DRAGONS OF OLD TIME 127 



opposed this name; for it was misleading, and only applied to 

 a few of them. He therefore proposed the name we have already 

 been using, viz. Dinosauria, 1 and this name has been generally 

 retained. We are thus led to connect them with lizards and 

 crocodiles, rather than with birds or quadrupeds. The strange 

 and curiously mixed characters of the old-fashioned reptiles is 

 forcibly illustrated by these differences of opinion among leading 

 naturalists. The late Professor Seeley, another authority, refused 

 to consider them as reptiles, at least in the ordinary sense of the 

 word. 



Extinct forms of life are often so very different to the creatures 

 inhabiting the world of to-day, that naturalists find it a hard 

 task to assign them their places in the animal kingdom. The 

 classes, orders, and families under which living forms are grouped 

 are often found inadequate for the purpose, so much so that 

 new orders and new families require to be made for them; and 

 then it is often quite impossible to determine the relations 

 of these new groups to the old ones we are accustomed to. 

 Dinosaurs offer a good example of this difficulty. Were they 

 related to ancient crocodiles ? No one can say for certain ; 

 but it is quite possible, and even probable. Again, did certain 

 long-legged Dinosaurs eventually give rise by evolution to the 

 running birds, ostriches, emeus, etc. ? This, although supported 

 by weighty authority, is a matter of speculation : we ought to be 

 very careful in accepting such conclusions. The following 

 reflections will serve to show that the fact may be explained in 

 another theory. Some Dinosaurs walked, in a more or less erect 

 position, on their hind limbs. Similar habits, if continued for 

 age after age, must tend to produce somewhat similar appearances, 

 at least externally. Take, for example, the case of whales and 



1 Greek deinos, terrible ; sauros, lizard. 



