Notice of remains of extinct vertebrated animals discovered by Professor E. Emmons. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 8:255-257 and O. crocodilinus Cope, 1868,E. D. Cope. 1867.
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"Reptilia of the Triassic Formation of the United States". American Naturalist 4: 562-563. Belodon priscus (originally described as Compsosaurus priscus by Joseph Leidy in 1856),Leidy, J. (1856). "Notice of some remains of extinct vertebrated animals".
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It was in his memoir Philosophie anatomique, published in 1818, that he first put his ideas on animal form and structure into print. Here he attempted to answer his own question, "Can the organization of vertebrated animals be referred to as one uniform type?" Cuvier on the other hand was known as Lamarck's greatest critic, as Cuvier felt Lamarck was too speculative without enough facts to back up his theories. Cuvier grew up reading the works of Linnaeus and was mostly self-taught through dissection and measurements of organisms.
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In the middle of the nineteenth century, geologist Professor Ebenezer Emmons discovered several reptilian teeth in the colliery of the Chatham company in North Carolina. In 1856, the fossils in his collection were described by paleontologist Joseph Leidy. Leidy combined the teeth with some vertebrae and ribs; adding to them an osteoderm or scute found in the same strata by Professor Michael Tuomey, he named the whole Omosaurus perplexus.J. Leidy, 1856, "Notice of remains of extinct vertebrated animals discovered by Professor E. Emmons", Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 8: 255-257 Leidy provided no etymology; the specific name suggests he was intrigued by the "intricate" find.
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After a week, Elstead has recovered enough to tell his experiences. He relates the eventful descent, lasting several minutes, during which the sphere became unexpectedly hot. On the sea bed, after observing the unusual species of fish and invertebrates, he sees "a strange vertebrated animal.... The vertical pitch of its face gave it a most extraordinary resemblance to a human being.... It was a biped; its almost globular body was poised on a tripod of two frog-like legs and a long thick tail." This creature, together with others, tow the sphere to a kind of altar in their city; the inhabitants prostrate themselves before Elstead, and chant.
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Dedication page from the Birds of India > The want of brief, but comprehensive Manual of the Natural History of India > has been long felt by all interested in such inquiries. At the present, it > is necessary to search through voluminous transactions of learned Societies, > and scientific Journals, to obtain any general acquaintance with what has > been already ascertained regarding the Fauna of India, and, excepting to a > few more favorably placed, even these are inaccessible. The issue of a > Manual, which should comprise all available information in sufficient detail > for the discrimination and identification of such objects of Natural History > as might be met with, without being rendered cumbrous by minutiae of > synonymy or of history, has therefore long been considered a desideratum. > To meet this want it is proposed to publish a series of such Manuals for > all the Vertebrated Animals of India, containing characters of all the > classes, orders, families, and genera, and descriptions of all the species > of all Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, and Fishes, found in India.
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