40 
EXTINCT MONSTERS. 
truly splendid collection of these most interesting relics of the 
past. Nearly sixty years ago he arranged for the purchase of his 
treasures by the authorities of the British Museum, and thus 
his collection became the property of the nation. 
His specimens were figured and described by him in two large 
folio volumes. The first was published in 1834, under the title, 
Me 7 noirs of the Ichthyosau 7 i and Plesiosauri ; his second, 
with the same plates, in 1842, under the quaint title of The 
Book of the Great Sea-Dragons. The large lithographic draw- 
ings of his fine specimens were beautifully executed by Scharf and 
O’Neil. The plates are the only really valuable part of these two 
curious and ill-written books. His descriptions are not of much 
value, and his pages are encumbered with a vast amount of 
extraneous matter. The author is immensely proud of his 
collection, and his vanity is conspicuous throughout. Instead of 
confining himself to descriptions of what he found, and how he 
found them, he continually wanders into all sorts of subjects that 
are, to say the least, irrelevant. In one place he introduces 
ancient history and mythology ; in another. Old Testament 
chronology ; in another, the unbelieving spirit of the age ; and 
here and there indulges in vague unphilosophical speculations. 
Altogether his two volumes are a curious mixture of bigotry, 
conceit, and unrestrained fancy, and they afforded to the present 
writer no small amusement. One rises from the perusal of such 
men’s writings with a strong sense of the contrast between the 
humble and patient spirit in which our great men of to-day, such 
as Professor Owen, study nature and record their observations, and 
the vague, conceited outpourings of some old-fashioned writers. 
Mr. Hawkins tells us that his youthful attention was directed 
to the Lias quarries, near Edgarly, in Somersetshire, in conse- 
quence of some strange reports. It was said that the bones of 
giants and infants had, at distant intervals, been found in them. 
These quarries he visited, and, by offers of generous payment, 
induced the workmen to keep for him all the remains they might 
