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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
When the experiments were conducted in vacuo the same rule held 
good, the passivity ceasing a little earlier. 
GEOLOGY. 
Fossil Vertebrates from the Eocene of Champagne . — Dr. Victor Lemoine 
has devoted much attention to the remains of vertebrate animals found in the 
Eocene deposits of the neighbourhood of Rheims, from which he states he has 
obtained indications of over a hundred new species. Of these about forty 
are Mammalia, representing the Carnivorous, Insectivorous, Eodent, and 
Pachydermatous types. Of Birds, he has five species, some of them large, and 
presenting certain characters which approximate them to Reptiles ; whilst, on 
the other hand, certain of the Reptilian bones present more or less avian 
characters. The Fishes, also, are said to offer a remarkable approach to the 
Reptiles. In the case of the Mammalia, he remarks that their predominant 
peculiarity is that they present mixed types, and the complexity of this 
mixture is greater in proportion to the antiquity of the animal. His Carni- 
vora are complex types, having resemblances with Pachyderms, Lemurians, 
and Marsupials. The dentition in Arctocyon, of which Dr. Lemoine has two 
new species, presents a sort of combination of that of the Ursidse and that of 
the Porcidae, especially Entelodon ; whilst the form of the cranium, the in- 
clination of the angle of the lower jaw and the perforation of the humerus 
seem to be Marsupial characters, and the caudal vertebrae are somewhat 
analogous to those of the Lemurs. In the strictly carnivorous group, M. 
Lemoine places a new genus, Hycenodict.is ; whilst a Proviverra represents the 
less carnassial Canidae and Viverridae. Some small mammals, apparently 
organized for climbing, may have resembled the lemurs of Madagascar, 
as would appear from the dentition of some of them, which, however, 
is varied so that while certain species appear to have been insectivorous, 
others were probably frugivorous, and others again fitted for a mixed diet. 
Of these forms, which he is inclined to class under Cope’s term, Mesodontes, 
Dr. Lemoine notices numerous species, which he refers to the genera Proto - 
adapts , Lem., Plesiadapis , Gerv., and Miacis , JDiacodon, and Opisthotomus of 
Cope. A single molar is said to resemble the same tooth in Phenacodus , 
Cope. If these determinations be confirmed, they will indicate an interesting 
analogy between the Eocene faunas of France and New Mexico, and a similar 
analogy in the floras has already been noticed by Saporta. 
Two other forms appear to belong to the American group of the Taenio- 
dontes, and present resemblances to the Mesodontes just mentioned, and to 
existing Rodents and Edentates. Similar analogies seem to prevail in the 
types M. Lemoine regards as representing the Pachyderms. The even-toed 
Pachyderms are represented by two species of Dichobune, and others, forming 
a new genus, Lophiodochcerus. The Perissodactyla are more numerous, and 
include species of Hyracotherium , Lophiodon, and Coryphodon , with other 
forms which present very singular and varied resemblances. A molar of 
Halitherium was also obtained from the Calcaire grossier of Rheims. 
The remains of Birds all indicate Palmipede, or Grallatorial forms. 
