Nebraska advertiser. [volume] (Brownville, Nemaha County, N.T. [Neb.]) 1856-1882, 1882-02-09

Jersey waters and shores were populous.
In this very Marlboro pit P-of. Lock-
wood once found the remains Of a Meso.
zoic swapping turtle, with a shell IA big
as n cart wheel and so strong that a
battery Of artillery, if such thing can
be imagined rs existing in those days,
might have been driven over it without
disturbing the creature under the dome.
Lowest of all were the PythOnOmorphs,
TO which our serpent belonged, and
which had features forcshadowing the
snakes Of our time.
All high-class snakes are particular
about swallowing their food whole, and
since they are ambitious to surround
animals whose diameter is twice as
great as their own, they need Il special
provision to give hospital admission to-
big mouthful without uniointinS their
Jaws They have therefore been pro-
yidcd with "a hinge in the bone on either
side of the upper jaw. 80 that after
they open their mouths rs wide as pos
sible they can spring the jaw upward at
this extra Joint. and make still more
roomy passage. Our Monmouth SER
pent had double jointed jaw Of this
dlatablc pattern. Again. after II snake
has seized his living prey, il would be
embarrassing for him to open his mouth
to take more comprehensive hold, for
n disobliging animal would take advan-
tagc of the opportunity to retire. To
guard against such an accident, the
snake is equipped with smaller super
m iatt
which he drops on his prey to detain it
while hc takes fresh hitch. Our Mon
mouth serpent was furnished with this
eXtrn grapnel jaw TO aid him in the
process of ingcStiOn, so that his general
maXillary makeup plainly shows what
he took for dinner. and how he took
il. A thick, lleshy tongue would
hardly be tolerated in mouth where
spaciousneSS was Il prime necessity, and.
reasoning from analogy, we may assume
that this member was slender, ~ it is
in true snakes, and capable of being
neatly tucked away in cavity Of
the lower jaw. When Prof Lockwood
pictures the reptile, therefore, he repre-
SCENTS him as blowing through the sea
with his head lifted high above the
waves and braDdishinga Notwithstanding
bifurcated and cord-like tongue. He
was probably not highly intellectual, as
his bran-casc was comparatively email,
and the epithet soft-pated " could be
literally applied to him, for the forward
part of his head was not ossiiied. His
impelling force. mainly furnished by the
tail, was increased by four paddles, the
upper bones of which were short and OF
immense strength, and perhaps con-
cealed in his side, leaving exposed only
the long hands and feet The ankles
and wrists, however, had no rotary
movement, so that the paddles could
move only in one plane. Undoubtedly
he had basking habits, and when glutted
with his prey he would retire to some
shallow lagoon and snooze in the warm
water with his head turned To one side
and his tail affectionatelv encircling it.
II is said that Prof. Cook, of Rutgers
College, has secured the refusal of this
specimen. The serpent will require
much reconstruction and restoration if
he is to make anything like n creditable
exhibition of himself for his remains are
very incomplete and fragmentary. If
properly restored Il roomy cabinet
would be needed to contain him. N. T.
Tribune.