120 ANIMALS OF THE PAST 



buried in the sandy shoals of an ancient river, 

 is brought to hght once more to help tell the 

 tale of the creatures of the past. 



One bone might convey a great deal of in- 

 formation ; on the other hand it might reveal 

 very Uttle; for, while it is very painful to say 

 so, the popular impression that it is possible to 

 reconstruct an animal from a single bone, or 

 tell its size and habits from a tooth is but 

 partially correct, and sometimes " the eminent 

 scientist " has come to grief even with a great 

 many bones at his disposal. Did not one of 

 the ablest anatomists describe and figure the 

 hip-bones of a Dinosaur as its shoulder-blade, 

 and another, equally able, reconstruct a reptile 

 " hind side before," placing the head on the 

 tail ! This certainly sounds absurd enough ; 

 but just as absurd mistakes are made by men 

 in other walks of life, often with far more de- 

 plorable results. 



Before passing to the restoration of the ex- 

 terior of animals it may be well to say some- 

 thing of the manner in which the skeleton of 

 an extinct animal may be reconstructed and 

 the meaning of its various parts interpreted. 



