REPTILIA, O 



ever, was produced to an enormous length, and car- 

 ried the membranous wing : the body and tail re- 

 sembled those of an ordinary Mammal. Cuvier, 

 however, satisfactorily proved that it was of the 

 Lizard race : he considers that it flitted to and fro by 

 means of its skin-wings ; that it crawled about, or 

 suspended itself, by the aid of the free fingers ; that 

 it stood up on the hind-feet only, like a Bird ; and 

 that in its enormous gape it caught insects, and other 

 small animals, for which its pointed teeth were 

 adapted. Numbers of large beetles and dragon-flies 

 then existed, and fishes also ; on which, perhaps, it 

 preyed as it flew over the surface of the water, seiz- 

 ing them with its long beak. From the great size of 

 its eyes, it was, probably, a nocturnal animal. Buck- 

 land supposes that it had the power of swimming, 

 so common among the Reptiles, and possessed by 

 the Vampyre-bat. " Like Milton's fiend, qualified 

 for all services and all elements, the creature was a 

 fit companion for the kindred Reptiles that swarmed 

 in the seas, or crawled on the shores of a turbulent 

 planet. 



The fiend 



O'er bog, or steep, through strait, rough, dense, or rare, 

 With head, hands, wings, or feet, pursues his way ; 

 And swims, or sinks, or wades, or creeps, or flies.' 



With flocks of such-like creatures flying in the air, 

 and shoals of no less monstrous Ichthyosauri and 

 Plesiosauri swarming in the ocean, and gigantic Cro- 

 codiles and Tortoises crawling on the shores of the 

 primeval lakes and rivers ; air, sea, and land, must 



