1853.) 308 
March Ast, 1855. 
Vice-President Brings in the Chair. 
Letters were read— 
From the Royal Society of Sciences of Sttdehaliin dated 20th Oct., 
1852, transmitting recent Nos. of its jpuleliies nang acknowledged this 
evening. 
From the same, of same date, acknowledging the receipt of late Nos. 
of the ‘Proceedings of the Academy, and requesting others deficient in 
its series. 
From the Royal Academy of Sciences at Amsterdam, dated 5th Nov. 
1852, acknowledging the receipt of the Proceedings, &c. 
From the “ Acad. C. L. C. Nature Curiosorum,” dated Breslau, Nov. 
20, 1852, transmitting the volume of its ‘‘Nova Acta,’ announced 
this evening. 
Brom ‘L’Heole des Mines,” Paris, dated 6th Jan. 1852, requesting 
certain Nos. of the Journal aud Proceedings of the Academy deficient 
in its series. 
From the Smithsonian Institution, dated Washington, Feb. 16, 
1853, acknowledging the receipt of the Proceedings Vol. 6, No. 6, and 
Journal Vol. 2, Part 3. 
From the Secretary of the Troy (N. Y.) Young Men’s Associa- 
tion, dated Feb. 21, 1853, requesting, for that Institution, the publica- 
tions of the Academy. 
March Sth. 
Vice-President Bripeers in the Chair. 
Dr. Leidy called the attention of the members to several fossil fragments 
found in association with the remains of Megalonyx, &c. in the neighborhood 
of Natchez, Mississippi. 
One of the specimens is half of a lower jaw containing several teeth, of which 
the bone is enveloped in a thick layer of peroxide of iron. It belonged to a 
species of Ursus, and presents no difference in size or otherwise from that of 
the common Black Bear. 
Two others, consisting of a penultimate superior molar, and a fragment of a 
lower jaw containing the last molar, were referred to a new species of Bear, 
under the name of Wise amplidens. The fragment of lower jaw is even less 
in sizé than the corresponding portion in the Black Bear, while the two teeth 
mentioned are very nearly as large as the corresponding ones in the Grizzly 
Bear. The comparative dimensions are as follows: 
| U. americanus.|U. ferox.|U.amplidens. 
- . e a | inh an 
Depth of lower jaw below thelast molar; 39m.m. |50m.m.| 34 m.m. 
Antero-posterior diameter of last lower 
molar : . : . . oie lopnae. na. "120 naeanas| 19 meme 
Transverse ditto . : : . : 12h me. | E4 mM. mas LAs 
Antero-posterior diameter of supra- | | 
penultimate molar . : : : 19m.m. (21 m.m.| 21 m.m. 
eh | 
PROCEED. ACAD. NAT. SCI. OF PHILADELPHIA.—VOL. V1. NO. VIII. 47 
