6 Mr. J. E. Lee on Saurian Dermal Plates. 



square with one or two of the corners broken off, and both the 

 upper and under sides are nearly flat and parallel. 



The third dermal plate is not sufficiently perfect to admit 

 of a drawing, but the characters, as far as they can be distin- 

 guished, are rather different from those of the other two. Like 

 the first, the figure is oval and the under side convex, but 

 the upper side is chiefly occupied with three ridges, rising 

 gradually from the circumference to an eccentric summit. 

 There is not the same appearance of porosity as on the sur- 

 faces of the other two, but the structure is decidedly bony. 

 The general appearance bears some resemblance, on a large 

 scale, to the plates which ornament the head of the recent 

 Iguana, and it is only to be regretted that a specimen of this 

 nature had not been secured before it became water- worn, as 

 it might have afforded another link to connect the Iguanodon 

 with the recent Iguana. 



With respect to the other two scales, there do not appear to 

 be any characters to connect them with the Iguanodon by a 

 comparison with the living Iguana. The common Crocodile 

 is furnished with large and strong plates, which in some parts 

 of the body are oval ; but, as far as I am aware, neither the 

 scales of the crocodile nor those of any other recent reptile have 

 exactly the same characters as the fossil plates. 



But little assistance can be derived in their determination 

 from the associated fossils. In the same locality were found 

 the teeth of the Crocodile and the Iguanodon, and gigantic 

 bones which have usually been considered as those of the lat- 

 ter saurian. One vertebra from Sandown Bay weighs above 

 14 lbs., and a portion of one of the bones of the leg is 26 inches 

 in length. In the same formation, at Brixton Bay, the bones 

 are still more gigantic : the upper part of a femur was obtained 

 there, which measures 13 inches from the outer side of the 

 head to the point of the trochanter. Fragments of bones of 

 these dimensions are not uncommon in the Isle of Wight, so 

 that it appears singular, if these scales belonged to the Igua- 

 nodon, that they should not have been before noticed ; besides 

 which, there is nothing like them in the covering of the recent 

 Iguana, and they appear almost too small for a saurian of the 

 size of the Iguanodon. Again, if we consider them as the 

 scales of the Wealden Crocodile, the analogy v\rith the recent 

 animal certainly in a measure favours the idea ; but still the 

 question may very naturally be asked, — what has become of 

 the scales of all the crocodiles from which the innumerable 

 teeth in the Sussex beds are derived ? None but those who 

 have personally examined these beds can have any idea of the 

 immense number of teeth and bones which they contain : it 



