162 Dr. C. J. F. Major on some Fossil 



myself with saying that the form of the teeth and their mode 

 of wearing leave no doubt that they have belonged to a 

 monkey of the genus Macacus^ nearly allied to the M. [Inuus) 

 ecaudatus^ which now inhabits the coast of Morocco and the 

 Rock of Gibraltar. 



I am led to assume for the M. priscus of Montpellier a size 

 rather superior to the fossil before us, having measured the 

 three true molars of a living species of MacacuSy in which the 

 length of the lower teeth corresponds with the figure given by 

 M. Gervais for the Montpellier fossil. Nevertheless it is well 

 known that differences of size are often considerable in the 

 different individuals of the same species of Quadrumana, and 

 especially as regards the Macaques. The figure given of the 

 specimens referred to M. irriscus is not sufficiently accurate to 

 allow of the discussion of the possible differences of the two 

 specimens ; and, taking all this into consideration, I prefer 

 retaining, at least for the present, the designation M. priscus 

 for the fossil of the Val d'Arno : fresh specimens will perhaps 

 hereafter give rise to a new name, which I cannot justify at 

 the present moment. 



Every thing leads us to believe that we shall not have to 

 wait long for fresh evidence. During my visit to Florence 

 M. Cocchi was kind enough to show me a fine mandible of 

 a fossil monkey, which he ascribes to an Inuus (Macacus), 

 and which had been found a few months ago near Monte 

 Varchi, in the uj^per Val d'Arno. M. Cocchi has already 

 spoken briefly upon this at the meeting of the Italian Society 

 of Anthropology at Florence *. 



The dental series of this fine specimen is tolerably complete ; 

 there are wanting only the right canine and three incisors. 

 The enamel of the teeth presents absolutely the same shades 

 of colour that I have indicated in the fossil from the Museum 

 of Milan, which seems to show that the two specimens are 

 derived from the same deposit. From a hasty examination I 

 do not think that these two specimens can be separated spe- 

 cifically. However, it is to M. Cocchi that it belongs to 

 describe the mandible of the Florence Museum. 



What is the relative age of these Macaques of the Val 

 d'Arno ? The locality " Val d'Arno " has long been with 

 palaeontologists synonymous with Pliocene. MM. Gaudin and 

 Strozzi first commenced, by their " Contributions a la flore 

 fossile Italienne"t, to disentangle the question of the relative 



* Meeting of the 20tli February of the present year. See the 'Nazione,' 

 27t]i February, 1872. 



t Neue Denkschriften der allgem. schweizer. Gesellsch. fiir die ges. 

 Naturwissensch. vol. xvii. 1860. 



