40 EXTINCT MONSTERS. 



truly splendid collection of these most interesting relics of the 

 past. Nearly sixty years ago he arranged for the purchase of his 

 treasures by the authorities of the British Museum, and thus 

 his collection became the property of the nation. 



His specimens were figured and described by him in two large 

 folio volumes. The first was published in 1834, under the title, 

 Memoirs of the Ichthyosauri and Plesiosauri ; his second, 

 with the same plates, in 1842, under the quaint title of The 

 Book of the Great Sea-Dragons. The large lithographic draw- 

 ings of his fine specimens were beautifully executed by Scharf and 

 O'Neil. The plates are the only really valuable part of these two 

 curious and ill-written books. His descriptions are not of much 

 value, and his pages are encumbered with a vast amount of 

 extraneous matter. The author is immensely proud of his 

 collection, and his vanity is conspicuous throughout. Instead of 

 confining himself to descriptions of what he found, and how he 

 found them, he continually wanders into all sorts of subjects that 

 are, to say the least, irrelevant. In one place he introduces 

 ancient history and mythology ; in another. Old Testament 

 chronology ; in another, the unbelieving spirit of the age ; and 

 here and there indulges in vague unphilosophical speculations. 

 Altogether his two volumes are a curious mixture of bigotry, 

 conceit, and unrestrained fancy, and they afforded to the present 

 writer no small amusement. One rises from the perusal of such 

 men's writings with a strong sense of the contrast between the 

 humble and patient spirit in which our great men of to-day, such 

 as Professor Owen, study nature and record their observations, and 

 the vague, conceited outpourings of some old-fashioned writers. 



Mr. Hawkins tells us that his youthful attention was directed 

 to the Lias quarries, near Edgarly, in Somersetshire, in conse- 

 quence of some strange reports. It was said that the bones of 

 giants and infants had, at distant intervals, been found in them. 

 These quarries he visited, and, by offers of generous payment, 

 induced the workmen to keep for him all the remains they might 



