THE GREAT FISH-LIZARDS, 
35 
lead us to conclude that the Ichthyosaur never ventured to leave 
the “ briny ocean ” to bask upon the land. 
This great uncouth beast presents some curious anomalies in 
his constitution, being planned on different lines to anything now 
living, and presenting, as so many other extinct animals do, a 
mixture, or fusion, of types that greatly puzzled the learned men 
of the time when his remains were first brought to light, after 
their long entombment in the Lias rocks forming the cliffs on the 
coast of Dorset. Some have christened him a “sea-dragon,” and 
such indeed he may be considered. But the name Ichthyosaurus, 
given above, has received the sanction of high authority, and, 
moreover, serves to remind us of the fact that, although in many 
respects a lizard, he yet retains in his bony framework the traces 
of a remote fishy ancestry. So we will call him a fish-lizard. 
We remember in our young days the amiable endeavours of 
Mr. “ Peter Parley ” to introduce us to the wonders of creation ; 
and his account of the Ichthyosaurus particularly impressed itself 
on our youthful imagination. How surprised that inestimable 
instructor of youth would be could he now see the still more 
wonderful remains that have been brought to light from Europe, 
Asia, Africa, and America ! 
The curious quotation given at the head of the present chapter 
refers to a widespread belief, prevalent among the highly civilised 
nations of antiquity, that the world was once inhabited by 
dragons, or other monsters “ of mixed shape ” and characters. 
To the student of ancient history traces of this curious belief 
will be familiar. Sir Charles Lyell refers to such a belief 
when he says, in his Principles of' Geology,^ “ The Egyptians, it 
is true, had taught, and the Stoics had repeated, that the earth 
had once given birth to some monstrous animals that existed 
no longer.” It may be surprising to some, but it is undoubtedly 
the fact, that modern scientific truths were partly anticipated 
by the civilised nations of long ago. Take the ideas of 
the ancients as interpreted from the records of Egypt, Chaldsea, 
