Sentence:  The range is from 14 to 25 <WSD>inches</WSD> ; the former figure is based on a somewhat unusual birth of four by a Central American female ( see chapter on Laying , Brooding , Hatching , and Birth ) , the latter on a `` normal '' newly born individual . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  a unit of length equal to one twelfth of a foot