Tlie Reign of Reptlli 



es 



And so far this is the very largest individual 

 known, and the " monstrous reptiles one hun- 

 dred feet in length " literally have not a leg to 

 stand on. 



How long was the life of a dinosaur ? what 

 would be considered a green old age for Diplo- 

 docus and Brontosaurus ? did the length of 

 their years correspond to the length of their 

 body ? Modern reptiles continue to grow prac- 

 tically as long as they live, and some have been 

 known to attain an age that makes the three- 

 score years and ten of man seem short in com- 

 parison. The Hon. Walter Kothschild has a 

 tortoise brought fi^om Mauritius that is known 

 to have lived in that island for one hundred 

 and sixty years. It had lived through two 

 conquests and saw Mauritius pass from the 

 Dutch to the French, and from them to the 

 English, and each time it was sj^ecially men- 

 tioned in the treaty of surrender. And when 

 this reptile was brought from Aldabra it was 

 already noted for its size, and we may only 

 guess at the years it numbered then. And if a 

 tortoise may attain an age of several hundred 



159 



