THE SERPENTLIKE SEA SAURIAN S. 213 



Maestriclit, who for some years had been collecting fossils at this 

 quarry, remunerating liberally the workmen for the discovery and 

 preservation of them. Dr. Hofmann arrived at the spot and saw, 

 with extreme pleasure, the indications of a magnificent specimen. 

 He directed the operations of the men so that they worked out the 

 block without injury to the skeleton, and he then with his own hands 

 cleared away, by degrees, the yielding matrix, exposing the extraor- 

 dinary jaws and teeth, which have been the subject of so many 

 drawings, descriptions, and discussions. This fine specimen, which 

 Hofmann had transported with so much satisfaction to his collection, 

 soon, however, became a source of chagrin to him. Dr. Goddin, one 

 of the canons of Maestricht, who owned the surface of the soil be- 

 neath which was the quarry whence the fossil had been obtained, 

 when the fame of the specimen reached his ears, pleaded certain 

 feudal rights in support of his claim to it. Hofmann resisted, and 

 the canon went to law. The whole chapter supported their reverend 

 brother, and the decree ultimately went against the poor surgeon, 

 who lost both his specimen and his money, for he was made to pay 

 the costs of the action. The Canon Goddin, leaving all remorse to 

 the judges who had pronounced the iniquitous sentence, became the 

 happy and contented possessor of this unique example of its kind. 

 But justice, though tardy, comes at last. When the town was bom- 

 barded by the French, directions were given to spare the suburb 

 where the famous fossil reposed. After the capitulation, the grena- 

 diers discovered, seized, and bore off the specimen in triumph to the 

 commissarial residence. The excellent soldiers always knew how to 

 appreciate and respect the monuments of art and science. The 

 mosasaur was transplanted and still remains in the Museum of the 

 Garden of Plants, Paris, and is the subject of more literature than 

 any extinct animal. 



Remains of the mosasaurs were first discovered in England in 

 1833, at Lewes. In America, mosasaurs were first found in the cre- 

 taceous beds at Great Bend, Missouri, about the year 1820, by Major 

 O'Fallon, Indian agent. He found a fine specimen, and took it to 

 his home in St.Louis. Dr. Goldfuss first described it in 1843, with 

 accompanying plates, the skeleton having been taken to Germany by 

 Prince Maximilian. He defined the parietal and jugal arches, ptery- 

 goids and vomers, the position of the quadrate, and the presence of 

 the sclerotic plates. Since that time our knowledge of the mosasaurs 

 has been largely increased by the explorations and efforts of Cope, 

 Marsh, Dollo, Owen, Leidy, Williston, Baur, Merriam, Gaudry, 

 Gervais, and others. Cope, perhaps, defined the largest number of 

 species. Marsh defined the stapes, columella, transverse and hyoid, 

 and the presence of hind limbs. Dollo has materially increased the 



