THE 



GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. 



NEW SERIES. DECADE IV. VOL. II. 



No. I.— JANUARY, 1895. 



I. — Note on the Skeleton of Pareiasaurus Baini. 



By Prof. H. a. Seblby, F.R.S., F.L.S., F.G.S. 



(PLATE I.) 



THE skeleton of Pareiasaurus Baini, which I brought from the 

 Bath near Tamboer Fontein, in Cape Colony, is shown in 

 the accompanying photograph of the right side of the specimen, 

 as it is now mounted in the British Museum. It is the only known 

 example of the group of animals to which it belongs, in which 

 almost every part of the skeleton is shown. The Dicynodonts were 

 familiar to us from the discovery of many skulls ; the Theriodonts 

 were mostly known from snouts ; and the Pareiasaurus, although 

 originally described from skull remains, had become known from 

 the fine axial skeleton of P. homhideus, which Mr. Thomas Bain sent 

 to the British Museum many years ago. I therefore entertained 

 hope that the limbs and other missing parts of the skeleton might 

 reward personal exploration in the country. The area to be ex- 

 amined was clearly defined as lying approximately between the 

 Prince Albert Eoad Station and Fraserberg ; for Dr. W. G. 

 Atherstone had found the type of the species near the former 

 locality, and Mr. Bain had found the specimen described by myself 

 in 1887-8 at Palmiet Fontein, at the foot of the Nieuwveldt Kange, 

 towards the latter place. . 



The southern position, within easier access of the railway, ofi'ered 

 the best hope of success, since a few farmers are scattered over the 

 country, and there was hope that their Hottentot shepherds might 

 have observed bones lying upon the surface of the ground ; though 

 such remains only occur in small oases among immense unpro- 

 ductive or desert areas. Between the Zwarteberg, on the south, 

 and the Nieuwveldt Eange on the north, the country is generally 

 lev.el, or but slightly undulating. At Bad the rocks become folded 

 and more elevated ; and there, by the kindly offices of Mr. J. S. 

 Marais, and accompanied by the late Mr. Thomas Bain, I first saw 

 the fossil dimly outlined in the hard concretionary and slaty rock, 

 some distance up on the hill, on the 11th August, 1889, and at 

 once determined it as the Pareiasaurus for which I was systemati- 

 cally searching. The specimen had obvious defects, due to partial 

 exposure, the compression of some of the limb bones, and the 

 friable condition of parts which had long been under the expanding 

 influence of the sun. On the following day I had the pleasure of 



DECADE IV. — VOL. II. — NO. I. 1 



