TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 101 



600 ; at the time M. Tchihatchef began his explorations in Asia Minor the total 

 number of the known fossils of this country did not amount to 30. It was 

 also stated that the treatise on the geology of Asia Minor, of which this work 

 was a part, had been lately completed. In conclusion, a reference was made to the 

 flattering notice of this work by Sir Roderick Murchison in his last Address to the 

 Geographical Society. 



At the Nottingham Meeting, the author presented to the Association a topo- 

 graphical and geological map of Asia Minor, and on that occasion gave a sketch 

 of the principal geological features of Asia Minor. 



On the Diamonds received from ilie Cape of Good Hope during the last year. 

 By Professor J. Tennant, F.G.S. 



On neiu forms of Pteroplax and other Carhoniferous Lahyrinthodonts, and 

 other Megalichthys. By James Thomson (Glasyow), F.G.S. With Notes 

 on their Structure, by Professor Young. 



During the past year the author has continued his investigations into the ver- 

 tebrate forms of the Lanarkshire Coal-iield, and has added many specimens of 

 reptiles and fishes to those brought under the notice of the Meeting last year. 

 Some of them are so well marked as to supply characters sufficient to admit of them 

 being referred to their systematic position, and he had been fortunate in securing 

 the cooperation, for their anatomical description, of Professor Young of the Glasgow 

 University. The author anticipated that in the course of the next year Professor 

 Young would be able to figure and describe them in a way which will satisfy the 

 systematic or anatomical student. 



They are found resting upon a thin seam of coal, which varies from five to fifteen 

 inches in thickness : upon the surface of this coal there occurs a thin seam of shale, 

 which forms a parting between the coal below and an ironstone band aljove. It is 

 in this parting that the remains are found, and to the fact of their having been 

 imbedded in the soft pulpy mass of the shale may be attributed the perfect state 

 of preservation in which they are found. In tlie superimposed ironstone are also 

 found similar remains, but owing to the hard matrix, they are seldom obtained in 

 good preservation. 



The ironstone belongs to the Upper Coal-measures, and represents a basin of 

 limited extent, and is situated upon the south side of the river Avon. The same 

 stratum has been identified in other parts of the Lanarkshire coal-field, but in no 

 place have there been discovered so many fossil remains as at Quarter, and it is to 

 be regretted that, from the limited extent of the basin and the length of time it 

 has been wrought, it is now almost exhausted, and a few weeks will terminate the 

 present workings. 



Notes on their Structure, by Professor Young. 



Among the specimens in Mr. Thomson's cabinet, Prof. Young distinguished two 

 new species of Labyi-inthodonts, for which he proposed the generic name Mef/a- 

 hrpetftn. Generic characters: — Cranium nari'ower than that oi AnthracomurKs in 

 the proportion of 4 to .5 ; posterior nares between first and second pairs of tusks ; 

 pteiTgomaxillary apertures commence an inch behind them ; mandible tapering 

 rapidly to symphy.sis, coarsely pitted externally ; teeth regular, equal, their base 

 oval transversel}^ to jaw; crown circular, blunt, slightly recurved. The vertebrae 

 difler somewhat in proportion from those of Anthrocosaurus ; their transverse 

 processes are oblique downwards, those of Anthracosatiriis horizontal. 



Mef/alerpefon pHcidens. Convolutions sinuous, occupying larger part of transverse 

 section, encroaching very much on pulp-cavity. 



31. simplex. Pulp-cavity larger ; folds straight, the alternate long plicae reach- 

 ing only halfway fi-om circumference to pulp. 



Pferopla.v breiicor)iis, n. sp. The characteristic tooth ("formerl}' known as lihi- 

 zodus lanceiformis) of Pteroplax is found associated with crania which difler from 

 P. cormifa, Hancock & Atthey, in the proportions of the muzzle, and the position 



