1897. NOTES AND COMMENTS. 83 



patience, and it is only within the last few months that there has 

 appeared a paper by Stirling and Zietz (Preliminary notes on 

 Genyornis Newtoni : a new genus and species of Fossil Struthious Bird 

 found at Lake Callabonna, South Australia : Trans. Roy. Soc, South 

 Australia, vol. xx.), which gives a brief account of this interesting bird. 

 It is extremely unfortunate that no figures are given, since in the case 

 of bird bones mere description and measurements convey little idea 

 of the structure of the specimens. 



It appears, however, that the femur and tibia of this bird are 

 very similar in size and proportions to those of the Elephant-footed 

 Moa (Pachyornis), but that the metatarsus is longer and more slender 

 than in that bird. The inner toe was slender, while the middle and 

 outer ones were short and flattened, their ungual phalanges being 

 particularly small, short, and flat ; one very peculiar character is the 

 presence of only four instead of the usual five, phalanges in the outer 

 toe. The sternum is said to resemble that of the emu, and the wing, 

 though greatly reduced, was complete. The skull is nearly a foot 

 long, and the mandible remarkable for the depth of its rami and the 

 wide angle they include between them. 



The authors, in conclusion, state that Genyornis probably lived in 

 marshy places, and fed on herbage like the emu, which in many 

 respects it resembled. It is to be hoped that further description and 

 figures of this interesting new form will be forthcoming before long. 



Monkeys in Madagascar. 



One of the m.ost important results of Dr. Forsyth Major's travels 

 in Madagascar has been the discovery of the remains of an extinct 

 monkey-like animal in the superficial deposits of that island. Dr. 

 Major has briefly described and figured his find in the Geological 

 Magazine for October, the relics consisting of portions of a skull and 

 lower jaw, and has called the animal Nesopithecns, believing it to be a 

 true monkey, indicating a new family of the Anthropoidea, " inter- 

 mediate in some respects between the South American Cebidce and the 

 Old World CevcopithecidiB, besides presenting characters of its own." 

 Mr. Lydekker, writing in Nature, November 26th, however, rather 

 doubts its being an anthropoid, and suggests it may be " an offshoot 

 from the original stock which connected the Monkeys with the 

 Lemurs." 



The discovery obviously is one of the highest importance, and we 

 shall be interested to read Dr. Major's full description and examine 

 his figures and conclusions when they appear. Till then we offer no 

 opinion. 



The Range of the Nummulite. 



The already wide range of the genus Nummulites has been still 

 further extended. In a short note to the Geological Magazine 



