— 185 — 



was then known as the " Grand Animal de Maestricht." 

 Louis Figuier in his admirable book " La Terre avant 

 le Deluge/' gives a graphic account of the first dis" 

 covery of the bones of this wonderful Saurian, and of 

 its magnificent Fossil-head which of itself measured 

 two metres in length. Although no farther infor- 

 mation is given us than the one gathered from a 

 number of the Times (Weekly Edition May 29) 

 •' that a monster Fossil Mosasaurus has been found 

 in quarry at Mons " in the month of May last, 

 there is no doubt but that it is the very same Fossi^ 

 we are now describing, and originally known as the 

 Great Animal of Maestricht, The Crocodile of Maes- 

 tricht, and by the immortal Cuvier The Animal of 

 Maestricht, and finally the Mosasaurus (the Saurian or 

 Lizard of the Mouse.) From the description of the 



Fossil by Camper (1789) and by the great Cuvier, 

 this Reptile formed an intermediate link between the 



long fork-tongued Saurians which comprise the Moni- 

 tor and the common Lizard, and the short-tongued 

 Saurians with armed palate, in which tribe are the 

 Iguanodon and the Anolis : it resembled the Crocodile 

 only in the general features which are borne by the 

 whole family of the Saurians. The whole length of 

 the Mosasaurus first found was eight metres ; its jaws 

 alone measured one metre — its skeleton resembled 

 that of the Monitor, but in its osteological charac* 

 teristics it is a Sea Animal. Figuier's description of 

 the anatomic mechanism of the skeleton is as follows : 



