492 General Notes. [May, 
GEOLOGY AND PALAIONTOLOGY. 
Tue MamMatiAn Genus Hemicanus.—This genus was charac- 
terized by me in the NATURALIST for 1882, p. 831,' from a num- 
ber of teeth. The typical species, H. vultuosus was supposed to 
be a beast of about the sizeof atapir. Its exact position was not 
determined. Jaws with teeth and a part of the skeleton of a second 
and smaller species of the genus recently received, throw much 
light on its characters, and demonstrate that it is one of the most 
remarkable of the Eocene Mammalia yet discovered. 
e claws are large and compressed like those of a prehensile- 
footed carnivore. The astragalo-tibal articulation is nearly flat. 
The femur is very robust, and has a low third trochanter, as in 
Bunotheria generally. The vertebræ of the neck are short an 
wide. The jaws have a very large and wide coronoid process, as 
in Calamodon, and the horizontal rami are very robust. The molar 
teeth of the lower jaw have but one root.. Only one true moiar 
(the first) is preserved, and it has the crown worn. [Its outline is 
sub-round, with a notch on the internal side, There are proba- 
bly four premolars, and their crowns are short, obtuse cones, 
' with a low heel-like expansion at the inner side of the posterior 
base. They resemble very nearly the teeth of some of the eared 
seals. There is a robust canine tooth in the upper jaw, which is 
not separated from the premolars by a diastema. There is at 
least one superior incisor, but the exact number is unknown. There 
is a large tooth on each side of the symphysis of the lower jaw, but 
in the specimens it is not in place. It has enamel on the anterior 
face only, and its apex is worn transversely. The wear descend- 
ing passes to one side of the middle line. It evidently has a 
median position, and may therefore be an incisor. Its form 
reminds one of that of the second inferior incisor of Calamodon, 
but the enamel-face is much shorter. 
Should the large inferior teeth be canines, the mandibular den- 
tition will greatly resemble that of the seals, as does that of the 
maxillary bone. The absence of postorbital angles resembles the 
condition in the Phocide. The wide vertical coronoid process 
and the flat vertical angle are as in PENSER The sagittal 
Hemiganus may for the present he ened to the Creodonta 
where it will stand quite alone, and next to the Tzniodonta. 
The species which is represented by the specimens referred to ; 
may be called Hemiganus otariidens. It may be characterized as 
I: transverse .008; anteroposterior .008. soa eter of large in- 
ferior ? incisor at shoulder : debabpoatetior 017; transverse .008. 
- Depth of ramus at P-m. III .040; at coronoid process .090; length 
- ‘1 It is figured on Plate XXII c, figs. 7~12, Report U. S. Geol. Survey Terrs., II. 
