snakes, and others were very like crocodiles. The 

 larger ones had bony plates on the head, chest, and 

 abdomen ; and some of the smaller ones had armour 

 over the whole body. In many the hind feet were 

 larger than the fore feet, and all had five toes. Pro- 

 bably they lived either on the sea-shore or in rivers. 

 In the Permian period we find reptiles belonging 

 to two different orders the Anomodontia and the 

 Rhynchocephalia. The former are thought to be the 

 parent stock of all other reptiles, as well as of 

 mammals and birds ; for while the lower forms 

 (Pariasaurus) are closely connected with the Laby- 

 rinthodonts, others (Theriodontia) resemble mam- 

 mals. They are quite extinct, and it will be more 

 convenient to postpone any further remarks about 

 them for the present. The Rhynchocephalia shew a 

 very generalised type of reptile, connecting the 

 lizards with crocodiles, turtles, and Sauropterygians. 

 In the Permian they w r ere rare, but became common 

 in the Triassic period, and are represented at the 

 present day by the Tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) 

 of New Zealand. According to Professor H. G. 

 Seeley they appear to be connected with the Anomo- 

 donts through Proterosaurus , of the middle Permian 

 of Thuringia; and, according to Mr. E. Lydekker, 

 the Anomodont Procolophon, from the Triassic of 

 South Africa, shews marked signs of affinity with 

 the Rhynchocephalia. 



Mesozoic Life. In the Mesozoic era the chief 

 thing we should notice in the ocean is the great 

 abundance of the Ammonites. Beginning in the 

 Deutozoic, they had acquired considerable impor- 



