188 Geology. 



ttoned in thp last number of the Philosophical Magazine, 

 but one of those unknown species the bones of which are 

 found dispersed throughout the plaster quarries in France, 

 and which constitute an intermediate genus between the 

 rhinoceros and ihe tapir : onlv detached parts of thie ani- 

 mal have hitherto been found, such as fragments of the 

 head, feet, &:e. ; and it was by comparing these scattered 

 portions that Cuvier was able to form a complete skeleton. 



The block of Pantiri has the advantage of containing 

 more parts than ever were before seen together, and con- 

 sequently of confirming the results obtained, by uniting the 

 fragments previously found. 



It contains a lower jaw, an upper and a lower molar 

 tooth, the vertebrae of the neck, those of the back and 

 loins, the ribs, the omoplata, the humerus, the bones of 

 the fore-arm, a portion of the pc-lvis, one of the femur and 

 one of the bones of the leg j but the head and feet are 

 wanting. 



As the head and feet, however, had been before found in 

 other blocks, the parts lately obtained complete the knowr 

 ledge of the species ; and are the more valuable as it will 

 be difficult to find them united in an order so near to that 

 .of life. 



This quadruped is one of the eleven species already deter- 

 mined by M. Cuvier, from bones fouiTd in the plaster pits 

 of France, and of v hich no living specimen has yet been 

 found on the surface of the globe by any traveller or natu- 

 rahst. Its height is superior to that of the fox, and less than 

 that of the slicep. The block of Pantin shows that it had 

 at least sixteen ribs. All the species of the genus to which 

 it belongs, and which Cuvier distinguishes by the name of 

 palceotherinm, had. like the one in question, molar teeth 

 vcv-Y like that of the rhinoceros, with canine teeth and in- 

 cisors like those of the tapir, and the form of the bones 

 of the head render it probable that, like the latter, they had 

 a trunk *. 



As the remains of these animals now lost are of great 

 importance to the history of the globe, the administrators 

 of the French Museum of Natural History wish very much 

 to obtain a complete collection of those found in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Paris. They have therefore requested all the 

 proprietors of plaster pits, or persons residing in the neigh- 

 bourhood of them, to collect and transmit to them such 



* See a history of ihcs; animals in the Annales du Museum d'Histoire 

 Natuvtlie. 



blocks 



