78 . Reports and Proceedings. 



Geological Society of London. — I. December 19, 1866. — 

 Warington W. Smyth, Esq., M.A., F.E.S., President, in the chair. 

 The following communications were read : — 



1. " On a new specimen of Telerpeton Elginense.^' By Prof. T. H. 

 Huxley, LL.D., F.E.S., V.P.G.S. 



The specimen which was described in this paper had been broken 

 into five pieces, exhibiting hollow casts of most of the bones of 

 Telerpeton Elginense. It is the property of Mr. James Grant of 

 Lossiemouth, and came from the reptiliferous beds of that locality, 

 along with some highly interesting fragments of Stagonolepis and 

 Hyperodapedon. The casts described by the author consisted of 

 impressions of the bones of the skull, together with the lower jaw, 

 and the teeth ; of most of the vertebrae and ribs ; of the greater 

 portions of the pelvic and scapular arches ; and of representatives of 

 most of the bones of the fore and hind limbs ; and it was stated that 

 the characters of all these portions of the skeleton indicated deci- 

 dedly Lacertilian affinities. 



In describing these remains Professor Huxley discussed especially 

 the bi-concave character of the vertebrae ; the mode of implantation 

 of the teeth, which he believed to be acrodont, and not thecondont ; 

 and the anomalous structure of the fifth digit of the hind foot, which 

 presents only two phalanges (a proximal and a terminal), a structure 

 which differs from that of all known Lacertilian reptiles, whether 

 recent or fossil. His researches had led him to conclude that the 

 animal is one of the reptilia, and is devoid of the slightest indication 

 of affinity with the amphibia. In all its characters it is decidedly 

 Saurian, and accords with the sub-order Kionocrania of the true 

 Lacertilia; but the author had not been able to make sure that it 

 possesses a columella. He also remarked that the possession by 

 Telerpeton Elginense of vertebra with concave articular faces does 

 not interfere with this view, as although most recent Lacertilia have 

 concavo-convex vertebrse, bi-concave vertebrge much more deeply 

 excavated than those of T. Elginense are met with among the existing 

 geckos. 



Professor Huxley in conclusion drew attention to the interesting 

 fact that Telerpeton presents not a single character approximating it 

 towards the tyP® ^f the Permian Protorosauria, or the Triassic 

 BhyncJiosaurus, and other probably Triassic African and Asiatic 

 allies of that genus, or to the Mesozoio Dinosauria ; and that 

 whether the age of the deposit in which it occurs be Triassic or 

 Devonian, Telerpeton is a striking example of a persistent type of 

 animal organization. 



2. " On a section at Litcham affording evidence of Land-glaciation 

 during the earlier part of the Glacial period in England." By 

 S. V. Wood, Jun., Esq., F.G.S. 



The structure of the Lower Drift, and the limited area to which it 

 is confined seemed to the author to indicate that the glacial conditions 



