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Art. VII. — Account of a Fossil Crocodile recently discovered 
in the Alum-Shale near Whitby. By the Rev. George 
Young, A. M. Member of the Wernerian Natural History 
Society, Author of the Geological Survey of the Yorkshire 
Coast, &c. (With a Plate.) 
In the month of December 1824, an interesting discovery 
was made at Whitby. Brown Marshall, a well known collec- 
tor of petrifactions, observed, in the face of a steep cliff, not far 
from the town, part of the head of a large animal, standing out 
from the surface of the alum-shale, several yards above high 
water-mark. Having, with no small labour and danger, suc- 
ceeded in obtaining the head, he submitted it to my inspection ; 
and I found it to correspond with some fossil heads found here 
within these few years, which were considered as belonging to 
the Plesiosaurus. Being very desirous to procure a complete 
specimen of that animal, I directed him to be particularly care- 
ful in taking out the bones of the trunk, and especially the fin- 
bones. After several days labour, attended with considerable 
peril, as the spot could nGt be reached but by the aid of ropes 
suspended from the upper part of the cliff, the whole specimen 
was got out. When the pieces into which it had parted were 
put together, and laid in the order in which they were found in 
the rock, I had the satisfaction of examining the specimen mi- 
nutely ; but what was my surprise, when, instead of an animal 
with Jins for swimming, I found one furnished with legs for 
walking ; instead of a Plesiosaurus , I saw a Crocodile ! Most 
of the bones of both the hind-legs, with fragments of those of 
the fore-legs, were distinctly perceived. At the same time, the 
appearance of portions of the scaly crust of the animal, arranged 
in squarish compartments, as in the crocodile, made it easy to 
determine to what family the animal had belonged. This va- 
luable relic of a former world, was immediately purchased for 
the Whitby Literary and Philosophical Society, and conveyed 
to the Museum ; and when some pains had been taken in re- 
moving a coating of alum-shale that had adhered to several parts 
of the mass, it became still more interesting. The appearance 
which it now presents, is faithfully delineated in the drawing by 
Mr Bird, accompanying this paper. (PI. III.) 
