﻿126 Reports and Proceeding^ — 



■whicli, in addition to other skeletal modifications, have teeth im- 

 planted in sockets, is, as far as it goes, another point in favour, 

 being a character which can no longer be used as an argument to 

 prove that the Pterodactyles were non-avian. 



The skull, the microscopic structure of the teeth, and all the im- 

 portant bones of the skeleton, notably those of the fore-limb, have 

 been subjected to minute examination and comparison with the 

 corresponding parts in various birds and reptiles ; and the points in 

 which they most resemble either the one or the other are discussed 

 and amply dilated upon ; but upon this portion of the subject we 

 cannot enter further than to summarize a few of the conclusions 

 derived from the study of these remains. With regard to the skull, 

 it is observed, "Every point of the Ornithosaurian skull upon which 

 I have not oft'ered comment presents absolute identity with the cor- 

 responding structures in birds " ; and of the sacrum, that it is 

 " distinct from that of birds, and yet altogether unlike the sacrum of 

 any reptile." That "the pectoral and sternal bones are about as 

 markedly avian as in the skull." That " the pelvis and hind limb 

 are the least reptilian portions of the Ornithosaurian skeleton," that 

 " the femur is in no respect a reptilian bone," and that the tibia and 

 fibula are altogether avian, so much so that in many genera no 

 anatomist could distinguish them from the same bones in birds." 



These avian resemblances are not advanced by Mr. Seeley as 

 original discoveries, for they have been noticed and commented upon 

 by Herman von Meyer and others, but who have, notwithstanding 

 these resemblances, referred them to the class reptilia. 



Without committing ourselves to any opinion on the subject, we 

 can, without hesitation, recommend those students who desire full 

 information upon the many points advanced, from original observa- 

 tions and study, in support of the ornithic afiinities of these interesting 

 extinct animals, to read Mr. Seeley's paper. It is clearly written and 

 argumentative, and is a valuable contribution to the literature of the 

 Pterodactyles. W. D. 



Geological Society of London. — January 24th, 1877. — Prof. 

 P. Martin Duncan, M.B., F.E.S., President, in the Chair. The 

 following communications were read : — 



1. " Note on the Question of the Glacial or Volcanic Origin of the 

 Talchir Boulder-bed of India and the Karoo Boulder-bed of South 

 Africa." By H. F. Blanford, Esq., F.G.S. 



The author, referring to a doubt expressed by the President in a 

 paper on Australian Tertiary Corals as to the glacial origin of the 

 Talchir Boulder-bed, indicated the hypothesis of its formation by 

 the action of local glaciers under present climatal conditions would 

 require the elevation of the whole region to the extent of 14,000 or 

 15,000 feet, and the assumption that the denudation of this great 

 mountain mass was so moderate that large tracts of the ancient 

 surface are still preserved at levels now only a few hundred feet 



