212 PICTURESQUE SKETCHES 



though only eight inches at the fore part, becomes as 

 much as thirteen inches towards the hinder part. The 

 magnitude, both in diameter and length, of the thigh 

 and leg-bones, corresponds well with the large portion 

 of the spine thus grasped, as it were, by the bones of 

 the pelvis, and strongly points to the terrestrial habits 

 of the animal. The total length of the extremities 

 seems, in some cases, to have exceeded eight or even 

 nine feet, and the bones of the foot are gigantic even 

 beyond the proportions thus indicated, since one of the 

 separate bones measures thirty inches in length, and 

 the last joint of the toe, to which a claw was attached, 

 is five inches and a half long. There was thus an 

 ample base for the vast column supporting the body. 



The tail of the Iguanodon was probably very much 

 shorter in proportion than that of crocodiles, and was 

 very dissimilar. It must, notwithstanding, have been 

 large, and flattened laterally, being of considerable 

 breadth in the vertical direction near its attachment 

 to the body. The ribs were unusually large, broad, 

 stout, and long, forming a strong case for the huge ab- 

 domen. They also extended very far forwards. 



The general dimensions of the Iguanodon, though 

 undoubtedly very enormous, have often been greatly 

 exaggerated, since it has been assumed, that, in order 

 to arrive at these dimensions, it was only necessary 

 to compare the proportions of any part with those of the 

 corresponding part in the species supposed to be most 

 nearly allied. The proportions in this genus, how- 

 ever, must have been very different from those of li- 

 zards and crocodiles ; and, while the bones of the ex- 

 tremities were perhaps six or eight times larger than 

 those of the most gigantic alligator, the whole length 



