240 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



number of fossil genera of monkeys from the tertiary of Eu- 

 rope at present known amounts to five, two of these being 

 lower forms, namely, Macaques and Semnopitheques ; and 

 three of them, anthropoid apes, entirely peculiar to Europe, 

 and all extinct, namely, Dryopithecits, Pliopithecus, and Ore- 

 opithecus. The latter name is applied to the new species, 

 forming the subject of M. Gervais's communication. This 

 was considerably smaller than the gorilla, although equal in 

 size to the large chimpanzee. 6 B, May 6, 1872, 1223. 



FUR-BEARING ANIMALS OF NEW JERSEY. 



We note an article in the Germantown Telegraph of Feb- 

 ruary 21 upon the fur-producing animals of New Jersey, in 

 which the various species are enumerated. This, while evin- 

 cing a certain amount of familiarity with the subject, is evi- 

 dently a little at fault in regard to the species, especially in 

 the statement that the American badger is to be met with 

 within these limits. It will, we think, be news to the natu- 

 ralists of Pennsylvania and New Jersey to be told that the 

 badger is an inhabitant of the latter state. Its distribution 

 has been generally considered as confined to the prairies of 

 the West, find Lng its eastern limit, perhaps, in Illinois. It is 

 quite likely that the animal referred to is the woodchuck, 

 which sometimes bears that name ; but we doubt whether 

 any considerable number of skins of this animal could be 

 sold, as stated, at three dollars each. 



Of the foxes four sj>ecies are named the gray, red, cross, 

 and silver fox. We doubt very much whether any silver 

 foxes have been -killed lately in New Jersey, and the case is 

 but little less improbable in regard to the cross foxes. We 

 would also consider the occurrence of the beaver in the 

 state as extremely doubtful, although, of course, they may 

 have maintained a footing in some of the less disturbed dis- 

 tricts. 



CAPTURE OF BASSARIS IN OHIO. 



Mr. Joseph Sullivant, of Columbus, Ohio, a well-known nat- 

 uralist, publishes an account in the Ohio State Journal of the 

 capture of the Bassaris astuta, or ring-tailed cat of the Rio 

 Grande region. It was taken in Fairfield County, Ohio, and 

 was said to have been accompanied by a second specimen. 



