44 ANIMALS OF THE PAST 



see, it gave place to the great fossil shark, and this in 

 turn passed out of existence. Still, common though its 

 bones may be, stories of their use for making stone walls 

 — and these stories are still in circulation — ^resolve 

 themselves on close scrutiny into the occasional use of a 

 big vertebra to support the corner of a corn-crib. 



The scientific name of Zeuglodon is Basilosaurus, 

 cetoides, the whale-like king lizard — the first of these 

 names, Basilosaurus, having been given to it by the 

 original describer. Dr. Harlan, who supposed the animal 

 to have been a reptile. Now it is a primary rule of 

 nomenclature that the first name given to an animal 

 must stick and may not be changed, even by the act of a 

 zoological congress, so Zeuglodon must, so far as its 

 name is concerned, masquerade as a reptile for the rest 

 of its paleontological life. This, however, really matters 

 very little, because scientific names are simply verbal 

 handles by which we may grasp animals to describe 

 them, and Dr. Le Conte, to show how little there may 

 be in a name, called a beetle Gyascutus. Owen's name 

 of Zeuglodon, although not tenable as a scientific name, 

 is too good to be wasted, and being readily remembered 

 and easily pronounced may be used as a popular name. 



One might think that a creature sixty or seventy feet 

 long was amply long enough, but Dr. Albert Koch 

 thought otherwise, and did with Zeuglodon as, later on, 

 he did with the Mastodon, combining the vertebrae of 

 several individuals until he had a monster 114 feet long! 

 This he exhibited in Europe under the name of Hy- 

 drarchus, or water king, finally disposing of the com- 

 posite creature to the Museum of Dresden, where it 

 was promptly reduced to its proper dimensions. The 

 natural make-up of Zeuglodon is sufficiently composite 

 without any aid from man, for the head and paddles are 

 not unlike those of a seal, the ribs are like those of a 



