REPORT OF THE COUNCIL 



OP THE 



YORKSHIRE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, 



Feb. 7th, 1854. 



Although on former anniversaries the Council have congra- 

 tulated the Society on the retrospect of the preceding year, they 

 have seldom, if ever, heen enabled to render a more satisfactory 

 account of its acquisitions than they have now the honour of 

 offering to the Annual Meeting. 



In the Geological department, the Plesiosaurus, extracted 

 from the Lias Cliffs, south of Whitby, by Mr. Brown Marshall, 

 and liberally presented by Col. Cholmley, stands first in im- 

 portance on the list of donations. This fine specimen includes 

 the dentary portion of the lower jaw ; a chain of 88 vertebrae, 

 extending nearly 18 feet in length ; the pelvic, with other bones 

 of the trunk more or less crushed though but little displaced ; 

 the humeri and femora displaced ; and two paddles restored, 

 with bones which may perhaps be admitted to belong to the 

 extremities of this Plesiosaurus ; although restorations of this 

 kind are in general to be discountenanced, as being seldom 

 satisfactory to the comparative anatomist. 



By a curious and happy coincidence the two Plesiosauri, now 

 in the Society's possession, represent extremely opposite types 

 of form, in the relation which the developement of the head and 

 neck bears to the rest of the skeleton. In P. Zetlandicus 

 (Phillips) the head is the most bulky and the neck probably 

 the shortest of any known species ; while in the Plesiosaurus 



