6 
FOSSIL REPTILIA OF THE 
The ribs of the twelve anterior dorsal vertebrae show both the head and the 
tubercle, the neck becoming gradually shorter in the last three. In the seventh 
vertebra the extent of the rib from the head to the tubercle is 2 inches 9 lines. 
In the tenth vertebra it is 1 inch 7 lines. The rib presents a shallow canal along 
its posterior surface ; it is nearly an inch in thickness. An extent of upwards of 
10 inches of the body of the rib Tab. II) is preserved on the right side of this 
portion of the thorax of Scelidotherium. 
The anterior dorsal vertebrae have been partially dislocated, especially the 
fourth from the fifth, apparently by pressure acting through the scapula ( 51 ) upon 
the diapophysis and spine of the fifth dorsal. Beyond the scapula the vertebrae 
have retained their natural position and connections, which seems to indicate the 
action of pressure whilst decomposition of the soft parts was going on in the carcass. 
Nine of the consecutive vertebrae in the fourth block occupy the extent of 1 foot 
9 inches. The breadth of the last of these vertebrae (Tab. II, d 10 ), across the diapo- 
physes {d), is 5 inches 4 lines. The total height of the eleventh dorsal vertebra 
(Tab. .5, fig. 1) is b inches. The breadth of the centrum at the fractured part, near 
the anterior surface, is 1 inch 6 lines. The depth of the centrum, from the floor of 
the neural canal, is 2 inches. The breadth of the neural arch across what are called 
the ‘‘pedicles,’^ is 1 inch 8 lines. The height of the neural spine is 2 inches 6 lines. 
As the vertebrae approach the sacrum the bodies gradually increase in depth, 
without gaining in breadth, until at the last dorsal the centrum, near its middle part, 
measures 2^ inches in vertical and 1 inch 7 lines in transverse diameter ; a slight 
longitudinal impression on each side produces the contour of the transverse vertical 
section figured in Tab. V, fig. 2. The neural canal here gives a triangular section, 
with the apex downward and sinking into the substance of the centrum, but the 
sutural limit between centrum and neural arch are indiscernible. The diapophyses 
decrease in breadth and also in length, and now support the rib by a terminal, 
slightly notched, articular facet. The ribs, here with simple heads, become shorter 
and less curved ; a few, as in Tab. IV, fig. 1, pi, have suffered fracture, with very 
little displacement. In different parts of the matrix of the blocks (Tabs. II and 
IV) are portions of long and slender bones, which are, most probably, abdominal 
ribs. 
In the sixth block the hinder half of the last dorsal and one lumbar vertebrae 
are associated with the pelvis ; the lumbar vertebra (Tab. VI, l) had been dislo- 
cated downwards from its articulations with the sacrum. 
The four vertebrae of this part (Tab. VI), with the iliac bones ( 62 ), are preserved 
almost in their natural relative positions, the sacral vertebrae having their neural 
spines and transverse processes exposed. Those of the first sacral (si, d, pi) stand 
out horizontally and transverse to the axis of the body ; a slight swelling {d), about 
one inch from their origin, may indicate the point of confluence of the pleurapo- 
