232 THE WILD-FLOWERS OF SELBORNE 



From this time until her death, thirty-five years 

 later, she was constantly making fresh discoveries, 

 and bringing to light unknown species of extinct fishes 

 and reptiles, which have made the cliffs of Lyme Regis 

 famous in the scientific world. She is said to have 

 possessed a sort of intuitive knowledge as to where 

 the fossils lay embedded in the cliffs; and certain it 

 is that she made the most marvellous discoveries. 

 Several species of Ichthyosauri and Plesiosauri she 

 unearthed from the Lias beds, and the remains of a 

 flying lizard, now known as the Pterodactyl. These 

 " finds " were examined by such eminent scientists as 

 Professor Buckland and Conybeare and Cuvier, who 

 were able, from the fragments of bone submitted to 

 them, to form an ideal restoration of the osteology 

 of these mighty reptiles. One skeleton, which Mary 

 Anning found entire, measured more than twenty-four 

 feet in length. This monster is described by Cuvier 

 as having the snout of a dolphin, the teeth of a croco- 

 dile, the head of a lizard, the extremities of a cetacean, 

 and the vertebrae of a fish. The Plesiosaurus differs 

 from the Ichthyosaurus in having a long neck, like the 

 body of a serpent. More curious still is the Ptero- 

 dactyl, or flying lizard. The specimen described by 

 Professor Buckland was about the size of a raven ; 

 in shape somewhat like a bat, with the bill of a wood- 

 cock, and the teeth of a crocodile, and covered with 

 scaly armour, like the dragons of romance. It is 

 needless to say that the unpretending little shop in 

 Broad Street, with the notice, " Anning's Fossil Depot," 

 written on a small white board over the doorway, was 

 well known to many of the most distinguished men of 

 science of the day. 



The Undercliff towards Pinny and beyond it, " with 



