1852.] AUSTIN — EARTHQUAKE SHOCK AT BRISTOL. 233 



There appears to be no decided evidence of the existence of a coal- 

 deposit at this spot,— the fossils being so very scarce. The vegetable 

 impressions on the shale are too obscure for determination, and it is 

 to be regretted that the fossils are so few and imperfect. There is 

 only one spot from whence they can be obtained, and almost every 

 stone had been examined before my arrival. Such, however, as were 

 collected accompany this memoir*. 



A waterworn fragment of rock, accompanying this communication, 

 but not referred to in Dr. Bell's list of specimens, presented evidence 

 of its containing Crocodilian remains. These have been carefully ex- 

 posed by the chisel, under Col. Sykes's superintendence, and the 

 specimen has been examined by Prof. Bell and Prof. Owen, the 

 latter of whom has kindly furnished the accompanying note. 



Note on the Crocodilian Remains accompanying Dr. T. L. Bell's 

 Paper on Kotah. By Prof. Owen, F.R.S., G.S. 



The Crocodilian fossil consists of a mass of dermal scutes, with a 

 femur and some fragments of other bones, firmly cemented together 

 by the matrix. The scutes are for the most part quadrate, — some 

 square, others oblong; they have numerous well-defined and rather 

 small hemispherical pits upon their outer surface, which is flat and 

 without any carinal elevation. In this respect they differ from the 

 dermal scutes of the existing Gavial, in which the pits are relatively 

 larger, more frequently confluent, and the middle of the pitted sur- 

 face is in most of the scutes raised into a keel. 



The characters of the scutes, as well as the length and slenderness 

 of the femur, in the fossil, agree more with those of the Teleosaurus 

 and Amphicoelian Crocodiles than with the existing Gavials. 



April 21, 1852. 



Charles Twamley, Esq., Adam Murray, Esq., and M. W. P. 

 Scott, Esq., were elected Fellows. 



The following communications were read : — 



1. Notice of the Occurrence of an Earthquake Shock at 

 Bristol. By Fort-Major Thomas Austin, F.G.S. 



[In a Letter to the President.] 



As some particulars relating to the shock of an earthquake which 

 occurred on Saturday the 3rd of April in this district may not be 



* The specimens of shale here referred to accompany the series of specimens 

 illustrative of the " Section " and of the rocks in the neighbourhood of Kotah. 

 They contain fragmentary remains of the Lepidotus Beccanensis, and amongst 

 them are fragments exhibiting parts of the head and tail of that fish. Unfortunately, 

 however, the indications are too obscure for the purposes of illustration. 



