August 25, 1846. 

 R. C. Griffith, Esq., in the Chair. 



The foUowing communication was read : — " On the Relation oš 

 the Edentata to the Reptiles, especially of the Armadillos to the 

 Tortoises." By Eclward Fry. 



The dissections of two specimens of Tortoise, of which I have been 

 unable to recognise the species with certainty, induced rae to believe 

 that those animals are aUied to the Armadillos. Continuing this in- 

 vestigation, and extending it to the Edentata in general, I arrived at 

 the conclusion that they are allied to the Reptiles. As some points 

 of affinity have occurred to me which I have not seen noticed as such, 

 I believe that a short sketch of the subject may not be devoid of 

 interest ; and as Professor Ovven has intimated his belief that the 

 Edentata are allied to Birds rather than to any other class, I shall 

 conclude my paper with a consideration of the arguments adduced 

 by him hereon. 



Such subjects as the one I shall attempt to investigate are of so 

 high an interest to the zoologist, that any one contributing in the 

 least degree to elucidate them may hope for indulgence. 



I regret not being able to ascertain the names of the species of 

 Tortoise which came under my notice, but trust that this omission 

 will not materially deduct from the interest of the subject. 



Sect. I. Of the Relation of the Genera Dasypus and Testudo. 



1. In the Tortoise the oesophagus is large and muscular, admitting 

 bodies of great size in proportion to the mouth. From the structure 

 of the mouth it is incapable of masticating the food, \vhence arises 

 the necessity of a large and muscular cesophagus. Professor Ovven 

 has remarked a similar structure, and adduced the šame finai cause 

 in the Armadillo, Dasypus peha. In his paper in the Proceedings of 

 the Zoological Society, i. 144, he says : " The muscular parietės of 

 the pharynx and oesophagus are very thick, for from the nature of the 

 teeth, small, conical and \vide apart, the food can undergo but little 

 comminution in the mouth, and hence the necessity of additional 

 povirer for propelling imperfectly divided substances into the stomach." 



2. In concordance ■with the structure of the mouth, the stomach 

 of the Tortoise is strong and muscular : in the larger of the two in- 

 dividuals I dissected so remarkably so, as \vould forcibly have re- 

 minded a casual observer of the gizzard of birds. The stomach of 

 the Armadillos, though of a globular form, is similar in structure ; 

 so rauch so, that Prof. Owen speaks of it as " a structure analogous 



