OF CREATION. 373 



(equalling, if not surpassing, that of the femur) ; the 

 prolongation of the heel served as a fulcrum, and the 

 powerful claw of the middle toe held fast to the 

 ground, at the moment when the forces of the fore- 

 limbs were exerted. There was also a strong and 

 powerful tail, its proportions being exactly such as 

 to complete with the two hind legs a tripod strong 

 enough to afford a firm foundation for the massive 

 pelvis, and sufficient resistance to the forces acting 

 from that great bony centre. The proportions of 

 these parts, colossal as they are, lose their anomalous 

 character when we view them as the fixed point to- 

 wards which the fore part of the body was to be 

 drawn when the animal was in the act of uprending 

 a tree to serve as its subsistence; and the value of 

 all these contrivances is seen, when we understand 

 the habits of these singular animals. 



The nature of the food required by them has been 

 already mentioned ; and since it is utterly incredible, 

 that creatures so vast in their proportions should have 

 been either climbers of trees or burrowers in the 

 earth, while their teeth and jaws were expressly 

 adapted for the comminution of foliage, and their 

 height and general form prevented them from reach- 

 ing up to obtain such food, it only remains for us to 

 conclude that they were enabled by their great 

 strength to uproot the trees themselves, and bring the 

 foliage on which they fed within the reach of their 

 mouths or short trunks. Having thus obtained the 

 means of supporting life, and being provided with a 

 tongue of remarkably large size and strength, not 

 less adapted than that of the giraffe (and apparently 

 even larger and stronger in proportion), the creature 



