DRAGONS OF OLD TIME 
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opposed this name; for it was misleading, and only applied to 
a few of them. He therefore proposed the name we have already 
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. The late Professor Seeley, another authority, refused 
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 ? Ho 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. The following 
reflections will serve to show that the fact may be explained in 
another theory. Some Dinosaurs walked, in a more or less erect 
position, on their hind limbs. Similar habits, if continued for 
age after age, must tend to produce somewhat similar appearances, 
at least externally. Take, for example, the case of whales and 
1 Greek — deinos, terrible ; sauros, lizard. 
