The Reptiles 



Ichthyosaurus or fish lizard. Another group left the land 

 for the sea and became the great snake lizards — the Moso- 

 saurus. Great battles daily raged among these monsters on 

 both land and in the sea. They were struggling for suprem- 

 acy in the kingdom of life and In many cases their kind Is 

 blotted out for reasons beyond their control. It may have 

 been because their food supply gave out or because the ani- 

 mals upon which they were living changed their habits or 

 were exterminated by some pestilence. It may have been 

 because of changing climatic conditions or geological up- 

 thrusts of the surface of the earth. At any rate, they lived, 

 moved and had their being at a time and under conditions 

 far different than those of today. Their bodies In count- 

 less numbers, together with the fishes of the ancient seas, 

 were covered by earth movements, by waves, mud and sand 

 and their struggles In life preserved to oil the wheels of 

 industry when Cultural Evolution found a way to reach and 

 use the oils and gases which they had accumulated by their 

 labors when the earth was young. Little does the average 

 person think as he drives into a filling station and asks that 

 the crank case of his motor be filled with oil and his tank 

 with gasoline, that he Is using the substance of power 

 gathered and preserved by these fishes and reptile millions 

 of years ago. Everything In Nature has a purpose and noth- 

 ing is wasted. The sunshine and moisture brought forth the 

 palms and ferns and sea weeds that furnished food for the 

 insects, fishes, amphibians and reptiles and they In turn 

 changed these foods into the oils and gases of their bodies, 

 the power of which transport us In our automobiles and in 

 aeroplanes from place to place. We have seen that the first 



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