72 REPORT — 1856. 



cretionary carbonate of lime and hydrated peroxide of iron. But the extraordinary 

 circumstance connected with this discovery is the fact, that the wooden handle origi- 

 nally inserted into the eye of the axe, has become converted into pure hydrated per- 

 oxide of iron, precisely similar to the ordinary brush iron-ore peculiar to the Forest 

 of Dean, except that in the centre of the handle, on the underside of the eye, a portion 

 of soft woody fibre remains, and on the upper side there appear the two small iron 

 wedges by which the helve was tightened to the axe. Thus apiece of wood (probably 

 ash) has been replaced by hydrous oxide of iron, composed of 



Peroxide of iron 81'63 



Water 18-37 



Or more probably it is the subhydrate, containing only 10-5 per cent, of water, and 

 which is the proportion contained in the forest brush-ore. Two reedy specimens, 

 taken from the solid vein of iron-ore, near the spot where the axe was found, accom- 

 pany the latter, and in their appearance they present some analogy to the converted 

 portion of the axe-handle. 



I believe that this relic of antiquity is well worthy of the notice of the British 

 Association about to meet in Cheltenham, and I have therefore enclosed it, and the 

 reedy specimens, in a box, to be forwarded to you. 



On the Dichodon cuspidatus, /rom the Upper Eocene of the Isle of Wight and 

 Hordwell, Hants. By Professor Owen, F.R.S. 



Prof. Owen communicated the results of examinations of additional specimens of 

 jaws and teeth of the Dichodon cuspidatus, which he had received since his original 

 Memoirs on that extinct animal in the 'Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society,' 

 vol. iv. (June 1847). The first specimen described supplied the characters of the 

 last true molar tooth of the lower jaw, which had not been previously known. This 

 tooth has six lobes, the additional posterior pair being less than the normal ones, and 

 more simple. The inner surface of the inner lobe has an accessory cusp at the back 

 part of its base, but not at the fore-part as in the other lobes. The length of the last 

 lower molar was nine lines, that of the first and second molars being each six lines. 

 A specimen of the Dichodon cuspidatus from the Hordwell Sands, in the British 

 Museum, supplied the characters of the permanent incisors, canine, and three anterior 

 premolars of the upper jaw : all these teeth closely correspond in form with the cor- 

 responding deciduous teeth, but are of larger size. Finally, a portion of the lower jaw 

 of an aged specimen of Dichodon, in the British Museum, showing the effects of 

 attrition on the last molar tooth, was described, and the results of this additional evi- 

 dence confirmed the conclusions of the author as to the generic distinction of the 

 Dichodon. 



Additional Evidence of the Fossil Musk-Ox (Bubalus moschatus) yrow the 

 Wiltshire Drift. By Professor Owen, F.R.S. 



This evidence consisted of mutilated crania, but with the horn-cores complete, of 

 both male and female Musk-Ox. 



Drawings of the specimens of the natural size of the fossils were exhibited, and the 

 characters were pointed out which, in the author's opinion, confirmed his opinion of 

 the fossil being of the same species as the recent Musk-Ox of Arctic America (Buba- 

 lus moschatus) . 



The fossils were associated with remains of the Elephas primigenius, Bhinoceros 

 tichorinus, and teeth of bovine, cervine, and equine quadrupeds. They were discovered 

 by Charles Moore Esq., F.G.S., of Bath. 



On a New Species of Anoplotherioid Mammal (Dichobune Ovinum, Ow.) from 

 the Upper Eocene of Hordwell, Hants, with Remarks on the Gewera Dichobune, 

 Xiphodon, and Microtherium. By Professor Owen, F.R.S. 

 The author exhibited drawings of an entire lower jaw with the dentition nearly 



complete of a fossil herbivorous quadruped, of the size of the Xiphodon gracilis of 



