ZOOLOGY. 645 



A ncicsubordcr' of extinct MdiiuHuls. — lu 1882 Professor Cope described, 

 from a Iraumeiit of the lower jaw, a new generic type of mammals under 

 the \nimi} Fantolambda hathmodon. A considerable part of the skeleton 

 luiving- been since secured, Professor Cope was able to form a more 

 adequate idea of its characters and considered it as the type of not only 

 a distinct family but of a "new" suborder of Amblypoda. The refer- 

 ence is somewhat doubtful owing to the inability of Professor Cope to 

 examine tlie carpus, but the co-oi'dination of characters seems to indi- 

 cate the place claimed for the genus by him. Assuming, then, that 

 the Pautolambdidae form a peculiar family of Amblypoda, Professor 

 Co]ie proposes to define aiul limit the suborders as follows: 



The Pantolambdida' represent the suborder Taligrada distinguished 

 by the " astragalus, with a head distinct from trochlea, with distal articu- 

 lar facets." 



The Pantodonta may be known by the astragalus destitute of a head 

 and the distal facets subinferior. {Proc. Am. Phil. Soc, xx, pi). 557- 

 559.) 



The acclimatization of the Japanese Beer. — There is a small deer found 

 in Japan, Cerviis sika, related to the 8ambur deer, or Rusa, which may 

 become a subject of some economical importance. The Viscount Pow- 

 erscourt imported some of these animals and turned them into his 

 park, and had considerable success in raising them. He commenced 

 with one male and three females, and these, Viscount Powerscourt 

 thinks, "have been the only deer of any newly-introduced kind which 

 have been a real success." These deer were introduced about the year 

 18G0, and in 1884 Viscount Powerscourt had " upwards of one hundred 

 of them, besides having shot two or three yearly, and also having given 

 away a great many and sold others." The viscount sums up his opinion 

 that the Japanese deer are " a most satisfactory little deer; the venison 

 when dressed is about the size of Welsh mutton and very well flavored. 

 The little stags, with their black coats and thick necks, like miniature 

 Samburs, are very picturesque and ornamental, and I think they are a 

 <lecided addition to our varieties of hardy park deer." They have " a 

 most peculiar cry in the rutting season, a sort of whistle, varying some- 

 times into a scream." The Japanese deer interbred witli the red deer 

 in the viscount's park, and there were three or four deer in the park 

 which were regarded as being certainly hybrids, the red hind in each 

 case being ihe dam. 



Early Lcmuroids. — TheLemuroids, which are now so characteristic of 

 Madagascar and represented sparingly in other parts of Africa, instead 

 of being i)eculiar to a limited continent, were in early times widely dis- 

 tributed, and the forms of Africa are really the relics of a once widely- 

 spread tyjie. The old forms, however, were not very closely related to 

 the modern, and represent even distinct families. Tliey were at home 

 in America as well as in Eurojjc during the Eocene, and in late years 



