92 . 
POrULAK SCIENCE 11EVIEW. 
between genera which have heretofore been considered as very distinct : for 
example, an ape intermediate between the Semnopithecus and Macacus ; a 
carnivore between the Hycena and Civet j a pachyderm between the 
Anchitherium and Horse ; a ruminant between the Goat and Antelope. 
The comparison of fossils from other localities has afforded similar results. 
With the view of combating the opinions opposed to him, M. Gaudry has 
studied the fossil Miocene Fauna of Mont Leberon, and has arranged his 
observations under the following headings : — 
1. The close of the Miocene Period was characterised by a great develop- 
ment of Herbivora. 
2. The Miocene Mammalia prove that the types of the higher forms have 
been more variable than the lower. 
3. An examination of the Mammalia proves that the Upper Miocene of 
Europe can be divided into two stages. 
4. The study of the Miocene Mammalia supports the hypothesis that the 
separation of the Faunas has been only the result of the local displacement 
of the Faunas. 
5. On the analogous forms of Mammalia which have preceded and fol- 
lowed those of the Upper Miocene. 
6. On the distinction of races and species of some Mammalia at the close 
of the Miocene Period. These separate subjects are then discussed, and the 
reviewer deals with them in succession. 
The Chemical Origin of Rocks. — This subject, on which of course much 
that is purely speculative is written, has been elaborately dealt with by M. 
Daubree, and his book is briefly noticed in the “ Geological Magazine.” We 
merely call attention to the fact of its having been published, for the subject 
is much too vast to be described in a paragraph. However, we hope in an 
early number to deal with the whole question in an original article of some 
length. Till then we must leave it. 
The Femur of Finer nis Struthioides in the British Museum. — We are 
indeed glad to learn that the bone of this huge extinct bird has come into 
the possession of the British Museum authorities. We are told so by 
Professor Owen, who described the bone in the “Proceedings of the 
Zoological Society,” Nov. 12, 1839. In a letter to the editor of the 
“ Geological Magazine,” No. 112, he says : “ The individual who, in October, 
1839, brought this specimen to me, for sale, at the Royal College of 
Surgeons, asked ten guineas for it. When I had convinced myself that 
it was the shaft of the femur of a bird, and that the evidence supplied by 
the vendor made it at least probable that the specimen had been found in 
New Zealand, I reported the circumstances to the Board of Curators of the 
Royal College of Surgeons, and recommended the purchase of the specimen. 
This was declined. I had determined, on being entrusted with office in 
the Hunterian Museum, not to form a private collection, and my circum- 
stances, in 1839, did not allow me to give ten guineas for a specimen ; and 
this I stated to the vendor, in requesting permission to describe and figure 
it, which permission he liberally granted. The specimen was purchased 
by Benjamin Bright, Esq., of Bristol, to whom a copy of the abstract of my 
paper had been sent, and was placed in his private museum, which, on his 
decease, came into the possession of his son. On communicating to this 
