ZOOLOGY. 645 



A 7iew suborder of extinct Mammals. — lu 1882 l*rofessor Cope described, 

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

 the name Paniolamhda hathmodon. A considerable part of the skeleton 

 having 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 Amblyi)oda. The refer 

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

 examine the carpus, but the co-ordination of characters seems to indi- 

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

 the Pantolambdidse form a peculiar family of Amblypoda, Professor 

 Cope proposes to define and limit the suborders as follows: 



The Pantolambdidae 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, jyp. 557- 

 559.) 



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

 in Japan, Cervns sika, related to the Sambur deer, or Eusa, 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 bad 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 

 1860, 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 

 decided 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 with 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 the dam. 



Early Lemuroids. — The Lemuroids, which are now so characteristic of 

 Madagascar and represented sparingly in other parts of Africa, instead 

 of being peculiar t6 a limited continent, were in early times widely dis- 

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

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

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

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



