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Show MONSTROUS REPTILES OF THE PAST, Olgantic Snakes and Lizards Which One Dwelt In America. The Rev. Pr. Gordon of Boston has re-eentjy re-eentjy made a study of the gigantio reptile irhich are supposed to havebeen the an, restors of modern enakes and lizards. One epeeies, the. C'lidastes, was of enormous sisce, attaining a lenjrth of 45 feet. Another, tha Mosasurua maxitnus, was nearly twice as ' big,-measuring when full grown not less than 80 feet. Yet larger was tha Liadon, bugest of all Um mighty saurians of that vanished era, which had a long muzzle that U surmised to have been used as a ram In fighting. These enormous creatures, crea-tures, in general form resembled eels, plowed the waters with j four paddles and a propelleilike tail. In nur-uit nur-uit of the tisbes which were their food. Their heads were large and flat and they wallowed their prey whole, being able to take in animals of greater girth than them-elves, them-elves, owing to the arrangement of their laws, which were provided midway of their length with hinges. Wheu they lived this continent was lower than it i now. New Jersey aud Delaware, as most of tha southern south-ern states, were under water, and the Rocky mountains, in places 1U,0(X feet les olevatod than at present, appeared as a ranuro separated sepa-rated from the valiey of the Mississippi by a broad expanse of bait water that was, in fact, au inland sea, teeming with animal life. In those days the real sea serpents not only existed but their numbers were almost incalculable, as i9 proved by their bones left lehind in the rock of subsequent formation, and iu many cases ao perfectly preserved that entire skeletons have been found and mounted in the museums. Prof. O. C. Marsh, of New H,aveu, speaks of having seen as many as six of these fossil monsters in view at tho same tinio in one small valley nut West. -After all, the question is merely hue of size. Inasmuch as marine t-nakes are ery plentiful at present in some parts of ihe world. They swarm iu the Indian ocean, and a naval officer was telling rae the other day that he had leen them in shoals of thousands together in the gu'if of fciam. So numerous wore they Uiat it was necessary to thread the cables, while at anchor, through barrels in order to brevent the reptiles from climbing up the ropes and coming aboard while the ship was at anchor. or was such a precaution by any means superfluous, owing to the fact that, as any one.may learn by turniugto the standard Natural History, these serpents are most dangerously poisonous. They evidently evi-dently traveled in croat numbers together. The seas from Madagascar to Pauania and from Japan to New inland are thickly infested in-fested with them. Dr. Stejr.eger, tho reptilian rep-tilian expert of the Smithsonian institution, ays that they are among the most poisonous of all known serpents, their venom being not lea deadly than that of the cobra or rattlesnake furthermore, they are very Herce and aggressive, and will commonly attack at-tack human beings if they get a chance. They do not frequent the shallows, unless possibly for breeding, but live in tbe open ocean. AVhen full grown they are from six to eight feet long. Fishermen in tbe waters where they are found are greatly afraid of them. Their bodies are flat and the inside of them is almost wholly filled by the lungs, which are large in order to that they may be enabled to stay beneath the surface for a long time without coming up to breathe. They have eyes ruoditied for seeing in the water, so that when they axe taken out of their native element they seem blinded and strike wildly. Their fangs, like those of the cobra, are always erect. |