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ON A MAMMALIAN JAW PROM SWANAGE. DOESET. 



one ; and had not the marsupial nature been suggested, it might 

 have been considered to belong to the lnsectivora ; probably, how- 

 ever, it was an insectivorous marsupial. But was it so certain that 

 the jaw belonged to a marsupial of the present type? It was 

 strange also that these remains of marsupials had, at present, only 

 been found in Europe. He was under the impression that the 

 Australian marsupial fauna was not very ancient. 



Mr. Chaeleswoeth said the history of the discovery of mammalian 

 life in Britain was interesting. It had a important bearing on 

 evolution. The explanation of the occurrence of lower jaws only was 

 well known ; but it was difficult to explain the disappearance of the 

 phragmocones of Belemnites : also in East Anglia only teeth, antlers, 

 and astragali of Cervi were found ; other bones were wanting. 



Mr. E. Welle tt said that mammalian remains had been recently 

 found in great numbers in America, on about the same horizon, and 

 that from them the discoverer, Prof. Marsh, was led to believe that 

 all Mesozoic mammals belonged to a more generalized type than do 

 the marsupials which at present exist. 



