PALuEOTHERIUM 



PALANQUIN 



709 



nnml>er of existing genera and species becoming 

 greater as we advance from the lower to the higher 

 stages. The foraminifers attained now their maxi- 

 mum development, and are characteristically re- 

 presented by the large coin-shaped nummulites. 

 Amongst molluscs the Cephalopods are no longer 

 dominant forms the most abundant groups being 

 Lamellibranchs and Gasteropoda. But tlie most 

 striking and leading Caiuozoic forms were the 

 mammals. In Eocene times the mammals were 

 greatly developed many of the forms attaining a 

 large size. Among tiie more notable types of the 

 early European Tertiary are Pala'otlierium (q. v. ), 

 Anoplotheriuin (q.v.), along with which were 

 carnivores, rodents, insectivores, and bats, and also 

 the earliest representatives of the horse and the 

 monkey tribe. The later Tertiaries are marked liy 

 the appearance of Dinotheres, Mastodons, true ele- 

 phants, rhinoceroses, hippopotamus, deer, antelope, 

 gazelles, various carnivores, such as Macliairodus, 

 bears, cats, wolves, &c., and apes. No certain or 

 unequivocal evidence of man is yet' forthcoming 

 from Tertiary strata. 



While it is true that the general aspect of the 

 plant and animal life of the Cainozoic era approaches 

 to that of the present, yet this is truer for the less 

 highly organised types than it is for those which 

 are higher in the scale of being. Amongst the 

 higher vertebrates of early Tertiary times not a 

 few possessed characters which are now met with 

 only in widely separated forms. Some, for ex- 

 ample, were intermediate in character between 

 tapirs and horses; in others (Tillodonts) we meet 

 with a combination of structures now seen in 

 ungulates, rodents, and carnivores ; while many of 

 the carnivores had decided marsupial affinities. 

 Other remarkable composite forms were the Dino- 

 cerata ( q. v. ). 



Quaternary or Post-Tertiary Life. The animals 

 anil plants of Quaternary age belong for the most 

 part to existing species ; a nnml>er of the higher 

 vertebrates, however, are extinct. Among these 

 latter, in Eurojie, were the Mammoth and various 

 other elephants, several rhinoceroses, a dwarf form 

 of hippopotamus, and Macliairodus. In North 

 America the fauna also included various extinct 

 fipecies, such as Mastodon, an elephant, and several 

 gigantic meml>er8 of the Sloth family ( Megatherium, 

 Mylodon, Megalonyx ). These last seem to have 

 abounded in Smith .America, where they were asso- 

 ciated with great armadillos (Glyptodon). The 

 Quaternary period was characterised by marked 

 oscillations of climate, and consequently by secular 

 migrations of flora and fauna. Thus numerous 

 forms which had survived from the Tertiary era 

 eventually l>ecame extinct, and astill larger number 

 were banished from the areas which they had 

 occupied in Pliocene times. It is in the deposits 

 of the Pleistocene that we meet with the first un- 

 questioned relics and remains of man. See PLKIS- 

 TOCKNK SYSTKM. POSTGLACIAL AND KIXKNT 

 SYSTEM ; works cited at GEOLOGY ; and the special 

 handbooks of Palaeontology, as by Nicholson (now 

 ed. 1879), Seeley (1885), Steinmann and Doder- 

 lein (188S), Zitte'l (i.-iii. 1879-90), &c. 



Pala'Othcrilim (Gr., 'ancient wild beast '), a 

 genus of pachydermatous mammalia whose remains 

 occur in the Eocene beds of England ami the Con- 

 tinent. Several species have been described, rang- 

 ing in size from that of a sheep to that of a horse. 

 The Upper Eocene gypseous quarries of Mnntmartre 

 applied the first scanty materials, which Cuvier, 

 by a series of careful and instructive inductions, 

 built up into an animal resembling the existing 

 tapir. The restoration, however, is not quite 

 correct, for the discovery of a complete skeleton 

 (P. magnum) shows that the animal was longer- 

 necked, and of a more slender build than the tapir, 



and probably was not unlike, in general appear- 

 ance, the living llama. There can be no doubt, 

 however, that Palaeotherium resembled the tapir 

 in having the snout terminating in a short pro- 

 boscis. It had three toes on each foot, each 

 terminated by a hoof. The formula of the teeth 

 is i. J, c. }, p.m. jjijj, m. f, and the structure 

 of the upper true molars, in certain particulars, 

 seems to foreshadow that of some of the Equidae. 



Palseotheriuin magnum. 



It is supposed that animals of this genus dwelt on 

 the margins of lakes and rivers, and that their 

 habits were similar to those of the tapir. 



Palil'OZOJC ( Gr. , ' ancient life ' ), the name given 

 to the lowest division of the fossiliferous rocks, 

 because they contain the earliest forms of life. 

 They were formerly, and are still generally, known 

 as the Primary rocks. The strata included under 

 these titles are the Cambrian, Silurian, Devonian 

 and Old Red Sandstone, Carboniferous, and Per- 

 mian systems. 



Palafox.y IHrlzl, Josfi I>E, Duke of Sara- 

 gossa, a Spanish soldier, was born in 1780 of a dis- 

 tinguished Aragonese family, and rose to the rank 

 of brigadier-general in the" Spanish guards. His 

 defence of Saragossa (q.v.), 22d July 1808 to 21st 

 February 1809, which only yielded to the French 

 after a second investment, is one of the most heroic 

 incidents in modern history. Palafox y Melzi was 

 carried prisoner to France, and not released until 

 1813. The year after his return home he was 

 appointed captain-general of Aragon, in 1836 was 

 created Duke of Saragossa, and in 1837 grandee 

 of Spain and captain-general of the guards. He 

 died at Madrid, 15th February 1847. 



PalaKOIlite-tuff, usually associated with 

 basalt-lavas, is line-grained, red, brown, and some- 

 times greenish or yellowish in colour. Under the 

 microscope it is seen to l>e composed of minute 

 fragments of volcanic glass, crowded amongst 

 which are granules and crystals of augite, olivine, 

 plagioclase, and magnetite. It occurs in Sicily, 

 the Canary Islands, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, 

 and Scotland. See IGNEOUS ROCKS. 



l';il;ill|>lir, capital of a native state in Gujarat, 

 lies 83 miles N. of Ahmedabad by rail. The state 

 has an area of 3150 sq. in. and a pop. of 234,402. 

 The ' Palanpur Agency ' comprises, besides Palan- 

 pur, twelve other small native states. 



Palanquin, or PALKI, an Indian vehicle corre- 

 sponding somewhat to the Roman litter and the 

 modern European sedan-chair, but, unlike the 

 latter, used for long distances by travellers where 

 railways or good carriage-roads do not exist. It is 

 a wooden box, about 8 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 

 4 feet high, with wooden shutters which can be 

 opened or shut at pleasure, and constructed like 

 Venetian blinds. At each end of the palanquin, 

 on the outside, two rings are fixed, ami the ham- 

 mala, or palanquin-bearer, of whom there are 

 four, two at each end, support the palanquin by 

 a pole passing through these rings. 



