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Show 96 DAUIA BLANCA. Aug. 1833. with care· but the following list may give some idea of their ' . nature: lst, a tolerably perfect head of a megathenum, and a fragment and teeth of two others ; 2d, an animal of the order Edentata, as large as a pony, and with great scratching claws; 3d and 4th, two great Edentata related to the megatherium, and both fully as large as an ox or horse; 5th, another equally large animal, closely allied or perhaps identical 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 conclusion; 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 which they were collected could not have exceeded one hundred and :fifty yards square. It is a remarkable circumstance that so many different 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 cliff 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 Ilydrocha:rus copy bam; the animal which has been mentioned as exceeding in dimensions 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. · • Aug. 1833. FOSSIL QUADRUPEDS, also part of the head of a Ctenom s . . ferent from the Tucutuco b t . yh ' the species being difblance. ' u Wit a close general resem- The remains at Punta Alta were . remarked, with shells of ex' t' ~ssociated, as before b Is mg species Th h as yet een examined with I . ese ave not .r I scrupu ous care b t . sa1e y asserted that the ' u It may be species now living in they are bmost closely similar to the same ay· 't · 1 able, that not only the spe . b . I IS a so very remark-b Cies, ut the pr rt" ers of each kind' are ne ar1 y th e same . th opho IOnal num-up on the pebble beaches Th WI t ose now cast ( . · ere are eleven · . some m an imperfect state) marme species not collected l' . , . ' and one terrestrial. If I had Ivmg speCimens from th b the fossils would have been th e sa~e ay, some of Sowerby who w k' d ought extmct; for Mr. ' as m enough to look at . had not previously seen th W my collectiOn, the bones have not b emh · e may feel certain that een was ed out of ld .~: and embedded in a an o er 10rmation more recent one b h ' one of the Ede n t a t a were lym. .' ehc au. se t e remains of position (and partly so · g m t eir proper relative have happened with titnh a second case) ; which could not ' ou e carcass had b h d spot where the skelet . een was e to the on IS now entombed We here have a strong co :fi . . law so often insisted on b n rmatwn of the remarkable " lonO'evity of the . ! Mr. Lyell, namely, that the 0 species m the mamm r . whole inferior to that of the t es t acea "* Wa mh , IS upon the to the southern part of p t . · en we proceed describe the case of at'agoma, I shall have occasion to an ex met camel f h. h result may be deduced. ' rom w Ic the same From the shells bein litt I . . terrestrial) and from th g h ora speCies (mcluding one .1: ' e c aracter of the d · Jeel absolutely certain that th . eposit, we may shallow sea not far fr the remams were embedded in a l ' om e coast From th · . t 1e skeleton beinO' und' t b d · . . e position of th f I o IS ur e ' and likewise fr th .~: at u 1-grown serpulre were attached to some ofo mth e beo nteasc t J VOL. nr. • Pl'inciples of Geolouy vol iv 40 t"'' •• , p. • II |