430 Reports and Proceedings — Zoological Society of London. 



of Fossil Plants, which is not yet arranged ; and also calls attention to 

 the_j valuable series of type collections now in course of arrangement. 

 Since the latter includes the collections of Dr. William Smith, Mr. 

 S. VV. Wood, J. and J. de Carle Sowerby, Mr. F. E. Edwards, and 

 Dr. Thos. Davidson, their interest to all palaeontologists must be 

 of the greatest. The volume concludes with an excellent plan of 

 the Palasontological Galleries and a well-arranged Index. 



With the publication of this series of popular " Guides " for the 

 nonscientific, and of the " Catalogues " for the scientist, the British 

 Museum is rendering its unrivalled collections of the best possible 

 advantage to all classes of visitors ; and we beg to offer our hearty 

 congratulations to Dr. Woodward and his able coadjutors on the 

 successful completion of the present " Guide " to one of the most 

 interesting branches of the whole collection. 



BEPOETS JL.1STJD PEOCBBDIUG-S. 



Zoological Society of London. 



June 29th, 1886.— Osbert Salvin, Esq., F.B.S., Y.Pres., in the 

 chair. — The following communication was read : — 



" Note on the Presence of a Columella (Epipterygoid, Parker) in 

 the skull of Ichthyosaurus," by A. Smith Woodward, F.G.S. Com- 

 municated by the President. 



In this paper, the author recorded the presence of a "columella" 

 (epipterygoid) in the skulls of several Liassic Ichthyosaurs in the 

 British Museum, and offered a brief account of the main features of 

 the bone. The communication was suggested by Sir Bichard Owen's 

 statement ("Foss. Bept. Lias Form." p. 96) that he had observed no 

 trace of the element in question in the British fossils ; and the fact 

 became still more worthy of note, since Prof. Cope (Proc. Amer. 

 Assoc. Adv. Sci., vol. xix. p. 200) had already determined the pre- 

 sence of a columella in the skull of an American Ichthyosaur, and 

 this circumstance was evidently overlooked by Sir Bichard Owen. 

 As pointed out by Prof. Cope, the bone is long and slender, with 

 expanded extremities ; and in the present communication the author 

 showed that it was a distinct element, although a suture at its upper 

 end in the American specimen appeared to be wanting. It was 

 further remarked that the lower extremity of the Ichthyosaurian 

 columella exhibits a striking resemblance to its homologue in Sphe- 

 nodon, in the fact that the expansion shows two distinct articular 

 facettes upon its inner aspect as is well seen in the specimen figured 

 in Hawkins' "Book of the Great Sea-Dragons," pi. 19, fig. 1. In 

 the living Bhynchocephalian genus, the articulation is contracted 

 both with the pterygoid and an inward extension of the quadrate ; 

 in Ichthyosaurus, however, its nature cannot yet be determined, and, 

 according to Prof. Seeley, there is no inwardly-directed process of 

 the last-named bone. 



Erratum.— Geol. Mag. August, 1886, p. 341, legend to woodcut, for "Interior," 

 read Exterior. 



