136 
EXTINCT MONSTERS. 
possession, and Hoffman died without regaining his treasure, or 
receiving any compensation. At length the French Revolution 
broke out, and the armies of the Republic advanced to the gates 
of Maestricht. The town was bombarded ; but, at the suggestion 
of the committee of savans who accompanied the French troops 
to select their share of the plunder, the artillery was not suffered 
to play on that part of the city in which the celebrated fossil was 
known to be preserved. In the mean time, the Canon of St. 
Peter’s, shrewdly suspecting the reason why such peculiar favour 
was shown to his residence, removed the specimen, and con- 
cealed it in a vault ; but when the city was taken, the French 
authorities compelled him to give up his ill-gotten prize, which 
was immediately transmitted to the Jardin des Plantes, at Paris, 
where it still forms one of the most striking objects in that 
magnificent collection.” 
Dr. Mantell quotes the Frenchman’s remark on this transaction : 
“Za Justice^ quoi(lue tardive^ arrive enfin avec le temps : ” but adds, 
“The reader will probably think that, although the reverend 
canon was justly despoiled of his ill-gotten treasure, the French 
commissioners were but very equivocal representatives of 
Justice 
The beautiful cast (Fig. 37) at South Kensington (Fossil 
Reptile Gallery, Wall-case 8) was presented to Dr. Mantell by 
Baron Cuvier in 1825. It consists of both jaws, with numerous 
teeth, and some other parts (see Fig. 38). The length is about four 
and a half feet. This nearly perfect head was for a time a stumbling- 
block to many naturalists, some of whom were of opinion that 
it belonged to a whale. Cuvier and others considered it to be 
a kind of link between the Iguanas and the Monitors.^ 
The entire backbone of the Maestricht animal appears to have 
^ The Monitors are a family of large lizards inhabiting the warmer parts of 
Africa and Asia. They live near the banks of rivers, and some are altogether 
aquatic. They often devour the eggs of crocodiles and aquatic birds. The 
Nile Monitor, or Varanus, grows to a length of six feet. 
