1871.] HtriKE — KIMMERIDGE TELEOSAURIAN-. 443 



DiSCTJSSIOlS'. 



Mr. Seeley thougM it likely that Mr. Hiilke would eventually be 

 led to reestablish his genus Enthelciodon. He remarked on the 

 peculiar characters presented by the specimen, and referred especially 

 to the coracoids, which were unlike those of Ichthyosaurus, but pre- 

 sented a close resemblance to those of Plesiosaurus. He considered 

 that there were indications of its having been connected with a car- 

 tilaginous" sternum. The scapula furnished an important difference 

 in its widening, which formed a distinct acromion process. Mr. Seeley 

 remarked that double-headed ribs similarly attached occur only in 

 animals with a four-chambered heart, and that, considering this and 

 other characters, there was no reason for placing Ichthyosaurus lower 

 than among the highest Saurians*. He considered that the Teleo- 

 saurian snout differed from all known types. 



Dr. Macdoi^ald believed that what is called the coracoid has 

 nothing to do with the shoulder-girdle, and thought it might be a 

 part of the palate. 



Mr. Mansel stated, in answer to the President, that the fossils 

 were obtained from about the middle of theKimmeridge Clay. 



Mr. Etheeibge suggested that it would be desirable to ascertain 

 whether the horizon of the Ichthyosaurus described was the same as 

 that of the specimens from Ely. 



Mr. GwTisr Jefeeeys inquired as to the food and habits of the 

 Ichthyosaurus. 



Mr. Hxjlke, in reply, stated that, from the presence of a stain and 

 of numerous small scales under the ribs, the food of the Ichthyo- 

 saurus probably consisted of Squids and small fishes. He showed 

 that the so-called coracoid was clearly a part of the shoulder-girdle. 



JvsE 21, 1871. 



Robert John Watson, Esq., B.A., Assistant Master at Dulwich 

 College; W. T. Scarth, Esq., Raby Castle, near Darlington; Gen. 

 A. C. Bentinck, of East Court, Wokingham, and John Brooke, Esq., 

 of the CoUegiate School, ISewark, were elected Eellows of the 

 Society. 



The following communications were read : — 



1, On SOME SUPPOSED Yegeiable EosBiLS. By William Caertjthers. 



[Plate XIX.] 



The baneful influence of the imagination in science is seldom more 

 clearly seen than in the way in which fossil botany has been too 

 often pursued. The determination of the name of a recognizable 



* Haying since seen the specimen, Mr. Seeley believes that the truncated 

 margin was anterior, and abutted against the interclavicle (episternum) ; so that 

 the posterior margins of these coracoid bones are similar to the same margins 

 in Ichthyosaurus, and there is no evidence of the animal having had a sternum. 



