314 MESSES. HANCOCK AND ATTHEY 



preserved. The sculpture of the bone on the dorsal surface is dis- 

 tinctly displayed, and is of the usual Labyrinthodont character, 

 resembling very closely that of Pteroplax ; but the pits or de- 

 pressions are less regular, and the surrounding ridges are rough 

 and much broken up. The frontal bones are broken away 

 before and behind, but the greater part of them is evidently 

 present ; they are considerably elongated, and are a little ex- 

 panded in front. A triangular bone, with its apex forward, is 

 interposed on either side between the frontals and the maxillae ; 

 these bones are probably the postfrontals, or they may be the 

 prefrontals and the postfrontals in combination. On the left 

 side a fragment, probably of the nasal bone, is wedged in in 

 front, between the anterior extremity of the frontal and the 

 maxilla. The sutures are represented by wide, smooth, depres- 

 sed lines, but, with the exception of those of the frontals, they 

 are not very easily determined. 



The other side of the specimen exhibits the roof of the mouth, 

 but the bones are so much crushed and broken that it is impos- 

 sible to make out their forms and limits. Suffice it to say that, 

 a little in front of the great vomerine tusks, there is on each 

 side a large deep depression (which two depressions are un- 

 doubtedly the anterior palatal foramina), and that immediately 

 behind and towards the outer margin of the right vomerine tusk 

 a circular depression, upwards of half an inch in diameter, in- 

 dicates the position of the right posterior naris. 



The teeth belonging to the fragment are nearly all present ; 

 but many of them are broken down and displaced, and only a 

 few retain their apices. The two great vomerine tusks are not 

 much disturbed ; that on the right side stands erect, but a large 

 portion of the crown has disappeared. It is placed somewhat 

 nearer to the maxilla than to the central line of the skull, and is 

 not very far from the anterior margin of the specimen; what 

 remains of it is fths of an inch in height, and it measures across 

 the widest part of the base ^ths of an inch. The left vomerine 

 tusk is crushed down close to the posterior margin of the speci- 

 men, with its base near its proper position, not far from the 

 maxilla, and the apex pointing inwards ; it is broken across near 



