m On a Fossil Ox from the Mississippi. 



prbbably been washed out of its bed by the waves. That it is 

 fossil, and not recent, the authors have no doubt. The change 

 which the substance of the teeth has undergone, and the appear- 

 ance which the whole bears, of having long lain buried in the 

 earth, are sufficient proofs of this. Moreover, the country in 

 the vicinity whence it was sent, is known to belong to a marine 

 formation ; and ribs, and other parts of a vertebrated animal, 

 have been dug up there, which were supposed to be those of a 

 species of Lamantin or Manatus, an animal related to the walrus. 

 Fossil bones of this genus are exceedingly rare. Cuvier men- 

 tions only a few molar teeth and pieces of bone disinterred in 

 France. The existing species inhabits the northern parts of the 

 Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Whether or not the fossil head 

 in question is to be referred to this species, the authors are un- 

 able to decide with certainty ; but they are more inclined to 

 consider it as belonging to another species now extinct. 



II. On a Fossil Ox from the Mississippi. By Mr J. E. Dekay. 



In an interesting paper by Mr J. E. Dekay, in the Annals of 

 the Lyceum of Natural History of New York, November 1827, 

 on a fragment of a fossil skull of the genus Bos, from the banks 

 of the Mississippi, he shews that it, in all probability, is part of 

 an extinct species, and the same as that found by Pallas in Si- 

 beria. He concludes his memoir, which we regret our limits 

 will not allow us to give at full length at present, with the fol- 

 lowing inferences : 



" That there formerly existed within the actual limits of the 

 United States, four, and probably five, species of the genus Bos. 

 Of these, only one is at the present day found in our country 

 in a living state. The Bos americanus, or bison, formerly ex- 

 isting in great numbers in the states bordering on the Atlantic, 

 is now driven to the boundless regions of the west, and ere long 

 will probably share the fate of the former companions of his 

 race. 



The second and third species {B. bomhifrons^ and B. latifrons) 

 have long since ceased to exist. Their specific differences are 

 not yet completely ascertained ; but the animals seem to have 

 been numerous, if one may judge from the accounts of travel- 



