ARSIMTHERUM ZITTELI, Beadn. 



.A. ZSTE^W EOCENE T7ITGTJLATE FEOM EGYPT. 



The interesting discovery of Eocene mammalian and reptilian remains 

 made la>r year by the Geological Survey of Egypt and briefly described 

 by Dr. C. W. Andrews, of the British Museum, in the Geological 

 Magazine (September and October, 1001) and by the writer (Decem- 

 ber, 1901), has attracted considerable attention from zoologists and 

 geologists. During the past three months the exploration of the 

 deserts bounding the Fayum depression has been continued, and has 

 resulted in the discovery of far more complete remains of some of 

 those animals already recorded, notably Palcedmastodon, and in addi- 

 tion, of several entirely new genera of mammals and reptiles. 



The most important of these is a large, heavily built, ungulate, 

 about the size of a rhinoceros, and for which the writer proposes the 

 generic name Arsinoitherium, from Queen Arsinoe, after whom the 

 Fayum was called in Ptolemaic times, the species being A. Zitteli, in 

 honour of the eminent geologist, who may be regarded as the pioneer 

 of geology in Egypt, and whose work when attached to the Rohlfs 

 Expedition of 1873-74 is well known to all geologists. The remains 

 obtained include nearly the whole of the skeleton, so that a tolerably 

 complete restoration will be possible. For the present a brief reference 

 to the skull, the remarkable appearance of which is seen in the accom- 

 panying plates, must suffice. It is relatively narrow compared with 

 the length which measures 75 centimetres, and is chiefly remarkable 

 for the enormous protuberance rising from a point slightly forward of 

 the centre. At the base this protuberance is cylindrical and of the 

 same width as the skull (24 centimetres) ; above this it expands slightly, 

 and higher up bifurcates into a pair of tapering, blunt-pointed horns, 

 slightly outwardly directed, which reach a height of G8 centimetres 

 above the lower surface of the posterior molar, the point of bifurcation 

 being 20 centimetres from the tip. In addition, two very small sharp 

 horns rise from the skull immediately behind, these are directed 

 outwards at an angle of about 45° from the vertical, their tips being 



