EXTINCT WHALES AND WOMBATS 297 



at their command, or the bad state of preservation in which the 

 specimens are often found. The old saying, "Humanum est 

 en-are," is particularly true of palaeontological workers. But, at 

 least, it can be said of them that they are honest, and never 

 attempt to delude the public. There have, however, occasionally 

 arisen enterprising persons, more desirous of making money than 

 of furthering scientific truth, who have, for a time, succeeded in 

 the grossest deceptions. Matzuyer, about 1613, exhibited some 

 Mastodon bones as those of a human giant (Teutoboccus rex) and 

 made a great stir in France ; and now we have to record another 

 case in connection with Zeuglodon. 



In the year 1845, Dr. Albert Koch exhibited a large skeleton 

 of a fossil animal, under the name Hydrarchos Sillimani, the 

 former of which would mean " King of the Sea," while the latter 

 seemed to indicate the approval of Professor Silliman. (The name 

 is tempting to a punster.) These remains consisted of a head and 

 vertebral column, measuring in all one hundred and fourteen feet, 

 a few ribs and parts of some supposed paddles. Dr. Koch made the 

 public believe that all the bones had been found together in such a 

 way as to prove that they belonged to a single individual, and that 

 the numerous vertebrae formed a connected series. This, however, 

 was a mere fabrication, as was shown by Professor Wyman, who 

 says "these remains never belonged to one and the same 

 individual," and that the anatomical characters of the teeth 

 prove them to be, not those of a reptile, but of a warm-blooded 

 mammal. He came to the conclusion that the greater part of 

 the bones belonged to the genus Basilosaurus (King-saurian) 

 of Harlan, a name which the American geologists still retain 

 for Zeuglodon. This skeleton represented at least two separate 

 individuals. 



The following letter on the subject, from the well-known 



