G. C. Crick— On Coccoteutlm, Solenhofen. 441 



In his "Handbuch der PalEeontologie " (vol. ii, p. 516,1884), 

 Zittel states that distinct impressions of the animal occurring in the 

 Lithographic Stone show the hinder part of the body to have been 

 broad and sack-shaped, with convex sides, and the head to have had 

 eight, rather long, similar arms. In his " Grundziige der Palaaon- 

 tologie " (p. 446, 1895), the same author remarks that impressions 

 of the sack-shaped body and of the head are sometimes preserved in 

 the Lithographic Stone of Bavaria. 



The British Museum has lately acquired a splendidly-preserved 

 example of this genus (see PL XIV) from the Lithographic Stone 

 (Lower Kimeridgian) of Solenhofen, in which the body with its 

 lateral expansions, and the head with its arms, are all in union with 

 each other. The specimen is displayed on the surface of a small 

 slab, 210 mm. long and 100 mm. wide, and presents a dorsal aspect 

 of the animal. The total length of the specimen from the posterior 

 extremity of the body to the anterior extremity of the arms is 

 180 mm. 



The body is somewhat flask-shaped, rounded posteriorly, and 

 slightly contracted anteriorly. Its length is 94 mm.; its greatest 

 width (which is at about the middle of the body) 43 mm. ; whilst 

 at the anterior boundary of the mantle, which coincides with 

 the anterior extremity of the shell (s), the body is not more than 

 32 mm. wide. Fragments of the mantle still adhere both on the 

 right- and on the left-hand sides of the dorsal surface, and these 

 exhibit very clearly the transverse striation not infrequently seen 

 in the fossilized state, as e.g. in specimens of Plesioteuthis prisca 

 from the Lithographic Stone, and also in Geoteuthis brevipinnis and 

 Belemnoteuthis antiqua from the Oxford Clay of Wiltshire. A frag- 

 ment (m) on the right-hand side of the dorsal surface extends from 

 the lateral boundary of the body almost to the median line of this 

 surface. Its lateral portion is of a very pale reddish-brown tint, 

 but this colour becomes more intense towards the middle of the 

 dorsal surface, where it is of a rich reddish-brown colour. This 

 does not appear to be a stain, but is probably due to tbe original 

 colour of the mantle. The lateral portion shows the usual transverse 

 striation, but the median portion bears also longitudinal wrinkles. 



The body was provided with lateral expansions or fins, as seen on 

 both the right- and left-hand sides of the specimen. These seem to 

 have been divided into a large anterior portion and a much smaller 

 posterior part. That on the right-hand side is the more nearly 

 complete ; its posterior portion is trapezoidal in outline, antero- 

 posteriorly it measures 9 mm., its width at the middle being 19 mm. 

 Its posterior boundary (/') is very slightly waved and nearly at 

 right angles to the median line of the body. It arises from the 

 body at about 3mm. in advance of the posterior end; and at a dis- 

 tance of about 20-5 mm. from the boundary of the body it curves 

 abruptly forward, and passes almost at right angles to its previous 

 direction to meet the posterior boundary of the anterior larger 

 portion of the lateral expansion. This posterior boundary of the 

 anterior portion cannot be made out close to the general outline 



