THE STORY OF EEPTILE LIFE. 



INTEODUCTIOK 



THE story of Eeptile Life is largely the story of 

 a people, if we may so use the word, whose glory 

 has departed. Just as in the study of the human 

 race we are able to follow the histories of nations, 

 their rise, glorious zenith, and decadence; so 

 with the Keptile folk we may trace a similar 

 course of evolution. The survivors of to-day 

 are but a remnant ; a feeble tribe, spurned and 

 despised. Time was when they were the domi- 

 nant forms of life upon the earth, so that we 

 speak of the " Age of Eeptiles " : for millions of 

 years from the Permian to the end of the 

 Jurassic era they held sway, but were at last 

 outnumbered and overpowered by the present 

 reigning type of animal life the mammalia. 

 But their defeat is without ignominy, since, as 

 we shall show later, their conquerors are at the 

 same time their descendants. Similarly, the 

 Eeptiles are the descendants of the race which 

 they in turn displaced. 



Lowly in origin, and restricted in influence, 

 these creatures nevertheless rapidly came to the 

 fore ; they spread themselves over the face of 

 the earth, and took possession of the waters 



