188 



seeing his description, so that I do not know how far it agrees with the bones 

 in the present collection. 



One of the characteristic features of the vertebral body of Plesiosaurus, 

 is, according to the best Palseontological authorities, that it is either slightly 

 concave, or almost flat, with the middle of such cavity slightly convex. 



Amongst the numerous vertebrae collected this autumn by Mr. Hood, 

 none could be identified by me which possessed these peculiar characteristics 

 on their terminal articular surfaces. 



We possess, however, in our own collection, and now lying before you, 

 one dorsal vertebra which answers the above description. 



As before observed, the Amphiccelia had well-developed limbs, and I was 

 therefore anxious to find bones belonging to the species of which the skull 

 had been discovered. There were several good-sized bones which answer perfectly 

 the description given by various authors, and I was therefore enabled to identify 

 all the principal bones, such as the femur, tibia, and fibula, of the hind limbs, 

 as well as humerus, ulna, and radius, of the fore limbs ; some toe phalanges 

 were also amongst them, of which the largest is 1J inches broad, by 2 J inches 

 long, and which, consequently, must have belonged to a large animal. I 

 have just observed that no vertebra? of Plesiosaurus have apparently been 

 found by Mr. Hood ; as you are aware, a true Enaliosaurian, or Sea-lizard, 

 possesses four fins, or paddles, instead of four, more or less developed legs. 

 The principal bones of the hind and fore limbs of these Enaliosaurians were, 

 the humerus and femur, both of which had a convex head, sub-cylindrical 

 at its proximal end, and gradually becoming flattened and expanded at its 

 distal end. 



Several fine specimens, some of them 10 inches long, 3 J inches in 

 diameter at their proximal or upper end, and 6| inches at their lower or distal 

 end, are in Mr. Hood's collection, also several other bones of the lower 

 portions of the four extremities ; the metacarpal phalange bones are well 

 represented. However, I must here add, that some of these bones might 

 have belonged to an Ichthyosaurus, or the hixge Enaliosaurus, which resembled, 

 more than any other, a whale or fish. 



There are also several fine specimens of the sternal and pelvic apparatus, 

 and ribs ; amongst them, I show you here a portion of a humerus of, 

 probably, Plesiosaurus, found some time ago by Mr. E. Sealey, and presented 

 by him to the Museum. Also the lower or distal end of a femur, from 

 the same locality. I also offer to your inspection, portion of a metacarpal, 

 and some phalangeal bones, of which the paddle of Plesiosaurus was 

 composed. 



Consequently, it seems, that in the beds, tinder review, Saurians of 

 different ages, and belonging to different genera and orders, existed in our 

 seas, in times gone by, and in what may be considered of at least cretaceous 

 age, although I say so with some diffidence, and wish to observe that a 

 great deal more work has to be done before the question of the age of our 

 middle and younger sedimentary rocks can be determined. Here are the 

 different geological sections of the Waipara beds, on them, you will observe, 

 that the beds in which those Saurians are found, underlie, uncomformably, the 



tint, contrasting with the matrix, as is commonly the case with specimens imbedded in 

 the Oxf ordian or Liassic clays. " 



" The shape and mode of articulation of the cervical and dorsal ribs, the shape and 

 proportions of the coracoids concur with the more decisive eAddence of the vertebras in 

 attesting the Plesiosaiiroid character of these New Zealand fossils, and, pending the 

 discovery of the teeth, the author provisionally referred them to a species for which he 

 proposed the name of Plesiosaurus australis, The specimens had been presented by 

 Mr. Hood to the British Museum." Owen. "Report of British Association," Manchester, 

 1881. Transactions, p.p. 122-3. — Er>. 



