18 



NATURAL HISTORY OF THE PRIMEVAL WORLD. 



ness of the assault they enabled it to deliver against 

 every animal fitted for its prey which was swept within 

 the range of the destroyer. 



Thus, then, though Cuvier might characterize it as 

 one of the most anomalous and monstrous productions 

 of the ancient systems of creation, a close investigation 

 reveals the fact that these apparent anomalies consist 

 only in the diversified arrangement and varied proportion 

 of parts, which, fundamentally, are the same as those 

 occurring in the most harmoniously-formed creatures 

 of the present world. There are no anomalies in the 

 economy of Nature. The bee is not more ingeniously 

 fitted for its peculiar functions in sipping the honied 

 sweets of nectared flowers, and storing them up in its 

 beautifully devised cells, than was the mighty Plesio- 

 saurus, with its lizard's head, its serpentine neck, its 

 chameleon ribs, and cetacean paddles, for the part it 

 played in the shallow waters of the Liassic seas. 



Pursuing the analogies of construction, says Dr. 

 Bnckland,* that connect the existing inhabitants of the 

 earth with those extinct genera and species which pre- 

 ceded the creation of our race, we find an unbroken 

 chain of affinities pervading the entire series of organized 

 beings, and connecting all past and present forms of 

 animal existence by close and harmonious ties. Even 

 our own bodies, and some of their most important 

 organs, are brought into close and direct comparison 

 with those of reptiles, which, at first sight, appear the 

 most terrific birth of primeval creation ; and in the 

 very hand and fingers with which the palaeontologist 

 records their history, we recognize the type of the pad- 

 dles of the Ichthyosaurus and Plesiosaurus. 



If we extend a similar comparison through the four 

 great classes of vertebrated animals, we discover in each 

 species a marvellously varied adaptation of analogous 

 parts to the different circumstances and conditions under 

 which it was destined to live, move, and have its being. 



Ascending from the lower orders, we trace a gradual 

 advancement in structure and office, until we arrive at 

 those whose functions are the loftiest and most com- 

 prehensive. Thus, the fin of the fish developes into the 

 paddle of the reptiles Plesiosaurus and Ichthyosaurus. 

 The same organ is converted into the wing of the 

 Pterodactyle, the bird, and the bat. It becomes the 

 fore foot, or paw, of terrestrial quadrupeds, and attains 

 its highest consummation in the arm and plastic hand 

 of rational and inventive Man. 



Another reptile of remarkable dimensions belong- 

 ing to the Oolitic period was the Ichthyosaurus. f 

 As -in the modern Cetacea, its structure underwent 

 such modifications as would adapt it for an aquatic 

 life. If it possessed a lizard-like tail, it possessed 

 also the body of a fish, and limbs developed into 

 paddles. If its snout resembled that of a porpoise, 

 its teeth were those of a crocodile ; and while it had 

 the vertebrae of a fish, it had the head of a lizard and 

 the sternum of an orniihorhynchus. At first sight 



* Notwithstanding the researches of modern geologists and 

 palaeontologists, Dr. Duckland's admirable work remains a 

 standard authority, and should be perused by every student who 

 would trace in the past history of creation the ever-recurring 

 evidence of divine wisdom, power, and goodness. 



f From , x tvt, a fish, uud raZoes, a lizard; i.e., "fish-lizard," 

 or '"fish-reptile." 



such a combination seems deserving of the appellation 

 "monstrous;" but our previous studies have prepared 

 us to recognize that this combination was admirably 

 designed for certain peculiar conditions. 



In its general outline the Ichthyosaurus must have 

 borne a rough resemblance to the modern porpoise and 

 grampus. It had four broad feet, or paddles, and 

 terminated behind in a long powerful tail, which Pro- 

 fessor Owen believes was placed vertically, because 

 the vertebrae are compressed vertically, and also because 

 it is frequently found disarticulated a short distance 

 from its extremity, as if the weight of the upright tail 

 had induced its fall on the commencement of the 

 animal's decomposition. More than thirty species 

 have been discovered, some of which must have 

 exceeded thirty feet in length. Their principal points 

 of difference are in the form of the head ; some pos- 

 sessing short broad skulls, like the common crocodile, 

 others, a long slender snout, like the gavial of the 

 Ganges. 



In the head of the Ichthyosaurus the most remark- 

 able feature was the eye. which in magnitude exceeded 

 that of any living animal, and in some specimens has 

 been found to measure fourteen inches in diameter. From 

 the quantity of light admitted by this prodigious lens, 

 the Ichthyosaurus must have been gifted with extra- 

 ordinary powers of vision. It was equally well adapted 

 for use in air or water, and for quickly changing the 

 focal distance when in pursuit of prey. On the front 

 of the orbital cavity in which it was placed, a circular 

 series of thirteen or more petrified thin bony plates 

 were disposed around a central aperture in which was 

 lodged the pupil ; the form and thickness of each plate 

 closely resembling the scales of an artichoke. This 

 circle had a telescopic effect, and enabled the Ichthyo- 

 saurus to discover its prey at great or little distances. 

 It does not occur in fishes, but is found in many birds, 

 and the bony sclerotic of the great fish-lizard very 

 nearly approached in form the bony circle in the eye 

 of the golden eagle. 



The important advantage resulting from this curious 

 optical apparatus was, that it strengthened the surface 

 of the enormous eye-ball, so that it might resist the 

 pressure of the deep water to which it roust frequently 

 have been exposed. Further, it protected the all- 

 important organ from injury by the ocean waves; to 

 which injury an eye, sometimes larger than a man's 

 head, must often have been subject, when the nose was 

 brought to the surface for the necessary purpose of 

 respiring air. The position of the nostrils, close to the 

 anterior angle of the eye, rendered it impossible for the 

 Icltthyosaurus to breathe without raising its eye to the 

 surface of the water. 



Its jaws were composed of many thin plates, so dis- 

 to combine strength with lightness and elas- 

 ticity, in a greater degree than would have been effected 

 by single bones, like those in the jaws of a mammal. 

 An under jaw so slender and so elongated as that of 

 the Ichthyosaurus, employed in seizing and retaining 

 the large and powerful animals which formed its prey, 

 would have been comparatively weak, and liable to 

 frequent mishaps, if composed of a single bone. Each 

 side of the lower jaw, therefore, was made up of six 



