452 Miscellaneous. 
two other vessels, which are continued on each side of the stomach 
as far as the siphon, and are united here and there by transyerse 
anastomoses, on both the dorsal and ventral surfaces. Moreover the 
vessel which skirts the right border of the stomach* furnishes 
several small vessels which ramify over the mesenteric lamella ex- 
tending from the diverticulum to the digestive tube. All these 
vessels afterwards unite in one trunk, which follows the diverticulum 
to the heart, between the sand-canal and the marginal vessel of the 
diverticulum, giving off to the right and left transverse branches, 
which place it in communication at once with the sand-canal and 
this marginal vessel.— Comptes Rendus, October 24, 1881, p. 651. 
Jurassic Birds and their Allies. By Prof. O. C. Marsut. 
About twenty years ago, two fossil animals of great interest were 
found in the lithographic slates of Bavaria. One was the skeleton 
of Archeopteryx, now in the British Museum; and the other was 
the Compsognathus preserved in the Royal Museum at Munich. 
A single feather, to which the name Archeopterya was first applied 
by Von Meyer, had previously been discovered at the same locality. 
More recently, another skeleton has been brought to light in the 
same beds, and is now in the Museum of Berlin. These three speci- 
mens of Archwopteryx are the only remains of this genus known, 
while of Compsognathus the original skeleton is, up to the present 
time, the only representative. 
When these two animals were first discovered, they were both 
considered to be reptiles by Wagner, who described Compsognathus ; 
and this view has been held by various authors down to the present 
time. The best authorities, however, now agree with Owen that 
Archeopteryx is a bird, and that Compsognathus, as Gegenbaur 
and Huxley have shown, is a Dinosaurian reptile. 
Having been engaged for several years in the investigation of 
American Mesozoic birds, it became important for me to study the 
European forms; and I have recently examined with some care the 
three known specimens of: Archwopteryx. I have also studied in 
the continental museums various fossil reptiles, including Compso- 
gnathus, which promised to throw light on the early forms of birds. 
During my investigation of Archwopteryx, I observed several 
characters of importance not previously determined ; and I have 
thought it might be appropriate to present them here. The more 
important of these characters are as follows :— 
. The presence of true teeth, in position, in the skull. 
. Vertebre biconcave. 
. A well-ossified, broad sternum. 
. Three digits only in the manus, all with claws. 
. Pelvic bones separate. 
. The distal end of fibula in front of tibia. 
* The animal supposed to be placed on the ventral surface. 
+ Read before Section D, British Association for the Advancement of 
Science, at York, Sept. 2, 1881. 
> Ore Co bo 
