Mr. J. E. Lee on Saurian Dermal Plates. 5 



II. — Notice of Saurian Dermal Plates from the IVeaklen of 

 the Isle of Wight. By John Edward Lee*. 



[With a Plate] 



It is well known that the chief interest of the Weaklen for- 

 mation arises from the number of its saurian remains. Few 

 beds contain so many genera, and at no other geological pe- 

 riod did there exist reptiles of such enormous magnitude. The 

 distribution of these fossils is in general extremely local, and 

 they seldom occur in any other form than as detached bones. 



AH these circumstances render the determination of any 

 new remains a matter of difficulty ; and this remark applies 

 very forcibly to three fossils which were found in the Hast- 

 ings sands of Sandown Bay in the Isle of Wight, and m Inch 

 evidently appear to be the dermal plates of some of the sau- 

 rians found in this formation. 



The first and most perfect of the three is represented of the 

 natural size in the annexed plate (Plate I. C.) : it is of an irre- 

 gularly oval shape. In the centre of the upper side is a deep 

 oval depression, within which is a prominence rising gradually 

 to the summit, which is eccentric. The space around the de- 

 pressed part is slightly concave and is intersected by deep 

 furrows, which are so arranged that the whole of this space 

 might be said to consist of a number of obscurely pentagonal 

 or hexagonal prominences, the surfaces of which are flattened 

 and in some cases slightly concave. The lower side of the scale 

 is convex. A general idea of the proportion may perhaps be 

 better obtained by the lower figure, which represents a section 

 from a to b. The fibrous bony structure is very apparent at 

 the sides of both this scale and that next to be described, and 

 the whole surface of both of them is covered with small jiores, 

 some of which, particularly on the central prominence, run 

 together and form minute fuiTOWs. 



The second scale is more irregular in its form, but the ge- 

 neral characters are so similar to those of the former, that it 

 most probably belonged to an animal of the same species. 

 There is the same central depression, the same prominence 

 withhi it, and the outer space is divided in a similar manner 

 by furrows, but all these characters are far more obscure than 

 in the other : the form also is not oval, but approaches to a 



* The substance of the following paper was forwarded some time ago for 

 insertion in the ' Ann. of Nat. Hist./ together with drawings of the two 

 scales lirst described. Unfortunately, however, the paper, drawings, and the 

 two fossils themselves were lost in a hackney-coach on their way to Mr. 

 Sowerby. A drawing of the most interesting scale has, however, been pre- 

 served in the hands of Mr. Charlesworth, who kindly returned it for the 

 sake of illustrating the present notice. 



