334 General Notes. [April, 



of Northern Antiquaries. He was profoundly versed in the an- 

 tiquities of Scandinavia and Denmark, and was the author of 

 many archaeological works. Among them we would mention 

 " Denmark in the early Iron age, illustrated by recent discoveries 

 in the peat mosses of Slesvig-Holstein," a splendid quarto pro- 

 fusely illustrated and dedicated to the Princess of Wales. It was 

 published in London in 1866. 



GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY. 



New characters of the Perissodactyla Condylarthra.— 



Besides the characters of this group given in the Naturalist for 

 December, 1881 (page 1017), there are some further points of im- 

 portance. The humerus in the two species of Pkenacodus, where 

 it is known, is much like that of the Creodonta, having a supracon- 

 dylar foramen, and a simple condyle, without intertrochlear ridge. 

 This is the only group of Ungulata where the supracondylar fora- 



Numerous specimens of the species of Meniscotherimn show 

 that that genus belongs to the Condylarthra, and must be referred 

 to a new family characterized by its more complex molar teeth. 

 It is also possible that the number of the digits is different. The 

 astragalus and humerus have the characters of those of Phena- 

 codits, that is of the Creodonta. The two families of Condylarthra 

 will be contrasted as follows : 



Phenacodontidce, Dentition tubercular. Meniscotheriida, Denti- 

 tion lophodont, with external and internal crescents and deep 

 valleys. — E. D. Cope. 



Mesonyx and Oxy^na. — In Mesonyx ossifragus the ante- 

 rior limbs are much shorter than the posterior ones. This is espec- 

 ially marked in the humerus, which resembles in its form that of the 

 otter. The ulna has a wide deep groove on its superior face, 

 whose elevated external bounding ridge indicates a powerful 

 extensor of the pollex, and supinator muscles. But the supina- 

 tion of the hand was impossible since the head of the radius is 

 transverse and firmly fixed to the ulna. The greater length of 

 the posterior limbs would indicate that the animal frequently 

 rested on those extremities alone, in a position intermediate be- 

 tween those used by the bears and kangaroos. The species is 

 as large as a bear, and has a very large head. 



In Oxycena the posterior foot has some characters like those of 

 the seals. The cuboid bone is exactly like that of those animals, and 

 it is evident that the external toes of the hind foot diverged ex- 

 tensively and were probably constructed for swimming. — E. D. 

 Cope. 



The Rhachitomous Stegocephali. — The segmented vertebrae 

 characteristic of this order have been found in the genera Ery- 

 ops, Zatrachys and Trimerorhachis in America, and Actmodon in 



