PROCEEDINGS OF METROPOLITAN SOCIETIES. 321 
author regarded as an approach to the rodent character of Cheiro- 
mys ; in which remarkable genus the incisors have altogether disap- 
peared, the canines of both jaws occupying their site, precisely as in 
the true Rodentia ; wherein also those of the upper jaw pass 
through the intermaxillary bones. Mr. Blyth suspected, however, 
that the rodent teeth of Cheiromys did not possess persistent forma- 
tive pulps, as in the order Rodentia, no other instance occurring of 
continuously growing teeth throughout the great series of Primates 
and Fere of Linnxus. The same gentleman next read some obser- 
vations on the Plantigrada of Cuvier, which he showed to consist 
of one natural group and a portion of another, which comprised the 
rest of the Carnivora that are destitute of a cecum. The true 
Plantigrada, which place the entire sole upon the ground in walk- 
ing, were stated to be comparatively few in number ; and they were 
all further distinguished by possessing two tuberculous molars pos- 
terior to the carnivorous or cutting grinder of each jaw. The vari- 
ous species, with the exception of the two largest Bears, are all 
arboreal ; and such of them as inhabit northern climates become 
torpid in winter, which is not the case with any of the others, so far 
as known. The genera Ursus, Ailurus, Procyon, Nasua, Ictides, 
and Cercoleplis, were referred to this first division. The rest were 
stated to be only semi-plantigrade, none of them bringing the heel 
quite to the ground ; and they have only one tuberculous molar, 
which varies greatly in extent of surface: all of them diffuse, when 
irritated, a powerful odour, which in some is intolerably fetid. 
This group sub-divides into two principal sections; that of the 
Badgers, Ratels, Skunks, &c., which have thick and heavy bodies 
and stouter limbs, generally well-adapted for burrowing ; and that 
of the Weasels, Martens, &c., with long vermiform bodies, which 
again sub-divides into the Weasel and Otter sub-sections. None of 
the Badger section, it was asserted, the members of which have 
been generally approximated to the Bears, ever climb trees like the 
latter. Respecting the plantigrade character, Mr. Blyth observed 
that it appears to have been not a little misunderstood, the remark 
of Cuvier, that it was indicated by the degree of bareness of the sole, 
having apparently misled several naturalists ; for even in the Polar 
Bear, and the Pander (Ailurus), the soles are completely covered 
with hair. In the Martens, at the head of which genus he placed 
the Ursus gulo, Lin. (Gulo arcticus, Auct.), which, excepting in size 
and massiveness, he could not perceive differed at all from other 
Martens, surprising differences might be observed in the modification 
of the foot, from M. flavigula of the Himmalayas, which has the 
toes joined to their extremities, and the sole bare, as in the Badgers, 
to M Zibellinx, the Sable, the toes of which are as separate as in a 
Weasel, and the foot hairy underneath. Mr. Blyth lastly exhibit- 
ed the head of a half-Hereford half-Durham ox, of most gigantic 
dimensions, the horns of which exceeded four feet round at the base. 
It appeared, however, to be a monstrous production, the head, which 
was covered by its skin, seeming to be double, as indicated by the 
VOL, IX., NO, XXVII, 
