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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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mktt imid ' . Wa ma . my-tin an aMtirafet bf ft * Willis < fe § 6 Hpfciohs : The Dmotherium was the largest of terrestrial mammalia . The most abundant remains df It are Found m Hesse Da ^ sfeilt , aid fragments are fcccasfonaiiy discovered in France ? Austriay and Bavaria It
was * gigantic herbivorous , aquatic quadruped , an inhabitant of iflfefth water lakes atad rivers ; The length of the creature was eighteen feet . It hid vk ttife lo ^ erjaw * wh&h was four feet long , Wo enormous tuskl ^ curved downwards ; but their weight wbuld not be incomniodiGus because inistained by the water , and they would serve as instruments for raking ub
by the coast large aquatic vegetables from the b 6 ttom . Dr Bucklarid also suggests that , hooked by them to the bank , with the nostrils sustained above the water , tne body of the fiinotherium might tranquilly float beneath the surface of the lake while he slept , the weight of tne fteM and body tehdihg to anchor him , without his using the slightest miiscular action .
The animal which differs most from every existing sjteeies ^ is tMfe Meg&therram ; It probably had a shout sufficientl y long to gather lift roots from the ground . Its teeth were molar , sixteen in number , nearly of a prismatic form > each from seven to nine inches in length , and fiittt in a socket of great depth . As they were quickly worn awajf , a ^ rdvisioh was made to supply the loss by the constant additioh of new ifiafc teP ^ t the root . It was an admirable ap paratus for , the mastication $ F roots . The diameter of the tail was two feet , and the circuniffereTSfe H& ;
It is su ^ osed that , like the Armadillo , this ienormbus tail heljptfel w suppdrt the vast weight of its body and armdur by griasping the bbSgh of a tree while it Was Ceding . The fore-leg was usqd jn digging Sji r 66 ts-, and was capable of a rotatory motion like that of tiie ntlmaii ffflftr . The fore-foot was a yard in length and twelve ihehes wide ; Tfcift Ungth ) beside the prodigious width of the pelvis , was unfavourable t'd locomo
tion , but enabled one fore-leg , when acting with the two hindlegs and tail , to support the body , leaving the other fore-le £ to be employed in digging . The toes had large and powerful claws . Our author says that by a single pat of its £ aw , or lash of its tail , thii atiimaj could in an instant have demolished the couguar or the crocodile . The hind-foot was very differently formed . The heel boiie was seventeen iftc ! &s fei % and twMty-eight in circumference . Tne bones of the t 6 es weli WL short etcept tfie extreme joint , which formed an enormbui claw TO $ thirteen inches in circumference . The tise of tlie hMif c % ? w mk to keep the foot steadily fixed . The hide w&S covered With a btiiLy W&
of armour from three fourths of an inch to an inch and a half thick . The use was to defend the animal against the tusks and claws of other jEfnimals , or rather , perhaps , against the clouds of venomous insects thaj would have produced irritation and disease while the animal was digging ' beneath a broiling sun . The ichthyosaurus was a species of crocpdile or lizard . Th « J eye was frequently larger than a mail ' s head . It Md Mmti&tM * Wm'tCWM ) ic ttbw ^ , hi Fr # t of the cavily ih wnteli tfte # e ^ UsJ ^ mSL ^ m 4 Pf Setfelohffi B ^^ ™ hi * % unit msim us * m $ < & ^ lo ^ pt > m& 1 fcm $ mm im >^ mm ! t i » # ¦* m ^ mM i m h $ » fmi ' $ -im
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Bxtktnnd ' s Gedogy . 275
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 1, 1837, page 275, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1831/page/20/
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