REPOETS OP MEETINGS. 
823 
€overy of this very fine fossil^ Professor Sollas proceeded to 
describe some of the anatomical characteristics of Plesiosaur^ 
more especially such as distinguished it from Ichthyosaur. In 
the former of these we find the head to be small in comparison 
with the length of the body^ and the neck long. The teeth^ 
which are large, curved, and striated, overlap when the jaws are 
closed. In Ichthyosaur, on the other hand, we have a large 
head, and no neck, and in the structure of the vertebral column 
we find that the ‘arch which covers the spinal cord is separated 
from the main portion of the vertebra, whereas in Plesiosaur 
no such separation exists. The latter resembles in appearance 
a turtle with a long neck, though in reality it is allied to the 
lizard. Almost all the specimens of this fossil have been found 
embedded in a prone position ; in the one, however, lately dis- 
covered at Bridport, the head is slightly inclined, which will 
greatly facilitate the study of the animal. When finally arranged 
it will be 16 feet long, and will surpass the one in the British 
Museum. 
The next meeting occurred on the evening of February 3rd, 
when Professor Kamsay, Ph.D., contributed a paper on The 
Connection between Chemical Constitution and Physiological 
Action,’' being part of the results of investigations made by the 
author and others at the Western Infirmary of Glasgow, regarding 
the action of anaesthetics. These may he summed up as follows : 
— 1. Hydrocarbons have little, if any, action on the animal 
organism. S. The introduction of oxygen, when the resulting 
substance does not produce local irritation, acts on the organism. 
A low molecular weight coincides with a transitory effect ; and 
as it increases the effects become more marked. 3. Compounds 
containing chlorine all effect the organism. Its specific action 
consists in causing irregularity of the heart’s pulsations, and in 
lowering the blood pressure. The peculiar action of the carbon 
and hydrogen in compounds containing chlorine is to produce 
