THE DRAGONS OF OLD TIME— DINOSAURS. 6g 
been using, viz. Dinosauria,^ and this name has been generally 
retained. We are thus led to connect them with lizards and 
crocodiles, rather than with birds or quadrupeds. The strange 
and curiously mixed characters of the old-fashioned reptiles is 
forcibly illustrated by these differences of opinion among leading 
naturalists. Professor Seeley, another living authority, refuses 
to consider them as reptiles, at least in the ordinary sense of the 
word. 
Extinct forms of life are often so very different to the creatures 
inhabiting the world of to-day, that naturalists find it a hard task 
to assign them their places in the animal kingdom. The classes, 
orders, and families under which living forms are grouped are 
often found inadequate for the purpose, so much so that new 
orders and new families require to be made for them ; and then 
it is often quite impossible to determine the relations of these 
new groups to the old ones we are accustomed to. Dinosaurs 
offer a good example of this difficulty. Were they related to 
ancient crocodiles ? No one can say for certain ; but it is quite 
possible, and even probable. Again, did certain long-legged 
Dinosaurs eventually give rise by evolution to the running birds, 
ostriches, emeus, etc. ? This, although supported by weighty 
authority, is a matter of speculation : we ought to be very careful 
in accepting such conclusions. It may perhaps be safer to look 
upon the ancestry of birds as one of those problems on which 
the oracle of science cannot at present declare itself 
Various attempts have been made to classify Dinosaurs, and 
arrange them in family groups ; but, considering our imperfect 
knowledge, it will be wise to regard all such attempts as purely 
temporary and provisional, although in some ways convenient. 
Professor Marsh, of Yale College, U.S., whose wonderful discoveries 
in the far West have attracted universal attention, has grouped 
the Dinosaurs into five sub-orders. It will, however, be sufficient 
for our purpose if we follow certain English authorities who 
‘ Greek— terrible ; sauros, lizard. 
F 
