OF CREATION. 201 



riod, no reptile has more than two bones cemented 

 together for this purpose ; and this is found sufficient, 

 because much of the weight is supported directly upon 

 the ground either by the body or tail of the animal. 

 On the other hand, all the heavy land quadrupeds 

 exhibit great strength and solidity in this part. It is 

 interesting to find the long and powerful extremities of 

 this monstrous reptile of the Oolites thus combined 

 with a structure altogether different from that of other 

 reptiles, but manifestly related to its habits. The ver- 

 tebrae of the Megalosaurus thus united are not in a 

 straight line, but describe a gentle curve with the con- 

 cavity downwards. 



The bones of the extremities are long, large, and 

 hollow, resembling in this the corresponding bones 

 of land quadrupeds. They exhibit, however, a mix- 

 ture of the characters observed in the crocodile and 

 in some lizards. They are so large, compared with 

 the bones of animals most nearly allied, that, if the 

 same proportions had held throughout, the Megalo- 

 saurus might be compared with a crocodile of sixty 

 or seventy feet long, did such a monster exist ; but 

 the whole structure of the animal indicates consider- 

 ably greater bulk and height in proportion to length 

 than is seen in other reptiles. The real length was 

 probably about thirty feet, the trunk being broad and 

 deep, the tail comparatively short, and the limbs un- 

 usually long. We have no means of deciding in what 

 manner the tail was carried. 



The gigantic land reptile of the oolites was accom- 

 panied by another, and still more oddly constituted 

 animal, connecting the reptiles with birds in a manner 

 not less remarkable than that by which the megalo- 



K 5 



