1869.] HUXLEY HYPERODAPEDON. 139 



dilia, though distinct from any known form of that age, was for 

 the first time asserted, and, indeed, I may say, demonstrated, the 

 remains placed in my hands enabling me to put the fact beyond doubt. 

 At the same time I mentioned the existence in the same beds of 

 " a Saurian reptile about 6 feet long, remarkable for the flattened or 

 slightly concave articular surfaces of the centra of its vertebrae, and 

 for its well-developed costal system and fore and hind limbs, but 

 more particularly characterized by its numerous series of subcylin- 

 drical palatal teeth," I named this new reptile Hyperodajpedon 

 Gordoni, in honour of its discoverer, the Eev. Dr. Gordon, to whose 

 exertions in the Elgin country geology owes so much : and I stated 

 that " its marked affinity with certain Triassic reptiles, when taken 

 together with the resemblance of Stagonolepis to Mesozoie Crocodilia, 

 lead one to require the strongest stratigraphical proof before admit- 

 ting the Palaeozoic age of the beds in which it occurs." 



Sir R. I. Murchison admitted that his belief in the Devonian age 

 of the Elgin sandstones was " somewhat shaken " by the discovery 

 of the nature and affinities of these reptilian remains. 



In the ten years which have elapsed since the papers to which I 

 have referred were read before the Society, the age of the reptili- 

 ferous sandstones of Elgin has been repeatedly discussed by some of 

 the most eminent of English geologists, with the general result that 

 while one half of the disputants produced excellent reasons for be- 

 lieving them to be of Mesozoie date, the other half adduced no less 

 weighty arguments in favour of their Palaeozoic age. And it is 

 a curious circumstance that in this Geological Siege of Troy, Priam 

 has been fighting the battle of the Greeks, and Nestor that of the 

 Trojans, — Sir E. Murchison, whose general geological views would 

 naturally incline him to assign a later date to these Elgin rep- 

 tiles, having been the sturdiest champion of their Devonian age; 

 while Sir Charles Lyell, who ought to rejoice if they could be made 

 out Palaeozoic, has as strongly fought for their belonging to the Trias. 

 Without meaning to compare myself to Achilles, I may say that 

 *' under these circumstances " I thought it best to retire to my tents 

 and take no part in the fray until my palaeontological armoury should 

 yield more efficient weapons. And as my excellent friend Dr. Gor- 

 don supplied me from time to time with new specimens, I lived in 

 hope that one day or other I should be able to make an effective 

 sally. 



No such opportunity presented itself, however, until the year 

 1867, when a number of important facts came to light in singular 

 coincidence, and, as I conceive, rendered the proper discussion of 

 the question and the drawing of satisfactory conclusions somewhat 

 easier than before. 



I may premise that the original specimen of Hyperodapedon is in 

 a very bad condition, the substance of the bones and teeth being ex- 

 tremely friable and decayed. It is nevertheless sufficiently clear 

 that the roof of the mouth is provided with several parallel rows of 

 teeth, that the edge of the ramus of the lower jaw is also beset with 

 a-<smes of close-set or even confluent teeth, and that the mandibular 



