THE GREAT FISH-LIZARDS. 41 



find. In this way he finally obtained the co-operation of all the 

 quarrymen in the county. 



Mr. Hawkins thus expresses his delight on obtaining an 

 Ichthyosaurus which was pointed out to him by Miss Anning, 

 near the church at Lyme-Regis, in the year 1832 : " Who can 

 describe my transport at the sight of the colossus ? My eyes the 

 first which beheld it ! Who shall ever see them lit up with the 

 same unmitigated enthusiasm again ? And I verily believe that 

 the uncultivated bosoms of the working men were seized with the 

 same contagious feeling ; for they and the surrounding spectators 

 waved their hats to an ' Hurra ! ' that made hill and mossy dell 

 echoing ring." 



This specimen, however, got sadly broken in its fall from the 

 cliff; but in time he put all the pieces together again. Speaking 

 of his own collection, he says, " This stupendous treasure was 

 gathered by me from every part of England ; arranged, and its 

 multifarious features elaborated from the hard limestone by my 

 own hands. A tyro in collecting at the age of twelve years, I 

 then boasted of all the antiquities that were come-at-able in my 

 neighbourhood, but, finding that everybody beat my cabinet of 

 coins, I addressed myself to worm-eaten books, and last to 

 fossils." Before he was twenty years of age he had obtained a 

 very fine collection of organic remains. 



When, however, he complains of the Philistine dulness and 

 stupidity of quarrymen, who often, in their ignorance, break up 

 finds of almost priceless value, we can fully sympathize. 



In general contour the body of the fish-lizard was long and 

 tapering, like that of a whale (see Plate II.). It probably showed 

 no distinct neck. The long tail was its chief organ of propulsion. 

 We notice two pairs of fins, or paddles ; one on the fore part of 

 the body, the other on the hinder part, like the pectoral and 

 abdominal fins of a fish. The skin was scaleless and smooth, or 

 slightly wrinkled, like that of a whale. No traces of scales have 

 ever been found ; and if such had existed, they would certainly 



