May 4, 1876] 



NATURE 



II 



The approximation of the orbit of Biela's comet to that 

 of the November meteor- stream, and consequently to 

 that of Tempel's comet, 1866 (I.), was first pointed out 

 by Prof. Bruhns, of Leipsic, in Astron. Nach., No. 1681, 

 but the heliocentrics there employed were deduced from 

 the geocentric places of Santini's rough ephemeris. 



PROF. FLOWER'S HUNTERIAN' LECTURES 

 ON THE RELATION OF EXTINCT TO EXIST. 

 ING MAMMALIA "■ 



IX. 



THE disputed zoological position of the Lemurs, and 

 the great importance which has been attached to 

 them by some zoologists, who regard them as the direct 

 transition between the lower and higher mammals, and 

 as survivors of a large group now almost extinct, through 

 which the higher Primates must have passed in the pro- 

 gress of their development, give great interest to the 

 consideration of their ancient history. 



Until very recently fossil Lemurs were quite unknown, 

 at all events the affinities of certain remains provisionally 

 assigned to the group were much questioned, but within 

 the last few years the existence of Lemuroid animals in 

 Europe during the early Tertiary period has been per- 

 fectly established, and remains of a large number of 

 animals attributed, though with less certainty, to the 

 order, have been found in beds of corresponding age in 

 North America. 



In 1872, a nearly complete skull of an animal some- 

 what allied to the modern African Pottos and Galagos, 

 though of a more generalised character both of cranial 

 conformation and dentition, was described by M. Del- 

 fortrie, under the name of Palceoiemur betillei. It was 

 found in phosphatic deposits, probably of early Miocene 

 age, in the department of Lot. It was soon afterwards 

 discovered that certain more or less fragmentary speci- 

 mens which had been long before described, and had been 

 generally though doubtfully referred to the Ungulata, were 

 really nothing more than animals of the same group, and 

 probably even of the same species. These are Adapts 

 parisiensis, Cuvier, frpm the Paris gypsums, Aphelothe- 

 riuin diivenioyi, Gervais, and Ccenopithecus lemuroides, 

 Rutimeyer. The recognition of these animals as Le- 

 muroids shows how little reliance can be placed upon 

 the characters of the molar teeth alone in judging of 

 affinities, and should also lead to the re-examination 

 of some of the smaller mammals of our own Tertiaries, 

 such as Miolophus, as it is not improbable that Lemurs 

 may be found among them. The same deposits in which 

 M. Delfortrie's specimen was found, have since yielded 

 two other skulls, one of smaller and the other of larger 

 size, named by M. Filhol, Necrolemtcr antiqmis and 

 Adapts mas;ntis respectively. It should, however, be 

 mentioned that M. Filhol only admits the first to be a 

 true Lemur, and considers the genus Adapts as the type 

 of a hitherto unknown group of mammals, intermediate 

 between the Lemurs and Pachyderms, to which he gives 

 the name of Pachyletmir. 



Of the supposed low and generalised forms of Primates 

 from the Tertiaries of North America, the existence of which 

 was announced almost simultaneously by Professors Marsh 

 and Cope in 1 872, it is difficult to speak with certainty at 

 present, as the descriptions which have reached this 

 country are not very detailed. As many as fifteen genera 

 have already been named. They are nearly all from the 

 Eocene formations, two only having been found in the 

 lower Miocene. 



The remains of no true monkeys have hitherto been 

 discovered in the Eocene, but several species have been 

 found both in Miocene and Pliocene formations in 



' Abstract of a course of lectures delivered at the Royal College of Sur- 

 geons "On the Relation of Extinct to Existing Mammalia, with Special j 

 Reference to the Derivative Hypothesis," in conclusion of the coiu^e of 1873. ' 

 (See Report* iu Nature for that year.) Contiaued from vol. xiii. p. 514. 



Europe. The most abundant and best preserved are 

 those from Greece, Mesopithecus pentelici, allied to the 

 existing genus Semttopithecus, though with shorter and 

 stouter limbs. Others have been found in the Siwalik 

 Hills of India allied to the same form, and in France, 

 the South of Germany, and Italy, related to the Macaques 

 and to the Gibbons. The most interesting species is one 

 known by the lower jaw only, from a Miocene bed at 

 St. Gaudens, in France, described by Lartet under the 

 xizxae oi Dryopitheais fontani. Its affinities have given 

 rise to some discussion, but as far as can be decided 

 from the evidence before us, it appears intermediate be- 

 tween the chimpanzee and gorilla, and of the size of the 

 former. Considering how nearly the Miocene fauna of 

 Europe resembles in its general features the actual 

 fauna of Africa, it is not surprising that an ape of the 

 genus Troglodytes should have formed part of it. No 

 remains of monkeys allied to the existing American 

 forms have been found in the Old World, and conversely, 

 all those discovered by Lund in the Brazilian caverns 

 belong to the families now inhabiting the same part of 

 the world. No monkeys have yet been found in the 

 alluvial deposits of the plains, which are so rich in the 

 great Edentates, nor in fact have they been met with in 

 any older South American Tertiaries. The ancient history 

 of the group, as revealed to us by palaeontology, is there- 

 fore extremely incomplete. Further researches into the 

 fauna of the North American Eocenes may throw some 

 light upon it. 



No actual remains of man have been met with which 

 can be said with certainty to be older than the Pleistocene 

 period, though it is asserted that his existence upon the 

 earth in the Pliocene and even Miocene epoch is proved 

 by works of art found in deposits of those ages. These, 

 however, are questions to be decided by the antiquary 

 and the geologist, and are beyond the scope of the ana- 

 tomist. The oldest known remains of man from Euro- 

 pean caves (with perhaps the exception of the celebrated 

 skeleton from the Neanderthal, the age of which is doubt- 

 ful) do not differ more from modem Europeans than do 

 several of the lowest modern races. In other words, no 

 proof of the existence in former times of a race of men 

 inferior in general organisation to the Australians, and 

 forming any nearer approach to the lower animals, has 

 yet been discovered. 



In reviewing our present knowledge of the palseontology 

 of the Mammalia we see immense progress of late years, 

 giving hopes for the future. Here and there we have 

 tolerably complete histories of gradual modification of 

 forms with advancing time, and adapted to the exigencies 

 of changing circumstances, as among the Ungulata and 

 the Carnivora ; and we have many instances of extinct 

 forms filling the gaps between those now existing. But 

 still there are great gaps or rather gulfs between most of 

 the large groups or orders, without at present any trace of 

 connecting links, or anything to indicate how they were 

 once filled up, as must have been the case if they have all 

 been gradually evolved from a common origin. We have 

 very much to learn before we can speak with any con- 

 fidence upon the manner in which all the diversities of 

 form we see around us have been brought about, or 

 attempt to construct pedigrees or phylogenies, except in 

 the most provisional and tentative manner. 



INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGY 



T^HE Permanent Committee of the Vienna Meteoro- 

 -'■ logical Congress has just held its third meeting in 

 London, which lasted from the iSth to the 22nd April 

 inclusive. The members present were Prof. Buys Ballot 

 (Holland), president. Professors Bruhns (Germany), Can- 

 ton! (Italy), Mohn (Norway), Wdd (Russia), and Mr. 

 Scott. Prof. Jelinek (Austria) was unfortunately absent 

 owing to ill-health. 



