482 MiscellaneoHn. 



the hipi)opotfiTtius of Liberia diffcrcrl ao much from that inhabiting 

 the Nile, the Cape of Good Hope, &c., that the Liberian animal 

 should be considered as const it utinj; not only a distinct species, but 

 a distinct genus, and proposed* that the new genus should be 

 named CJurrodfS. Learning, however, that this name had already 

 been a])j)ro])riatcd, having been previously given to an insect. 

 Dr. Leidy siiggcstcd that the name t'hifrodes should be changed to 

 Cliceropsisf. 'While Dr. Leidy 's views as to the generic distinction 

 between I/ijipGjwtanuis and Cha-ropsis have been accepted by such 

 high authorities as Gratiolct J, Slilne-Edwards §., and Jluxlcy ' , 

 bv many zoologisls CJioeropsis is regarded as a species of Hippopo- 

 tatiius, and by some only as a variety of JlippopotaMux (triiphihius%. 

 Thus, for example, Flower **, a very high authority, does not 

 consider the difference in the shape of the cranium and in the 

 number of the incisor teeth in the lower jaw as warranting the 

 establishment of the genus Cho'i-opsis. The difference presented by 

 the crania in the two kinds of hippopotamus Flower regards as 

 similar to those " between the tiger and the smaller species of Felis, 

 the gorilla and baboons and the smaller allied apes." In the judg- 

 ment of the author, however, it may be at least questioned whether 

 the difl'erences existing between the smaller species of Fdis do not 

 justifv separating them into distinct genera. On the other hand, 

 although tlie gorilla has descended in all probability from some 

 baboon-like foi m, zoologists do not as yet recognize these two apes 

 as species of the same genus. The fact that Ilijipopotamns ampld- 

 hiiis, syn. TetrnprotofJon^ has, according to Gaudry ft, exhibited in 

 one instance unilateral hexaprotodoutisra, and Chwropsis^ according 

 to Flower ij, in one instance unilateral tetraprotodontism, would 

 influence but few palaeontologists in regarding, like Lydekker §§, 

 Uexaproto'Jon, Tttraproiodon, and Choeropsis as merely species of 

 one genus, Bippopotanms. Hexaprotodon and Tetraprotodon, with 

 the incisor formula \ — \ and 5— ^ respectively, are still considered 

 either as subgenera, as they were originally by Falconer and 



* Proc. A. N. S. 1852, vol. vi. p. 52. 



t Jonrn. A. N. S. ser. 2, vol. ii. 1853, p. 213, 



X ' Kechcrches sur Tanatomie de THippopotauie,' Paris, 1867, p. 202. 

 Gratiolet, apparently ignorant of Leidy "s description, named the Liberian 

 bippototamus Ditovieodoti. 



§ ' Kecherches sur les Mammiferes,' Paris, 1808-1874, p. 43. 



II Iluxlev, 'Anatomy of Vertebrated Animals,' 1872, p. 319. At 

 least, Iliixley says, '* The Ilippopotamida; are repre-^ented at present only 

 bv the genera JIij)j)opotamus and Chreropus.^^ " Charopus has only two 

 incisors in the lower jaw'' — by Vharoptoi is, presumably, meant 

 Chcn-fmsis. 



5[ Caru.«, 'Zoologie,' 1868, p. 145. 



** Proc. Zool. 80C. London, 1887, p. 612. 



tt Bull. Sue. Geologique, ser. 3, vol. iv. p. 504. 



\X Op. cit. 

 ?? §§ 'Memoirs r)f the Geological Survey of India,' 1884-1886, vol. iii. 

 p. 47. 



