316 GEOLOGY OF THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 



the deep groove (e) between the condyles, both 

 in front and behind. The long bones of the 

 Iguanodon have a large medullary cavity.* 



Several bones of the feet and toes have been 

 found in this locality. Dr. Buckland obtained a 

 toe-bone of enormous size from Sandown Bay ; 

 it is six inches long and fifteen inches in circum- 

 ference, at the largest extremity. f The metatarsal 

 and phalangeal bones of the Iguanodon are short 

 and thick, and so much resemble those of the 

 Hippopotamus, that Baron Cuvier at first supposed 

 the specimens from Tilgate Forest belonged to that 

 animal. 



Tooth of the Iguanodon. — With the thigh-bone 

 above described were found several dorsal and 

 caudal vertebrae, many fragments of ribs, and the 

 only tooth of the Iguanodon I have obtained from 

 the Island. It evidently, like the femur, belonged 

 to an adult, and very probably to the same indi- 

 vidual. The crown is worn down almost to the 

 neck of the tooth, and shows the remarkable cha- 

 racter imparted to the teeth of this herbivorous 

 reptile, by the trituration of its food, — a character 

 in which they differ from the teeth of any other 

 known reptile, either living or extinct ; for all 



* Medals of Creation, vol. ii. p. 7 18. 

 1 Geol. Trans, vol. iii. pi. II. 



