XXII. — Some Account of the Remains of the Me gcitheriuni sent to 

 England from Buenos Ayres by Woodbine Parish, Jun., Esq., 

 F.G.S. F.R.S. 



By WILLIAM CLIFT, Esq., F.G.S. F.R.S. 



■ [ReadJune 13, 1832.] 



IHE Remains of the Megatherium described in this paper are part of a 

 collection of fossil bones recently sent from Buenos Ayres by Woodbine 

 Parish, Esq., His Majesty's Charge d'Affaires in that country*. 



They were found in the river Salado, which runs through the flat alluvial 

 plains (the Pampas) to the south of the city of Buenos Ayres f. Their dis- 

 covery was owing to a succession of unusually dry seasons in the three pre- 

 ceding years, which lowered the waters in an extraordinary degree, and 

 exposed part of the pelvis to view, as it stood upright in the bottom of 

 the river. It appears that this and some other parts of the skeleton, having 

 been carried to Buenos Ayres by the country people, were very liberally 

 placed at Mr. Parish's disposal by Don llilario Sosa, the owner of the pro- 

 perty on which they were found. 



In the hope of obtaining the other parts of the skeleton, an intelligent person 

 was subsequently sent to the same spot, who succeeded, after considerable diffi- 

 culties, in getting out of the mud forming the bed of the river, the remainder 

 of the collection which forms the immediate subject of the present paper. 



Further inquiry led Mr. Parish to suppose that similar remains might be 

 met with in other parts of the province of Buenos Ayres, and he applied 

 to the local authorities to assist him in making further search. This aid was 

 given by the Governor, Don Manuel Rosas, and the remains of two other 

 skeletons were found on His Excellency's own properties of Las Averias and 



* These Remains, after having been exliibited to tlie Geological Society, were transferred by 

 Mr. Parish to the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons in London. Excellent casts of the 

 principal bones have since been prepared under the superintendence of Mr. Chantrey, and have 

 been liberally presented by the College to the Geological Society, the British Museum, the Uni- 

 versities of Oxford and Cambridge, and the Garden of Plants at Paris. 



t See Map, Plate XLIII. 

 VOL. III. — SECOND SERIES. 3 L 



