L

ICTHYOSAURUS, OR FISH-LIZARD.

295

opinion respecting the position of its nostrils; they also marked the resemblances and differences of structure between its head and the head of lizards.

"At length, Cuvier himself, being in possession of all these discoveries, and aided by various drawings, and fragments sent to him for the purpose, supplied some remaining deficiencies in the description previously given, and confirmed the relationship of the animal to the tribe of lizards.' The progressive discovery of the structure of the icthyosaurus appears to have occupied about the same number of years as the siege of Troy. You see, Harry, that if ever you would be a natural philosopher, you must not be discouraged by repeated mistakes and failures, but arm yourself with patience, and return to the search again. The history of the fish-lizard offers great encouragement to perseverance; the joint inquiries of the naturalists I have mentioned were at length so successful, that if the colour of the animal and the form of its scales could be ascertained, we might have a faithful portrait of a creature which perhaps the eye of man has never seen alive, and which pro

1 Ure, p. 229, 231, and 242.

bably has not existed upon the earth for many thousand years! Since that is unattainable, I am glad I have it in my power, to give you a little drawing of the entire skeleton, from which you may form a very tolerable idea of the animal."

Great was Harry's delight when his mother took the drawing out of her portfolio and put it into his hand.

"You must not," said she, "consider this as an exact representation of any skeleton that has actually been found. In all of them, I believe, some of the bones were crushed, or displaced, while in this little sketch they appear to be restored to their original situation. You must allow for this."

"I understand you, mamma," replied he; "and now I have a distinct notion of the creature. I could almost take it for a crocodile, if it had feet instead of those strange paddles. But I do not understand the eye as it is only a skeleton, I think the eye should have been represented merely as a hollow space."

"That is not intended for the eye, which, as you observe, could not be seen in a skeleton. It is a circle of bony pieces, surrounding the space where the eye has been. Birds, tortoises, and lizards have

"Surely that is strange," said Harry; "the fishlizard is in other respects so like a crocodile, and so unlike a bird! This does not seem like the uniformity you often speak of as prevailing in the works of Providence."

"It may appear so at first sight; but you may be sure, whenever this is the case, that the defect lies, not in the contrivance of the Artist, but in our comprehension of his design. Why do you suppose the eyes of birds are furnished with this rim of bony pieces?"

Harry pondered for a few minutes, and then said he was quite at a loss to suppose what purpose could be answered by it. "Read a short passage out of the book lying beside you on the table, and hold the book almost close to your face while you are reading." Harry made the attempt, and then said: "It is of no use; I cannot read, nor even distinguish a letter."

"I dare say not," replied his mother. "If it had been of any importance to your welfare, no doubt your eyes would have been so constructed that you might see distinctly at that short distance; but you

1 Ure, p. 234.