THE DINOSAURS 105 



It was then a sluggish stream with marshy 

 borders, a stream subject to frequent floods, 

 when the water, turbid with mud and laden 

 with sand, overflowed its banks, leaving them, 

 as the waters subsided, covered thickly with 

 mud. Here, amidst the luxuriant vegetation 

 of a semi-tropical climate, lived and died the 

 Iguanodons, and here the pick of the miner 

 rescued them from their long entombment to 

 form part of the treasures of the museum at 

 Brussels. 



Like other reptiles, living and extinct, Thes- 

 pesius was continually renewing his teeth, so 

 that as fast as one tooth was worn out it was 

 replaced by another, a point wherein Thespe- 

 sius had a decided advantage over ourselves. 

 On the other hand, as there was a reserve sup- 

 ply of something like 400 teeth in the lower 

 jaw alone, what an opportunity for the tooth- 

 ache ! 



And then we have a multitude of lesser Di- 

 nosaurs, including the active, predatory spe- 

 cies with sharp claws and double-edged teeth. 

 Megalosaurus, the first of the Dinosaurs to be 

 really known, was one of these carnivorous 



