G^ lioj/al Institutmi : — 



The hrillinnt rosonrchos of Baron Cuvicr, the fomuler of paheon- 

 tologieul science nnd the reconstrnetor of those j)riniJ\M'al hoofed 

 nninnls, from fragmentary fossil remains in the gypsum quarries at 

 Montmartie, were aHuiled to. 



Diagrams of the entire skeletons of the Ano))lotherium and Paheo- 

 therinm were referred to, in illustration of their dental and osteo- 

 logieal jieenliarities. 



The Anoplotherinm, with the typical dentition of 



3-3 l-l 4-4 3-3 



incisors , cdnincs , premolars , molars = 44, 



3-3 l-l 4-4 3-3 



had all its teeth of the same length, and in a continuous unbroken 

 series : this character is peculiar to Man in the existing creation. 

 The P(tl(Vofherinii}, with the same dental formula as the Anoplo- 

 therivm, had the canines longer than the other teeth, and developed 

 into sharp- pointed weapons ; necessitating a break in the dental series 

 to receive their sunimits in closing the mouth. 



The Anoplotherium had 19 vertebrae between the neck and sacrum, 

 viz. 13 dorsal and G lumbar. T)ie Palaiotheriuin had IG dorsal 

 and 7 lumbar vertebrof. 



The Anoplotherium had a femur with two trochanters, and the fore- 

 part of the ankle-bone, called "astragalus," divided into two equal fa- 

 cets. Its hoofs formed a symmetrical \m\\v on each foot. Cuvier has very 

 justly inferred that its stomach must have been complex, and proba- 

 bly, in some respects, like that of the Camel or Peccari. The Palaeo- 

 therium had a femur with three trochanters, an astragalus with its fore- 

 part unequally divided, and hoofs, three in number, on each foot. It 

 most probably had a simple stomach, like the Taj)ir and Rhinoceros, 

 which, amongst existing animals, most nearly resemble that extinct 

 primitive hoofed qiiadruped, with toes in uneven number. 



Every species of ungulate mammal with an uneven nundjer of hoofs 

 or toes, that has been introduced into this planet since the eocene 

 tertiary period, whether it have 1 hoof on each foot, as in the Horse, 

 3 as in the Rhinoceros, or ;> as in the Elephant, resembles the Palaeo- 

 theriuin in having more than 19 dorso-lumbar vertebrae, which ver- 

 tebrae also differ in number in different genera ; e. (j. 22 in the 

 Rhinoceros, 23 in the Mastodon, 27 in the Ilyrax. The typical 

 Pachyderms, with an odd number of hoofs, have also three trochan- 

 ters on the femur, the fore-part of the astragalus unequally divided, 

 and the pattern of the grinding surface of the molar teeth unsym- 

 metrical, and usually crossed by oblique enamel-ridges. All the 

 existing odd-toed or perissodactyle mammals have a sim[)le stomach 

 and a vast and complex caecum ; the horned species have either a 

 single horn, or two odd horns, one behind the other on the middle 

 line of the head, as e. y. in the one-horned and two-horned Rhino- 

 ceroses. 



Ever)' species of ungulate animal with hoofs in even number, 

 whether 2 on each foot, as in the Giraffe and Camel, or 4 on each 

 foot, as in the Hippopotamus, resembles the Anoplotherium in having 

 19 dorso-lumbar vertebrae, neither more nor less ; in having two 



