Page:The Geologist, volume 5.djvu/129

Rh ther; the bones of the head had been placed topsy-turvy; of dorsal and lumbar vertebræ a disproportionately long neck had been formed, and savants of high reputation were completely led into error. Finally, on investigation it was found that the bones had been brought together from different localities, and that with the remains of several skeletons the collectors had tried to fabricate a single animal.

"Jean Müller boldly attacked the question, and was one of the first to show the grave anatomical errors which had been committed. He had commenced his observations whilst the skeleton was publicly exposed at Berlin; but he soon had the opportunity of studying it at his ease in his cabinet, the King of Prussia having purchased it for the Museum of the University of Berlin.

"A curious circumstance was related to me by Müller, in his laboratory at Berlin, when showing me the temporal bone of the Zeuglodon. Being asked whether the Basilosaurus, or Hydrarchos as it had also been called, was a reptile or a mammifer, Müller was going through the galleries of comparative anatomy, accompanied by some friends; he held the temporal bone in his hand to exhibit his views of the structure of the ear, and in talking the bone slipped from him, and was broken on the floor. All were in consternation! What a loss! A unique piece of such importance destroyed! They picked up directly the pieces with the greatest care, but what was the astonishment of the professor and those who surrounded him, when it was seen that the cochlea of the internal ear was exposed, showing its twist and spiral turns. An accident had transformed the bone of the ear into a fine anatomical preparation, and the demonstration of the nature of the animal was thus made. The Hydrarchos could only be a mammifer.

"In Europe, a short time after, a paleontological discovery not less important was made. Don Grateloup . . . discovered, in 1840, at Leognan, near Bordeaux, a fragment of the cranium, which he thought should be assigned to an animal belonging both to the fish and the reptiles, to which he gave the name of Squalodon!

"Since then, the remains of similar or allied animals have been discovered at Lintz, in Upper Austria, by M. Ehrlich; in the environs of Montpelier; at St. Jean de Végas, by Paul Gervais; and in Holland, in the province of Gueldres, by M. Staring.