66 MIGHTY ANIMALS 



the fate of any creature unfortunate enough to get 

 in his way. 



There was once a man who, in trying to describe 

 an Ichthyosaur, wrote this jingle : — 



"Behold a strange monster our wonder engages, 



If dolphin or lizard your wit may defy, 

 Some thirty feet long on the shore of Lyme-Regis, 



With a saw for a jaw and a big staring eye. 

 A fish or a lizard ? An Ichthyosaurus, 



With a big goggle eye and a very small brain, 

 And paddles like mill-wheels in clattering chorus, 



Smiting tremendous the dread-sounding main." 



We may know from this that the Ichthyosaur was 

 not a pretty object to look at and that he was a 

 creature of gigantic size and strength. 



This mighty Fish-Lizard had immense eyes, round 

 and glaring, and an enormous jaw that sometimes 

 contained as many as two hundred and forty sharp 

 teeth. But this jaw was only a part of his fearful 

 head which was frequently five and a half feet in 

 length. Other Ichthyosaurs, even when full grown, 

 did not measure more than this from the tip of the 

 tail to the end of the jaw, and it is quite possible 



