NOETH GALLEEY. 
[UPPEE 
number of conical prominences, which are more or less united in the 
transverse direction of the tooth, so as to form high ridges. 
Nearly allied to the Mastodons is the extraordinary animal the 
Dinotherium, of which the skull, lower jaws of individuals of different 
ages, and detached teeth, will be found in one of the Wall Cases be- 
tween the windows. Here it will be seen that the large tusks with 
which the animal was provided, instead of being in the upper jaw, are 
implanted in the lower jaw, and are directed downv,-ards. 
In a contiguous all Case are exhibited fossil remains and casts of 
large extinct quadrupeds of the Marsupial, or pouched order, which have 
been recently discovered in tertiary formations in Australia. Of these 
the most gigantic is the Dijjrotodon Aiistralis, the skull of which mea- 
sures upwards of three feet in length, and exhibits a dentition corre- 
sponding, in the number of teeth and in the shape of the grinders, 
with that of the Kangaroo, but resembling that of the Wombat in the 
large size and curvature of the front incisors. Some of the bones of 
the Diprotodon 'nearly equal in size the corresponding bones of the 
Elephant. A fossil lower jaw, and the cast of the skull of a smaller 
herbivorous marsupial quadruped (N ototherium Mitchelli, Owen ; Zygo- 
maturus trilohus, Macleay), are here shown. This animal equalled an 
ox in size. The largest aboriginal quadrupeds now known to exist in 
Australia are the great Kangaroos ; and it is to the Kangaroo family that 
the above-named extinct species present the nearest affinities. 
At the end of the room opposite the entrance doorway, is the Fossil 
Human Skeleton brought from Guadaloupe in the V/ est Indies by Sir 
Alexander Cochrane, and presented to the Museum by the Lords Com- 
missioners of the Admiralty. Human skeletons are found in the 
island just mentioned in a solid and very hard limestone rock, which 
occurs on the sea-shore at the base of the cliffs, and which is more or 
less covered by the sea at high water. The rock is composed of sand^ 
the detritus of shells and corals of species still inhabiting the adjacent 
sea ; it also contains some species of land shells, identical with those 
now living on the Island : and, accompanying the skeletons, are found 
arrow-heads, fragments of pottery, and other articles of human work- 
manship. 
In the Cases to the right and left of the Human Skeleton, are 
arranged numerous mammalian remains from South America. 
The gigantic Bird Skeleton [Dinornis elephantopus, Owen), in the 
middle of the room, together with the legs of a second species of more 
slender proportions, and of much greater height (the Dinornis 
■ffujantem, Owen), forms part of the series of Bird remains discovered 
in New Zealand, which are arranged in Room III., and referred to 
in the account given of the principal objects displayed in that room. 
In the Islands of New Zealand, where alone remains of the Dinornis 
have been found, no similar wingless bird is now known to exist of 
larger size than the Kivi {Apteryx Australis), which does not exceed 
two feet in height, and which is also peculiar to New Zealand. 
GEORGE R. WATERHOUSE. 
