PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION vii 
of the marvellous, for in Dinoceras we find a beast with 
six horns, and sword-bayonet tusks, joined to a skeleton like 
an elephant’s. 
Latest amongst the marvels in modern palaeontological 
discovery has been that made by Professor Fraas of the out- 
line of the skin and fins in Ichthyosaurus tenuirostris, 
which shows it to have been a veritable shark-like reptile, 
with a high dorsal fin and broad fish-tail, so that “ fish-lizard ” 
is miore than ever an appropriate term for these old Liassic 
marine reptiles. 
As every palaeontologist is well aware, restorations are ever 
liable to emendation, and that the present and latest book of 
extinct monsters will certainly prove no exception to the rule 
is beyond a doubt, but the author deserves our praise for the 
very boldness of his attempt, and the honesty with which he 
has tried to follow nature and avoid exaggeration. Every one 
will admire the simple and unaffected style in which the author 
has endeavoured to tell his story, avoiding, as far as possible, 
all scientific terms, so as to bring it within the intelligence of 
the unlearned. He has, moreover, taken infinite pains to study 
up his subject with care, and to consult all the literature bearing 
upon it. He has thus been enabled to convey accurate informa- 
tion in a simple and pleasing form, and to guide the artist in 
his difficult task with much wisdom and intelligence. That the 
excellence of the sketches is due to the artist, Mr. Smit, is a 
matter of course, and so is the blame, where criticism is 
legitimate ; and no one is more sensible of the difficulties of 
the task than Mr. Smit himself. 
Speaking for myself, I am very well pleased with the series 
of sketches; and I may say so with the greater ease and 
freedom from responsibility, as I have had very little to do 
