Reviews — Creatures of Other Days. 429 



the model by Mr. B. W. Hawkins/ alluded to at pages 57 and 144. 

 Prof. Owen's outline of the creature was grossly exaggerated into 

 an awkward sprawling attitude in some manuals of geology about 

 1865. We have still to be thankful for Owen's suggestive sketch 

 of such an animal as could have left the Cheirotherian foot-prints ; 

 especially since nothing in Chapters iii. and iv. explains their 

 incongruous appearance. The Actinodon, however, in Plate III. 

 makes some approach to the conditions required. A special point 

 of interest with regard to these old fossils is that they supply links 

 between fish and reptile. Ireland and Bohemia have more especially 

 supplied several well-preserved Labyrinthodont Amphibia, chiefly 

 from the Coal-measures. 



The great Ichthyosaurian tyrants of the Triassic, Jurassic, and 

 Cretaceous seas had relationship to both fishes and lizards ; and 

 Chapter iv., headed " Anomalous Eeptiles," treats of some extinct 

 creatures allied to the Amphibia and the Sauria or " Eeptiles 

 proper," — such as the Dicynodon, Oadenodon, Tapinocephalus, 

 Galcesaurus, and especially the great Pareiasaurus, all from the 

 Karoo formation of South Africa. Moreover, some of these peculiar 

 South-African reptiles possess indications of having affinity to the 

 mammals succeeding them. 



The earliest Lizard (or true Eeptile) known is the Permian 

 Proterosaiirus ; the Triassic Bhynchosaurus and Telerpeton come 

 next. The wonderful Elginia mirnbilis, with its diabolically horned 

 and prickly skull, coming (like the last-mentioned) from the Trias 

 of Scotland, is said to be related to both labyrinthodonts and lizards. 



The Crocodiles come next in order of animal structure ; and 

 Chap. v. gives a sketch of their history. The earliest were in the 

 Trias (the first formation in the Mesozoic, or middle-life, joeriod) ; 

 and animals of the same type have survived (that is, have been 

 successively represented) until now, " with comparatively little 

 change either in structure or habits," being "one of Nature's 

 persistent types " ; but the sharks, nautiloid and nuculoid molluscs, 

 some brachiopods, bivalved crustaceans, and rhizopods have held on 

 for a much longer time, — even from the Silurian period. The land 

 and water conditions formerly existing in the European area favour- 

 able for crocodilian life, and the remarkabl}^ abundant co-existence of 

 crocodile, gavial, and alligator in what is now part of the British area, 

 have been fully described with the poetry of simple truth by the late 

 Professor Owen, and quoted by Mr. Hutchinson at pages 115 and 116. 



In Chapters vi. and vii. are described several of the extinct 

 Eeptiles which have usually a long neck, big body, strong hind 

 legs, and powerful tail, but always short front legs and relatively 

 small head. From the dreadful aspect which our Iguanodon, 

 Hylmosaurus, and Megalosmirus were supposed to have had, these 

 creatures were named Dinosaurs (or Deinosaurs=terrible-lizards). 

 Of late years their forms have been better understood ; and, indeed, 

 there have been many newly discovered examples showing " the 



^ Mr. Hawkins's sketch of the Crystal Palace Models was published in the 

 "Journal of the Society of Arts," No. 78, 1854. 



