as for instance, the snakes. Thirdly, the tongue must have been long and forked and for this reason: its position was still anterior to the glottis, so that there was no space for it except it were inclosed in a sheath beneath the windpipe when at rest, or thrown out beyond the jaws when in motion. Such is the arrangement in the nearest living forms, and it is always, in these cases, cylindric and forked. The flying saurians of the cretaceous sea of Kansas, though not numerous in species, were of remarkable size. Though their remains are generally flattened by the pressure of the overlying rocks, two species have left a complete record of their form and dimensions. One of them (_Ornithochirus Tarpyia_) spread eighteen feet between the tips of the wings, while the _O. umbrosus_ covered nearly twenty-five feet with his expanse. These strange creatures flapped their leathery wings over the waves, and, often plunging, drew many a fish from its companions of the shoal; or, soaring at a safe distance, viewed the sports and combats of the more powerful saurians of the sea; or, trooping to the shore at nightfall, suspended themselves to the cliffs by the claw-bearing fingers of their wing-limbs. [Illustration: DEVELOPING--ONE OF THE FIRST FAMILIES.] In connection with the subject of the old lakes and their fertile shores, where human beings, it might reasonably be expected, once lived so comfortably, the editor of this volume begs to lay before the reader (in a sort of parenthesis, for which Professor Cope is in no way responsible) an effort of Sachem's. He dedicated it to Darwin, and was pleased to call it, notwithstanding it smells more of the fossil-bone caves than the fields, THE PRIMEVAL MAN'S PASTORAL. My grandfather Jock was an ape, His grandfather Twist was a worm; Each age has developed in shape, And ours has got rid of the squirm; If the law of selection will work in our case, We'll develop, in time, to a wonderful race. My sweetheart has claws, and her face Is covered with bristles and hair; She's feline in nature and grace, She's apt to get out on a tear, She's cursed with a passion to sing after night; But these she'll evolve, and develop all right. One race has evolved in the sea, And partly got rid of their scales; Though cousin by faces to me, They're cousin to fishes by tails; But they'll ever remain simply mer-men and women, For selection won't work, in the world that they swim in. 'T is said that Gorilla the Great, Who rules as the chief of our clan, Has found in the annals of fate, We're soon to evolve into man; Furthermore, that our children will doubt whence they came, Till a fellow named Darwin shall put them to shame. CHAPTER XXIV. CONTINUED BY COPE--THE GIANTS OF THE SEAS--TAKING OUT FOSSILS IN A GALE--INTERESTING DISCOVERIES--THE GEOLOGY OF THE PLAINS.