Country-Side Volume 1; A Wildlife Magazine (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1905 Excerpt: ...containing the skeleton of a fishli/ard or ichthyosauras, within the' ribs of which are the skeletons of a number of much smaller individuals of the same species-.-This specimen (which is not yet exhibited to the public), together with several others from the same locality, demonstrates that the ichthyosauer brought forth their young alive, a feature in which they resemble modern seasnakes. This is evidently, in both cases, a special adaptation to an aquatic existence. Visitors to the Mammal Gallery in the same building will not fail to be struck with a magnificent specimen of a wild hippopotamus from the Zambesi, which has replaced a poorlymounted specimen from the Zoo. This new specimen, which is of enormous dimensions and nearly fills the case in which it is placed, was mounted and presented by Mr. Rowland Ward, of Piccadilly. The huge capacity of the mouth, as well as the curious manner in which the gums overlap and conceal the molar teeth, and also the enormous size and thickness of the tusks, are splendidly shown. Tubes of AspergiJlium. Week by week, one may almost say, sivue improvement or addition is noticeable in ilic gallery devoted to recent reptiles, together with typical representatives of some of their extinct relatives. Many of the snakes have, for instances, been recently painted so as to resemble so far as possible their appearance when alive; and one or two of these have been placed in the gallery during the past weiek. Very interesting is the addition of the heads, in spirit, of two kinds of venomous snakes, to illustrate the difference between pit-vipers and ordinary vipers. 'The difference consists in the presence in the former of a deep pit between the eye and the nostril, which is wanting in the other. The scheme of the present Direct...