SEA-SCORFIONS. 27 



of this creature. Its hard coat of jointed armour bore on its surface 

 curious wavy markings that suggested to their minds the sculptured 

 feathers on the wings of cherubs — of all subjects of the chisel 

 the most common. Hence they christened these remains 

 " Seraphim." They did not succeed in getting complete specimens 

 that could be pieced together; and the part to which this fanciful 

 name was given turned out to be part of the under side below the 

 mouth. It was composed of several large plates, two of which 

 are not unlike the wings of a cherub in shape. Hugh Miller says 

 in his classic work, The Old Red Sandstone — "the form altogether, 

 from its wing-like appearance, its feathery markings, and its 

 angular points, will suggest to the reader the origin of the name 

 given it by Forfarshire workmen." 



A correct restoration, in proportion to the fragments found in 

 the Lower Old Red Sandstone, would give a creature measuring 

 nearly six feet in length, and more than a foot across. Pterygotus 

 anglicus may therefore be justly considered a monster crustacean. 



The illustrious Cuvier, who, in the eighteenth century founded 

 the science of comparative anatomy (see p. 5), astonished the 

 scientific world by his bold interpretations of fossil bones. From 

 a few broken fragments of bone he could restore the skeleton of 

 an entire animal, and determine its habits and mode of living. 

 When other wise men were unable to read the writing of Nature 

 on the walls of her museum — in the shape of fossil bones- — he 

 came forward, like a second Daniel, to interpret the signs, and so 

 instructed us how to restore the world's lost creations. Hugh 

 Miller submitted the fragments found at Balruddery to the 

 celebrated naturalist Agassiz, a pupil of Cuvier, who had written 

 a famous work on fossil fishes ; and he says that he was much 

 struck with the skill displayed by him in piecing together the 

 fragments of the huge Pterygotus. "Agassiz glanced over the 

 collection. One specimen especially caught his attention — an 

 elegantly symmetrical one. His eye brightened as he contem- 

 plated it. ' I will tell you,' he said, turning to the company—' I 



