The Kalida venture. [volume] (Kalida, Ohio) 1841-1865, 1851-04-11
ave have now seen the liz,rd characte,

In the Pterodactyle, it was futher shown
IN union with features of a dHerent kind.
This isa small animal, chiefly Of The lizard
form, but furnished with a membrane
framed upon The fore extremity, Ike the
wing of a bal, by which the creature
must have been able to putsne lis prey
though the air. "In external form," says
Dr., Buckland, "these creatures some
what resembled our modern bats and
vampires; most of them had the nose
elongated, like the snout Of a crocodile,
ard armed with copcal 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 powerful paw, wherewih the
animal was enabled to creep or climb,
or suspend itself from trees. 1t is pro-
babe, also, that the picrodac,yle had the
power ofswimming, Which is so common
in reptiles. "rhus, like Milion's fiend,
qualified for all services and all elements
the creature was fit companion for the
kindred reptiles that swarmed in the seas,
or craw led on the shores Of a turbulent
planet.
The iiend
Der bog or steep through strait rough Dense rare
With head, hands, wings or feet, pursucs his way,
And swims, sinks, wades, or creeps, or flies.
Paradise Lost. ., .j.E IL aH
With hocks of SUE hike creatures flying
in the air, and shoals oil no less mohstrous
ichlbyosauri and plesiosauri swarming in
the ocean, and gigantic crocodile and tor
toises crawling on the shores of The prlm-
eval lakes and rivers, air, sea, and land
mus, have been strangely tenanted in
those early periods Of our infant world'''
Ibid. 11 ~ ta
In the Tertiary period we meet with
the remains of large Pachyderms, or
thick skinned animals, somewhat similar
TO The rhinoceros and tapr Of modern
times. These animals, among Others,
abound in the Tertiary formations Of the
neigborhood of Paris.
Succeeding the Tertiary, we meet with
the Modern period-the reign of man
at the beginning of which geologists sup
pose. that.the climate Of the Northern
hemisphere, which had been, during the
Tertieryfperiod, considerably warmer than
now, sola to allow of the growth Of palm
trees In the temperate zone Of our time,
became much colder, causing The prlu
glaciers to advance south, much beyond
their previous limits. 1t was this ice,
either floating like iceSergs, or, as there
! is still more reason 10 believe, moving
along the ground, like the glaciers Of the
present day, that in its movement towards
the south, ronded and polished the hard
est rocks, and deposited the numerous
detached fragments brought from distant
localities, which we find everywhere
scattered about upon the soil, and which
are known under the name of erratics or
boulders. This phase of the earth's his
terry has been called by geologis.s, the
Glacial or Drift period.
After the ice that carried these boulders
had melted away, we find evidence uf
the action of water, which 60 10 prove
that the surface of North America and
the North of Europe was covered by the
sea, in consequence of the general subsl
dence Cor sinking) Of the continents
MAY not this, then, mark the period o
the Deluge? 1t is not until this period
known as the nluvial formation, that w
meet with inconteslible traces of the pre-
sent existing species ofanimals. Among
these there are representatives of all tn
genera and species now living around us
and besides these, many now extlnc'
some of them of a gigantic size, as the
Maslodon or Mammoth, which has, pro
badly, only become exlnc; within the
period marked by the records OF mans
: own history. An entire species Of The
Masiod has been preserved in the ice
of the northern regions. 1t was discov
cred in 1899 by Tongoose fisherman
on the borders of the icy sea. In five
wears afterwards, the ice in which it was
embedded melted away, leaving it entire
" exposed on thsncoastsa} The neck wal
furnished with long name, and the skin
was covered with black hairs, and red
dish sort of WOOL Two years afterwards
il was visited by Mr.. Adams More
than thirty pounds of hair and brlslle'
were carried away, which had been sunl
J into the humid soil by the white bear
, when devouring the flesh. The tusk
! were nine feet long, and the head, with
out the tusks, weighed 400 pounds.
For the information of our countrI.
readers, we remark, that the Museum o
! the Academy Of Natural Sciences in TIM
city, contains large collection OF tossl
f remains; and is open to the public tF' w
: DAYS in each week., A ticket, of sSSgsln.',ss Ills
ion may be obtained from agE ,of hi
} members Of the Acaiero 5n =,
(ro BHeeNTINuEI see
!. !. n gs.'l. ,|I ,s:3..r,;,: /. !,
! DanieI WebsteI, 3 IL. Benton 7l;an
!. General Scot ) Nj. Buchanan bein
bachelor, i q not thought delicate I
, allude Y ~ ears. y