MOSASAURUS. 31 



Nearly g, century has elapsed since the discovery, in the Cretaceous deposits of 

 Europe, of the aquatic Reptile, tlie Mosasaurus, or Lizard of the Meuse, but even 

 at the present time our knowledge of the skeleton is incomplete. The most im- 

 portant of the remains found in Europe consists of the greater part of an enormous 

 skull, including the jaws, together with the teeth, obtained from the quarries of 

 St. Peter's Mount, near Maestricht. The specimen, to which an unusual degree 

 of historic value is attached, is commonly known as the head of the Maestricht 

 Monitor, and is now preserved in the museum of the Jardin des Plantes, Paris. It 

 has been the subject of representation and description by Buchoz,^ Faujas-Saint- 

 Fond,^ Cuvier,* Buckland,' Gervais,** Pictet,' Bronn,* and others. Series of vertebrae 

 of the Mosasaurus, comprising most of those from different parts of the column, 

 found in association with the head just mentioned, have also been described by 

 Cuvier.^ 



In the United States remains of the genus Mosasaurus, usually consisting of 

 isolated teeth, small fragments of jaws, and mutilated vertebrse, have been fre- 

 quently discovered in deposits of the Cretaceous period, and have been indicated 



' M. Paujas-Saint-Fond, in his Natural History of St. Peter's Mount, gives the following acconnt 

 of the discovery and subsequent destination of the fossil : " In one of the galleries or subterraneous 

 quarries of St. Peter's Mount at Maestricht, at the distance of about five hundred 'paces from the 

 principal entrance, and at ninety feet below the surface, the quarrymen exposed part of a skull of a 

 large animal imbedded in the stone. They stopped their labors to give notice to Dr. Hoflfman, a 

 surgeon at Maestricht, who had for some years been collecting fossils from the quarries, and who had 

 liberally remunerated the laborers for them. Dr. Hoffman, observing the specimen to be the most 

 important that had yet been discovered, took every precaution to secure it entire. After having suc- 

 ceeded in removing a large block of stone containing it, and reducing the mass to a proper condition, 

 it was transported to his home in triumph. But this great prize in natural history, which had given 

 Dr. Hoffman so much pleasure, now became the source of chagrin. A canon of Maestricht, who 

 owned the ground beneath which was the quarry whence the skull was obtained, when the fame of 

 the specimen reached him, laid claim to it under certain feudal rights and applied to law for its 

 recovery. Dr. Hoffman resisted, and the matter becoming serious, the chapter of canons came to 

 the support of their reverend brother, and Dr. Hoffman not only lost the specimen but was obliged 

 to pay the costs of the law-suit. The canon, leaving all feeling of remorse to the judges for their 

 iniquitous decision, became the happy and contented possessor of this unique example of its kind." 



M. Faujas-Saint-Fond continues, " Justice, though slow, arrives at last. The specimen was destined 

 again to change its place and possessor. In 1'795 the troops of the French Republic, having repulsed 

 the Austrians, laid siege to Maestricht and bombarded Fort St. Peter. The country house of the 

 canon, in which the skull was kept, was near the fort, and the general being informed of the circum- 

 stance gave orders that the artillerists should avoid that house. The canon, suspecting the object of 

 this attention, had the skull removed and concealed in a place of safety in the city. After the French 

 took possession of the latter, Freicine, the representative of the people, promised a reward of six 

 hundred bottles of wine for its discovery. The promise had its effect, for the next day a dozen 

 grenadiers brought the specimen in triumph to the house of the representative, and it was subse- 

 quently conveyed to the museum of Paris." 



= Dons de la Nature, Tab. 68. 



' Histoire Naturelle. de la Montague de St. Pierre de Maestricht, PI. IV. 



" Ossemens Fossiles, Ed. 4, Atlas T. 2, PI. 246, Fig. 1. = Bridgewater Treatise, PI. 20. 



« Zoologie et Paleontologie Fran9aises, T. Ill, PI. 60, Figs. 3-5. 



' Traite de Paleontologie, Atlas, PI. XXVI, Fig. 3. ^ Leth^a Geognostica. 



= Ossemens Fossiles, Ed. 4, T. 10, p. 151. 



