124. 



CLASSIFICATIOX OF ASTPHIBIANS. 



upon its prey. By the suddenness and quickness of its 

 attack^ it must have proved a formidable foe to all less 

 powerful animalsj and more especially to those of the 

 finny tribe." * 



(124.) The Pterodactyli, or flying-lizards^ another 

 race of antedUuvian reptiles^ but very distinct from those 

 we have just described^ wHI nevertheless be introduced 

 in this part of our work^ for the reasons subsequently 

 stated. The fabulous monsters of antiquity are not 

 more dissimilar in shape from all existing creatures^ 

 than are those of which we shall now speak : their 

 forms, indeed^ are so strange and unearthly^ that they 

 seem more fit to be represented as inmates of a wizard's 

 cave, or to find a place among the chimeras in Teniers's 

 painting of the Temptation of St. Anthony, than as ever 

 having had a real existence upon this our planet. In the 

 Pterodactyli we have^ in short, the head of a lizard fur- 

 nished with the ample wings of a bat, together with the 

 long neck and beak of a bird ; the latter, however, being 

 armed with distinct teeth (Jig.SQ.). Such is the general 

 impression which a glance at the figure of this wonder- 

 ful fossil is calculated to give ; nor does a more minute 



.<-v^ 



examination lessen our astonishment. The size of the 

 Pterodactyli, indeed, had it been at aU equal to that of 



* Griffi Cuvier, p. 377. 



