APPENDIX. 
265 
Plate II. By the courtesy of the proprietors of Natural Sciefice^ we 
are enabled to reproduce two drawings (Fig. 59) from the September 
number, illustrating a paper by Mr. Lydekker, in which he gives 
a resume of the latest intelligence with regard to Ichthyosaurian 
reptiles. 
In the present year (1892) there has been discovered in the Lias of 
Wiirtemberg the skeleton of an Ichthyosaur, in which the outline of 
the fleshy parts is completely preserved (see lower figure). The 
reader will see from the figure that the tail-fin is very large, and the 
backbone appears to run into the lower lobe. Such a tail-fin as this 
impression indicates must have resembled that of the shark’s, only 
it is wider ; but the shark’s backbone runs into the upper lobe. 
Sir Richard Owen long ago foretold the existence of this appendage, 
and the discovery, coming now (when his life is despaired of), adds 
one more tribute to his genius. Behind the triangular fin on the 
back comes a row of horny excrescences reminding us of those of 
the crested newt. 
As Dr. Fraas remarks, this discovery shows how closely analogous 
Ichthyosaurs were in form to fishes, and further justifies the title of 
“ fish-lizards.” He considers that they did not visit the shore. The 
reader will find much valuable matter in Mr. Lydekker’s paper, above 
referred to. The following extract refers to the question of their 
reproduction : “ It has long been known that certain large skeletons 
of Ichthyosaurs from the Upper Lias of Holzmaden, in Wiirtemberg, 
and elsewhere, are found with the skeletons of one or more much 
smaller individuals enclosed partly or entirely within the cavity of the 
ribs [a specimen is figured]. Of such skeletons there are four in the 
museum at Stuttgart, two in that of Tubingen, one at Munich, and 
others in Gent and Paris. Of these, two in Stuttgart, as well as the 
two in Tubingen, contain but a single young skeleton, while one of 
those at Stuttgart has four, the Munich specimen five, and the remain- 
ing Stuttgart example upwards of seven young. Some of these young 
and, presumably, foetal Ichthyosaurs have the head turned towards the 
tail of the parent, while in others it is directed the other way. That 
these young have not been swallowed by the larger individuals within 
whose ribs they are found is pretty evident from several considerations. 
In the first place, their skeletons are always perfect. Then they 
never exceed one particular size, and always belong to the same 
species as the parent. Moreover, it would appear to be a physical 
impossibility for one Ichthyosaur of the size of the Stuttgart specimen 
to have had seven smaller ones of such dimensions in its stomach at 
