RULERS OF THE ANCIENT SEAS 61 



tological life. This, however, really matters 

 very little, because scientific names are simply 

 verbal handles by which we may grasp animals 

 to describe them, and Dr. Le Conte, to show 

 how little there may be in a name, called a 

 beetle Gyascutus. Owen's name of Zeuglodon, 

 although not tenable as a scientific name, is 

 too good to be wasted, and being readily re- 

 membered and easily pronounced may be used 

 as a popular name. 



One might think that a creature sixty or 

 seventy feet long was amply long enough, but 

 Dr. Albert Koch thought otherwise, and did 

 with Zeuglodon as, later on, he did with the 

 Mastodon, combining the vertebrae of several 

 individuals until he had a monster 114 feet 

 long ! This he exhibited in Europe under the 

 name of Hydrarchus, or water king, finally 

 disposing of the composite creature to the 

 Museum of Dresden, where it was promptly 

 reduced to its proper dimensions. The nat- 

 ural make-up of Zeuglodon is sufficiently com- 

 posite without any aid from man, for the head 

 and paddles are not unlike those of a seal, the 

 ribs are like those of a manatee, and the shoul- 



