82 FOSSIL MAMMALIA. 



species. In the fossil head the occipital crest is more narrow, 

 the zyo-omatic arches less separated behind, and that portion of 

 the cranium bounded by these arches on the sides is larger in 

 proportion; the junction of the cheek-bone to the muzzle is 

 made by an oblique line, and not by a sudden slope ; the occiput 

 is more suddenly raised, so that the fall of the sagittal crest 

 towards the interval of the orbits is more rapid, and, of course, 

 the vertical height of the occiput is greater. In the lower jaw 

 the interval between the two branches is more narrow. 



The Baron possessed five vertebrcc^ none of which were com- 

 pletely similar to their correspondents in the living species. 



The articular face of the shoulder-blade wsLsmore rounded, and 

 had a coracoid tubercle more blunt and curved inwards. This 

 fragment must have belonged to an individual fifteen feet long. 

 It is unnecessary to pursue this comparison any further, 

 as it could not prove interesting to the general reader. It is 

 sufiicient to observe that, notwithstanding the general resem- 

 blance of all the bones to those of the living species, there are 

 differences in every one of them, sufficiently marked to warrant 

 a distinction of species. 



The little fossil Hippopotamus was discoervedby M.Cuvier, 

 in a block which was for a long time in one of the magazines 

 of the Museum of Natural History, and the origin of which 

 was unknown. It resembled considerably the osseous breccia 

 of Gibraltar, Dalmatia, and Ceuta, except that the paste, instead 

 of being calcareous and stalactitic, was a homogeneous sand- 

 stone, filled with fragments of bones and teeth, which formed an 

 incomparably greater portion of the mass than they do in the 

 breccia. 



With infinite labour and care, were at length disengaged 

 from this block the remains of an animal, the existence of which 

 had never been previously suspected. 



From a block of the same description, submitted to the dis- 

 posal of the Baron by M. Journu-Aubert, additional informa- 

 tion was derived concerning this fossil species. But no remains 

 were found in the place from which the block was taken. 



