STOEY OF THE DINICHTHYS. 127 



with two in the upper jaw, seven inches in 

 length and more than three inches wide. 



"It is apparent from the structure of these 

 jaws that they could easily embrace in their 

 grasp the body of a man — perhaps of a horse — 

 and as they were, doubtless, moved by muscles 

 of corresponding power, they could crush such 

 a body as we wiould crush an egg-shell. 



"Perhaps the bony shields worn by Dinich- 

 thys were for the protection of the wearers 

 against the powerful jaws of their own kin. 

 But it is very improbable that the species was, 

 to any great degree, self -devouring; for the 

 double reason that cannibalism is an offense 

 against a far-reaching law of nature, and the 

 carapaces of even the younger individuals of 

 Dinichthys must have been very hard to crack, 

 even for the all-embracing and massive jaws 

 of their parents and adult relatives." 



At least one hundred specimens have been 

 found in the rocks of the Devonian time, which 

 shows that the Dinichthys greatly exceeds in 

 numbers any other of its cotemporary rela- 

 tions. To Ohio belongs the honor of first 

 giving to the world its discovery, but a num- 

 ber of specimens have since been found in 

 Russia. 



This creature was eminently carnivorous, 

 and from the extraordinary development of its 



