272 , PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 



representations of the former ; and described the general character of this enormous 

 Lizard, which once roamed through the primeval forests that clothed the southern 

 regions of our island. 



The Hyloeosauriis (Lizard-of-the- Weald) is another genus discovered by Mr. 

 Mantell, and supposed to have been between twenty and thirty feet in length, 

 and to have been furnished with a large erectile fringe, supported by bony spines, 

 seventeen inches in length, which rose from the centre of its back. The Mega- 

 losaurus, discovered in the Stonesfield slate, was a terrestrial Carnivorous reptile, 

 intermediate in its organization between the Crocodiles and Monitors. This 

 creature is supposed to have attained fifty feet in length, and to have waged 

 a fierce war on the Plesiosauri, Crocodilidce, and other Reptilia : the colossal 

 character of the skeleton, and the formidable structure of the sabre-shaped teeth 

 which armed its jaws, were demonstrated, and its organization was shown to have 

 been well adapted to its sanguinary habits. 



Mr. Wright's fourth lecture on Fossil Organic Remains was delivered on Feb. 

 27, in the lecture-room of the Institution, before a numerous audience. 



In resuming the consideration of Fossil Reptiles Mr. Wright glanced briefly 

 at the leading facts which he had explained in his last lecture, regarding the 

 adaptation of their structure to their habits ; he next entered upon the history of 

 the Flying Saurians, which he described as the most singular forms of animal life 

 yet discovered among the ruins of the ancient earth. " To mould and adapt the 

 typical structure of reptiles," said he, " into a form capable of soaring through 

 the higher regions of the air, centres such a variety of contrivances, and produces 

 a form so anomalous, that when the nearly-perfect skeleton of a Pterodactyle 

 (or wing-toed animal) was exhumed from the calcareous cemetery which had 

 enshrouded it for ages, the most learned naturalists were at a loss to decide to 

 what class it in reality belonged ; thus, Blumenbach regarded it as a bird, and 

 Soemmering as a Bat ; but the structure of its dentiferous jaws, the form of its 

 breast-bone and scapular arch, with the organization of its members, alike showed 

 that it was a reptile which had once winged its way through the liquid air. The 

 remains of six species have been found in the lithographic limestone of Aichstadt 

 and Solenhofen, and two species in the lias of Lyme Regis and the Stonesfield slate 

 near Oxford." The lecturer detailed the wonderful mechanism displayed in the 

 skeletons of these reptiles, and drew an interesting comparison between them 

 and the skeletons of other vertebrated animals destined for an aerial life, as the 

 Bats, birds, Flying-dragons, and Flying-fishes. It appears, from Mr Wright's 

 description, that the Pterodactyle differs from all other animals, either living or 

 extinct, in the compound character of its anterior members, — the inner fingers 

 of the hand being armed with sharp claws, like other Lizards ; whilst the outer 

 finger is enormously developed, — its length equalling that of the entire body. 



