. l2 THE MOSASAURUS. 311 



Crustacea, teeth of fishes, and other marine remains, occur 

 in profusion ; with wood perforated by lithodomi, and the 

 bones of a large and very remarkable reptile.* 



12. The mosasaurus ; or eossil reptile of the 



Meuse. The occasional discovery of bones and teeth of 



an unknown animal in the limestone, had long since 

 directed the attention of naturalists to the quarries of St. 

 Peter's Mountain. In 1770 M. Hoffmann, who was forming 

 a collection of organic remains, had the good fortune to 



Lign. 56. — Remains of the mosasaurus. 



Discovered at Maestricht. by M. Hoffmann, in 1770 ; now in the Museum at Paris, 



(Four and a half feet by two and a half.) 



discover a specimen, which has conferred additional interest 

 on this locality. Some workmen, on blasting the rock in 

 one of the caverns of the interior of the mountain, perceived, 



* See Hist. Nat. de la Montagne de St. Pierre, by Faujas St. Fond, 

 i vol. 4to. with splendid engravings, and numerous figures of the fossils 

 that have been discovered in the quarries of St. Peter's Mountain. 



