936 Marvels of the Universe 
creatures, the ‘‘ Labyrinthodonts ’—the ancestors of the modern Amphibia. These great beasts 
exceeded Eryops in size, and Eryops is about half as big as a big crocodile. 
A curiously reptilian feature about the skeleton of Eryops, as may be seen by a reference to the 
accompanying photograph, was the presence of blunt spurs upon the ribs. These are met with 
to-day only in the crocodiles and alligators, the lizard-lke Tuatera, and the birds. 
Eryops seems to have played the part of crocodiles in the rivers and deep pools of those far- 
off days ; just as did the Labyrinthodonts in similar scenes in what are now the British Islands. 
Some fine specimens of these queer-looking creatures have been found in the coal measures both 
of England and Scotland. They have no name in common speech, and their rather formidable 
scientific name is derived from the fact that the teeth, when seen in section, present a complete and 
very beautiful pattern, the harder substance of the tooth being arranged in serpentine coils 
radiating outwards from the centre of the tooth. Hence the name “ Labyrinth-toothed ” 
or ‘ Labyrinthodont.” 
Eryops shared this pecu- 
liarity. From the fact, 
too, that the ribs of 
Eryops, and its kindred, 
do not reach down to 
the middle line of the 
chest we may be pretty 
sure breathing took place 
after the fashion of that 
of the frog. That is to 
say, air is drawn in 
through the nostrils by 
depressing the great fleshy 
tongue, thereby creating 
a vacuum which the air 
rushed in to fill. When 
the tongue was raised a 
pair of valves closed the 
RE Si passage from the mouth 
THE MONKEY'S DINNER BELL. through the nostrils and 
Such is the name given to this curious fruit of a South American plant. The seeds are forced the air down the 
contained in separate capsules, which when ripe explode with a loud report and are shot far 
away from the seed-cluster. windpipe to the lungs. 
VEGETABLE GRAPNELS AND SHOOTERS 
BY SIR HERBERT MAXWELL, F.R.S. 
TuE sheep-killing grasses already described are not the only plants which inflict suffering, and even 
death, upon the animals which they employ to transport their seeds. Dr. Livingstone described 
how the fruit of the South African ‘‘ Devil’s Horns ”’ afflicts erazing animals. The seed is enclosed 
in a hard, spiny envelope, ending in two long curved beaks like goats’ horns. When these get into 
the nostrils of an ox or antelope the animal is helpless to remove them, and must suffer intensely 
until relieved by death, or, in the case of domestic animals, by the herdsman. 
Still more horrible is another South African herb, the Grapnel-plant, the fruit of which 1s set with 
claws an inch long. Even the lordly lion is sometimes destroyed by its agency. When he rolls 
or basks in the sand the spines may pierce his skin, and when he tries to tear out the fruits with 
his teeth, his mouth gets filled with them, and he must die of starvation. 
