217 



ANOPLOTHERIUM. 



ANT. 



218 



Paris, and they are occasionally, though more rarely, met with in the 

 neighbourhood of Orleans and Genoa. Remains also of this genus 

 have been found in the fresh-water deposits at the Seafield quarries in 

 the Isle of Wight 



The first character in which the Anoplotheria differ essentially from 

 all other Pachydermata, whether extinct or recent, is found in the 

 number and" arrangement of their teeth, which consist of 6 incisors, 

 2 canines, and 14 molars in each jaw, making in the whole 44 teeth. 

 These, as in the human subject, are arranged in a continued and 

 uninterrupted series, without any vacancies between the molars or 

 incisors and the canines, a circumstance peculiar to this genus of 

 animals among the Pachydermata, and which, besides man, it shares 

 only with the shrews and hedgehogs Mammalia in all other respects 

 widely different. The canines moreover are perfectly similar in 

 form and appearance to the incisors, and might easily be mistaken for 

 lateral teeth of this description, did not their situation in the jaw, 

 beyond the maxillary suture, prove their real natura The four 

 posterior molars resemble those of the Rhinoceros and Pal;cotheria ; 

 that is to say, they are quadrangular in the tipper jaw, and marked in 

 the lower with a double or triple crescent of enamel, which penetrates 

 their substance and shows itself on the crowns in the form of salient 

 ridges. 



This formation of the organs of mastication, intimately connected 

 aa these organs necessarily are with the food and alimentary canal, 

 demonstrate most unequivocally that these animals fed upon vegetable 

 substances, and that, in all probability, they differed but little in this 

 respect from the Tapirs and Rhinoceroses at present existing. 



The second important character of the Anoplotheria which must 

 have exercised a very decided influence upon their habits, arises from 

 the conformation of the extremities. These, as in Ruminating Animals, 

 were terminated by two toes, enveloped in small hoofs, sometimes 

 without accessory or false hoofs behind, as in the Camels and Llamas, 

 sometimes with one or even two small lateral toes of this description, 

 as in the Peccaries ; but the bones of the metacarpus and metatarsus 

 respectively corresponding to these two toes were not united into a 

 single canon, as they invariably are among the Ruminantia, and this 

 is in reality the principal difference between the extremities of the 

 latter animals and those of the Anoplotheria. The structure of the 

 carpus and tarsus is precisely the same in both genera ; the scaphoid 

 and cuboid bones, which are soldered together into a single piece in 

 all the other Ruminantia, being separate in the Camels and Llamas, 

 as they invariably are in the Anoplotheria and other Pachydermata. 

 These analogies prove that the Anoplotherium, which its teeth have 

 already shown to have been essentially a Pachydermatous quadruped, 

 approached in many of its characters to the Ruminantia of the existing 

 creation, partaking on the one hand of the characters of the Camels 

 and Llamas, and on the other of those of the Rhinoceroses and 

 Peccaries. In the less prominent details of organisation however, the 

 different species of Anoplotheria present peculiarities which have 

 induced Baron Cuvier to distribute them in three sub-genera. In all, 

 the prolongation of the nasal bones clearly shows that the Anoplotheria 

 were not furnished with trunks like the Elephants, Tapirs, and 

 Palicotheria ; and their head altogether, judging from the form of the 

 skull, appears to be intermediate between that of the Horse and that 

 of the Camel. The first subdivision comprehends those species which 

 M. Cuvier calls 



Anoplotheria proper. They are distinguished by having all the 

 lower molars marked by double or triple crescents in a longitudinal 

 direction, without salient tubercles ; and by a third or supernumerary 

 hoof on the fore-feet. This division comprehends two species, differing 

 from one another principally in point of size, the one (A. commune) 



Anoplotherium commune. 



being about the size of the ass, and the other (A. iccundarium) about 

 that of the hog. Both these species have been found in the Isle o: 

 Wight. These animals were low on the limbs, probably like the 

 Tapirs, but their long and powerful tail, equalling the body itself in 

 length, made them still more essentially aquatic animals. The grea' 

 size of their members, the depressed and heavy proportions of their 

 bodies, and their long tails compressed horizontally at the base, mus 

 have given them much of the external form of the otter ; but thei 

 resorted to the lakes and marshes of the antediluvian world, not for 

 the purpose of preying upon other animals, but in search of aquati. 



ilants, whilst the depressed form of their tails shows that they must 

 lave swum and plunged with as much ease and facility as either the 

 Tapir or Hippopotamus. Like these animals their ears were probably 

 ;hort and erect, and their bodies sparingly covered with hair, as in all 

 ,he existing Pachydermata. 



The sub-genus Xiphodon differs from that just described in having 

 ,he inferior molars tuberculous, and being without the additional or 

 alse hoof on the fore feet. It contains but a single species (A. gracile), 

 which, judging from the length and smallness of its limbs, and the 

 elevation of the tarsus, must have presented in every respect a complete 

 contrast to the A . commune, exhibiting the light form and graceful 

 iroportions of the gazelle. Its course must necessarily have been 

 rapid, and probably unembarrassed by a long tail ; and, instead of 

 resorting habitually to the rivers and ponds, like the former species, 

 It must have been confined to the dry land, and, probably like the 

 azelles and antelopes, fed upon dry aromatic herbs, and was pro- 

 vided with long moveable ears to warn it of the approach of danger. 



Anoplotherium gracile. 



The third sub-genus, Dickobunes, contains three species, all esta- 

 blished from the observation of detached bones, and of the actual 

 forms of which it is consequently impossible to give a correct idea. 

 They differed from the species contained in the two former subdivisions, 

 principally by having a small additional or false hoof both on the 

 fore- and hind-feet ; and this character is so well marked in all the 

 sub-genera of M. Cuvier, that, besides other considerations, it would 

 suffice, among existing animals, to distinguish three separate genera, 

 and perhaps should do so in the present instance. The Dickobunes 

 were all of small stature : the largest of the three known species 

 (A. leporinum) was about tha size of a hare; the other two 

 (A. murinum and A. obliquum) about that of the guinea-pig, were 

 in all probability the smallest of hoofed quadrupeds. M. Cuvier 

 supposes them to have been the hares and rabbits of the preadamite 

 world, but their whole structure seems to approximate them more 

 correctly to the musks of the present time, and they probably differed 

 little from these animals either in form or habits. Another species of 

 this genus was discovered by Mr. Pratt, in the Eocene deposits at 

 Brinstead in the Isle of Wight, and has been described by Professor 

 Owen under the name of D. cervinum. 



( Cuvier, Omemem Fossiles ; Owen, British Fossil Mammals.) 

 ANOPLURA, a family of Insects, including the Aptera of Linnaeus, 

 and the various forms of Pediculus [PEDICOLUS] and Parasitic 

 Insects of other authors. The researches which were commenced on 

 this family by Dr. Leach have been carried on by Mr. Denny, and 

 resulted in the discovery of a vast number of new forms. The result 

 is that it has been found that every animal is infested with, or, for 

 some wise purpose is accompanied by, one or more creatures 

 belonging to this family, having a peculiar form in each species. 

 Nearly 500 different forms of these curious insects, all formed on 

 the type of the common human louse, have been described by 

 Mr. Denny, in the catalogue of the specimens which at present exist 

 in the British Museum. In most cases but one species of the parasite 

 exist on one species of animal, but there are instances, as in the eagles 

 and gulls, in which a species of the bird is attacked by five species 

 of A noplura. The best series of illustrations of these insects which exist 

 are contained in Denny's ' Anoplura Britannica,' published in 1842. 



ANORTHITE, a mineral found at Monte Somma, and, according 

 to the analysis of Rose, containing : 



Silica 44-9 



Alumina 34'46 



Lime 15'68 



Magnesia 5'25 



Oxide of Iron 0'74 



It occurs crystallised, and has the primary form of a doubly 

 oblique prism. The colour and streak are white. The lustre is 

 vitreous, inclining to pearly on the cleavage surfaces. It is translucent 

 and transparent. The specific gravity is 2'65. 



ANSER, the Goose, a genus of birds which M. Brisson separated 

 from the genus Anas of Linnams. Brisson has been followed in this 

 by Baron Cuvier, Vieillot, Lesson, Drapiez, and Fleming ; while 

 Latham adheres to Linnscus, and Temmiuck confines Awer to a 

 section of Anas. [GoosE.] 



ANT (Formica), a well-known genus of insects, which has attracted 



