ROOM III. HINDER EXTREMITIES OF THE IGUANODON. 291 



ine highly probable is a question that cannot be determined 

 until the bones of the anterior extremity are found, either 

 in juxtaposition, or collocated in such manner as to demon- 

 strate their natural relations and connexions. 



HINDER EXTREMITIES OF THE IGUANODON. Wall-case C. 

 Several specimens of the femur or thigh-bone, and of the 

 tibia and fibula or leg-bones, and of the metatarsal, phalan- 

 geal, and ungual bones of the hind feet, have from time to 

 time been obtained from various localities. The first indica- 

 tion of the colossal magnitude of the reptiles whose teeth 

 and bones were imbedded in the Wealden deposits, was the 

 fragment of a thigh-bone, consisting of a portion of the 

 middle of the shaft, which is of a quadrangular form; and 

 this was so stupendous, shapeless, and unintelligible, that 

 many years elapsed before I could ascertain to what part of 

 the skeleton it belonged. This first discovered specimen is 

 figured in Fossils of Tilgate Forest," PL XVIII. 



It not unfrequently happens that a fragment of a thigh- 

 bone may be obtained from a quarry, and after an interval 

 of some weeks, the corresponding portions be exhumed. 

 This was remarkably exemplified in the first specimen which 

 revealed to me the peculiar characters of the femur of the 

 Iguanodon. The distal, or condyloid extremity of a gigantic 

 femur, firmly impacted in a block of Tilgate-grit, was found 

 in the quarry at Cuckfield : as the fracture was evidently 

 recent, I requested the quarry-men to make diligent search 

 for the corresponding portion, but without success. Several 

 months afterwards, upon a fresh explosion of the rock, the 

 head of a large bone was found loose among the fallen 

 mass ; but there were no indications that it belonged to the 

 specimen previously found, and it was regarded as another 

 relic of some one of the colossal animals whose bones are 

 distributed in the Wealden deposits. Teeth, fragments of 

 bones, and other fossils, were from time to time obtained 

 from the same quarry, and at length a huge quadrangular 

 mass of bone, similar to the portion that had so long been 

 in my possession, and had defied all attempts to ascertain 

 its character. It was some time before it occurred to me, 

 that these three pieces of colossal bone might belong to 

 the same specimen ; but eventually they were found to 

 correspond, and upon cementing them together, the femur 



