This order embraces, at present, four families, comprising 24 species distributed among 12 genera, as follows: Elginiidae, 1 genus, 1 species; Pariasauridæ, 3 genera, 7 species; Diadectidæ, 5 genera, 9 species; Pariotichida 6 genera (of which 3 are new, viz.: Isodectes, Captorhinus and Hypopnous), and 12 species, of which 5 are new. Total, 29 species, 15 genera.-E. D. COPE.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE VIIa.

Pariotichus aguti Cope. From the Proceeding Amer. Philos. Society, November, 1895. Fig. 1, Skull, from side. Fig. 2, Skull, with angular parts of mandible adherent, cervical vertebrae and scapular arch, from below. Fig. 3, Skull, from above, with cervical vertebrae. Fig. 4, Anterior two-thirds of mandibular arch, with adherent premaxillary bones, from above. Fig. 5, Humerus. N., Nasal bone; F., Frontal; Pef., Prefrontal; Pof., Postfrontal; P., Parietal; Pmx., Premaxillary; Mx., Maxillary; J., Jugal; Qj., Quadratojugal; St., Supratemporal; Sm., Supramastoid; Tab., Tabulare; So., Supraoccipital; V., Vomer; Pa., Palatine; Par., Paroccipital; Ecp., Ectopterygoid; Ps., Pterygoid; Q., Quadrate; Ce. Clavicle; Ep., Episternum; H., Humerus.

The Puget Group.-Sir Wm. Dawson confirms the opinion advanced by Dr. G. M. Dawson in 1890 that the formation in the north-western part of the United States to which the name Puget group has been given, extends into British Columbia as far as Burrard's Inlet. This great estuarine deposit extends southward as far as the Columbia River and from the coast line to the Cascade range, within which its beds rise to a height estimated at from 800 to 5000 feet above the level of the sea. They overlie the Cretaceous Chico series in the United States, and its equivalent the Nanaimo formation in Canada. The latest views of paleobotanists and geologists of the United States seem to be that these beds are of Eocene age and that the fossil plants may be best compared with those of the Upper Laramie of the interior plains. In so far as Canada is concerned it has been established that the Upper Laramie beds underlie a formation containing animal fossils of the White River Miocene period, so there can be no doubt as to their Eocene age, and consequently of the Eocene age of the Puget group in Canada.

A further confirmation as to this view of the age of the formation in question is found in a collection of fossil plants from the vicinity of Burrard Inlet. These were referred to Sir Wm. Dawson for identification who sums up the results of his study as follows:

"A comparison with the flora of the Upper Cretaceous Nanaimo series shows that the Burrard Inlet species are distinct and of more modern aspect. On the other hand, they are also distinct from those of older Miocene deposits of the Similkamen district and other parts of the interior of British Columbia. Between these they occupy an intermediate position; in this resect corresponding with the Laramie of the interior plains east of the Rocky Mountains. They also resemble this formation in the general facies of the flora, which is not dissimilar from that of the Upper Laramie or Fort Union group."

"We may thus refer these plants to the Paleocene or Eocene, and regard them as corresponding with those of the Atanékerdluk beds in Greenland, the lignitic series of the McKenzie River, and the beds holding similar plants in Alaska."

"This flora thus serves to fill the gap in our western series of fossil plants, namely, that between the Cretaceous and the Lower Miocene." (Trans. Roy. Soc. Can. (2), Vol. I, 1895–’96.)

The Geological Structure of Florida is according to Prof. E. T. Cox, remarkable for its simplicity. The underlying rock is a soft limestone of Upper Eocene age; resting on this are beds of phosphate of lime; and covering the phosphate and limestone is a bed of sand that varies from a few inches to 20 feet and more in depth.

It shows no

The Eocene limestone is filled with fossil marine shells. evidence of disturbance and is without a trace of stratification. It has an amorphous structure and is of unknown thickness. The phosphate of lime occurs in detached masses scattered over an area about 20 miles wide, and exending in a belt, follows in general way the trend of the Gulf coast from the northern limits of the state and beyond, to the western edge of the Everglades on the south. The author believes the phosphate to be the result of the mineralization of guano.

It has been

The covering of sand is found all over the Peninsula. blown by the winds from the gulf and ocean beaches. Mixed with the sand is clay in the form of fine dust. In several localities the associated clay has been separated from the sand by running water and deposited as kaolin. This kaolin has been tested and found to be of superior quality for the manufacture of the finest porcelain.

Florida is not a level plain. A ridge from 30 to 50 miles wide extends from the northern part of the state to the Everglades, having an elevation of more than 230 feet in some places. From this ridge the land slopes to the Atlantic on the east and the Gulf on the west.

The elevation of the Peninsula was due to that continental force, extended over a vast period of time, which brought the tops of the Rocky

Mountains above the waters of the Pacific. (Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers.)

The Eocene age of part of Florida was first asserted by Prof. Eugene Smith of Alabama, and this conclusion was confirmed by paleontologic data by Prof. Heilprin, of Philadelphia. Dr. W. H. Dall subsequently delimited exactly the area of these beds with the Neocene and Plistocene beds to the south, east and north of them.

Notes on the fossil Mammalia of Europe Pt. II.-On the affinities of the Genus Tapirulus, Gervais.-Tapirulus is one of those aberrant types, where we find a curious assemblage of characters, which to the systematist is a great annoyance, although to the morphologist most instructive.

A superficial examination of the teeth has lead some paleontologists to assign this genus a position near the Tapir. Gervais established this genus on the characters of the lower true molars.2 He referred Tapirulus to the family Anoplotheriida, which I shall endeavor to prove is its proper position, although this reference on his part I believe was accidental, as he placed in the same family the genus Adapis. Gaudry3 has assigned Tapirulus a position near the genus Tapirus, and Zittel' referred it to the Suida.

Through the great kindness of Prof. Albert Gaudry, who has so generously allowed me to study so many of the beautiful specimens in the collection of the Jardin des Plantes, I have had the opportunity of examining a skull of Tapirulus, in which the greater part of the upper dentition is preserved. On examination of this skull I was at once struck by its close resemblance to that of Anoplotherium, and Dacrytherium.

The skull in Tapirulus is slender and much elongated, the dorsal contour is nearly straight, and the facial portion is strongly compressed and slender. There is no preorbital fossa, as in Dacrytherium, and the occiput is high and narrow, like that of Anoplotherium. The auditory region very closely resembles that of Dacrytherium, the paroccipital process is long, slender and the posttympanic and glenoid processes are applied closely to the external auditory meatus. The brain case in the Anoplotheriida is much extended anteroposteriorly, being about onehalf the total length of the skull in Dacrytherium. In Tapirulus the

1 Comptes Rend. Acad. Sci., 1850, p. 604.

2 Zoologie et Palæontologie Francaise, p. 173, pl.

3 Journal de Zoologie, XIV, 1875, p. 5.