and the Pyrenees, in 1825. $J85 



the other side, we saw as much as we could desire of Androsace 

 vitaliana, a plant whose name is not derived from the Latin 

 word vitalis, but, as Lapeyrouse remarks, from Vitaliano Do- 

 nati, in honour of whom Sesler had constituted it into a genus. 

 We got nothing worth recording in our descent, although we 

 changed our course. 



(To be continued.) 



Discovery of a Fossil Walrus or Seor-Hor^e, in Virginia ; of 

 the Fossil Skull of' an extinct species of Bos {Ox), Jrora the 

 Banks of the Mississippi ; and of Fossil Bones, identical zvith 

 those of the Megatherium of Paraguay, in Georgia, United 

 States. '•» 



I. Discovery of a Fossil Walrus or Sea-Horse, in Virginia. 



IN the Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York 

 (No. 9. November 1827), there is a Report by Messrs Mitchill, 

 J. A. Smith, and Cooper, on a portion of a fossil skull sent to 

 Dr Mitchill, by Mr Cropper, of Accomac County, Virginia. 

 They found it to be the anterior part of the cranium of a spe- 

 cies of walrus. It comprises the entire sockets of the two great 

 tusks, the palatine and maxillary bones, with the sockets of eight 

 molar teeth ; and the bony isthmus, which, in this animal, con- 

 nects the tusks, remains, though much mutilated. Four of the 

 molares are also left, and one other has but recently dropped 

 out. From the appearance of the three remaining sockets, the 

 teeth must have been lost out of them at a very distant period, 

 and probably during the life of the animal. The tusk is re^ 

 markably hard and heavy, and no sutures arc visible, except 

 between the palatal bones. The tusks have become almost 

 agatised, and their fracture is conchoidal, presenting a very 

 smooth surface, and a flinty colour and consistence. The frag- 

 ment bears the greatest resemblance to the analogous part of the 

 existing species, Trichecus rosniarus. Dr Mitchill hopes yet 

 to succeed in obtaining an exact description of the locality where 

 it was discovered. It bears marks of having been in salt water, 

 and is said to have been found on the sea-beach, where it has 



