1862.] 



BECKLES EEPTILIAN FOOTPEINTS. 



445 



the mud, the cast diminishes gradually in width and in thickness 

 (B), as if this portion of the extremity of the animal had been ob- 

 lique to the foot, at an angle of about 25°. It would thus appear 

 that the foot of a large and heavy animal, walking on muddy ground, 

 sank so deep as to bring the metapodium into contact with the 

 ground ; and the inclination of this part of the foot indicates an 

 enormous Reptilian animal, walking with its legs bent and body near 

 the ground. 



Figs. 2 & 3. — The Natural Cast of a Footprint from the Wealden 

 Beds of the Isle of Wight. (About one- twelfth of the natural size.) 



Fig. 2. Lower surface. 



The central prominence (C) in the trifid casts has nearly always a 

 somewhat lateral position towards the largest of the outside toes, and 

 it occupies about two-thirds or three-fourths of the entire breadth 

 of the " palm." The foot of Iguanodon appears to explain this. 

 It has the distal extremity of the inner metatarsal, or that which 

 supports the shortest toe, posterior to the extremities of the middle 

 and outer metatarsals, so that in this case (and possibly in other 

 Dinosaurs) the integument and flesh would here produce a pad cor- 

 responding to what I may term the heel of the palm. I believe 



