I.ANJ) ANIMALS OF THE COAI. PKKKil). 



!i reptile of greater size than any hitherto discovered in the coal, 

 probably "f aquatic habits, and possibly allied to the great Enalioaaurs 

 or sea-lizards of the inesozoie rocks. The specimen was found in a 

 hoi of shale belonging to Group XXVI. of my Joggins section, in the 

 Upper part of the Middle Coal measures, and about SOI) feet above the 

 bed which has afforded the remains described in previous sections. 

 The beds belong to one of those intervals of shallow water deposition 

 of sediment which separate the groups of coal beds; and on one of 

 them I found some years ago the footprints of Dendrerpeton. 



The vertebrae of Eosaurus have been fully and ably described by 

 Mr Marsh in Silliman's Journal. Agassiz and Wyman regard their 

 affinities as enaliosaurian. Huxley suggests the possibility, founded 

 on his recent discovery of Anthracosaurus Russelli, that there may 

 have been Labyrinthodont Batracbians in the Coal period with such 

 vertebras. However this may be, if the vertebra? were caudal, as sup- 

 posed by Mr Marsh, since they are about 2^ inches in diameter, they 

 would indicate a gigantic aquatic reptile, furnished with a powerful 

 swimming tail, and no doubt with apparatus for the capture and 

 destruction of its prey, comparable with that of Ichthyosaurus. 



Pupa Vetusta, Dawson. 



This, the first known representative of palaeozoic land snails, so 

 closely resembles the modern " chrysalis shells " of the genus Pupa, 

 that I have not thought it desirable to refer it to a different genus, 

 though the name Dendropupa has been proposed by Prof. Owen. 

 Mr J. S. Jeffreys, and other eminent conchologists who have seen the 

 shell, concur in the opinion that it is a true Pupa ; so that this genus, 

 and that mentioned in the next section, like Lingula and Nautilus, 

 extend from the palaeozoic period to modern times. 



It may be described as a cylindrical shell, tapering to the apex, with 

 a shining surface, marked with longitudinal rounded ridges. The 

 whorls are eight or nine, rounded, and the width of each whorl is 

 about half the diameter of the shell. The aperture is rather longer 

 than broad; but is usually somewhat distorted by pressure. The 

 margin of the lip is somewhat regularly rounded, and is reflected out- 

 ward. There are no teeth, but a slight indication of a ridge or ridges 

 on the pillar lip, which may, however, be accidental. Length 3-10ths 

 of an inch, or a little more. It was first recognised by Ur Gould of 

 I jton, in specimens obtained by Sir C. Lyell and the writer in 1851, 

 in an erect Sigillaria, containing bones of reptiles, at the Joggins. 



This little shell is remarkable, not merely for its great antiquity, but 

 also because it is separated by so wide an interval of time from 



