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to which the name Stagonolepis Robertsoni has been 

 given. It is considered to have been an ancient crocodile 

 having a strong resemblance to certain species living at 

 the present day, such as the Caiman, an alligator found in 

 tropical climates. Of its having been an animal of that 

 kind there can be no reasonable doubt, and a person has 

 only to compare the scutes of Stagonolepis with those on a 

 crocodile in a museum to be struck with the resemblance 

 between the two, not only in shape, but even in orna- 

 mentation. Its size was considerable, the most recent 

 discoveries warranting the belief that it reached a length 

 of at least eighteen feet. The fossil reptile next discovered 

 is the Telerpeton Elginense. It is the remains of a lizard 

 remarkable for its close resemblance in structure to certain 

 species of small lizards still existing. It was a small 

 animal, its entire length having been only ten or eleven 

 inches. The third fossil is the Hyperodapedon Gordoni, 

 its specific name having been given to it in honour of Dr. 

 Gordon, Birnie. It also was a lizard, but one that differed 

 considerably from the Telerpeton. Its remains show that 

 it must have been an animal six feet at least in length. 

 In structure it had a close resemblance to the Sphenodon, 

 a reptile still found living on the coast of New Zealand. 

 This fossil is interesting from the fact that it .has been 

 found also in the trias of Warwickshire, Devonshire, and 

 Central India, and that was considered by some sufficient 

 to fix the age of the Lossiemouth sandstones. The 

 assumption, however, that similarity of fossil remains alone 

 establishes the identity of the age of the deposits in which 

 they occur is now beginning to be received with some 

 caution, and geologists to be satisfied consider some other 

 evidence desirable. In connection with this question an 

 interesting discovery was made a few years ago by Mr. 

 Linn, of the Geological Survey, who found fossils of the 



