Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 193 

 On the morning subsequent to my communication being read to 

 the Royal Society of Edinburgh, I revisited the quarry of Burdie- 

 house, in company with Mr Witham, and, in the course of this visit^ 

 one of the workmen accidentally found, inclosed in a fragment of the 

 limestone, a tooth, two inches and a quarter in length, of a large rep^ 

 tile, the form and structure of which were so well exposed in the 

 fracture which the stone containing it had undergone, that I shall 

 not attempt, upon any account whatever, to dislodge it from its ma- 

 tMk.*'^. This relic is also in the most beautiful state of preservation 

 thatcan well be imagined, possessing an enamel of a nut-brown co- 

 lour, which shines with all the brilliancy of perfect freshness. It is 

 intended, in an engraving, to imitate the lustre and colour displayed 

 by this interesting relic. In the mean time, its shape and magnitude 

 are shewn in the following wood- cut, which I have directed to be 

 made^ and which you are at liberty to use for your Journal. 



This tooth is evidently of an animal of the Saurian order. I have 

 compared it in its general form and .size with one that belonged to 

 a very large skeleton of the fresh- water Gavial of the Ganges, in the 

 museum of Dr Knox, which it was found much to resemble. At the 

 same time it must be observed, that the deep striae to be noticed at 

 the lower part of the tooth, are more like the marks which characte- 

 rize the Ichthyosaurus, an animal whose remains have been hitherto 

 found in formations rather indicative of estuaries. But as the lime- 

 stone of Burdiehouse gives unequivocal evidence of a fresh-water 

 origin, even the presence of Ichthyosaurian remains within it, if such 

 could be shewn, would prove nothing more than the very common 

 incident of such a fresh-water lake or tank communicating with the 

 sea. Any further remarks on this head I shall suspend until more 

 remains of the animal turn up. 



VOL. XVI. NO. XXXI. JANUARY 1834. N 



