THE GREAT SEA-LIZARDS 
77 
1821. In a later paper (1824) he gave a restoration of the entire 
skeleton of Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus ; and the accuracy of that 
restoration is still universally acknowledged. This fine specimen 
was in the possession of the Duke of Buckingham, who kindly 
placed it at the disposal of Dr. Buckland, for a time, that it 
might be properly described and investigated. 
A glance at our illustration, Plate VI., will show that this 
strange creature was not inaptly compared at the time to a snake 
threaded through the body of a turtle. 
Perhaps the best way in which we can gain a clear idea of the 
general characters of a long-necked sea-lizard, as we may call our 
Plesiosaurus, is by comparing it with the fish-lizard, described in 
the last chapter. Its long neck and small head are the most 
conspicuous features. Then we notice the short tail. But if we 
compare the paddles of these two extinct forms of life, we notice 
at once certain important differences. In the fish-lizard the bone 
of the arm was very short, while all the bones of the fore arm 
and fingers were modified into little many-sided bodies, and so 
articulated together as to make the whole limb, or paddle, a solid 
yet flexible structure. In the long-necked sea-lizard, however, 
we find a long arm-bone with a club-like shape; and the two 
bones of the fore arm are seen to be longer than in the fish- 
lizard. But a still greater difference shows itself in the bones 
of the finger, as we look at a fossilised skeleton (or a drawing 
of one) ; for the fingers are long and slender, like those of ordinary 
reptiles. 
There are only five fingers, and each finger is quite distinct 
from the others. This is the reason why the Plesiosaur was 
considered to depart less from the type of an ordinary reptile, 
and so received its name. Other remarkable differences present 
themselves in the shoulders and haunches, but these need not 
