CHAPTER III. 



THE GREAT FISH-LIZARDS. 



" Berossus, the Chaldsean saith : A time was when the universe was dark- 

 ness and water, wherein certain animals of frightful and compound forms w<:re 

 generated. There were serpents and other creatures with the mixed shapes of 

 one another, of which pictures are kept in the temple of Belus at Babylon. " 

 The Archaic Genesis. 



VISITORS to Sydenham, who have wandered about the spacious 

 gardens so skilfully laid out by the late Sir Joseph Paxton, will 

 be familiar with the great models of extinct animals on the 

 "geological island." These were designed and executed by that 

 clever artist, Mr. Waterhouse Hawkins, who made praiseworthy 

 efforts to picture to our eyes some of the world's lost creations, as 

 restored by the genius of Sir Richard Owen and other famous 

 naturalists. His drawings of extinct animals may yet be seen 

 hanging on the walls of some of our provincial museums ; and 

 doubtless others still linger among the natural history collections 

 of schools and colleges. 



Lazily basking in the sun, when it condescends to shine, and 

 resting his clumsy carcase on the ground that forms the shore 

 near the said geological island at Sydenham, may be seen the old 

 fish-lizard, or Ichthyosaurus, that forms the subject of the present 

 chapter. He looks awkward on land, as if longing to get into his 

 native element once more, and cleave its waters with his power- 

 ful tail-fin. His "flippers" seem too weak to enable him to crawl 

 on land. Moreover, the most recent discoveries of Dr. Fraas 



