactions 

 for 1825, No. 1.; and in his interesting account of' the 

 " Fossils of Tilgate Forest" now out of print. From the paper 

 which was read by Mr. Mantell, containing a detailed ac- 

 count of the osteology of this newly discovered reptile, we 

 learn, that it differs in some characteristic parts of the ske- 

 leton from any known animal; its structure in some of the 

 bones approaching to that of the crocodile, in other parts 

 resembling that of the Iguanodon, while again there were 

 parts approaching to that of the Plesiosaurus. A remark- 

 able feature in the appearance of this animal, when living, was 

 a ridge of scaly processes on the back, six or seven inches in 

 length, which it probably had the power of erecting at plea- 

 sure, and which would give to it a terrific similitude to the fabled 

 dragons of Eastern mythology. The Iguanodon was seventy 

 feet in length: this animal was probably not more than half that 

 size. To impress on the mind more forcibly the idea of the 

 enormous magnitude of these reptiles, Mr. Mantell exhibited 

 a drawing of a leg covered with flesh and scales, and armed 

 with claws, of the just dimensions which it must have had 

 when living. The leg extended from near the ceiling to the 

 floor. Mr. Mantell is now of opinion, from the state in 

 which the bones are found, that the animal had been the 

 inhabitant of a distant region, and that the body had floated 

 down an ancient river of vast magnitude, like the Ganges, 

 and had been partly torn to pieces before the putrefactive 

 process was completed. Had the naked skeleton been sub- 

 jected to transportation with blocks or fragments of stone, the 

 bones would have been water-worn and broken, and the 

 parts of the skeleton that are united would not have been 

 found in juxta-position, as at present. On the contrary, had 

 the animals whose remains are found in Tilgate Forest origin- 



