174 M. Marcel de Serres on the Skeleton of Metaxytherium.. 
in the form of its head and jaws to the Lamantins, and to the 
Dugongs in the form of its limbs. A nearly entire skeleton 
of this last genus was recently discovered (August 1840) in 
the centre of a mass of coarse limestone composing tertiary 
stony banks, wrought at Beaucaire for building. 
This individual, of which a certain number of fragments 
have been shewn us by the obliging attention of Dr Quet, ap- 
pears to have been found nearly in a complete state, as we 
have already noticed. Unfortunately the pieces of bone brought 
to us, have taught us nothing more than we formerly knew, 
from those preserved in our own collection. 
According to the statement of the workmen, the Metaxy- 
therium met with at Beaucaire, would appear to have been 
in an extended state, when it was enveloped by the stony de- 
posit in which it was found. With regard to those which have 
hitherto been observed in the vicinity of Montpellier, it is only 
in marine tertiary sands that they have been noticed. They 
have not been observed, at least up to the present time, as low 
as Beaucaire ; but they exist in much more ancient strata in 
the departments of Charente and Maine-et-Loire ; that is to 
say, in the inferior marine tertiary formations. 
It might be said, according to these facts and a multitude 
of others which we have brought forward in our work on ter- 
tiary formations, that the same fossil species have perished 
much later in the south than in the north of France. It is at 
least certain that their remains are found in much more re- 
cent formations in the one than in the other. 
The individual found at Beaucaire was of much larger di- 
mensions than those met with at Montpellier, a circumstance 
which seems to have depended solely on their relative age. 
That of the former of these localities was full grown, while 
those of Montpellier were young, their second teeth having 
not grown beyond the sockets. Thus we are left in doubt 
whether there really existed many species of this genus, where- 
as, M. Christol admits several influenced solely by their size. 
But, although the dimensions of the Metaxytherium of Beau- 
caire and Montpellier are very different, the individuals have 
not presented any other characters adequate to make us re- 
gard them as really constituting two species.* 
* Brom Annales des Sciences Naturelles, tome xy. p. 16. 
