204 THE STORY OF REPTILE LIFE. 



isolated, were embedded in cartilage. Further- 

 more, the fingers appear to have been reduced 

 in length, and the nodules of bone along the 

 hinder border of the paddle, designed to increase 

 its width, were almost completely suppressed. 



The skin of these strange creatures appears to 

 have been quite smooth, like that of the modern 

 whale. 



The eyes of the Ichthyosaurs were, like those 

 of birds, of enormous size, and further resembled 

 birds' eyes in that they were surrounded by a 

 ring of overlapping bony plates. 



But besides these normal, lateral eyes, the 

 Ichthyosaurs, like most of the ancient reptiles, 

 were provided with a third placed in the middle 

 of the roof of the skull. Traces of this, it will 

 be remembered, are still preserved in many 

 living reptiles; especially is this true of the 

 Hatteria (Sphenodon). What necessitated the 

 development of this third eye we do not 

 know. 



Like the Plesiosaurs, these old Fish-lizards 

 were viviparous, skeletons having been found 

 with remains of the young preserved within the 

 body cavity. Attaining a length of between 30 

 and 40 feet, the largest of these marine monsters 

 may well be entitled to rank among the dragons 

 of the deep. That they lived in the sea is shown 

 by the fact that their remains occur only in 

 marine deposits ; but there is nothing improbable 

 in the supposition that they occasionally ventured 

 ashore, perchance to bask on the beach. Walk- 

 ing would of course have been impossible; at 

 most they could but shuffle. What their origin 



