BRITISH FOSSILS. 13 



of the phragmocone, if produced, would meet thereabouts ; and further- 

 more, while at the line of fracture, r. the diameter of the phragmoeone 

 i* nearly equal to that of the guard, the latter forming a layer cot 

 more than ^ in. thick round it, at 6, the guard b solid throughout. 

 Where the guard ceases to be traceable on the phragmoeone at </, it Ls 

 O-To in. broad, and the phragmoeone gradually widens, until at e, the 

 furthest point to which it can be traced, it is H in* broad. It must 

 be recollected, however, that these dimensions are exaggerated by the 

 crushing and flattening of the specimen. 



From e \of, a distance of 2\ in, the pro-t*?tracum is represented by a. 

 delicate lamella, of shelly substance, for the most part exhibiting a 

 beautiful nacreous lustre, and as wide as the upper diameter of the phrag- 

 moeone. The central part of this lamella is blackish, with metallic 

 reflections, and its edges are constricted in the middle, so that it appear? 

 saddle-shaped. At the sides it passes into a lamina of yellow nacre (A), 

 which dips down towards the ventral side of the body* and Is traceable, 

 on the right side, as far as the point (A'> Beyond this, no remains of 

 any shelly matter are distinctly visible, but the surface of the matrix 

 exhibits an irregular impression., extending as far as (fj, as of a, thin, 

 broad, partially crushed, oval extension of the pro-ostraeum. I presume- 

 that the mantle of the animal also terminated at this point. Beyond it. 

 the impression of the head is indistinctly traceable ; and it is worthy 

 of note that the head seems to have been small as compared with the 

 size of the body. The oral circle, embraced by the bases of the short, 

 uncinated, arms (/ >. is particularly narrow, so that these bases are closely 

 approximated. What was the precise number of the arms, and whether 

 any long tentacles did or did not exist, cannot be ascertained. 



The remains of the beak (*), about half an inch long by O4 in. wide, 

 are so crushed and broken that there is some difficulty in the way of 

 interpreting the appearances it presents. I believe, however, that the 

 two beaks are fractured transversely, the dorsum of the dorsal beak, 

 and the edges of the ventral beak, having been left in the absent matrix; 

 and I take k to be the fractured edge of the dorsal beak surrounded by 

 k\ that of the ventral beak. 



The substance of the beak is black and carbonized, and exhibits no 

 evidence of any calcareous coat. The irregularly dispersed hooks do 

 not seem to have remained in place upon the bases of more than two 

 of the arms. There are indications that they were disposed in double 

 rows of opposite hooks along each arm. 



The most perfect of these hooks (PL L, fig. la) measures about one sixth 

 of an inch in a straight line from its base to it* apex. The basal part 

 seems to be nearly square, and is hollow ; from the base the hook is 

 continued at first in nearly a straight line, and then bends sharply 

 round to its acute point. The cavity of the base is traceable through 

 the hook, and probably terminates by an aperture at, or close to, its 



The ink-bag is not very clearly distinguishable (a dark spot at m only 

 place) in this specimen ; the great value of wT 



specimen ; the great value of which con- 

 demonstration which it affords of the co-existence of horny 

 hooks and beak, a nacreous pro-ostracum, and the ordinary guard and 

 phragmoeone of a Belemnite ; and, incidentally, of the justice of Dr. 

 Bnckland's identification of the Lvme Regis* B<lrim*otrpia> " with 

 Befcaudfe*. 



So much difficulty attends the identification of the species of the 

 Belemnitft, that I hesitate to attach any specific name to this specimen. 

 In many respects it is closely allied to the Btlemmitet eloityatm* of 

 Sowerby ; but the Self mm/ft Brmottifriamtu of ITOrbigny is abun- 



