THE REIGN OF REPTILES. 



193 



Thus, on both continents, gigantic reptiles long time 

 swayed the sceptre over the entire animal creation. But 

 their empire was approaching its end. One of those throes 

 of Nature, through which new annexations of land to the 

 continent were ef 

 fected, ushered in 

 the closing stage 

 of Mesozoic Time. 

 The conditions of 

 life were changed; 

 all the peculiar 

 types whose histo 

 ry we have traced 

 dropped out of ex 

 istence, and mam 

 mals assumed the 

 reins of empire. 

 Turtles received 

 accessions of num 

 bers, and serpents 

 now first uncoiled 

 their sinuo us 

 lengths, while ba- 

 trachians made the 

 bayous and marsh 

 es resonant with 

 the varied piping 

 of a myriad voices. 



Among the latter a salamafnder, known asAndrias Scheuch- 

 zeri, has attracted most attention, in consequence of hav 

 ing for a long time been regarded as the skeleton of a man, 

 who thus, by the fossilization of his remains, was supposed 

 to attest the reality of the Deluge of Noah. 



Such is a hasty glance at the Age of Reptiles. Success- 



