A FASCINATING SKULL 



extinct animals will lead a boy or girl on to learn- 

 ing about the bones and teeth of Hving animals in 

 order to make a comparison, and thus to learn- 

 ing more concerning the strange remains dug 

 up. I believe that is usually the case. It 

 certainly was the case with myself. When I 

 was very young, younger than, or as young as 

 any of my readers, I used to be taken by a very 

 kind lady, my governess, to the Natural History 

 Museum of the day, which was then in a remote 

 part of London called Bloomsbury, whence it has 

 been removed to Cromwell Road, Kensington. 

 I was absolutely fascinated as a child with the 

 remains I saw of strange extinct animals. And 

 it is my hope that the boys and girls who read 

 these pages may share some of this interest and 

 fascination, and that they will pass from these 

 lectures to see the actual specimens which are 

 placed on view at the Natural History Museum. 

 These lectures are indeed Uttle more than a 

 sort of invitation to you all to go and see the 

 real things at Cromwell Road, of which I can 

 only show you photographs in this book. I will 

 now show you a portrait of a creature which 

 has always fascinated me with its stony 

 stare. It is the head of an Ichthyosaurus dug 



5 



