April 14, 1 881] 



NA TURE 



551 



macntra from the lithographic stone quarries of Solen- 

 hofen. Fortunately for the incredulous a second speci- 

 men has recently been obtained, and is preserved in the 

 Berlin Museum. Its lacertilian affinities are well shown 

 in its long and rat-like tail of twenty vertebrje and its 

 three-clawed digits in each fore-limb (or wing?). The 

 head of the Berlin specimen is too obscure to give evi- 

 dence of teeth, but its beaked jaws are clearly seen in 

 the photograph. The original specimen described by 

 Prof. Owen is headless. 



Running parallel with the south-east gallery is the 

 Reptilian Gallery, 225 feet in length and 21 feet wide, 

 the south wall of which is entirely occupied with the 

 grand series of sea-lizards, the Ichihyosattria and Plesio- 

 saitria, once so abunJant in the old Liassic seas of 

 Europe, and the fossil remains of which have even been 

 brought home from the Arctic regions and from New 

 Zealand. The largest of the long-necked Plesiosaurs 

 measures 22 feet in length and 14 feet across its extended 

 paddles. The largest Ichthyosaur was probably even 

 bigger than this. On the north side are displa)ed the 

 remains of the great land lizards, Dinosauria, of which 

 the Iguaitodon is perhaps the inost familiar example. A 

 more recent discovery is that of the Omosaunis from the 

 Kimmeridge Clay of Swindon, Wilts, the femur of which 

 is more than 4 feet in length, and the humerus nearly 

 3 feet long, and enormously broad ; they were probably 

 to some extent amphibious in their habits, but their 

 limbs were well fitted for progression on the land. 



Numerous other fine Dinosaurian remains are to be 

 seen in these cases. As we do not know the teeth of 

 many of these huge reptiles, we are unable to speak 

 positively as to their habits ; but it is certain that from 

 the Trias to the Chalk two groups have existed side by 

 side, one having a carnivorous dentition and the other 

 being herbivorous. The Teratosanrus of the Trias of 

 Stuttgart and the Lycosaitnis and Cynodraco from the 

 Cape, the Megalosaimis of the Stonesfield Slate and 

 Wealden were all carnivores, whilst the Iguaitodon, 

 AcanthophoHs, Srelidosatirus, and the South African 

 genera Anthodou and Nythosazirus were all vegetable- 

 feeders. But of Polacanthus, Oiitosnurus, Hylceosaiints, 

 a.nd Ce/wsaurus we have no direct dental ei'idence. No 

 doubt, as amongst the mammalia at the present day, the 

 majority were vegetable-feeders and the minority were 

 predacious in habit. 



In this gallery are also exhibited the flying lizards of 

 the Secondary Rocks, most of which have been found in 

 the lithogiaphic stone of Solenhofen and a few in our 

 own Lias, Stonesfield Slate Chalk, and Greensand. 



If Comparative Anatomy may be trusted, some of the 

 Pterodactyles from the Chalk of Kent give evidence of a 

 flying lizard having probably an expanse of wings of from 

 eighteen to twenty feet. 



An Australian novelty is the great horned lizard {Mega- 

 lania prised), 14 feet or more in length, with nine horn- 

 hke prominences on its skull and an armour-plated tail 

 similar to that of the Glyptodon. 



The Triassic reptiles from South Africa form a singular 

 addition to our knowledge of ancient life forms long since 

 passed away. They are comprised in Prof. Owen's groups 

 ai Anoinodoniia and Thcriodoiitia. 



Among the fossil Chelonians we have representatives of 



both the marine turtles, the fresh-water Trionyx and 

 Emys, and the gigantic and lesser land- tortoises. Of the 

 first of these are the remains of the great Clulone Hof- 

 manniUom Maestricht, and the Chelonc gigas from the 

 London Clay of Sheppey, larger by far than the " logger- 

 head" turtle of the present day. Of the last (land- 

 tortoises) may be mentioned the Colossochelys atlas from 

 the Siwalik Hill?, which out-rivals the Glyptodon in bulk. 



Three wide and four narrow galleries built at right 

 angles to the Reptile Gallery, each 137 feet in length, the 

 former being 40 feet and the latter 20 feet in width, are 

 placed alternately, running due north and south, and 

 lighted from above. These fine rooms afford ample 

 accommodation for the fossil fishes, all the classes of the 

 Invertebrata (moUusca, brachiopoda, bryozoa, insecta, 

 myriopoda, arachnida, Crustacea, annelida, echinoder- 

 mata, corals, foraminifera, sponges, and plants). These 

 long galleries, or annexes, and the ones corresponding 

 with them on the western side, are built upon the plan 

 recommended by the Royal Commission of 1874. But 

 the wall-cases are all constructed to open in front, not at 

 the back of the case, as suggested. They are however 

 the best-lighted galleries in the whole building, and best 

 suited for museum purposes. Two of these large gal- 

 leries are not yet ready for occupation, and the third is 

 under arrangement ; the narro v galleries give space for a 

 library, special reference collections, a stratigraphical 

 series, and working-rooms for students. 



In the basement are twelve workshops, studies, and 

 store-rooms devoted to Geology, ten studies, work-rooms, 

 and laboratories to Mineralo^'y, and three to Botany. 



The Mineralogical Galler\-, on the first floor, which 

 corresponds with the South-East. Gallery and Pavilion 

 in extent, is also lighted by windows on either hand ; it 

 has seven wall-cases, two at each end of the long gallery 

 and three in the Pavilion, the collection being mainly 

 contained in forty-eight large table-cases. 



These table-cases forma long row on either hand, com- 

 mencing at the entrance of the gallery, the odd numbers 

 being on the left hand and the even on the right. Each 

 of the first forty cases nearly equals in capacity two of the 

 cases in the old mineral gallery ; we have therefore a much 

 more magnificent display than could have been attempted 

 formerly, when the minerals and fossils were all crowded 

 together in the same gallery. 



The collections of naturally and artificially-prepared 

 crystals occupy two large cases in the Pavihon, whilst 

 two of similar construction are filled with meteorites. 

 The great Cranbourne Meteorite and that from Mexico 

 occupy special cases on the east side. In the wall-cases 

 are arranged the extensive collection of rocks, two cases 

 being devoted to polished marbles. 



The general plan pursued in the arrangement remains 

 the same as in the old Museum gallery, so that by using 

 boxes corresponding to one quarter of a table-case, the 

 minerals were transported from the old to the new build- 

 ing and re-arranged in an incredibly short space of time, 

 and with the exception of the Pavilion and the wall-cases 

 have long been ready for exhibition. 



In the Botanical Gallery the glazed cases for the exhi- 

 bition of specimens project from the wall into the room 

 like square shop-fronts, having three plate-glass sides. 

 The whole of the glass is permanently fixed, except one 



