8156 



Quadrupeds. 



corresponding to that of the extinct species of quadrupeds. But, 

 however, supposing that man was contemporary with the animals of 

 the older strata, there are several causes which would account for the 

 absence of all trace of him. In his early condition his numbers must 

 have been infinitely small compared to the rest of the animal creation, 

 and therefore the chance of the discovery of his remains is as one to 

 many thousands. Man was, further, long confined to a certain 

 limited spot on the earth's surface, while the animal creation, it is 

 presumed, was universally diffused ; so that the extensive forests and 

 wild savannahs swarmed with live existences, although no human 

 eye and intelligence were there to behold their habits and motions. 



The regions most minutely examined by geologists — such as Eng- 

 land, France, Germany, &c. — were evidently long under the ocean, 

 and many of the animals discovered in this deposit indicate a lacus- 

 trine or swampy condition of the regions they inhabit ; one of the 

 most remarkable and extraordinary, the Dinotherium giganteum 

 (gigantic tapir), it is now our object to describe. 



The excellent publications of Professor Kaup, of Hesse Darmstadt, 

 having given it as the opinion of that learned author that the fossil 

 animal holds an intermediate space between the tapir and the mastodon, 

 whilst the eminent Cuvier — from the molar teeth it possesses nearly 

 resembling those of the tapir — seems inclined to refer it to a gigantic 

 species of that genus. The talented geologist, Mr. Bakewell, pos- 

 sesses in his museum a remarkable specimen, exhibiting the crown of 

 the teeth of this animal. It was found with other mammalian remains 

 near Grenoble, and from the hardness and brilliance of the enamel it 

 appears as fresh as if recent. He considers it the most perfect fossil 

 tooth he has ever seen. The form of these molar teeth approaches 

 most nearly to those of tapirs ; but there is a marked difference from 

 the character of those animals as well as of every other quadruped, 

 whether living or extinct ; it consists in the presence of two enormous 

 tusks placed at the anterior extremity of the lower jaw, and curved 

 downwards similar to the tusks in the upper jaw of the walrus. 



The largest species of this genus is estimated, both by Cuvier and 

 Kaup, to have attained the extraordinary length of eighteen feet. The 

 most wonderful bone that has yet been discovered is the shoulder- 

 blade, the form of which more nearly resembles that of a mole than 

 any other animal, and seems to indicate a peculiar adaptation of the 

 fore leg for the purposes of digging — an idea which receives strength 

 on viewing the remarkable structure of the lower jaw: the length of 

 this jaw, including the tusk, has been estimated at nearly four feet: it 



