AuG,.i893. SUPPOSED FOSSIL LAMPREYS. 129 



announcement is made with all the more satisfaction, since we are 

 able to confirm his emendations and conclusions from a personal 

 examination of a fine series of specimens kindly lent by Mr. Wm. 

 Tait Kinnear, of Forss. Thus far the fossil has only been met with 

 in a single stratum at one quarry near Thurso, and the circumstance 

 is a striking illustration of the accidental character of palaeontological 

 discovery, inspiring hope for the future in problems which yet seem 

 beyond solution. 



Dr. Traquair appends some good figures of his new specimens 

 of Pal(^ospondylns, but we only copy his restored outline in the accom- 

 panying illustration. It is now proved that the appearance of a great 

 ring-like hp-cartilage, indicated in our former figure in Natural 

 Science, is due merely to the crushed rim of the anterior part of the 

 skull {t.p.), which Dr. Traquair thinks may be equivalent to the 

 palatine region of the lamprey's skull. There is still, however, no 

 evidence of jaws ; and it is not quite certain whether the nose was 

 single or paired. The supposed dorsal shield behind the head 

 curiously proves to consist of a pair of oblong plates, apparently not 

 external, but certainly not yet capable of interpretation. Between 

 these the ring-vertebrae are spaced, but behind they form a continuous 

 chain. There are short and stout neural spines in the abdominal 

 region, but no ribs ; and the slender neural ar'^ haemal spines in the 

 short caudal region prove to be as already debcribed. No traces of 

 paired limbs can be detected in any specimen. 



That Palaospondykis is one of the forerunners of the modern 

 Marsipobranch fishes, as Dr. Traquair originally suspected, is thus 

 rendered still more probable by the latest researches. We can only 

 hope that, ere long, similar skeletons may be discovered in a finer 

 and more compact matrix than that of the Caithness flagstones, 

 where the bituminous character of the fossils usually obscures the 

 smaller details. 



A. Smith Woodward. 



