ROOM III. TELEOSAURUS PRISCUS. 179 



The largest slab contains the bones of the head, trunk, and 

 tail of the animal, from one extremity to the other, but little 

 deranged from their natural connections. The skull, however, 

 is twisted over, and the lower jaw lies uppermost in the 

 position in which the specimen is exposed to view. The 

 bones of one of the hind-feet are detached from the trunk and 

 imbedded above the anterior part of the skeleton ; and the 

 extremity of the tail is dislocated and somewhat broken. 

 Portions of the dermal scaly covering are preserved. I will 

 now point out the most important osteological peculiarities 

 observable in this specimen ; reminding the visitor that the 

 upper part of the skull is the lowermost in its present 

 position, and referring to M. Cuvier's work for those details 

 which the scientific observer will require. 



The form of the skull resembles that of the Gavial, but 

 the bones of which it is composed present manifest differ- 

 ences from those of the recent species ; the symphysis of 

 the lower jaw is relatively shorter. The teeth are 106 in 

 number, and placed in distinct sockets, as in the Crocodiles ; 

 they are more acuminated and curved, and stand out more 

 prominently than in the Gavial, and their surface is finely 

 striated longitudinally. There are twenty-five or six on each 

 side the lower jaw, 1 and they are alternately longer and 

 smaller, counting from the fourth tooth, so that the fifth 

 and seventh are only half the height of the sixth and eighth, 

 and so on. In the upper jaw the teeth are of equal size, 

 except the first two, which are small, and the third tooth, 

 which is very large. T^he palatine surface of the upper jaw 

 is exposed. The occipital condyle, and the facet of the 

 tympanic bone to articulate with the lower jaw, are dis- 

 tinctly shown. 



There are seventy-nine biconcave vertebrae ; the articular sur- 

 faces of their bodies are but slightly depressed; the cervicals 

 have lost their transverse processes. The caudal vertebrae 

 exceed by ten the number in the tail of any known crocodile. 

 There are twenty-three ribs which are displaced, but are more 

 or less entire. There are some of the bones of the pectoral and 

 pelvic arches, namely, one of the coracoids, an ilium, ischium, 

 and fragments of the sternum. The left hind foot is in its 



1 The uppermost part of the specimen as seen in the Case. 



