Fossils. 
151 
make the huge head effective, a mass of muscle and 
bone on the fore shoulders was essential. This bunch 
was thought by other geologists to be a mere mon- 
strosity of his own invention. Subsequently, the dorsal 
vertebra) being found, the conclusion was proved to be 
correct. 
(5) The Labyrinthodont has been already suffi- 
ciently described. 
(6) The Rhamphorhynchus, the remains of which 
have been found in the quarries of Solenhofen, is a 
curious intermediate link between birds and reptiles. 
Its tail, a singular appendage, was long, reptile-like, 
and dragged upon the ground, while its footprints were 
bird-like. Stranger still, Marsh has found in the rocks 
of Kansas, in beds of the next succeeding age, remains 
of a bird with its mouth full of teeth set in sockets. 
It will thus be seen that we have a fairly wide view 
of the more remarkable forms of life of the Lower 
Mesozoic. This we owe entirely to the labours of 
palaeontologists whose tireless ardour is building up a 
new science around us. Professor Winchell describes 
the character of this age, as well as the importance of 
the work being done by the men who have drawn 
aside the heavy curtains of time, and given us the 
privilege of looking so far into the dim and distant 
past. He writes : — 
“ The Triassic Age witnessed also the advent of 
multitudes of marine saurians of the family of Ichthyo- 
“ Sketches of Creation,” p. 175, 
