Microscopical Society. 211 nascentium vel ad utilitatem latius excultarura ; auct. Jos. Moris et Jos. De Notaris. — Amphibia Europsea ad Sy sterna nostrum Ver-tebratorium ordinata; auct. Car. L. Bonaparte, Muxiniani Principe. — Microscopic Observations on the Movements of Vegetable Glo-bules suspended in a Menstruum ; by Prof. J. D. Botto. PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY. Feb. 17. — A paper was read by Mr. Owen, " On the Microscopic Structure of certain Fossil Teeth from the Old Red Sandstone near Elgin." The fossils were from the lAiddle or comstone division of that for-mation, and are interesting from the extreme rarity of organic remains referrible to vertebrated animals in such formation. The microscopic structure of these teeth, which Mr. Owen described in detail, is quite peculiar and characteristic of the teeth in question, so as to justify the indication of a distinct genus of animals, for which the name of Dendrodus was proposed. Four species of these teeth were described, viz. Dend. hifurcatus, D. strigatus, D. hastatus and D. sigmoideus, and the modifications of the Dendritic structure pointed out in each. Upon the whole, the characters of the microscopic structure resem-ble those of the teeth of certain fishes, as the Shark, Sphyraena, etc., but with modifications that approximate it to the peculiar structure of the teeth of the extinct Batrachian genus Labyrinthodon, from the new red sandstone. Mr. Owen concludes, therefore, that the Dendrodus was a fish, but that it might have approached more nearly than the rest of the class to the Labyrinthodont group of Batrachia. The teeth resemble in external form and longitudinal striation those of the Labyrinthodon ; and should other remains raise the Dendrodus to that order, it will be the first vertebrate animal higher than fish that has been found in the old red sandstone. Sections of the teeth described and diagrams were exhibited in il-lustration of the paper. Mr. Owen next proceeded to give an account of his examination of the microscopic structure of the teeth of the Lepidosiren annectens. Although almost the whole organization of this species is known, there is as much doubt in the minds of many naturalists respecting the class of Vertebrata to which it really belongs, as may be enter-tained regarding the Dendrodus, of which only the teeth have been examined. Mr. Owen referred to the grounds on which he had concluded the Lepidosiren to be essentially a fish (Linnaean Trans., xviii. p. 350), and to the subsequent anatomical description of the animal by Dr. BischofF, who considers it to be a reptile ; and he then proceeded to describe the microscopic structure of the teeth of the species from the Gambia, and to show, according to this additional test of its affi-P2
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