414 Miscellanies. 



shale of the Lias, an argillaceous limestone at Lyme Regis in Dor- 

 setshire, and they have been since found in Somersetshire, and other 

 parts of England, and also in the United States."* 



" The Ichthyosaurus had a large and long head, with jaws armed 

 with teeth like the crocodile ; enormous eyes ; a short neck ; a large 

 and long body, furnished with four paddles composed of numerous 

 bones ; and a short tail. The Plesiosaurus is yet more remarkable ; 

 the head is very small, and armed wiih numerous pointed teeth ; 

 the neck of an enormous length, and composed of between thirty 

 and forty vertebrae, being nearly double the number of that of any 

 other animal ; the Swan, which has the greatest number of cervical 

 vertebrae, having but twenty three ; the body, like that of the Ich- 

 thyosaurus, has four paddles ; the tail is short. Such is a brief de- 

 scription of the wonderful reptiles whose remains are so beautifully 

 figured, and accurately described by Mr. Hawkins from specimens 

 in his own possession, and collected by himself This collection, 

 which surpasses any in the world, has been made at an expense of 

 several thousand pounds, and with great labor, and ought to be pla- 

 ced in the British Museum." 



We have thought it proper that a British Philosopher should be 

 permitted to speak on a work and research peculiarly British. 



We have to add, that having been put in possession of this splen- 

 did work by the kindness of Mr. Mantell, we are so much gratified 

 by the ample store of facts, and by the delineations and descrip- 

 tions of forms which it contains, that we are little disposed to criticise 

 the high wrought and unusual diction of the narrative and descrip- 

 tive parts. Mr. Hawkins may well adopt the good old English 

 proverb, — let him laugh that wins, and we are certainly much inch- 

 ned if not to laugh, certainly to rejoice with him in his brilliant suc- 

 cess. All the bones and skeletons delineated in Mr. Hawkins' work 

 are in his museum. .They cover a space of two hundred feet by 

 twenty, and their weight is not less than twenty tons.f One of his 

 Saurians was obtained in six hundred pieces, which were arranged in 

 order, and laid firm in a mass of plaster of Paris, weighing three 

 tons. 

 -.^ '. , . , A 



* See the citations in this Number, from Dr. Harlan's account of our fossil 

 bones. 



t We quote these numbers from recollection, not being able, at this moment, 

 to find the passage in the works of Mr. Hawkins. 



