PEIMATES PEOM MADAGASCAE. 61 



2. To discuss the origin and relationships of existing species in the light of these 



subfossil remains. 



3. By a comparative survey to trace the bearing of recent discoveries on the 



position of the Lemuroids and their relations to the higher Primates, an 

 attempt being made to throw some light on the course of development of the 

 Primates in general, and incidentally to distinguish between such so-called 

 lemuroid characters as are due to degeneration or specialisation on the one 

 hand and such as may be considered as belonging to a common ancestral 

 Primate stock on the other. 



I wish in this place to express my thanks to the various members of the staff of the 

 British Museum at South Kensington who have generously given me every facility 

 for the comparative study without which the preparation of this memoir would have 

 been impossible. I am especially indebted to Dr. Smith Woodward and Dr. Andrews, 

 of the Geological Department, who have, with unfailing courtesy, given me every 

 assistance in their power. 



In the course of this essay, I have, I trust, made ample acknowledgment of my 

 indebtedness to Dr. Forsyth Major, whose views on the affinities of the Lemurs are in 

 almost every instance confirmed by a study of the ampler material now at my 

 command. 



I must not omit to record also my hearty thanks to my former professor, Dr. L. C. 

 Miall, of the University of Leeds, for much valuable help during the preparation 

 of this memoir, and to Dr. Elliot Smith of Cairo, whose special knowledge of 

 the comparative morphology of the Primate brain has been brought to bear on the 

 elucidation of the problems raised by the discovery of these interesting remains. 

 It should, however, be understood that the responsibility for the particular views here 

 advanced is entirely my own. 



In conclusion, I cannot refrain from alluding to the sad loss which the cause of 

 scientific research in Madagascar has sustained in the death of my late lamented friend 

 and colleague Mons. A. Jully, to whose initiative as President of the Aeademie 

 Malgache the work of exploration, which has resulted in such valuable additions to 

 our knowledge of the extinct fauna of Madagascar, was largely due. 



THE POSSILIFEEOUS DEPOSITS AT AMPASAMBAZIMBA. 



Ampasambazimba ("The Vazimba's Tomb") takes its name from a reputed tomb of 

 one of the aboriginal inhabitants of the country which is situated on the edge of the 

 fossiliferous marsh. It lies near the western side of the area of volcanic disturbance 

 which runs north and south for several days' journey to the west of the province of 

 Imerina. 



This area represents a region of more recent disturbance than the mass of the 



k2 



