304 



NA TUBE 



[July 27, 1893 



just behind the skull, which served to protect this part of the 

 neck." 



" All these plates and spines, massive and powerful as they 

 now are, were in life protected by a thick horny covering, which 

 must have greatly increased their size and weight. This cover- 

 ing is clearly indicated by the vascular grooves and impressions 



Fig. 3. — Restoration of the skeleton of Hypsirpphus ungjtlaius, ^\; natural 

 size, ^t:., scapula; (V., coracoid ; //..humerus; r.,r.-idius; 7<.,ulna;r.. 

 carpus ; wr. , metacarpus ; z7., ilium ;/., pubis ; is,, ischium ;/e., femur ; 

 i., tibia IJi., fibula ; //z., tarsus ; mt., metatarsus. {After Marsh.) 



which mark the surface of both plates and spines, except their 

 bases, which were evidently implanted in the thick skin." 



To this graphic description of one of the most 

 extraordinary creatures that lived in a world of 

 monsters, it may be added that the remarkably 

 tall neural arches of the dorsal vertebra and the 

 concomitant elevation of the proximal ends of 

 the ribs nearly to the level of the summits of 

 their neural spines appear to be for the purpose 

 of aiding in the support of the enormous weight 

 of the armour of the back. 



Since we have already given more than one 

 notice in Nature of various portions of the 

 horned armoured Dinosaurs of the Cretaceous of 

 the United States, as represented by Agalhai4>nas 

 (—Ceratops and Triceratops), our notice of Prof. 

 Marsh's recent restoration of this creature (Fig. 

 4) will be but brief. That these reptiles were 

 nearly related to the Armoured Dinosaurs is 

 undoubted ; they attained, however, greater spe- 

 cialisation in the skull, which was of enormous 

 size and armed with bony horn-cores, arranged 

 as a pair above the eyes and a single one over 

 the nose. The enormous size of the head and 

 the proportionately large fore limbs indicate that 

 these animals were always in the habit of 

 walking on all fours ; and, as we have previously 

 suggested, the loss of the posterior shaft of the 

 pubis, so well shown in the figure, is probably due to a 

 reversion to these quadrupedal habits. 



cervical verlebrie are entirely concealed by the crest of the 

 skull, which in its complete armature would extend over one or 

 two verlebrje more No attempt is made in this restora- 

 tion to represent the dermal armour of the body, although in 

 life the latter was more or less protected. Various spines, 

 bosses, and plates, indicating such dermal armour, have been 

 found with remains of this group, but the exact position of 

 these specimens can at present be only a matter of conjecture. 

 .... The size in life would be about twenty-five feet in 

 length and ten feet in height." 



The extraordinary contrast between the skeletons of Aga- 

 fhaumas ^Tid. Brontosaurtis \\\\\ be sufficiently apparent from a 

 comparison of the respective figures. 



The typical section of the bird-footed Dinosaurs, as repre- 

 sented by the Iguanodons (Fig. 5) is now so well known that 

 but few remarks are necessary. They differ from the armoured 

 forms in their perfect adaptation to a bi-pedal mode of pro - 

 gression, their digitigrade feet, hollow limb-bones, and absence 

 of armour ; the Iguanodons being further distinguished by the 

 curious modification of the thumb into a stout conical spine. 

 Those who have visited of late years the Brussels Museum will 

 not fail to retain a vivid impression of the imposing show made 

 by two mounted skeletons of these enormous reptiles displayed 

 in a case in the court -yard of the museum. According, how- 

 ever to a striking picture which appeared a couple of years ago 

 in the Graphic, these two skeletons have now been removed to 

 within a special gallery in the Museum, where, together with 

 three others, they must excite the admiration and wonder of all 

 who have the good fortune to behold them. With such a lavish 

 display of their own, it is, perhaps, scarcely too much to hope 

 that the authorities of the Royal Brussels Museum may before 

 long see their way to enriching our own National Collection 



KiG. 5. — Restored skeleton of /e/'rt'/c//(i7//^r«/jjar/('/;j;V. About -}:. natural size. (After Dollo.j 



either with an original specimen, or at least with a plaster re- 

 production of one of the already mounted Iguanodon skeleton.s. 

 Although there is no lack of work remaining to be done 

 among the Dinosaurs, yet when we reflect that practically our 

 whole definite knowledge of the group dates from within the 

 last twenty years, and that all the five restorations at which 

 we have glanced have been made within the last ten, we cannot 

 but fail to be gratified at the enormous progress that has been 

 made by this branch of palaeontology within that comparatively 

 short period. If this progress cannot be justly entitled to be 

 termed one advancing by "leaps and bounds," yet we think 

 that it may, on the whole, be truly described as "slow and sure. " 



R. Lydekker. 



"V^ 



Fig. 4. — Restoration of the skeleton of Agathanmas prorsus, ^ natural 

 size. Letters as in Fig. 2. (After Marsh.) 



In regard to this restoration Prof. Marsh remarks that "the 

 skull is, of course, without its strong horny covering on the 

 beak, hon-cores and posterior crest, and hence appears much 

 smaller than in life. The neck seems short, but the first six 



NO. 1239, VOL. 48] 



THE INTERNATIONAL MARITIME 

 CONGRESS. 



T~\URING nearly the whole of last week a most important 

 congress was being held in London at the Institution of 

 Civil Engineers. This was the International Maritime Con- 

 gress, an institution founded in Paris in 1889, when no less thaa 



