adjacent vertebra fits and works.
In the Plesiosaurus, as I have al-
ready described, this is absent, and
the bones present simple, flat, or
very slightly doubly concave sur-
faces to each other; but in the
Ichthyosaurus and in fishes the
two cup-shaped hollows are deep
and strongly marked (figs. 60, 61), so that there was
considerable interspace between the centre of two
Fig. 61 adjacent vertebrae. This interspace is
filled with fluid in the case of fishes
and the Ichthyosaur, allowing of those
minute but incessant and very impor-
tant lateral motions by which the fish,
supported and floating in the water
without effort, moves itself readily in
every direction. In this respect, therefore, the
Ichthyosaur had the advantage of all reptiles, for,
being an inhabitant of the sea, it was provided with
the same power of ready motion and great flexibility
as the fishes themselves.
But still this strange monster was a reptile. To
ICHTHYOSAURUS.
(Vertebra.)
OF CREATION. 167
the vertebrse thus constructed were attached not only
true ribs, but a continued series of them along the
whole length of the body, enclosing the great cavities
of the heart, abdomen, &c., with a perfect vaulting
of elastic bone. Across the chest these ribs are con-
nected by intermediate bones, each set consisting of
five, overlapping each other as in the Plesiosaur,
and doubtless performing a similar office.* But in
the Ichthyosaurus the breast-bone to which these
ribs were attached presents some peculiarities ex-
ceedingly remarkable and characteristic.
In the whale tribe the breast-bone is developed
so as to enclose the complicated apparatus of lung
necessary for air-breathing warm-blooded animals,
having a complete circulation ; but in the true ma-
rine reptiles this is by no means the case, and we
find that, although this apparatus of the breast-bone
is present, it is so in order that it may form a support
and a point of resistance to the fore-paddles of the
animal.
In this respect again there is another curious
analogy between the Ichthyosaur and the Duck-
billed Platypus or Ornithorhynchm of Australia,
one of the most anomalous of living animals, which
seems to require the same kind of contrivance, and
possesses it in a nearly similar manner. (
* Nineteen pairs of ribs have been found thus connected in one speci-
men of Ichthyosaurus from Lyme Regis.
t The bones which correspond to the shoulder bone are articulated to
a short and stout scapula (shoulder blade) like that of birds ; the fore
part of this is fixed both to the clavicle (or collar-bone), and to the bone
corresponding with the breast bone, while the other receives the extremity
of the humerus (shoulder bone) , and is also attached to another bone pro-
ceeding from the blade-bone, and in man merely forming a projecting sur-
168 PICTURESQUE SKETCHES
The hinder extremities, although strong, do not
exhibit any special contrivance, and were not at-
tached with unusual strength to the back-bone and
the sacrum, so that it appears that the habits and
necessities connecting this creature with the fishes
have been here chiefly considered. The hinder ex-
tremities are also usually smaller than the others. In
serpents we have a similar arrangement ; but in that
case the extremities are merely rudimentary, and are
of no use to the animal in locomotion.
The paddles or fins by which the Ichthyosaurus
made its way throu'gh the water are very curious
and interesting, for they are perhaps more perfect
modifications of the true fish structure to the habits
of an animal occasionally coming on shore, than any
that can be referred to in nature. They at the same
time exhibit the true reptilian structure of the
animal, and thus show us how perfectly and yet how
simply the legs of a quadruped and the fins of a fish
are still formed according to a similar law of develop-
ment, although intended for such different purposes,
and presenting such very different appearances.
We have already considered the peculiar apparatus
by which the paddles are made to rest upon the
back-bone by means of a sternum or breast-bone
affording a resisting power, but not connected with
the ribs. It remains now to consider the form and
structure of the fin or paddle itself.
face upon it. These latter bones again also articulate with the breast-
bone, so that there is a double attachment, rendering the whole more secure,
and providing a resisting surface, against which the extremities may safely
press with the whole weight of the animal, without these parts yielding
inwards and pressing against the soft muscular masses.
OF CREATION.
169
The shoulder-bone, already alluded to, works upon
a kind of blade-bone, but is not
fitted into a deep socket. Its
form somewhat resembles that
of the corresponding bone in
birds; and this bone, as well
as the two which represent
the fore-arm, are distinct, but
very short and broad in pro-
portion to their length, espe-
cially the two latter, which
are often nearly round, and
sometimes broader than they
are long. Then come a num-
ber of small round bones, which
represent those of the wrist,
and complete two ill-defined
rows. After them succeed a
multitude of little bones (see
figure), arranged in distinct
rows and fitting one another,
but not exhibiting any mark
of that division into fingers,
which may be traced in the
skeleton even of the most aquatic of the mammalia.
The bones increase in number as they diminish in
size, to the termination of the paddle. They form
from three to six series, and are so dovetailed toge-
ther as to constitute an uniformly resisting framework,
acting as a simple oar.
Such was the skeleton of this fin, or paddle, as
made known by various examples, some of them
quite perfect ; but we are fortunately in a condition to
ICHTHYOSAURUS.
(Restored Paddle.)
170 PICTURESQUE SKETCHES
tell yet more of its structure, and thence deduce
more clearly the habits of the animal. In one speci-
men of the paddle (fig. 62), obtained from Barrow-
upon-Soar, in Leicestershire, not only the bones, but
the actual outlines of the extremity of the fin, are
clearly defined, and are found to exhibit the impres-
sion of a number of rays extending downwards and
forking off towards the end. It is clear, from the
extreme rarity of their preservation, that these rays
were not bony, and they were probably either cartila-
ginous, or formed of that albuminous horn-like tissue,
of which the marginal rays of the shark's fin consist.
The fore part of the fin was terminated by a small
unbroken and well-defined line, probably only a thick-
ening of the skin; and the dimensions of the soft part,
compared with the skeleton, show that the total length
of the extremity would be about half as much again
as that of its bony and solid portion.
The tail of the Ichthyosaurus was of great length,
the number of vertebrae extending beyond the hinder
extremities being very much greater than half the
whole number possessed by the animal. At about
the 30th vertebra from the pelvis there have been
observed, in most of the more perfect specimens, dis-
tinct marks of a fracture, this portion of the tail being
generally bent off at an angle. -At the same point,
too, there is generally a slight displacement of a few
of the bones. This, however, is not all. At the
point thus indicated a modification of the form of
the vertebra has been observed, so that the rest
(forming the tail) have a somewhat oblong shape,
just the reverse of what is known to occur in the
whale, where these bones are a little flattened. Now
OF CREATION. 1 71
in the whales there is a powerful horizontal tail, by
the beating of which up and down against the water,
the animal is enabled at once to sink or raise itself in
the water with extreme rapidity and force ; but the
only indication of such a tail in the skeleton consists
of this slight flattening in a horizontal direction.
From the position and regularity of appearance of the
fractured tail of the Ichthyosaurus, and from the shape
of the vertebrse, it has been concluded that this animal
was provided with a long vertical tail, like that of
fishes*; and, as we know that it was amply provided
with paddles which would enable it to rise or sink
very readily, such a tail would be of the greatest
possible utility in producing rapid motion through
the water a power possessed to an almost incredible
extent by some of the larger and more voracious fishes,
such as the shark, and one which in them transcends
any locomotive power that man has yet been able
to attain, exceeding even that which birds possess in
their familiar element the air. It should not be for-
gotten that a powerful vertical tail would be almost
necessary to the Ichthyosaurus to enable it to turn with
precision and rapidity, so that its elongated head
should be able to make a sudden and sure seizure
of the anticipated prey.
Having now mentioned successively the most strik-
ing peculiarities of each part of the skeleton of this
animal, and having even drawn conclusions with
* After the death of the animal the vertebral column would very soon
tend to fall asunder, owing to the absence of connecting processes, and the
deep interspaces filled with fluid that existed between each pair of verte-
brae. The mere weight of a vertical tail falling on one side would thus
drag with it a portion of the bony series, and produce the dislocation so
often observed.
i 2
172 PICTURESQUE SKETCHES
regard to such parts as the cartilaginous fins of the
paddle, and the position and shape of the tail, or
rather tail-fin, the reader will naturally conclude that
the subject is exhausted, and that it remains only to
sum up into a general view these various details. But
the case is not so. We have seen that in this bed'of
fine mud, the bodies of animals were deposited and
preserved so completely, that the skeletons, after the
soft parts had decayed, retained their relative position,
exhibiting all the important points of structure. Cir-
cumstances, however, sometimes occurred by which
individuals, overtaken perhaps by sudden destruction,
have been at once embedded, a perfect cast being
formed of every part, internal as well as external, so
that the skin, the contents of the stomach, its propor-
tional magnitude and other details, may be learnt
by careful study of the specimens thus embalmed and
handed down to us. But, before dwelling upon these
obscure and minute points, there are others to be men-
tioned scarcely less curious, resulting from the conti-
nued resort of great families of these monsters to par-
ticular spots. Possibly these spots may have been
good feeding-ground, and favourable for the deve-
lopment of the larger mollusca and fishes, or the pre-
sence of shallows and neighbouring land may have
been especially advantageous for breeding; but, at
any rate, it is certain that we find, here and there,
localities where vast multitudes of pellets of an oval
shape and various size are accumulated. These pellets
often contain fragments of bone, teeth, or fish scales,
and are now recognized as being beyond question the
fossilized dung of the great marine reptiles. They
are spoken of by Geologists under the name of Co-
OF CREATION.
173
prolites,* or dung-stones (fig. 63). From the exami-
nation of these fossils it is easy to determine the
nature of the food of the animals and 'some other
points ; and when, as happened occasionally, the ani-
mal was killed while the process of p . 63
digestion was going on, the stomach
and intestines being partly filled with
half digested food, and exhibiting the
coprolites actually in situ, we can
make out with certainty, not only
the true nature of the food, but the
proportionate size of the stomach,
and the length and nature of the
intestinal canal.
Within the cavity of the ribs
of an extinct animal, the palaeon-
tologist thus finds recorded in in-
delible characters some of those hie-
roglyphics upon which he founds his history. He
learns, that of this animal, manifestly well adapt-
ed for the most predaceous habits, the stomach formed
a pouch of prodigious size, extending through nearly
the entire cavity of the body. It was therefore of a
capacity well proportioned to the powerful jaws and
teeth which were admirably and beautifully con-
trived to supply its wants. With this enormous
stomach, there was, however, very little room for a
corresponding intestinal canal, and it is interesting to
find the shape of the coprolites distinctly showing
that this part of the animal economy in the Ichthyo-
saurus, as in the most voracious of the existing fishes,
* KoTrpoc (copras), dung ; \i9oc (lithos), a stone. There are strata,
many square miles in extent, almost made np of these fossils.
COPROLITE.
174 PICTURESQUE SKETCHES
consisted of a flattened tube, twisted into a spiral or
corkscrew form, and reduced to the smallest possible
dimensions.
Judging from the existing reptiles, and the gigan-
tic sauroid fishes of the older period, it might per-
haps have been anticipated that the marine saurians,
of which the Ichthyosaurus is one of the most import-
ant genera, should be provided with hard bony plates,
or scutes, as they are called, at once enclosing and
defending the animal. The absence of such scutes
among the fossils of the lias, which has not only
retained and handed down all the hard parts in great
abundance and perfection, but exhibits even some of
the softer portions of the body, would alone render
this questionable. But the doubt has been completely
justified by the discovery of actual portions of the un-
defended skin, which, preserving the analogy with the
cetaceans, appears to have been naked, of considerable
thickness, and covered with minute folds and wrinkles
on the belly, instead of scales.
Fig. 64
ICHTHYOSAURUS.
(Restored Outline.)
On the whole, then, the Ichthyosaurus may be de-
scribed as an air-breathing reptile, which sometimes
attained a length of thirty to forty feet, which was co-
vered like a whale with smooth, naked, thick skin, and
OF CREATION. 175
whose place of ordinary habitation was the open sea.
Its head was large and somewhat like that of the
dolphin, but its general form, no less than the par-
ticular contrivances of the jaws and teeth, were truly
crocodilian. Associated with this crocodilian head,
we find enormous eagle-like eyes, carefully defended
and made admirably efficient by an apparatus of bony
scales, permitting distant vision in the air, near the sur-
face of the water, and in the dim abysses of the ocean.
The body of this creature was perfectly flexible and
fish-like, but, instead of fins, it had two pair of very
powerful paddles, permitting of the utmost freedom
of motion in swimming, and forming not inconvenient
limbs to assist in locomotion on land. A large and
efficient vertical tail completed this strange mixture
of fish, reptile, and whale, and, though no living
representative exists not merely of its genus, but even
of the great natural order to which it belongs, it once
played no unimportant part in extensive tracts of
ocean, which soon after the commencement of the
secondary period covered that part of the northern
hemisphere now occupied by the continent and islands
of Europe.
Towards the close of the deposit of the great mass
of red sandstone and marl which immediately rests
on the palaeozoic rocks, these beds seem to have gra-
dually changed their character, the marl prepon-
derating and becoming more calcareous. Although
sandy and calcareous mud was still deposited uni-
formly, abundantly, and very widely, we have in the
beds of mud thus preserved no distinct indications of
the vicinity of land, for the fragments of wood that
occur are almost invariably covered with marine
176 PICTURESQUE SKETCHES
animals, proving that they had floated or been drifted
far out to sea. The change in the sea-bottom, and the
lapse of time, accompanied by the upheaval or sink-
ing of land, produced the effect of destroying many
old species, while other new ones entered the field.
These exhibited an undoubted approximation to the
animals of a later period, and include some very
curious star -fishes, several crustaceans, and a large
number of mollusca or shell-fish, both bivalve and uni-
valve, all having analogies with existing species, though
all specifically different. Of these the most remark-
able in their departure from the existing type are
the Pentacrinite, the Terebratulse among bivalve shells,
and the ammonite and belemnite among the univalves.
The fishes and the reptiles exhibit still more promi-
nently the differences that then existed.
If we wish to pass in review the various groups
most characteristic of this singular period, concerning
whose natural history we have so many and such dis-
tinct facts recorded, we must imagine a wide tract
of open sea, into which a quantity of fine sediment
of calcareous mud was in some way carried and depo-
sited."" 5 ' From the distant land whence this mud was
washed came also occasionally trunks of trees con-
veyed by marine or river currents. Attached to them,
and also occasionally fastened to sea-weeds or other
floating bodies, would appear in large clusters (like
the bunches of barnacles sometimes suspended from a
ship's bottom) the singular pentacrinites, their long
stony column fringed thickly with branches of articu-
lated stone, with a stony coat of mail surrounding the
* Such a deposit is probably now going on in the Yellow Sea, off the
coasts of China.
OF CREATION. 177
pouch or stomach, and a similar but more delicate de-
fence covering the extensile proboscis. With innumer-
able arms widely extended in a complicated fringe, this
strange mass of living stone expanded itself, and drew
within its cold embrace the floating bodies on which it
fed. One might fancy that some marine Briareus,
looking on the strife and carnage of this great rep-
tilian period, whose horrors might well have had the
fabled effect attributed to the snakes of Medusa's
head, had suddenly become petrified, retaining how-
ever its vital powers, and, with its complicated skele-
ton, continued to perform its office by cleansing the
sea of an accumulation of decaying animal matter.
But while the Pentacrinite was thus the floating
scavenger of that period, the bottom of the sea, al-
though not covered with encrinites and corals, was
well provided with other animals performing the same
part in nature. The great beds of Gryphea the oys-
ters of their day are sufficient proof of this, and the
Terebratulse and Spirifers tell the same tale. Among
the invertebrate animals, however, the ammonite and
the belemnite were undoubtedly the most remarkable,
and, at least in certain districts of the sea, were enor-
mously abundant. Some of them being enclosed in
shells, some enclosing shells, and some perhaps not
provided with any solid framework, swam about, or
dwelt at various depths, and by their carnivorous and
voracious habits greatly tended to keep down the
exuberance of the lower forms of life.
The neighbourhood of the shore, and the shallow
banks during this period were peopled by multitudes
of fishes of moderate size, living chiefly on the crabs,
lobsters, and shell-fish, or on the encrinital animals ;
i 5
178 PICTURESQUE SKETCHES
and, for the purpose of crushing the shells of such
creatures, these fishes were provided with a pavement
of hard rough enamelled teeth fixed on the palate.
The whole body also and the head were covered
with plates of bone, also coated with enamel, and
serving as a defence against the attack of the
larger ammonites and belemnites. Farther out at
sea were tribes of sharks of different species, all pre-
daceous and carnivorous, and many of them of the
most gigantic proportions. No fishes like those now
common on the coasts of England then existed on the
earth.
The fishes, though abundant and represented by a
powerful and important group, had ceased to be the
lords of creation in the lias seas. The depths of the
sea as well as the shallows, the broad expanse of
waters as well as the coast-line, were in those days
the dwelling-places of a group of reptiles of which
every representative has long since become extinct.
Two of these have more especially attracted atten-
tion, in consequence of their great abundance in the
fossil state in our own country, but they are by no
means the only ones known. Of these two, one was
more exclusively tenant of the deep, while the other
was probably more frequently met with on the mud
banks or on shore. Both were truly marine in their
habits, and both seem to have served as the represen-
tatives of the great cetacean tribe the whales, the
porpoises, and other similar animals now existing.
It is difficult to imagine, without appearing to cari-
cature, the conditions of existence of such animals.
We know indeed their form, their proportions, their
strange contrivances of structure, their very skin, and
OF CREATION. 179
the food which they devoured, and yet, knowing with
absolute certainty these points, we hardly dare draw
the conclusions which are suggested.
But I will venture to carry out the idea, and fill up
in yet greater detail a sketch of the condition of the
sea and its inhabitants during this portion of the rep-
tilian epoch.
There were then perhaps existing on or near the
land some of those reptiles which I shall describe in
the next chapter ; and with them were associated some
true crocodilians, not much unlike the fresh- water
garial inhabiting the Ganges. These, perhaps, might
occasionally swim out to sea, and be found in the
neighbouring shoals.
But these shoals were alive with myriads of inver-
tebrated animals; and crowds of sharks hovered about,
feeding upon the larger forms. There were also nu-
merous other animals, belonging to those remark-
able groups which I have attempted to describe in
some detail. Imagine then one of these monstrous
animals, a Plesiosaurus, some sixteen or twenty feet
long, with a small wedge-shaped crocodilian head, a
long arched serpent-like neck, a short compact body,
provided with four large and powerful paddles, almost
developed into hands ; an animal not covered with
brilliant scales, but with a black slimy skin. Imagine
for a moment this creature slowly emerging from the
muddy banks, and half walking, half creeping along,
making its way towards the nearest water. Arrived
at the water, we can understand from its structure
that it was likely to exhibit greater energy. Unlike
the crocodile tribe, however, in all its proportions, it
must have been equally dissimilar in habit. Perhaps,
180 PICTURESQUE SKETCHES
instead of concealing itself in mud or among rushes,
it would swim at once boldly and directly to the
attack. Its enormous neck stretched out to its full
length, and its tail acting as a rudder, the powerful
and frequent strokes of its four large paddles would
at once give it an impulse, sending it through the
water at a very rapid rate. When within reach of
its prey, we may almost fancy that we see it drawing
back its long neck as it depressed its body in the
water, until the strength of the muscular apparatus
with which this neck was provided, and the great ad-
ditional impetus given by the rapid advance of the
animal, would combine to produce a stroke from the
pointed head which few living animals could resist.
The fishes, including perhaps even the sharks, the
larger cuttle-fish, and innumerable inhabitants of the
sea, would fall an easy prey to this monster.
But now let us see what goes on in the deeper
abysses of the ocean, where a free space is given for
the operations of that fiercely carnivorous marine
reptile, the Ichthyosaurus. Prowling about at a great
depth, where the reptilian structure of its lungs and
the bony apparatus of the ribs would allow it to
remain for a long time without coming to the air to
breathe, we may fancy we see this strange animal,
with its enormous eyes directed upwards, and glaring
like globes of fire ; its length is some thirty or forty
feet, its head being six or eight feet long ; and it has
paddles and a tail like a shark ; its whole energies
are fixed on what is going on above, where the Plesio-
saurus or some giant shark is seen devouring its
prey. Suddenly, striking with its short but compact
paddles, and obtaining a powerful impetus by flapping
OF CREATION. 181
its large tail, the monster darts through the water
at a rate which the eye can scarcely follow towards