Reviews and Extracts. — Maturat History. 183 
terrestrial, and many were inhabitants of the lakes and rivers. The animal and 
vegetable remains with wliich the fossil bones are associated, belong also to a very 
different order of thing's, from that in which the modern oviparons quadrupeds are 
placed; and we are compelled to conclude, that the condition of the earth, at the pe- 
riod it was peopled by reptiles, must have been very different from its present s^ate; 
and that it probably was then unfit for the habitation of animals of a more perfect 
organization. It is moreover, inleresliug to remark, that some of these ancient and 
lost races are, as it were, tlie types of the existing orders, and genera; and that 
in the pigmy Monitor and Iguaua of modern times, we perceive striking resem- 
blances to the colossal Megalosaurus and Iguanodon of the ancient world. It is 
also worthy of observation, that, ;is in the present epoch, the herbivorous quadru- 
peds are those of the greatest magnitude, so, at the period when reptiles were 
the principal inhabitants of our planet, the herbivorous were those of the most 
gigantic proportions. The geological period when the existence of reptiles com- 
menced, must, dtcordiiigto the present state of our knowledge, be placed imme- 
diately after the formation of the coal measures ; the remains of Monitors having- 
been found in the bituminous state of Thuringia ; and those of a crocodile, in 
the gypseous red sandstone of Tngland; hut it is not till we arrive at the Lias, that 
'he remains of reptiles occur in any considerable quantity. At that period the 
earth must have teemed vvitli oviparous quadrupeds, and the Enaliosauri, or those 
which inhabited the sea, appear to have been equally numerous with those of the 
land and rivers. The prodigious quantity of the remains of these animals, which 
h;is, within a comparatively short period, been found in England alone, is truly 
astonishing; and if to these, we add the imn:ense numbers that have been disco- 
vered in France, Germany, &;e., and reflect, that for one individual found in a 
fossil state, thousands must have been devoured and decomposed ; and that even of 
those that are fossilized, the number that comes under the notice of the naturalist, 
Diust he trifling compared with the quantities unobserved or destroyed by the 
labourers, we shall have a faint idea of the myriads of "creeping things" which 
inhabited the ancient world, 
3. — Magazine of Natural History; Edited by J. C. Loudo.v, 
F.L.S. &c. Published every two months, price 3s.(5rf. 
No. 21, FOR AUGOST. 
Has much interesting information, but our limits, this month, prevent tis from 
making any Extracts, except the following: — 
A Forenniiier nf Foul fVeatlier. — It may be a useful piece of information for 
Agriculturists, or those concerned in getting in their cropsj on tlie approach- 
ing season, to describe the appearance of a small cloud, which, from its rapid 
formation and disappearance, is likely to escape the observation of most 
persons, but which, from my own experience, I have found a very faithful 
forewarner of foul weather. It appears mostly in the mild weather of spring, 
summer, and autumn, when its warning token becomes most acceptable. I 
will endeavour to describe it in the best manner I can: — It is a small, deli- 
cately soft, thin, white, curved cloud, formed suddenly on the summit of 
those fine heaped clouds, termed cumuli, which often prevail in warm wea- 
ther, and appear to tower up to a prodigious height. It is necessary to keep a 
watchful eye upon the summit of the c.v«i'<///.*, when this little film which I 
term the " storm-cap" appears; it lies closely over the rounded summit, like 
a silken web: in a very few seconds it will disappear ; sinking, I suppose into 
the rumi'.ius; but in a little time, and when heavy, foul weather threatens, the 
