MISCELLANY. 



121 



A New Order of Mammals. At a recent 

 meeting of the Connecticut Academy, Prof. 

 0. C. Marsh called attention to the very pe- 

 culiar character of the extinct animal type, 

 I'lllofherium,. So remarkable, indeed, are 

 these characters that Prof. Marsh considers 

 them suflBclent to constitute a new order, 

 for which he proposes the name Tillodontia. 

 In Tillotherium, the type of the proposed 

 new order, the skull has the same general 

 form as in the bears, but in its structure it 

 resembles that of the ungulates. The molar 

 teeth are of the ungulate type, and in each 

 jaw there is a pair of large scalpriform in- 

 cisors, as in rodents. The articulation of 

 the lower jaw with the skull corresponds 

 to that in ungulates. The skeleton mostly 

 resembles that of carnivores, especially the 

 UrsidcB, but the scaphoid and lunar bones 

 are not united, and there is a third tro- 

 chanter on the femur. The feet are planti- 

 grade, like those of the bears. Thus these 

 singular animals combine the characters of 

 three distinct groups carnivores, ungu- 

 lates, and rodents. The order comprises 

 two distinct families Tillotheridce, in which 

 the large incisors grew from persistent 

 pulps, while the molars have roots ; and 

 Sti/linodontldce, in which all the teeth are 

 rootless. 



Animal Intelligence. The following re- 

 markable examples of animal intelligence 

 are sent us by correspondents who vouch 

 for their truth : A lady living in this city 

 relates that the house occupied by herself 

 and family became so infested with rats 

 that, in the failure of all other means, they 

 were obliged to resort to poison to exter- 

 minate them. Phosphorus-paste was used, 

 spread thickly over meat, which was then 

 placed where the rats could readily get 

 at it. Pursuing this plan for a long time, 

 they were surprised to find that, while the 

 meat regularly disappeared, the rats re- 

 mained, their numbers apparently increas- 

 ing instead of diminishing. One day a 

 man in charge of an adjoining stable asked 

 who was trying to poison rats, and, being 

 told, replied, " the rats are too smart for 

 you." He led the lady to the alley along- 

 side the house, where there was a hydrant, 

 the nozzle of which being broken off, left 

 the water constantly running. Under the 



hydrant they saw several pieces of meat, 

 some partially covered with, and others en- 

 tirely destitute of, any traces of the phos- 

 phorus-paste. After watching sometime, 

 the lady actually saw the rats not only eat 

 the washed meat, but carry the coated 

 pieces carefully in their mouths from her 

 back-door around into the alley, and deposit 

 them under the running stream of the hy- 

 drant. Our correspondent says that the 

 rats may not have known the character of 

 the coating on the meat, but that their 

 course argues a knowledge of the properties 

 of water, and a power of adapting means 

 to ends, akin to reason. 



An esteemed friend writes us of a dog, 

 that had been savagely set upon by a neigh- 

 bor's dog, rousing up with a growl when 

 the circumstance was spoken of in his 

 presence. This was noticed, and, on repeat- 

 ing the circumstances, when the neighbor's 

 name and that of his dog were mentioned, 

 the growling was repeated. No effort was 

 made to attract the dog's attention, and it 

 was easy to excite the animal at any time 

 by mentioning these names in his hearing. 



A lady in Troy has a terrier, whose abil- 

 ity to understand what is said to him seems 

 remarkable. The lady sent him one day to 

 drive some chickens out of the yard, but 

 doing it roughly the lady said, " See, some 

 of the chickens are little, you must be care- 

 ful not to hurt them." The dog immedi- 

 ately flew at the large ones, but drove the 

 little ones with great care, and always after- 

 ward observed the same caution. This ter- 

 rier attended church regularly with his mis- 

 tress, but one Sunday another dog attracted 

 his attention in church, and he ran out, 

 afterward returning to the pew. After get- 

 ting home the lady said, " Whiskey was 

 naughty to-day ; he mustn't go to church 

 any more." The dog hung his head and 

 went to his bed. He made no attempt to 

 go to church that afternoon nor ever again, 

 though ready to go anywhere else. 



The Deep-Sea Bottom. Prof. W. B. 



Carpenter, in a paper recently published in 

 Nature^ dissents from the conclusions of 

 Prof Wyville Thomson, that the organ- 

 isms Glohigerince, whose shells compose the 

 ooze of the deep-sea bottom, live and mul- 

 tiply in the uj^er waters only. He has 



