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lieve it to have been an inhabitant of the sea, whilst none of the exist- 
ing lizard tribe are known to live in salt water. These circumstances, 
however wonderful as they are, are more than equalled by many of 
the numerous discoveries which we have yet to contemplate in the 
natural history of the former world. We have here seen a monitor 
possessing the magnitude of a crocodile ; but we have yet to examine 
a tapir of the size of an elephant, and a sloth (the megalonix) as large 
as a rhinoceros. 
We have seen, in the preceding letter, that the remains found in the 
pyritous schist of Thuringia were referable to Lucerta monitor, Linn, 
or rather to some species of the genus Monitor , of Cuvier ; and this 
we shall find to be the case with other supposed remains of crocodiles. 
Spener, in l/lO, published, Miscel. berolin .i.Fig. 24 and 25, a plate, 
representing a supposed fossil crocodile. This fossil was found at the 
depth of three hundred feet, in the mines of Kupfer-Suhl, near to Eise- 
nach, inPrussia. In l7l8,Linck,of Leipsic, published the letteralready 
mentioned, to Dr. Woodward, describing and figuring a supposed fossil 
crocodile, of which he says : — “ Non terrebit musas tuas hie crocodilus, 
acutissime Woodwardi. Neque enim e Nilo canibus hominibusque 
formidandns, sed ex mediis Germanice montibus venit.” Another fossil 
was particularized by Swedenborg, Tractat. de Cupro, PI. ii. found in 
the mines of Glucksbronn, near to Altenstein, and was placed by 
Swedenborg among the apes, he supposing it to have been a species 
of Guenon or Sapajou. Another fossil of this kind is one which was 
found in the mines of Rothenbourg, at the depth of two hundred and 
sixty-four feet, but is at present in the Royal cabinet of Berlin. 
These fossils, all of the same character and size, and found in a 
similar matrix, appear to belong to one species of animals. The form 
of the head ; the teeth, all sharp ; and the size of the vertebrse of the 
tail ; determine it to be an oviparous quadruped, without the proof of 
the posterior members, which afford full confirmation. 
Spener’ s fossil was supposed by him to be a crocodile ; and Faujas 
