VARIETY OF FOOD. 85 



found iii Switzerland ; the second species occurs abundantly at 

 Pikermi in Attica, where a nearly complete skeleton of it has 

 been discovered. It belongs to the group of the long-tailed 

 Indian monkeys, and is most nearly allied to the Hoonuman 

 (Semnopithecus entellus) . The Dryopithecus, which equalled the 

 orang and the chimpanzee in stature, was placed by Lartet in a 

 distinct genus ; but, so far as can be judged from its imperfectly 

 preserved remains, it appears to come very near the gibbons. 



In the Miocene period herbs and grassy plants formed a lux- 

 uriant vegetation, on which the deer, the musk-deer, and the 

 horses of those times found nourishment in the forest-meadows 

 and in numerous coppices. Swine no doubt sought the oak- 

 forests which were spread over the Swiss Miocene country with 

 such a variety of species, and which were for the most part com- 

 posed of evergreen trees, so that they furnished fruit throughout 

 a great part of the year. Many other trees, such as figs, myrtles, 

 jujubes, whitethorns, walnuts, and numerous Papilionacese, bore 

 fruit which might serve as food for pigs. 



The numerous larvae of insects which lived in the moist soil 

 of the forest, the grubs of many crawflies and Bibiones (vol. ii. 

 p. 55), which constitute the principal part of the Miocene 

 Diptera, also provided a rich nutriment for swine. The 

 humid, marshy, forest soil which is indicated by the plants must 

 have been particularly well fitted to enable pigs, tapirs, and 

 rhinoceroses to thrive, for it is well known that their living 

 representatives prefer such localities. Thus wild swine are 

 fond of damp marshy woods of leafy trees, tapirs seek the 

 banks of rivers and lakes and go readily into the water, and 

 rhinoceroses prefer marshy low grounds. The fleshy rhizomes 

 of the Nymphaa and Nelumbia, the irises, and the knotty roots 

 of the Cyperacese (Cyperus Braunii, Heer) certainly furnished 

 Miocene tapirs with food of the same nature as that which is 

 afforded by corresponding living plants to their representatives 

 of the present day. 



The flora of the Swiss Miocene offered an abundant nourish- 

 ment to the Rodents of that period. Squirrels found an ample 

 provision of pine- and fir-cones, walnuts, and hazel-nuts; the 

 calling-hares and chinchillas sought their food in the woods ; 

 while the beavers most probably established their colonies on the 



