XV. The Mosasaurus, or _Fossil Reptile of Maestricht_. (Plate LXX.) The occasional discovery of bones and teeth of an unknown animal in the limestone of St. Peter's Mountain, near Maestricht, and the innumerable shells, corals, teeth of fishes, claws of crabs, echini, and other organic remains, had long since attracted the attention of naturalists, and rendered these quarries celebrated throughout Europe. In 1770, M. Hoffman, the surgeon of the Fort, who had for some years been assiduously collecting the fossils of this locality, had the good fortune to discover a specimen which has conferred an enduring celebrity on his name. Some workmen, on blasting the rock in one of the caverns of the interior of the mountain, perceived to their astonishment the jaws of a large animal attached to the roof of the chasm. The discovery was immediately made known to M. Hoffman, who repaired to the spot, and for weeks presided over the arduous task of separating the mass of stone containing these remains from the surrounding rock. His labours were rewarded by the successful extrication of the specimen, which he conveyed in triumph to his house. This extraordinary discovery soon became the subject of general conversation, and upon reaching the ears of the Canon of the cathedral which stands on the mountain, excited in that functionary a determination to claim the fossil, in right of being lord of the manor; and he unfortunately succeeded, after a long and harassing lawsuit, in obtaining this precious relic. It remained for years in his possession, and Hoffman died without regaining his treasure, or receiving any compensation. At length the French revolution broke out, and the armies of the republic advanced to the gates of Maestricht. The town was bombarded; but at the suggestion of the committee of savans who accompanied the French troops to select their share of plunder, the artillery was not suffered to bombard that part of the city in which the celebrated fossil was known to be preserved. In the mean time, the Canon of St. Peter's, shrewdly suspecting the reason why such peculiar favour was shown to his residence, removed the specimen, and concealed it in a vault; but when the city was taken, the French authorities compelled him to give up his ill-gotten prize, which was immediately transmitted to the Jardin des Plantes, at Paris, where it still forms one of the most striking objects in that magnificent collection.[130] [Footnote 130: Faujus St. Fond, in whose beautiful work on the fossils of St. Peter's Mountain the above account is given, remarks with much sang froid, "La _justice_, quoique tardive, arrive enfin avec le tems!" The reader will probably think that although the Canon was justly despoiled of his ill-gotten treasure, the French _savans_ were a very equivocal personification of _Justice_!]