The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-03-12


When life first arose upon the seas, still
hot and the land still quaking and baking
over the internal fires then 80 near the
q Surface, it was no doubt In small and crude
forms. Gradually the animal and vege-
table Kingdoms divided. In the animal
kingdom there were invertebrates of which,
+ except in the shell fish, we can have no
traces to-day, In natures museums there
must be bones or nothing at all. After this,
through the long eras, the fishes developed
and the reptiles. When these had divided
into countless species. there appeared among
them, fostered by what forces we know not,
huge creatures, partly fish aud partly
reptile. From the vast numbers of skele-
tons and fragments of skeletons Of these
monsters, the seas must have swarmed with
them.
The first of these for our menagerie is the
fish lizard, known pretty well as the icthyo>
saurus. This monster is regarded by natur-
ellsts as one Of the most INDUSTRIOUS ever dis
covered. 1t possessed the snout Of a dol
phin, the teeth of crocodile, and the head
OF lizard, the paddles of a whale and the
vertebrB of a fish. 1t was a powerful
creature tina. grew 10 be anywhere from
ten to forty feet in length. It's tail was its
chief means Of propulsion, but that, in
process OF time, was greatly aided by two
pairs of paddles Its skin was smooth or
slightly wrinklsd, and it had no scales. The
lcthyosaurus breathed with lungs and
not with gills, but, as it was cold
blooded and small-brained, it could keep
under water a very long time, But
its eyes were the most interesting feature.
Theg were OF grent size, and by au arrange
ment of bony plates could be 80 focused
that the lcthyoSaurus could mako itself near
or far sighted, as it chose. 1t could also see
where there was almost no light as in ocean
depths, or at thu surface. 1t must have
been able to protect its long narrow body
through the waters very swiftly In pursuit.
Of the smaller FISH of those remote DAYS.
But the fish lizards themselves also had
enemies, and, after few tens Of thousands
OF years, they disappeared or merged into
other types better adapted to the changed
conditions.
Existing at the same time with the fish
lizards or icthyosaurs were the sea lizards
or plesiosaurs. OF this strange creature
Cuvier said that it was the most monstrous
thing that ever lived, 80 far as man had
dlscoV ered. It had the head Of a lizard and
the teeth of crocodile. Then came
neck OF enormous length, like a huge
serpent. The trunk and tail were similar
to and OF the bulk of some enormous quad
ruped. But instead of legs it had paddles
tho paddles Of a whale. This reptile
probably swan upon or near the surface,
Rrching back its long neck like a swan, oc-
happened to float within its reach. 1t may
perhaps have lurked in shoal water along
the coast, concealed among the seaweed,
aud raising its nostrils to a level with the
surface from a considerable depth, may
have found secure retreat from the as
saults of enemies. These creatures, in the
full glory of their race, were seldom less
than twenty feet long and often thirty or
forty feet long.
Next we come to the groups of sea SER
pents. some of them closely related to the
sea lizards, others quite distinct. In the
order of time it is thought that all these be-
long TO a much later period than fish lizards
or sea lizards, but this is still an open ques-
ton. Furthermore, in the opinion Of some
biologists 1t is barely possible that one OF
these groups may have survived to the
present day and that the sea serpent 80 often
seen and as often dispute is solitary de-
scendant or one of a solitary family de-
scended from these monsters Of the seas in
The fur cretaceous period.
OF these ancient sea serpents some fsmi-
lies were only about twenty-five feet long,
others had fifty feet as their Creates length,
while still others stretched their great
bodies, as bulky as an elephants 10 the
thlckest part, to length Cf seVenty-tive
Ieet and more. Like the snake birds OF
FLORIDA, this reptile probably often swan
many feet below the surface, raising the
head to the distant air for breath, then with
DRAWING it, and exploring the depths forty
ieet below without altering the position of
It's body. From the localities in which the
bones have teen found in Kansas it must
have wandered far from land, and that
many kinds OF fishes formed its food is shown
oy the teeth and scales found in the position
OF its stom CD.
Among the fossils OF this mesoZnic or rep
uIlan era have been found the remains of
thousands upon thousands Of the various
species and genus Of flying lizards or
pIerodactyls These flying lizards had
wings, not true wings, but such excellent
substitutes as those possessed by the bat
o'me had teeth and others had not. Some
could fly or walk or swim, as they chose,
while Others could only fly and hop. some
ave ush, otherg insects and fruits. Some
we're no larger than spsrrows, while others
hhd wings that expandsd To an extreme