Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1843-04-12
from De ". Y. Eesaing Post.

Long.-MR. EDiroR:-it will 40 dolhi
DC a matter OF surprise to your readers 10
learn that there have existed 10 your city
for nearly a year. the fossilized boxes OF
on extinct gigantic reptile. belonging as
geoiosisis say, to a period Of the earths his
tory. when !, was inf. for creatures OF q
higher organization.
These fossil remains were found in tho
tertiary formation Of aiabamn. ON the
pIan,aiion Of Judge Creash, in Clark u
". by Mr.. 5. b. buckley. q paiive OF this
Stale. who 'yas then engaged on 4 bo'nni.
cal excursion. They were brought 10 this
city lasI April, and yesterday the writer
saw them 10 tue garrett Of q six story build
ing a, tho foot of Pine.street. Some idea
Of the appalling magnitude Of this animal
may be formed from the fact. that us :"s.
sil remains Gil fourteen large boxes. IL is
seventy feet IN length! So fortunate was
Mr.. Buckley in discovering the cnIiTc aoi-
nal, il,si there is not n single vertcbFH
wunlins lrun The head 10 the carhai OK.
rremilv. As all lhcs, bones preserved
their natural relative position. encE, Of
them was numbered by Mr.. Buckley as II
was taken OUT Of the ground. Some Of
the large vcrIebre weigh perhaps each one
hundred Pounds, diminishing down 10 The
extremity "f the tail. The last Que of then,
being moi larger Than q mans hst. On
the vertrbrE aud some "f The other bones.
there exists in a perfect state, The pcslns'
tanIn, or covering vi the bones, their sab
STAGE being more or less iossilized Into
carbonate Of lime. All tho teeth covered
viii, their enamel, are still perfect. The
head aud jaws IRE six or eight feet long,
and the rib, have n lcnstl, at some u ire'.
DR.. Harlan .of Philadelphia. took 10
London, several years ago, a few nt the
homes nf u similar animal obtained from
tho same place. lie named 1.-THE Bdsito.
saurus. from its affinity 10 the Lizard
tribes: but in London il was pronounced
by Mr.. Owen, from n microscopic examl-
nation Of the teeth. To be an animal be-
tween .,he Ce,acee (Whaicsl aud Sau-
riaus (Lizardssl aud hence he designated
il, from This circumstance, the Zygodon.
1t is supposed To have had large broad and
fiat paddles, adapting it To o IN 4
wa,ery element.
Mr.. Buckley is now engaged in drawing
up a precise dcscri?sinn Of TIL, extinct
monster. suited for publication in 4 scien-
,ifc journal.
Compared with these reptiles, whose
bones arc often eaiombed in The solid sIri.
"a Of tho globe, this one however. having
lain within six feet Of the sarface.) hc de-
sc%r;p,ions Of the tabled monsters Of anti
guilty, which. oour childhood have so often
been n subject Of delight. lose all their
character OF wild exnssera,ion, Quietly
reposias in their dark cemeiaries, AID un-
conscious Of tho new crcatinus' which have
since excessively fourished over them.
wo here find The most wonderful organic
remains. One unites the Wigs nf an
enormous Ia, with tho skeleton of n 81
eanric Lizard; another, somewhat rcseln-
bling a Sloth, bu, Of the size oil the Ele-
plant, has enormous arms and claws Tor
suspcndins itself TO trees equally gigantic.
Again here are Crocodil-s without feet,
hui furnished with fms. as well rs luadru-
peds hearing wings on their toes.
ilencc, in surveying the physical reyo-
lutinns by which our mountains have been
upheavci, thus unfolding page after page
Of this great book. containing the won
drous records Of the changes which our
globe has undergone, during Il series OF
periods of long hu, unknown duration. be-
fore il was inhabited by mau, who IS conf
parnt:veIy hut a creature Of yesterday the
seoIogist justly infers that 'horc exists M
insepnrabls relation betwccr these success
sivc groups Of animal AMI vegetable re-
mains, each unlike all The others, and the
corresponding periods Of the earth's con.
dillon. h follows, indeed, as u necessary
law. that successive changes Of organic
life must have been attended with coinci-
dent changes of physical conditions.
Speaking upon the subject of modern
geology, in a late numher Of tie L,udon
Quarterly Review, the writer happily re.
marks:
"Whcn we ponder over the great events
which they proclaim, the mighty %rcvolu-
lions which they indicate, the wrecks Of
successive creations which they display,
and tho inumersblc cycles Of their Giro
nology, the era Of nan shrinks into con-
.trac,cd Dimensions, bis proudest and most
ancient dyuastios wear the aspec, Of up
start and ephemeral group; the fabrics of
human power. the gorgeous temple. tho
monumental brnnze. the regal pyramid,
sink into insigniScaace beside the mighty
sarcophagi Of the brutes tina, perish.
. . The form, indeed. tho key TO the
hicroglyphics Of the ancieu, world, they
enable US to reckon up its almost count
less periods; To replace its upheaved and
d;slocated strata; TO replant It's forests; 20
reconstruct tho products Of its charnel.
house ; to rePeoplc its jung!es with their
gigantic d~euizens; 10 restore the condors
to lis atmosphere, and give back to its
oceans lis mighty leviathans. And such
is the force with which these r%evivals arc
presented 10 our Judgment, that we almost
Coo ,he namfno,b fho meen,beria and