NEW LABYRINTHODONT AMPHIBIAN. 227 



already described, and this is not by any means perfect (see PL 

 VI., fig. 2). The crown seems to have been considerably ele- % 

 vated and arched. 



Perhaps the most interesting, and certainly the best-preserved 

 feature of our strange amphibian has yet to be noticed. As it 

 lies, it seems to have been covered with large, minutely striated, 

 bony, imbricated scutes or scales, which extend from end to end 

 and from the dorsal to the ventral margin of the specimen. 

 These scales are arranged in diagonal lines, sloping from behind 

 forwards, and give to the surface of the animal a strongly ribbed 

 appearance in the same direction. The inside view of the scales 

 presents the same sort of ribbing as the exterior : indeed, both 

 sides of this bony armature remind the observer of the ridges 

 and furrows of a tiled roof, only the individual scales are not 

 distinguishable as the tiles of a roof are ; the ridges and furrows 

 alone are visible, and the junction of the rows is not perceptible. 

 This may be partly owing to the pressure to which the fossil has 

 been subjected, incorporating the bony scales w,ith each other ; 

 but it undoubtedly results in a great measure from the character 

 of the scales themselves, which permit the most close and accu- 

 rate fitting. However this may be, the specimen at present has 

 the appearance of having been incased in a continuous bony 

 shield coextensive with the trunk. No portion of the tail exist- 

 ing, it is impossible to say whether or not the scales extended 

 to it. 



Such is the general character of this peculiar scaly armature. 

 Not much, however, of the external surface is seen ; but a portion 

 of two or three rows of the scales is well displayed at the. ante- 

 rior extremity of the ribs on the right slab, or that on which the 

 coronal portion of the cranium is preserved. This patch of the 

 scaly covering of course belongs really to the left side of the ani- 

 mal ; it overlies the ribs, and in part covers the bony mass, which 

 we suppose may be the remains of the shoulder-girdle. Other 

 two considerable patches are observed overlying the ribs near 

 the centre of the body, and several smaller patches are scattered 

 over the specimen. All these patches exhibit the minute stria- 

 tion of the surface, and that in front displays also the ribbed 



