CHAPTER XL 



FOSSIL BONES OF REPTILES — THE IGUANODON — HYL.EOSAURUS — MBGA- 



LOSAURUS CETIOSAURUS STREPTOSPONDYLUS — PLESIOSAURUS — 



TURTLES — IMPRINTS ON SANDSTONE — RIPPLE-MARKS — SUMMARY — 

 THE COUNTRY OF THE IGUANODON — VOYAGE ROUND THE ISLE OF 

 WIGHT. 



Fossil bones of reptiles. — The occurrence of 

 bones and teeth of gigantic terrestrial reptiles in 

 the beds beneath the chalk of the south-east of 

 England, was first announced in the " Fossils of 

 the South Downs," in which many remains of 

 oviparous quadrupeds from the strata of Tilgate 

 Forest are described. Relics of this kind have 

 subsequently been discovered in numerous loca- 

 lities of the Wealden, and nowhere more abun- 

 dantly than in the Isle of Wight ; although search 

 for these highly interesting remains has not hitherto 

 been very actively or judiciously pursued. 



The bones are washed out of the cliffs by the 

 inroads of the sea, and strewn on the shore, where 

 they become exposed to the action of the waves, 

 and are soon abraded and deprived of any pro- 

 cesses, or other anatomical characters, they may 



