37G 



PETRIFACTIONS AND THEIR TEACHINGS. CHAP. IV- 



absorption of nutriment from the food, in its passage through 

 the canal. 1 



SPECIMENS OF ICHTHYOSAURI IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 

 The collection of Ichthyosauri in Room IV. comprises eight 

 or nine recognised species, which have been rigorously ex- 

 amined and carefully determined by Professor Owen. From 

 the length to which our general observations on the organiza- 

 tion of these reptiles have extended, a concise notice of the 

 species will suffice ; and the annexed tables of the order in 

 which the specimens are arranged, will enable the visitor to 

 refer to a particular fossil with but little trouble. 



There are about thirty very fine specimens in the Gallery ; 

 including the most interesting of the separate crania, paddles, 

 vertebral columns, &c. ; besides a great number of isolated 

 bones, parts of skulls and jaws, coprolites and other remains 

 of Ichthyosauri. 



WALL-CASE A. [1.] 

 On the Top. Ichthyosaurus tenuirostris. 



Fine skull and vertebral column, ribs, &c. with paddles, of Ichthyosaurus 

 longipennis. 



Ichthyosaurus communis, with anterior and posterior paddles. 

 (Hawkins, PI. VII.) 



ICHTHYOSAURUS TENUIROSTRIS 2 (Conybeare). Wall-cases A, 

 D, and E. Of this species there is a specimen in Wall-case A ; 

 a fine cranium arid jaws, with the spinal column, many bones 

 of the trunk, and paddles, in Wall-case E ; two imperfect 

 specimens, and a small beautiful cranium in the left hand' 

 compartment of the same Case. 



The Ichthyosaurus tenuirostris is characterized by the 

 great length and slenderness of the jaws, which resemble in 

 this respect the maxillary organs of the Gavial or Teleosaurus. 

 The length of the snout is produced by the prolongation of 



1 See Dr. Buckland's "Bridgewater Essay," p. 193. 



2 "Brit. Assoc. Reports," 1839, p. 117. 



