286 



NATURE 



\Feb. 12, 1874 



to what this animal truly was when the proportions and 

 general contour of the tapir were assigned to it, as was 

 done even by Cuvicr himself. 



Far from bcmg bulky and almost massive, as was 

 thought, Pcilaotlieriuin niagnujii is now evidently seen to 

 be a very slender animal, with an extremely graceful car- 

 riage, with the neck longer than in the horse, and a 

 general contour much on the same type as that of the 

 Llama. 



Without attempting a detailed study of its osteo- 

 logical structure, we may mention that Palaothcrium 

 jnagniim had a height a little less than that of a middle- 



sized horse Three toes are found on each of the feet ; 

 the head, much like that of a tapir, had most probably 

 also the rudiment of a truak ; the femur has a third tro- 

 chanter ; the dentary system is composed, in each jaw, of 

 six incisors, two canines, and fourteen molars, these latter 

 corresponding with the same teeth in the rhinoceros. 



PaLtothcrium magmim, like its congeners, of which 

 about a dozen species are at present known, was herbivo- 

 rous, and without doubt lived in large herds. Its existence 

 carries us back to that age of our earth which is termed 

 the Eocene period, and it is in the middle of that period, 

 which coTiprises the c^^.-a^ura dc>3sits or their geological 



equivalents, that ils remains are discovend, as well as 

 those of all the other species of the same genus. 



Nevertheless it made its appearance even before the 

 gypsum formation, ils presence having been detected in 

 the beds of coar^e limes' one, which are inferior to and 

 therefore more ancient than that formation. 



It is the piaster quarries of Montmartre, Pantin, and 

 La Villette. near Pans, which have for a long time held 

 the privilege of furnishing to paleontologists the nume- I 

 rous remains that are known of this fossil species. The 

 Pateotherium, which forms the subject of this notice, was 

 obtained from a plaster-quarry situated at Vitry-sur-Seine. 



It was, however, even a few days ago, as we see it today, 

 exposed on one side, and on the other encrusted in its 

 stony resting place in the ceilmg of a subterraneous gal- 

 lery, a little more than four yards high. Only a few 

 have visited it, although M. Fuchs, a civil engineer, the 

 proprietor of the quarry where this magnificent specimen 

 was fou:id, offered to give it to the Museum. 



The gift so generously offered was immediately ac- 

 cepted ; and Prof. Gervais, with a scientific zeal which 

 ought to be fully acknowledged, occupied himself with the 

 direction of the important task of taking it intact to 

 Paris. 



