many other animals. The true character of this genus, for example, so anomalous was its structure, could not be made out until after many bones had been discovered.

"These obscure surmises were ultimately cleared away by the labors of Professor Kaup. He came to the conclusion, that the Dinotherium was a pachydermatous animal, connected on one side with the Mastodon by the form of its head, and by a great aperture for a proboscis; on the other, with the Tapir, by a peculiarity in the premolar teeth.

"In 1836, Dr. Klipstein completed the anatomy of the head by the discovery of a cranium. This magnificent fossil, the only known specimen of a cranium, has served to supply various scientific cabinets with casts of the head. The head itself lies in the cellars of the British Museum; the owner, Dr. Klipstein, not being able to obtain the price he has thought right to demand for it. It was intimated to me, by a friend of Dr. Klipstein, that I might purchase it on favorable

terms.

"Anatomy. The head of the Dinotherium giganteum is nearly four feet long and about a foot and a half high; the distance from the orbitar fossa to the posterior edge of the temporal fossa is a foot and a half; the depth of the temporal fossa is about a foot; the angle of the os frontis and occiput is from thirty-nine to forty degrees. The summit of the head is divided into two parts by the occipital ridge, an arrangement different from that in the Mastodon, which has the occipital ridge at the posterior termination of this summit. Behind this ridge is the occipital surface, which is not vertical, as in the Mastodon, but oblique, and presenting a large space for the attachment of muscles. At its posterior termination is the occipital condyle, which has a globular form, as in the Manatus and Dugong. In front of the occipital ridge is seen the large nasal aperture, corresponding with that of the Elephant and Mastodon, and affording strong evidence that the Dinotherium belongs to the Mammalian order Pachydermata. This surface terminates anteriorly in the rostrated beak of the upper jaw. A large part of the lateral surface of the head is occupied by the temporal fossa, containing a space for the eye and for the immense temporal muscles. "The lower jaw is remarkable for the circular curve downwards of · its two projecting tusks. When discovered, the jaw was broken across, and the anterior fragment, separated by a space of a number of feet, was supposed to have had its curve directed upwards, as in the Elephant,

Mastodon, &c., presenting an unusual and grotesque appearance. In this position they were first represented by Professor Kaup, who tells us, that, while a friend of his was handling this anterior fragment of the lower jaw containing the curved tusks, he accidentally turned it downwards, and found it corresponded exactly with the other fragment.

"Then, for the first time, it was seen that this was the true natural direction of the tusk, and that it probably served the purpose of a pick to dig up food. Dr. Buckland suggests, that it might also be employed to anchor the head to the river-shore while the animal slept. The curved tusk with the bone in which it is socketed forms a hook about three feet in length, and the degree of curvature thus formed is the fourth of a circle.

"Teeth.-There are two sets of teeth; first, the primary or milk teeth, twelve in number, three on each side of each jaw; second, the permanent, twenty in number, five on each side of each jaw. The latter are divided into pre-molars and true molars; the pre-molars are the two in front, as the name indicates, making the whole number of pre-molars to be eight. The true molars are twelve in number, three on each side of each jaw, placed behind the pre-molars. These teeth resemble the Mastodon teeth in having two or three transverse ridges, but differ from them in this, that they are all square excepting the first true molar, which has three ridges and an oblong form. In the Mastodon, all the true molars possess an oblong form, particularly the last. The middle permanent tooth of the Dinotherium, however, is sometimes distinguished with difficulty from the third or fourth tooth of the M. giganteus.

"The teeth of the Dinotherium are developed vertically, as in man and most Mammalia. In this respect they differ from the Elephant family, which, on account of the great size and weight of these organs, have them developed horizontally.

"Trunk. Many bones of the trunk and extremities of this animal have been discovered, but nothing like a complete skeleton. Some of these bones are said to be of great size, exceeding corresponding bones of the Mastodon and Elephant even by one fifth. The head of the Dinotherium giganteum of Klipstein is, however, scarcely equal in dimensions to that of the great Mastodon skeleton in Boston, or that of the head in my possession, called, from the river near which it was found, the Shawangunk head. The body is represented by learned authors to be eighteen feet long, which is two feet longer than our largest

Mastodon; and fourteen high, or two feet higher than the Mastodon. The animal next in size after the Mastodon, the Megatherium, known, like the two preceding, in a fossil state only, has the height of eight feet and the length of twelve, although some of its parts are

enormous.

"The bones of the extremities generally are not of great size, but there are some large bones, particularly the thigh-bone in the Darmstadt collection, more than five feet long. The thigh-bone of the great Mastodon is only three and a half feet; this would make the Dinotherium bone not quite a third longer than the Mastodon, and the skeleton about a third higher.

"The Eppelsheim thigh-bone, it has been suggested, might have been that of an Elephant. Professor Kaup did not appear to be settled in the opinion that it appertained to the Dinotherium; so that we must consider this bone not to be fairly claimed by the animal in the present state of our information. Further, we must confess that we have not seen a bone of the Dinotherium, which entitles this animal to a higher estimation among gigantic quadrupeds than the Mastodon.

"The lower jaw, attached to the cast of the head, discovered by Dr. Klipstein, is indeed longer than any Mastodon jaw; but this peculiar prolongation is destined for the support of the curved tusks, and its other proportions are generally smaller than those of the Mastodon. Thus the circumference of its medial portion is in the Dinotherium twenty inches, in the Mastodon twenty-two. The breadth of the ramus in the former is five inches just below the condyloid process, while that of the latter is at the same point ten and a half inches; the height of the ramus is two inches less in the former than in the latter.

"The cranium has already been shown to be decidedly smaller than either the Shawangunk head or that of the great skeleton. There may be, and probably are, other Dinotherium bones in existence, greater than any we have had an opportunity of seeing.

"In the comparison made above, we have considered only the largest species, the Dinotherium giganteum. There are, however, other smaller species, but their number and distinctions are not well established. The D. Cuvieri, D. medium, and D. australe of Professor Owen, found in New Holland, are pretty well understood; the others are more doubtful.

"Dr. Buckland was of opinion that this animal was aquatic in its habitation and modes of living; that it slept in the rivers, anchored by

its hook-like trunk to a tree on the river-bank. If, as the hook-like tusks would seem to indicate, it lived partly upon roots which were torn up by these instruments, we must allow it the privilege of passing a part of the time on shore. In short, we should be much disposed to consider the animal as very analogous in habit and residence to the Hippopotamus.

"While the bones of the Dinotherium are widely scattered through the continent of Europe, and even in Australia, the most remarkable deposit is found in the sands of Eppelsheim. This celebrated locality forms a part of the Rhine basin, belonging to the upper tertiary or pliocene formation. It is constituted by layers of loess, of calcareous and ossiferous conglomerate, of sand, of clayey marl, and, finally, of fragmentary ossiferous and marine conglomerate, arranged in layers from one to several feet in thickness. In the last of these are found the remains of the Dinotherium. The whole depth from the surface is about forty feet. They lie in great confusion, intermixed with the bones of other animals, among which we find those of Mastodon longirostris, Rhinoceros Schleiermacheri, Acerotherium incisivum, Arctomys primigenia, Spermophilus superciliosus, Tapirus priscus, Sus palæologicus, cervus, &c. Of these and other bones from the same place we have fine casts, made under the direction of Professor Kaup.

"How these vast collections were formed in the London, Paris, Rhine, and other basins, is a matter of deep interest. The more common opinion has been, that this conglomeration was formed by some great deluge. In many cases, however, the bones lie in their natural position, as if the animal had died quietly on the spot, and their remains were gradually accumulated during a course of countless ages. "How should so many species and families have been exterminated? The march of geology and paleontology will no doubt lead us to wonderful discoveries in these new sciences, and thus afford some answer to this question; but probably there will always remain many inexplicable phenomena to keep alive the curiosity of future generations."

Professor Peirce communicated the results of his investigations relating to Foucault's experiment with the pendulum. In the course of his remarks, he referred to a mathematical discovery by Encke, which had been anticipated by Mr. G.

P. Bond, and to Airy's plate apparatus, which was similar in principle to such as had been previously contrived and used by Mr. Treadwell and by Mr. Boyden.

Dr. Peirson referred to an explosion of "burning-fluid," which caused the death of Miss Mary F. Choate of Salem, on the twenty-fourth day of last February; and read an article communicated to the Salem Gazette by Dr. E. L. Peirson, which contained a very particular account of the circumstances connected with the explosion, as investigated by that gentleman and himself. The disaster occurred in an unfinished pantry, about ten feet long and nine feet wide; in one corner of which, on a shelf at the end of a sink, and on a level with the top of it, which was three feet above the floor, there stood a can of the capacity of one gallon, partly filled with "burning-fluid." The can was screened in a great measure from the direct heat of the stove by two water-buckets, which stood on the same shelf. The mouth of the can was stopped with a plug of white-pine, and the nozzle with a small rag. A few seconds before the explosion, the girl was seen pouring water from the tea-kettle upon some meal with her right hand, and stirring the meal with her left; and was, without doubt, thus employed, when a very loud explosion occurred, and enveloped her and various other objects in the room in flames. The bottom of the can was blown out and thrown to one part of the room, and the body of it, with the plug still in the mouth, to another. The mother did not recollect what became of the nozzle. The girl survived the accident about twelve hours. Dr. Peirson invited an expression of opinion respecting the cause of the explosion.

Professor Horsford stated that he had visited the scene of the explosion. After illustrating with a diagram the position of the various articles of furniture in the apartment where the accident occurred, he remarked, "that the Salem case presented several difficulties, among the most important of which he enumerated the following:

"1. How fire could have been communicated to the mixed