Microscopical Society. 211 



nascentium vel ad utilitatem latius excultarum ; auct. Jos. Moris 

 et Jos. De Notaris. — Amphibia Europaea ad S3'stema nostrum Ver- 

 tebratorium ordinata ; auct. Car. L. Bonaparte, Muxiniani Principe. 

 — Microscopic Observations on the Movements of ^^egetable Glo- 

 bules suspended in a Menstruum ; by Prof. J. D. Botto. 



PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 



MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY. 



Feb. 17. — A paper was read by Mr. Owen, " On the Microscopic 

 Structure of certain Fossil Teeth from the Old Red Sandstone near 

 Elgin." 



The fossils were from the middle or comstone division of that for- 

 mation, and are interesting from the extreme rarity of organic remains 

 referrible to vertebrated animals in such formation. The microscopic 

 structure of these teeth, which Mr. Owen described in detail, is quite 

 peculiar and characteristic of the teeth in question, so as to justify 

 the indication of a distinct genus of animals, for which the name of 

 Dendrodus was proposed. 



Four species of these teeth were described, viz. Dend. bifurcatus, 

 D. strigatus, D. hastatus and D. sigmoideus , and the modifications of 

 the Dendritic structure pointed out in each. 



Upon the whole, the characters of the microscopic strucriire resem- 

 ble those of the teeth of certain fishes, as the Shark, Sphyrsena, etc., 

 but with modifications that approximate it to the peculiar structure 

 of the teeth of the extinct Batrachian genus Labyrinthodon, from the 

 new red sandstone. 



Mr. Owen concludes, therefore, that the Dendrodus was a fish, but 

 that it might have approached more nearly than the rest of the class 

 , to the Lab}Tinthodont group of Butrachia. The teeth resemble in 

 external form and longitudinal striation those of the Labyrinthodon ; 

 and should other remains raise the Dendrodus to that order, it mil 

 be the first vertebrate animal higher than fish that has been found in 

 the old red sandstone. 



Sections of the teeth described and diagrams were exhibited in il- 

 lustration of the paper. 



Mr. Owen next proceeded to give an account of his examination 

 of the microscopic structure of the teeth of the Lepidosiren annectens. 



Although almost the whole organization of this sj^ecies is known, 

 there is as much doubt in the minds of many naturalists respecting 

 the class of "V^ertebrata to which it really belongs, as may be enter- 

 tained regarding the Dendrodus, of which only the teeth have been 

 examined. 



Mr. Owen referred to the grounds on which he had concluded the 

 Lepidosiren to be essentially a fish (Linnsean Trans., xviii. p. 350), 

 and to the subsequent anatomical description of the animal by Dr. 

 Bischoflr, who considers it to be a reptile ; and he then proceeded to 

 describe the microscopic structure of the teeth of the species from 

 the Gambia, and to show, according to this additional test of its aflfi- 



P 2 



