Crocodilian

The bishop gave Emperor Max a bone and Max’s books didn’t help to identify it. The bishop had received it from a missionary who had been in Egypt. It was similar to the jaw of a crocodile except that it came from the Saharan desert. Max took out a sheet of foolscap and drew a careful representation of the bone, showing two views, and noting its dimensions. He sent his drawing with a letter to the head of the museum of natural history in Paris. In his letter he asked if any osteologist associated with the museum could identify the bone. After five weeks, he received a reply from Professor Pierre Toussaint Gustave Honoré de Serres, who wrote that, in his opinion, Max’s bone belonged to an ancient crocodilian. This began a correspondence that lasted three years, during which Max perfected his skill in depicting bones in ink, and Professor de Serres began to admire Max’s persistence and natural talent.