i 4 REPTILES 



meroblastic type, that is to say, only a part of its contents 

 segments and enters directly into the formation of the embryo, 

 the remainder serving as nutriment to the latter in later stages 

 of its development. In both these respects reptiles differ from 

 amphibians and resemble birds ; and it can scarcely fail to be 

 noticed that throughout the organisation of the existing 

 members of the class under consideration there is not a single 

 feature which militates against their having been derived from 

 amphibians, or it may be added, against their having given rise 

 to birds on the one hand and to mammals on the other. 



