96 



BAHIA BLANCA. 



Aug. 1833. 



with care ; but the following list may give some idea of their 

 nature : Ist^ a tolerably perfect head of a megatherium, and 

 a fragment and teeth of two others ; 2dj an animal of the 

 order Edentata, as large as a pony, and with great scratch- 

 ing claws ; 3d and 4th_, two great Edentata related to the 

 megatherium, and both fully as large as an ox or horse ; 5 th, 

 another equally large animal, closely allied or perhaps iden- 

 tical with the Toxodon (hereafter to be described), which 

 had very flat grinding teeth, somewhat resembling those 

 of a rodent ; 6th, a large piece of the tesselated covering like 

 that of the armadillo, but of gigantic size ; 7th, a tusk which 

 in its prismatic form, and in the disposition of the enamel, 

 closely resembles that of the African boar ; it is probable 

 that it belonged to the same animal with the singular flat 

 grinders. Lastly, a tooth in the same state of decay with the 

 others : its broken condition does not allow Mr. Owen, 

 without further comparison, to come to any definite conclu- 

 sion ; but the part that is perfect, resembles in every respect 

 the tooth of the common horse.* All these remains were 

 found embedded in a beach which is covered at spring tides ; 

 and the space in v/hich they were collected could not have 

 exceeded one hundred and fifty yards square. It is a re- 

 markable circumstance that so many diflerent species should 

 be found together ; and it proves how numerous in kind the 

 ancient inhabitants of this country must have been. 



At the distance of about thirty miles, in another clifl* of 

 red earth, I found several fragments of bones. Among 

 them were the teeth of a rodent, much narrower, but 

 even larger than those of the Hydrocharus capybara; the 

 animal w^hich has been mentioned as exceeding in dimen- 

 sions every existing member of its order. There was 



* With respect to the remains of the last animal, as some doubt 

 may be entertained by others, respecting its origin ; it must be remarked, 

 that it was fairly embedded in the gravel with the other bones ; and 

 that its state of decay was equal. To this circumstance it may be added, 

 that the surrounding country is without fresh water, and is uninhabited, 

 and that the settlement, itself only of five years standing, is twenty-five 

 miles distant. 



