153 H^ 



CATALOGUE RAISONNE. 



Observations sur divers ossemens, c^'C. Observations on diffe- 

 rent Bones of MammiferjE and of Birds^ found in the Quaternary 

 Calcareous Formations of the Environs of Perpignan, and on a new 

 species of Fossil Bear. By Mr. Marcel dk Serres, — Annates 

 des Scietices d' Observation, Vol. HI. No. II. 



It will be difficult to establish any distinction between the upper fresh-M'a- 

 ter formations of the sujjerior or tertiary series, and the lacustrine marles 

 of the quaternary deposits, which will not finally be connected with lo- 

 cal phenomena ; an increased -acquaintance with their organic remains, 

 and the relation of these to existing species, caii alone give cettainty to 

 the results. Marcel de Serres considers the upper fresh water formation 

 to be quaternary, and yet places it below the conglomerates of the same 

 age, (diluvium,) which bear the same relation to the former as the plas- 

 tic clay or molasses do to the tertiary rocks, or the conglomerates of tlie 

 old red sandstone to the secondary sedimentary deposits. We prefer tlie 

 grouping of Dr. Fleming, considering lacustrine marls with actually ex- 

 isting species as q[uaternary, and marls with extinct species, or species 

 no longer inhabiting the same spot, as tertiary, though from the nature 

 of the locality the interposed conglomerates may sometimes be wanting, 

 or the bones found imbedded in the marls, may belong to species whose 

 residence in those countries comes under the dominion of historical evi- 

 dence. 



The following facts are of importance to these considerations : 



Bones belonging to the Camivora, Rodentia, Ruminantia, and birds, are 

 found in marls near Perpignan, which contain dispersed boulders and 

 gravel. The Camivora and Ruminantia are the most abundant. 



The new species of bear, for which the learned naturalist proposes the 

 name of Ursus metopoleainus, must have been one-third greater than the 

 brown bear of the Pyrenees. The forehead is very flat, with two strong- 

 ly developed protuberances on the borders of the temporal fossae, form- 

 ing a crest that joins the sagittal. 



The small molar tooth which occurs behind the canine in living l)ears, ^nd 

 which, according to Cuvier, has never been met with in fossil species, 

 occurs in this animal. This is also the case with respect to the second 

 little superior molar tooth, placed immediately before the one that pre- 

 cedes the anti-penultimate. 



The remains of this extinct bear are found in company with bones of the 

 great fossil elk, and of a small unascertained species ; also with the bones 

 of sheep of a greater size and strength than those of ordinary sheep. 



The remains of birds belong to the Gallinaceous family, and generally to 

 the pigeon tribe ; while the remains found in caverns are principally 

 waders or Palmipedes : remains of birds are also met with in the sands 

 and blue marls of the tertiary marine deposits. 



Les Arborisations des Calcedoines, Sfc. Do the Arborizations 

 of Chalcedonies, and of certain Agates, derive their origin from 

 Fossil Confervee } By Mr. Raspail. — Ibid. 



Mr. Raspail asserts, in opposition to the opinion of Mr. Adolphe Brong- 

 niart, that the arborization observed on certain chalcedonies and agates, 

 is produced not only by vegetables, but in still greater numbers by zoo- 

 phytes, such as Sertularife, by eggs of mollusca, &c. and that it is ab- 

 surd to attribute this configuration to incrganic infiltrations. 

 VOL. II. U 



