CHAPTER LIX 



SOME PBEHISTORIC ANIMALS 



'TTIOSSIL remains of all sorts of animals, from the 

 X/ largest to the smallest, are found embedded in 

 stone. There are lizards which, if alive, would 

 hardly find room enough to turn around in many of 

 our public squares, so monstrous is their size; tor- 

 toises with shell as large as a small boat; fishes of 

 strange formation; birds of a singular character 

 such as we no longer behold; and enormous quad- 

 rupeds that would dwarf to insignificance our sturdy 

 ox. All flying creatures of the air, all walking and 

 creeping animals of the earth, every form of life 

 swimming in the water, are represented in these fos- 

 sil remains found in the heart of our rocks, but of a 

 shape and often of a size very different from those of 

 our living animals. 



"These ancient creatures have never been seen 

 alive by man, so far back in the past is their period. 

 After inhabiting the earth for a very long time, they 

 disappeared forever, to give place to other species. 

 What remains of them consists chiefly of bones, 

 which from their hardness and their mineral char- 

 acter offer the most resistance to the various de- 

 structive agencies. With the sole aid of these bones 



science succeeds in reconstructing the exact form of 



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