EXTINCT ANIMALS 



the roads. The pocket seems to be in a fissure 

 and of Triassic age, later, that is to say, than 

 the Permian rocks on each side of it. However 

 that may be, the great nodules are removed 

 from it for road mending, and four or five years 

 ago Professor Amahtzky on visiting the spot 

 was astounded and delighted to find that wlien 

 broken each nodule was seen to contain the 

 skeleton or skull of a great reptile. Fig. 154 



Fig. 154. — One of the nodules showing the form of the em- 

 bedded skeleton, head to the right, tail to the left. 



shows such a nodule, some eight feet long, and 

 in this specimen one can easily distinguish the 

 skull, the four limbs and the backbone of a 

 large animal. The Russian geologist determined 

 to make a most thorough investigation of this 

 wonderful deposit, and for some years now has 

 spent a thousand pounds a year, obtained for 



214 



