EXTINCT MONSTERS . 
207- 
third as a flying Reptile. This extraordinary discordance 
of opinion respecting a creature whose skeleton was almost 
entire, arose from the presence of characters apparently 
belonging to each of the three classes to which it was 
referred ; the form of its head and length of neck resem¬ 
bling that of Birds, its wings approaching to the pro¬ 
portions and form of those of Bats, and the body and 
tail approximating to those of ordinary Mammalia. These 
characters, connected with a small skull, as is usual among 
reptiles, and a beak furnished with not less than sixty 
pointed teeth, presented acombination of apparent anomalies 
which it was reserved for the genius of Cuvier to reconcile. 
In his hands, this apparently monstrous production of the 
ancient world has been converted into one of the most 
beautiful examples yet afforded by comparative anatomy, 
of the harmony that pervades all nature, in the adaptation 
of the same parts of the animal frame to infinitely varied 
conditions of existence. . . . 
“ The Pterodactyles are ranked by Cuvier among the most 
extraordinary of all the extinct animals that have come 
under his consideration. ‘ Ce sont incontestablemcnt de 
tous les etres dont cc livre nous revele rancienne existence, 
les plus extraordinaircs, et ceux qui, si on les voyait vivans, 
paroitraient les plus etrangers a toute la nature actuelle , 
(Cuvier, ‘ Ossemens Fossiles,’ vol. v.). We are already 
acquainted with eight species of this genus, varying from 
the size of a snipe to that of a cormorant. 1 
“ In external form, these animals somewhat resembled 
our modern bats and vampires : most of them had the 
nose elongated, like the snout of a crocodile, and armed 
with conical teeth. Their eyes were of enormous size, 
apparently enabling them to fly by night. From their 
wings projected fingers, terminated by long hooks, like the 
curved claw on the thumb of the bat. These must have 
formed a powerful paw, wherewith the animal was enabled 
1 Some fragments of Pterodactyl e bones from the green sand, 
Cambridge, must have belonged to one of gigantic dimensions, and could 
not have been of less expanse from wing to wing than 27 feet. 
