ANNITEKSAEy ADDRESS OP THE PKESIDENT. IxXXV 



In 1862 M. Graudry commenced tlie publication of Lis great 

 work on these fossil'remains, comprising several species and genera 

 of the Q,uadrumana, Carnivora, Eodentia, Pachydermata, Eumi- 

 nantia, Edentata, Birds, and Eeptiles, many of which, however, 

 approach very nearly to those of Africa and India, while they are 

 entirely distinct from all the genera, whether living or extinct, 

 of the Continent of America. Many of these vertebrated animals 

 are identical with those which are considered as characteristic of 

 the middle Tertiary epoch. From these facts M. G-audry draws 

 the conclusion, that at about this epoch the new continent 

 (America) was already separated from the old, and that the great 

 parts of which the latter consists, Europe, Asia, and Africa, were 

 much more closely united than at present in the regions now 

 watered by the Mediterranean. 



The first part of the work consists of a description of the fossil 

 Vertebrata of Pikermi. The second part will be devoted to the 

 Greology of Attica. M. Gaudry tells iis that in the upper Tertia- 

 ries he distinguishes three kinds of deposits : — 1st, Marine ; 2nd, 

 Ereshwater lake-deposits ; and 3rd, those Avhich have resulted 

 from the erosion of the mountains, consisting of red loams and 

 conglomerates ; the fossiliferous beds of Pikermi are in these red 

 loams, and, as M. Gaudry observes, it will be interesting to ascer- 

 tain* how these animals, which appear to belong to the middle 

 Tertiaries, have been buried in the upper Tertiary formations. 



I will only further observe, that during the past year four more 

 livraisons, the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th, have been published, con- 

 taining descriptions of a new species of Mastodon, Dinotherium, 

 three species of Ehinoceros, and two species belonging to the 

 Palseotherium type, namely, Acr other mm, Leptodon Grcecus, a 

 species of 8us, and Gamelopardalis Attictis. The remains already 

 described in the former parts consisted of Quadrumana, one species, 

 with at least twenty skulls ; Carnivora, ten species described, and 

 four others of Eelis, too imperfect to be named ; Eodentia, one 

 species ; Edentata, one species. There remain still to be described 

 the Horse, Deer, Ox, &c., and the Birds and Eeptiles. 



Glacial Period. — I now come to that period Avhich is generally 

 considered as immediately preceding the first appearance of man on 

 our planet, I mean the glacial period ; and I will briefly allude to 

 some points which have lately been discussed respecting its effects 

 in modifying the surface of our earth. The chief of them has been 

 the effect of glaciers in excavating valleys and scooping out those 

 basins, whether in solid rocks or otherwise, which are now filled 

 with lakes at the foot of the mountains, or at the lower end of the 

 valleys which descend from mountain-chains. 



That the extension of glaciers over vast regions of northern 

 and central Europe during this glacial period far exceeded tlieir 

 present limits cannot be questioned ; equally so, that their thick- 

 ness was enormous, and consequently that their power to erode 

 the earth's surface was far greater than that which now prevails. 

 The question I now wish to consider is, whether that power was 



