Demoine courier., 1856-03-06

slain BY. cur noble st. George. .
FRS, and foremost among these is a
large vegetable eating reptile, called 'he
~lguanodom. The bodies of two Of the
largest Gle ohants would no. make up tina,
enormous carcass. The legs are ten feel
high from the foot TO the poin, of The
shoulder. II is between sixty and sew
erty fee. long, and--par paren.hesis-
The spesimen restored Al, the Crystal Pal.
ace, Sydenham, is sufficiently large 10
admit of twenty gentlemen dining IN the
inside of it. But there are o,her cr:a-
lures associated with i, scarcely Inferior
in size and more rugged in their FORM
The megalasaurus, or great sauroid, is
amongst the most remarkable of the
group; but there are others which are of
less s,ze, though of more monsirous
shapes. The Iabyrin.hodon or frog like
iep,ile was perhaps the most ugly and
grotesque creature tina, ever brealhed: bu,
the p~.erodao.ylus was, Of all creatures,
the mos. singular.
Still retaining the old coast in our i'm.
aginatlon. we may behold the pterodac
tylus sitting on the ground or standing
like a swan with the long neck resting
upon the back to support with ease the
heavy head, which is like tha. of the
crocodile. Approach it, and it will rise
into the air and fly like a bird. or cling
against The cliff like a bat. Whilst you
watch it, 1t will perhaps leave the rock,
and, taking to the sea, commence fishing.
You will thus perceive hat this creature
possesses. in the organization Of one an
imal, the head OF a crocodile, The neck
OF the swan, The wings Of the bat, a re-
senblance to The hand ola man, and legs
and feet which. enable tito swim anG to
walk. In all points of bony Structure,
from the teeth to the extremity of The
nails, i, was a reptile covered with scaly
armor and having a true reptilian hear,
and circulating organs. Its wings when
no.in use. were folded back like those of
a bird, and it could suspend itself with
claws attached 10 fingers from the brarc u
es Of a,tree. It's usual position, when,
not in motion, was standing on its hind
feet, with its neck set up and curved.
backwards lest the weigh, of the enorm
GUS head should disturb the equilibrium
of the animal. With the huge monsters
already described era wiling over the land,
aud tens Of thousands Of these fy ing rep
tiles lowering round or d~arkening the
air with their wings, England mus, have
been a strange place in the times of the
lguanodom. z
1, will thus be seen how much may be
learned from a few bones. Apoor work
man ia breaking a stone. in IIIga,c quar-
ry, England, found the tooth Of an igu.
anodom Embedded in it. lie sold j, for
a pot of beer to a man Of science, who
soon perceived that it could no. haze be
longed TO any known animal. On fur.
'her search being made other bones were
discovered, and the whole structure of
the animal was then known. Near were
found bones of other animals who hac
lived with il; and gradually, as the ligh,
enters a dark room. the whole country
thus came back to us peopled with its
former inhabi,ani; and we have only to
Pause over the picture with the poe. and
%lariisI, and WI live for a while in these
old times-so old that it seems 10 US the
morning of the world. Ru. the whole
are uow gone. Death has swept them
into his garner, and nothing but their
bones remain to tell the story Of their
ives.-Engfish Paper.