THE AMERICAN NATURALIST, An illustrated Wlagazine NATURAL HISTORY. EDITED BY EDWARD D. COPE AND Ag ai C. KENYON, (January to August AND ROBERT P. BIGELOW, (September to December.) ASSISTED BY E. A. aeoiee G. BAUR, W. S. BAYLEY, C. E. BEECHER, C. E. BESSEY, oe amp J. H. Comstock, W. M. Davis, A. C. GILL, . S. JORDAN, H. C: MERCER, C. PALACHE, H. M. RICHARDS, W. E. RITTER, F. RUSSELL, E. F. SMITH, W. TRELEASE, H. C. WARREN, S. WATASE, C. M. WEED. VOLUME XXXI PHILADELPHIA, U. S. A. THE EDWARDS & DOCKER CO., 1897. CONTENTS. A Grooved Stone Axe from the Ohio Drift. H. C. MERCER Biologic Origin of Mental Variety. H. NICHOLS Fossils and Fossilization. L. P. GRaATAcAP, 16, IQI, Bacterial Diseases of Plants. E. F. SMITH ERETI E Nocturnal Protective Coloration of Animals. A. E. VERRILL........... Inferior Boundary of the Quaternary ees O. H. HERSHEY Pouched or Pocket Gopher. C. Is WEBSTER,....,.cccessessrenesesed edessoos Undescribed Species of Ra F. SMITH.. Birds of New Guinea. G. S. M Scope and Position of fiodkeniGty. A. MATHEWS Polyphyletic Disposition of Lichens. F. CLEMENTS Some M itah Clad c r: Ee S The Floida Sea Monster. A R. VERRI aa o a N The Optic Lobes of the Bee’s Brain. F. C. KENYON Notes on the Flora and Fauna of Mammoth Cave. R. E. CAL ee es in Economic Ornithology, with Reference to the- tata. JUDD Dr. daa on the Development of the Vertebral Column. O. P. Hay. The san serait, Geological Congress. P. FRAZERe..sssscseeesseeees 406, In Memoriam, E. D. Cope. P. FRAZER Obituary 3 Notice of a es Cope. J.S. KINGSLEY Toxodon E. D. COPE ; e: of beret a C. R. Eastman Golden-eye or Lace-wing Fly. C. M. WEED. Biological Studies in Massachusetts. G. C. WHIPPLE........--.503, 576, n the Affinities of Tarsius : A Contribution to the Phylogeny of the imates. C. BABE AAE GEA ER e EET E ET E 569; Natural Impulses.` W. B New Observations on the Origin of the aliigo Islands, with Re- marks on the Geological Age of the Pacific Oċean. JG: ÉAUR. 661, The Swamps of Oswego County, N. Y., and their Flora.” W. NE ROWLEE.......- : : «2.690, Biology and Medicine. - W. H. WELCH.. U seen Hair and Feathers. J. S. KINGSLEY Birds of the Galapagos Islands : A Criticism of Mr. Robert Ridgway" s Recent Paper. G. BAUR.. 1897.] Contents. Vv 512; Report of Canadian Geological Survey for 1894, 513; Thaxter’s Laboulbeniacez, 513 ; Comstock’s Entomology, 515 ; Hertwig’s The Cell, 516; Kirby’s Entomology, 516; Birds of Illinois, 517; The Forces of Nature, 517; Morgan’s Develop- ment of the Frog’s Egg, 594 ; Miocene Mollusca and Crustacea of New Jersey, 597; Sixteenth Report of the U. S. Geological Survey, 597; Russell’s Glacier’s of North America, 597 ; Cocci- dæ of Ceylon, 701 ; Section Cutting and Staining, 704; The Cambridge Natural History, 704; Aquatic Insects, 705 ; The Senile Heart, 706 ; Sixth Report of the Shaw Gardens, 706 ; Tarr’s Elementary Geology, 804; U.S. Fish Commission, 804 ; Hand-book of British Birds. 805 ; A List of Periodicals............. RECENT BoOKS AND PAMPHLETS.—50, 145, 216, 324, 421, 518, te 706 gl NOTES.— General Biology.—Reactions to Stimuli in Para m, 974 ; Average Contribution of each Ancestor to the pola Herta of the Offspring, 1043 ; Preformation vs. Epigenesis, 1044; Dissemination of Organisms, 1044 ; Plankton Note......... 1045 Parahi. —Basic Rocks of Devonshire, 52; Magmatic Alteration of Hornblende and Biotite, 52; Petrography of Little Rocky Mountains, 53; Volcanic Rocks of Bolsena, Italy, 54; Analcite- Bearing Rocks, 54; Petrographical Notes, 55, 150, 221, 425, 523, 607, 1053; Petrography of the Viterbo Region. 148; Missourite, 149; Schists of the Spessart, oe ; Petrographical ary 150; Rocks at Bedford, N. Y., 219; Basic End-number of t Em Syenite Nepheline TATR 219 ; Anorthosites of kaloy Lake Region, 220; Volcanic Rocks of Fox Islands, Maine, 220 ; Italian Petrography, 326; Eclogite of the neni et oe 27: Nodular Granite from Finland, 327; Volcani from Lak . Superior, 328; Diabases of Goslar, 328; heme: of “ath Paw Mountains, 423; Laurentian Rocks North of Montreal, 424; Rocks of the Leucite Hills, 424; Rocks of the Columbretes, Spain, 424; Dykes in Tyrol, 425; Mud Enclosures in Trap, 520; Ke erae Dyke near New Haven, 521; Gabbros of Bohemia, 521; Exotic Blocks in Eocene Schists of the Alps, 521; Eleolite- Syenite of Portugal, 522; Ancient Volcanic Rocksof Pennsylva- nia, 605; Rocks Associated with Magnetites near Port Henry, 605; Basalts of Steiermark, 606; Volcanic Rocks of Bohemia, 606; Zonal Crystals, 607; Igneous Rocks of Trans-Pecos, Texas, 806; Italian Petrographical Studies, 807; Rock Differentiation, 807 ; Granites of Pyramid Peak District, California, 808; Pegma- tite, 809; Petrography of the a Iron gS 1050; Rock Formation of Silver Cliff and Rosita Distric TO51 ae —Production of Precious Brema in ee 329 ; Coloring Mat- of Minerals, 331; Pearceite and Polybasite, 331; Miscellane- ous Notes, 332; Lewisite and Zirkelite, 601; Epidote and Zoisite, of Crystals, 603, 607; Miscellaneous Notes, 603 ; Derbylite, 1045; Zirkelite, 1045; Wellsite, a New Zeolite, 1046; Silicate Contain- iv The American Naturalist. (Yol. XXXI, The Advance of Biology in 1895. C. B. DAVENPORT... <-s.. :reers serso ` Edward Eor Cope, Naturalist—A Chapter in the History of Science. T. GILL paoe Homotogies A’ — to es Determination of the of Vertebrates. C. S. MIN The ices gi Organic Selection. H. F. OSBORN The Geological Congress in Russia. C. PALACHE Some Unwritten History of the Naples Zoological Station Wind River and Bridger Beds in the Huerfano Lake Basin. H.F. GBORN iaie. urosta oA ahr aE r rA AET sk lO ee Peculiar Zonal Formations of the Great Plains. F. E. CLEMENTS The Cricket as a Thermometer. A. E. DOLBEAR EmN A Review Dedicated to the late Professor Cope. H. F. OSB Hammar’s gro Layer. E. A. ANDREWS A North American Freshwater Jelly Fish. E. Ports Observations on the Functions of the Pyloric Czeca of Asterias Vul- g E A. STONE. EDITOR’S TABLE.—Protection of Wild ee 41; Mammoth in Alaska, 42; Gypsy Moth, 42; Field Museum, Chicago, 42; Series of Lake Superior Rocks, 43; Original Research in Uni versities, 139; Woodrow Wilson on Science, 140; Science in Thoughts on Scientific Fads, 509 ; Change of Ownership of the American Naturalist, 699; Association of Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations, 700; The American Naturalist, 800; L’ Année Biologique, 802 ; Scattered Biological Data, 803 ; Amer: ican Journal of Physiology, 804; The Toronto Meeting of the British Association, 896 ; The Louisiana Society of Naturalists, got; Milk Supply, 971; Government Publications, 97113 ; Ac- 43; Biological Examination of Lake Michigan, 45 ; Indiana Academy of Science, 46; Beal’s Grasses, 47; Brush’s Mineral- ogy, 48 ; Chudzinzki on Facial Muscles, 49; Bailey’s Survival of the Unlike, 140; Prillieux’s Diseases of Plants, 142; Camp- bell’s Mosses and Ferns, 143 ; Experimental Morphology, 212 ; Oceanic Ichthyology, 213 ; Fishes of North America, 214; Evo- lution or Creation, 216 ; Sudworth’s Arborescent Flora of U. S., 310; Lehmann and Neumann’s Bakteriologie, 312; Science Sketches, Let ; Recent Papers on Vertebrate Paleontology, 314; Surface Features, Missouri Geological Survey, 419; Life in Ponds sey Streams, 510; Year Book of the Department of Agriculture for 1895, 511 ; Mack’s Popular Lectures, 511; Mar- tin’s Human Body, 511; Geology of Pennsylvania, 511 ; Report of the U, S. Fish Commission, 512; Animals at Work and Play, 785 vi The American Naturalist. [Vol. XXXI, ing Lead, 1046; Bixbyite, 1047; Zinkenite Group, 1048; Terres- tri i Missouri 1049 Geology and Paleontology.—Relations of Lambdotherium, 55; Develop- ment of Footin Palaeosynopinæ, 51; Western American Loess, 58; Extinct Birds of Chatham Island, 59; Rocks of the Antarc- tic Continent, 222; Queries on Rock Differentiation, 223; Coal Measures of Arkansas, 223; Lead and Zinc of Iowa, 224; Erup- tive History of Yellowstone Park, 224; Atlantic Coast Eocene, 225; Glacio-Marine Beds of Europe ; Geological News, 227, 337, 530, 613, 712; Alleged Fossil Micrococci, 333; Geology of Luang Prabang, 333; Chico-Tejon Beds, 333; Position of Periptychidæ; 335; Glacial Beaches of Michigan, 336; Lake Agassiz, 337; The Prehistoric Dog, 337; International Geological Congress, 524; The Laramie and Related Formations of Wyoming, 528; Lower Cretaceous Flora of Europe and America, 530; Geology of Alaska, 608 ; Phylogeny of Daemonelix, 609 ; Nature, Struct- ure and Phylogeny of Daemonelix, 610; Origin of Edentatas 612 um Deposits of Kansas, 612; Gesligy of the Panaliti Coral ars 613 ; Hollick on Block Island, 709; Age of the Him- alayas, 709; Geological History of the Bermudus, 710; Cana- dian Paleozoic Fossils, 710; Kellaways Fauna in Beluchistan, 711; Fauna of the Wombeyan Caves, N.S. W., 711; A Region of Environmental Change, 712; Archegosauras, 975; Recon- struction of Soren sae prnierT os; 980 ; Schuchert’s Synopsis of American Fossil B Botany.—Climatic r of Lake Erie on Vegetation, 60; Class cation of Protaphyta, 63 ; Metric System in Botany, 151 ; Sore and Faxon’s Sphagna, 152; The Cell Nucleus, 153; An Austra- lian Curiosity, 154 ; Stolons of Phragmites, 227 ; Key to Mosses, 228 ; New Species of Fungi, 339, 426; Botanical News, 343, 430, ka 715, 906; Changes in Nomenclature of American Trees, 1053 A ‘Scientific Dictionary of Plants, 532; Order and Family in Botany, 532; Botanical Society of America, 615; Botany in the National Educational Association, 616; Marine Biological Lab- oratory, 616; A Beginner’s Botany, 617; The Death of Sachs, 713; Opportunities for Research in the Missouri Botanical Gar- den, 714; Gray’s Synoptical Flora, 809; Britton and Brown's Illustrated Flora, 810 ; The Nature of Ivy ce 901 ; Bot- any in Detroit, 903 ; Hdtiinical Society of America, 905 ; Govern- ment Timber Tests, 906 ; Distribution of Plants Along Shore at the Lake of the Woods, 980; Bailey’s Principles of Fruit Grow- ing, a teecccces sescecece 1055 Vegetable Physiology,—What is Leuconostoc mesenterodes? 228 ; New Disease of Tobacco, 231; POA Plant Geography, 435; Che- motropism of Fungi 717 Zoology.—Nuclei and Cytoplasm in Isopods, 66; Climbing of Myria- pods, 71; Species of Lepidosiren, 72 ; Regeneration of the Lens 1897.] Contents. of Triton, 72; English Sparrow Not Always a Nuisance, 73 ; Ori- gin of Chiropterygium, 74; New White-Footed Mouse, 74; Bats from Lower California, 75; Deaths from Mammals and Snakes in India, 77; Number of Species of Living Animals, 78 ; Terce- ira Dog, 79; Amoeba coli Not Pathogenic, 155; Bipalium, 155, Egg-Laying in Sagitta, 155 ; American Chetognaths, 156; Cen- tral American Diplopods, 158; Development of Wing Scales in Lepidoptera, 158; Rapid Growth of Apus, 158; HEEE ETTEN 158; Mutilations of Redfish, 159; Reithrodontomys in Virgini 160; Inheritance of Monodactyly in the Pig, 161; Newfoundland Martin, 161; Zoological News, 163, 241, 629; pilsrdides mustel- arium in American Skunks, 234; Appendages of Peneus, 235; Nerve Endings in Vertebrate Stomach, 236; Breeding of Ross’ Gull, 237; Mammals of Bertie Co., N. C., 237; New Vole from Nova Scotia, 239; New Race of Gibb’s Mole, 241; Paramoeba eilhardii, 344; Diplodal Sponge Chambers, 345; Asymmetry of Spirorbis and Relations of the Species, 345; Malpighian Tubes of Orthoptera, 346; Eels Eating Limulus Eggs, 347; Elas- coma zonatum East of the Apallachians, 348; The Human Tail, 349; Gases of Physalia and of Fishes, 440; Ascaris, 440; Excretory and Circulatory Organs of Nemertines, 441; Epitokic Forms in Cirratulidee, 442; Crop in Dragon Flies, 442 ; Regen- eration of an Antenna in Place of an Eye, 443; Variable Sutures in Turtle Skull, 446; List of Mammals of Raleigh, N. C., 446; Stichospira paradoxa, n. g. et. sp., 535; Enigmatic Strictures of Sipunculus, 541; Observations on Pesijathh 543; A`Myrmeco- philous Mite, 544; Poison of Centipedes, 544; Ear-like Organ in Phlceothrips, 545; “ Delarvation ” as a Translation of ‘‘ Echinil- ABS: 546; Orientation of Organisms by Light, 619; Relation ‘Between Intensity of Light and Rapidity of Movement, 620; ‘Birds of Chester Co., Penna., 623, 311, 907; On the Use of the Terms Heredity and Vdriability, 629; Origin of Life, 720; Life Cvcle of Coccidia, 721; Nephridia of the Nemertine, 722; A A Remarkable fe scape Cirripede, 723 ; Classification of Or- thoptera, 724 ; A Preserve of Black Foxes, 725; Metamorphoses of Leptoceptialis, 726; Fauna of Aldabra, 811; Czecal Append- ages of the Orthopteran Mid-Gut, 985; The Hypochoria: 985 ; Blood- Vessels in Epithelinm Entomelogy —Antennee of Lepidoptera, 80; Sleeping Trees of Hymen- era 80 ; Nets Excluding Insects, 81; Life History of Sannina, 81 ; Smith’s Economic meagre 82 ; Oceanic Migrations of viving Ichneumon Attack, 164; Viviparous Ephemerid, 165 ; Coleoptera of the Rio Grande Valley, 349; Life History of Xylina, 350; Notes on Dragon-flies, 351 ; Changes in Intestinal Epithelium of Tenebrio, 354; Insects Affecting Domestic Ani- mals, 449; Life History of Coleophora, 451; Studies of Mimicry, 451; Vitality of Ephydra, 452; San Jose Scale, 547; Spruce viii The American Naturalist. [Vol. XXXI, _Gall-Louse, 548; Hemiptera, 549, 633 ; Coleoptera, 550; Dip- ective Value of Motion, 814 ; Ambrosia Beetles, 816; Brown- Tailed Moth, 817; Scudder’s Guide to the Orthoptera............+ LEmbryology.—Movements of Blastomeres, 83 ; Mechanical Explanation Cell Division, 84 ; Corpus Luteum, 167; Cleavagein Ovarian Eggs, 169; Spinning Powers of Eggs, 243; Two Animals from One Egg, 452; Do the Astral Rays Pull or Push? 453 ; Contin- uity of Cells in Eggs, 454; Breeding Habits of the Spotted Sal- amander, 635 ; Cell Division and Nuclear Division, 637; Visual Complexity of Protoplasm in Certain Eggs, 639; Some Activi- ties of Living Eggs, 730; Spinning in Serpula Eggs, 818; Fer- tilization Physiology.—Venom of the Australian Black Snake Psychology.—Reinversion of Retinal Image, 86 ; Bird’s Nests and In- stinct, 89; Psychic Evolution, 91 ; Ashncicain Psychological Association, 169; Psychology in 1896, 248; Studies in Tele- ene Language, 252; Inheritance of Subserviency, 253; eams, 354; Courtship of Grasshoppers, 357; Notes on Child Pook, 455; Effects of Music on Caged Animals, 460; Mr. Spencer’s Psychology, 553; Involuntary Movements, 557; Con- traction of the Field of Vision, 558; Rapid Calculators, 642; Visual Perception of Depth, 644; Physiological Effects of Men- tal Work, 732; The Tactual Threshold for the Perception of Two Points, 820; L’Année Biologique, 823; Notes on the Ex- perimental Study of Memory, kee Odor-mixture, 987; Psy- chology at the British Association, 988: Physical Basis of Pain, end mag s Social and Ethical Tucerpretofions in Mental DEVEDE sis cnenetoncneraesy secon T Anthropology.—The PUETA Cross, 255; Maler’s Exploration in o- _ tan, 258; Cave Hunting in Syria, 258; Pile Structures of Semi- nole Indians, 357; Grooved Stone Axe in South America, 359; _ Fossil Bird Bones from the Bone Caves of Tennessee, 645; Scapulæ of Indians of the Northwest Coast, 736; The Tomahawk of the North American Indian, 824; A Triple Indian Grave in Western New York, 826; The History of Mankind.................. Microscopy.—Formol, 92, 464, 46s; Preparation of Rotifers, 360; Angle of the Razor in Section Cutting, 464; Schaper’s Method of Re- pasen he a OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES, 96, 174, 259, 361, 467, 559, fee eenes See NEWS, 97, 188, 267, 365, 478, 566, 657, 751, 828, 917, 990,.. 1056 245 I060 Index. INDEX. 1897.] etches IRED Characters......... 1041 Activities of Eggs....... 7305. Ba a rar ages of De- 971 spa Biological Survey... 188 fame Geology 608 55 Alteration of Hornblende and tite 52 Alternation of Generations in reer 34 aiun rosi Auntie polar ie Habits of. 635 American and British Associa- tions 6 American Morphological Socie- 179 Ame n Naturalist 800 nee. Bronce) Society, cays EEE 96 American “Psychological Asso- ARRE E E TOU e EES 169 American PSN of Natural- E 174 Amocba 155 nalcite- eair Rocks. ......++ 54 Arpan ws, E. bit Breeding of PTD FSLONIB cess nna s > nen ace 635 Tavanport’ 3 Experimental aara OLOR V- acces ssh stneninnaae 212 Spinning T Spr gy Eggs. 818 Animals, Number of Livi ving..... 78 sdeple nar of Rain y Lake Re- nrar 20 E Continent, Rocks of. 222 Antenna Replacing an Eye...... 443 Antennæ of Lepi opiera P 80 Apus, ey Growt a EE 158 Arche Mi 5. A ia EET E E 975 Arkansas Coal S ip ivena at 223 Asparagus Beetle.........csc.sseees 728 Atlantic Eocen 225 Augen-Gneiss at Bedford, N. Y. 219 Angite «2... sescsceresroegseee reenenes 150 peer Syene Series 219 Ax I, 359 Ege a Diseases of Here w one eeroeere sr... 3d, secs F. C; penta ” Music at Anim : E cer’s Py cooley - A E aE: Jurassic of. Bangs, O., De escription of New- foundland Mart (6) e — White-Footed Mouse. eee eeeeee teers eee eenee stew etawe see eee sesos eee mene sence ee tsewoe S .ceccscee Origin of ‘the Galapagos Islands. . 661, pencdidi, A. 1 “Triple ‘Indian AE eerie Geology o bi: ai Bernhardt, W., Natural Im- jsulses Bessey, C. E., Arrangement of Proto hyta ey s Survival of the Un- sssssrosesse soseoosss othe in Detroit.........-»-- oe ibe CS rasses of North aton had Tarona North \merican Spha Ietric System F pE a Votice of J. vo: at: RE worth’s j E ARAOR tr > ee eceeee hater s Laboulbeniaceæ. mmerman’s Cell nones nemistry, Positio i OF . +00 NHS ta E es eaa ones ast sees ee ee ree t ere ee Heat et New hse irene Birds of Soma B sne rise and Instinct Richwit Blac BI pietade Movem o Blood Vessels in Epithelium Blum, F., not Forma Botanical Society of America Botany M Detroit. ccs. oaei Brain of pees” S., Mammals of North Carolina .......+. 247; British eects Bridge Ber PONI freman ere Psychology kow Tailed Moth ar Aad A Rocks of. Bee, of ie i € E.,Schuchert’s Syn- opsis of Brachiopods......... ages in Poy once pigs Taoa of sersosesss:ossos sessssooo see eeeereres Caves in Sy Cell Division, Explanation of... Cell ste on and Nuclear Di- Chatham Is., Extinct Birds of, Cnelone, Variations i in Skull of. isa ropterygium, ee of... motropism a MATE: sso issues Chico- ejon Bed Chive Psychology. pbves's etratt ATTE Crai i Cladocera oE Manttoba -x eavage of Ovarian Eggs....... Clements E., Arrangement PROMO e se eee eee meter of Lichens Campbells Mosses and Fern Ronit Formations of Great Plains Climate and Vegetation. vessaeds te C easures = Arkansas. . Coccids, Notes Coccidae of Ceylon ockerell, a D. A., Bipalium i Jam oninia in Coccidol- The American Naturalist. Review of Green’s Coccide...... Coleophora, ee tory... Coleoptera of T Coleoptera, Notes s a E 559, Continuity of C is Contraction of Field of Vision... Cope, E. D., Notices of 410, 414, Jordan and Evermann, rae of America Gardener on the In- fone Position of Peripty apers on Vertelir- ology seer eres tees ae Coral Reef, Geology of............ Corpus luteum a Saruhan Crat ke Crawford, J. F. Studies in Telegraphic Langua Cretescene Flora of vison, and Ameri s.essoss sesoses ca _ Plants of New Jer C imr Cross. Swastika ( ( rustacea, Sexual Organs of... ee team Zonal Structure of 603, yi ( ier Fossil Cytology of Isopods............... ; Diea E PE ce 609, “Pe B. Adv- ance o Biology in 1895.... Inheritance from p radier Delarvation Der by lite Devonshire, mee Rocks of... Diabases of Go Dipelti Dipl a of Central America.. Diptera, Notes o Disease of A e AS PRS S Z , Prehistoric Terceira Dolbear, A. E. ’ Cece as Thermometers ................ Dormouse, Extinct tter of Minera bi Obitua [Vol. XXXI, Index. xi 1897. ] Dorsey, G. Scapular of Northwest Coast Indians..... 736 Dragon Fly, ae entation 82 Flie S, NOTES Ol.essssessssoeeree 351 Kgcndueensmiens 354 Dito of Ohio, Implements in.. I ARLE, C. Affinities of pen Eastman ag ey 81 -earceite 331 -egmatite 809 EELNE E EE E 337 Perception pe Two Points......... 820 Peripatus, Habits of...........+..-+ 543 -eriptyc chidae, oe of... 335 Peromyscus 74 Pe memes! Instruments. 150 Pe trograpl hy of 326 -etrography y of Greece Iron Ran 1050 Petoleam in California. ....... 531 Phenacodus, Reconstruction of. 980 Phototaxis of Or song eenkueses 619 Phragmites, Stolons of............ 227 Phyllocarida ssr ue 227 Phytophtora -s.s sus- rriorse 231 Pig, Mon ny w aniale sib enitted 161 Pilsbry, H. A. bes Cirriped.. 723 Pile Structures of Seminole In- ians, 3 57 ee C44 Plants, Diseases of.....++-++.++. ads. 123 Pinte ange eae ai of at Take 980 Poison. Tey P Priori ning... gol Poison of Australian Black Snake 245 POLY baite. s cess Eros ahenea 331 Postage on Scientific Objects... 309 Potts, E. Dai Jelly Fish 1032 Pound, R and Clements, F. = stribution of Plants a Lake of pos Wo0ds.....+0+0+2 ait Geology Of.--.es+es-ee0e8 333 ous Stones in 1896.......... 329 Pitter ryt Renata Ors whale 1044 Prehistoric Dog 337 i OF eA S os 338 Principles of Fruit Growing..... 1055 Protection of Wild Animals..41, 97 Protective ColormtiD isea ar 99 ROCEEIB 0s tssstummmeststerevesssiess, 613 Protoplasm, Complexity of.... 38 yta, Arrangement of. 63 ‘Lake Michigan .... 241 Psychic Evolution........0--.s0. QI Xiv Psychology in 1896 Pyroxenes of New Vork........-. UARTZ-PORPHYRY of Westphalia Quaternary, Lower Limit of .. sence sees seseseeee ATEA EAN in Boulder Randotph, B Fu „Bird Life in Central] Ame Rapid Calculators Reactions w Simah. in Para Wuicuayuction Method.. ... . Red Fish, Mutilations of......... Regeneration of Lensin theta: R a in Blare Pilsearch | in Uke ersities, ......... Retinal Image, Reinve sa on of, Reviews. L’Année Biologique 5, 800, Bailey’s Survival of the Un- like Bailey’s Principles of Fruit Growing Baldwin’s Social and Ethi- Develo Balfour’s Aeron isis ein east taiinai Poston aah of Periodicals.. Britton and Brown’s Flora. — Determinative Min- ralogy Canbenige Natural History ol. Campbell’s Mosses and Ferns Chudeteert s Facial Mus- erin Microtomy........ Comstock’s st or the Study of Insects...........4+.. Cooke’s Field | Doia Setii Cornish’ nimals at Work and Playr aare i ale. - Eaton 4 Ameriees ph agna. Furneaux i Lafe in Ponds and Strea Geology of Canada, Annual Report for Geology of Penns Arama Semik s ‘Syn ynopt Green’s Coccidæ of Ceylon The American Naturalist. 248 602 -Stossich on Asca Harrop and Wallis’s Forces of ature Hertwig’s The Cell........... Hollick’s Block Island...... Jordan’s Science Sketches. Kirby’s Elementary Ento- MO Beli iene et esereards ogy — Precious Stones in 896 Lehmann mrs Neumann’s Bakteriolog Mach’s Popul ar r Lectures... MeNiell’s Tryxalina Martin’s Human Bod at eeeees Missouri Geological S Ze reeseeeereeeees i=) o nee Proceedings of the Indiana Acade Ratzel’s History of Man- kind Report U. S. Fish Commis- sioner Illino: Sideways s Birds of the Gal- apagos Archipelago I Glaciers of North s.ssossoss antichest's Brachiopods... Seuader 's Guide to Ortho op- sesssssoossss aces Botan izer ith’s mology Economic Ento- i Sudworth’s Ar ubreaeent ora Swann’s ier Birds... Tarr’s bare a ry Geology r’s Laboulbeniazez. ban Fish Commission Re- U.: ts. Geological Survey Re s.s.s, OIT eet eee eees eee te ee ee ee ee eee eee ee eee Willis’ s Disie of Plants ; Wilson; The Swastika Cross ` er for 1894... Ridgway’ s Órnithology of | Vol. XXXI, 1897.] wees ag Craft. ids. Yea “sta ne Depart- rani of. karit Zimmerman’s Cell Nucleus. Robinson, Ps L., Ivy Poisoning Rock Dec Rock Differenti Paaa, s BRNE 223, Rock Formation of Oraa Rock Weathering......... Rocks, Analcine Bea ring Rocks of Jeer tretie Continent.. Rocks o Rocks, Volcanic, of Bolsena.. Rocks of Texa Ross eS Manitoba Clado- fet Luke bone eened Jee. Veeke vie 660668 Rotifers, naam Ofsi PLE Rowlee , Swamps of Oswe .-690, sossseos rsh , N. Russell, Py- ‘Ratzeil’s History of M I ato Life-History Ee ta, Oviposition.......... Sagitta Paya opas a REN E a St. Louis Academy of Sciences, 183, 362, 562, San ie Secale Scalpell Scapulæ of Northwest Coast EET EST TA ETRE Science i m Newspapers je Sa Bureau in Washing- Ponies eo eee eeeeeees Section Knife. Angle of.......... Selection, Organic spine rete "Indians, Pile Struct- Sepii ag Spinning rea cae Islands, Rocks o Shea ee , Prillie s.s... ux’s Dis- pan Pl ants prerii Australian Curios- ity Shists, Crystalline. of Spessart, Shists of Malvern Hills........... eee R. , Fossil Birds ennessee........ ukio Silicate ¢ containing lead........... Sipunculus, + Urnes ” in......... Skunk, Parasite Of..ss rir eroii Sleeping of Hymenoptera........ mith, E. F., Bacterial Dis- eases of Pl AORE ET E Lehman and Neuman’s Bakterol ssssssgoasosoe Cena me Index. XV. Smith; F., New meee of Me- gas coli des Perai oniran uiay 703 Snake ag iso 45 Spanish a Rocks of...s2 424 Spencer’s Psychology............. 53 Spessart, Cr a “ate Schistsof, 149 pinn ts of —— X 818 oe En Aapa of.. a 5 Spi 29 r- arhat iaaa Sal Canada...... 613 Sponges, Stru eh sseeseacesens 45 Sporozoa of Anthro TE N 721 Spring-tail, Habits ob. 163 Starfish, Cæca OB PARR a OTA 1035 Steindachneri 158 Sterki, To , Stichospira.-. 535 acing PENT ERST AEA A 535 Sto rk TE Function of Cæca of 1035 Stone, eee Names of Horned Owls 236 Stone Age i Stroud, B. B., Formal......... 92, 465 S ne spre aes te 1 Rod 985 Swamps of Oswego Co., N. Y... 690, 792 Swastika Croesi. riai hii: 255 Swine Tan Gases obrna o Syria, Caves 258 J ege of Ma 349 on x ciaiala 212 Tarsius, " Affinities Of; cis tosses 569, Tawney, G. A., Perception of Two Points 20 ‘hunation of Hducatión Teeth of M als 3 Telegraphy, Psychology OB 252 Tercei 79 Tertiary ee , EAR juseewnudad -yia Thelycu m of Peneus 235 Thrips, Sense TERN IN ieir: 545 Timber Tes 906 Pear ae 231 Tomahawks 24 Toney E Botanical Club, 186, 260, 364, 470, 650, 748 ae sl pagent a of Mud in..... 20 W., Terceira Dog.-.... 79 Treca, Names of North Ameri- ase 434 wo A at SN from one Egg- 452 Tyrol, Rocks öf ninure 425 [U NTACRINUS 227 ARIATIONS inSkull of elon © seess. Fee eee ete reecer xvi Verrill, A. E., Productive Col- oration Florida Sea Monster.......... Vertebrze, Homologies of..,...... bral | rtebraria...... erte brates, Aeey of Visio Vision, Reinversion of Retinal eet e ewes of Insects Visual Perception ns Vitality of Inse yore Aog Petrography Sida Ephemerid - Volca me Peak from Lake Su- s.s... sena k of M eed of ipai sen l arke ole, Ne Voles of North America......+... ARREN, H.C. Reinver- sion nof Retinal e en o 1 a Water Supply, Study of.......... W: Ee OA pne and Variability scncsisJesedevecses ove Weathering of Rocks PARR P EETA Webster, C. L. Pocket Gopher. The American Naturalist. Weed, C. M. Golden-Eye or Lace-Wing Fly.........ses0ee. Smith's Economic Entomo- logy Welch, W. H. Biology and Medicine po Wellsite I oles G.C. Biological Stu- n Massachusetts, 503, I Pe Lie p: Nathorst’s Paleozoic White- Haske Mouse, New... Whiting, C. A. Remarkable Vitality Wieland, G. R. Variation in Skull of Chelone Wild Animals, Protection of. 41, Cveeccease s..... sesssesosss Woodworth, W. M. Filaroides in S S ĶYLINA, Life History UCATAN, Explorations of... ee Park, History EOLITE, New Zinc of Iowa Finicenite Eee wis. OO; Toicite Zones of Plants on Great Plains. Zoological Society of London... [Vol. XXXI, $4.00 per Year. $4.60 per Year (Foreign). 35 ets. per Copy. ; THE . AMERICAN 3 T NATURALIST 4 A MONTHLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE NATURAL SCIENCES IN THEIR WIDEST SENSE. MANAGING EDITORS: Pror. E. D, COPE, and Dr. F. €. Panton. Philadelphia, Pa., alpen AoT ESSEY, Lin or. W. 3 BAYLEY, raae Maine, ERW Pror. C. M. pdre Arita N. H. Pror. A. C. pais PRRP ae je WARREN, oA, or. E. A. ANDREW: IN F. SMITH, Washington, D: C: Vol. XXXI. JANUARY, 1897. bi A GROOVED STONE AXE FROM THE OHIO DRIFT. Me ter) oh Tus BioLocic ORIGIN OF weg VARI a ae ib py N fichols, 3 (Contin FossILs AND Piai amot, Oh EP Gratar CA; 16 ‘THe BACTERIAL DISEASES OF Prawns: A CRI T STATE OF wi ‘i "Dre rwin F. Smith. 34 —The Protentióa of Wild Ani- mmoth in Alaska—The Gyp ide Pe Museutn—Ser- eal fo kea oa erminative ROS e ciao <50 Mineralogy and Blo zinzki on he 1 Facial Minde CENT BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS.' ENERAL NOTES. ek Sic acetate Basic Rocks of Devonshire Petro matic c Alteration of Hornblend Biotite~ ont of the Little Rocky CON TEN Pa. -the Retinal SCIENTIFIC NEW e ee Cells o mal Species—The Ter tr ‘a Entomology. —Antennze of Lepidopte ing es of Hymenoptera —Effectiven Net in Excluding Peach-tree Borer — Smi icon y—Oceanic Migration Embryology. — Movements of Blastom A Mechanieal Sa xper on Reinyersi age- Birds nests and fost Psychic Evolution. ae rmal, (Formaldehyde 40 Microscopy.—Fo solu : OCEEDINGS OF Sciex TIFIC Socretizs.” Psychology. —Ex Im cent. ution eens Post Office as s NATURAL SCIENCE: SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS. OF “NATURAL SCTENCE” DURING 1895. RAL SCIENCE, for 1895 has published ee from | distinguished writers. PLATE I. Ampelis cedrorum from life. THE AMERICAN NATURALIST VoL. KAXI. January, 1897. 361 A GROOVED STONE AXE FROM THE OHIO DRIFT. BYE C Menceé Mr. E. W. Claypole in the American Geologist for No- vember, 1896, says that Mr. Elmer E. Masterman, in the sum- mer of 1896, found a grooved greenstone axe of common ab- original American type, in situ, twenty-two feet down in a de- posit of what Mr. Claypole regards as glacial gravel, near New London in southeast Huron County, Ohio. The latter quotes the finders narrative which declares that he, Master- man, while digging a well, without witnesses, found the axe bedded in a stratum of tough blue clay, in which, after re- moval, it left its impress. Above it rested one foot of coarse gravel, covered by thirteen feet of silty material banded with films of sand, and overlaid finally by a superficial covering eight feet thick of clay and stones. Mr. Claypole who has wisely examined the case on the spot: cites in favor of the genuineness of the discovery, the extra- ordinary decomposition of the greenstone specimen, which when sawed in half was found to be rotted or leached (he thinks by contact with sulphurous water) almost entirely through its interior, a process lasting probably a long time, while a series of concentric limonite stains like the year marks ona oe exposed on the sawed cross section, seemed fur- 2 The American Naturalist. : [January, ther to testify to the long continuance of the work of disinte- gration, and preclude, in Mr. Claypole’s opinion, the fear of “ doctoring” as by any of the artificial processes used to pat- inate or age flints in England and France. On the other hand, further data furnished by Masterman and fairly cited by Mr. Claypole invite doubt. Masterman is a collector who has been gathering specimens for the last ten years “at various depths in the gravel” without having made the fact generally known to archeologists, namely: a green stone celt, not much leached, five feet deep in the clay, in 1889 ; a green stone axe, somewhat leached, in 1882, seven feet deep in the gravel; a partly finished celt, not leached, chipped, and a little polished, in 1895, marked “ 13 ft. deep in the gravel ;” large chipped shovel-shaped blade of veined slate, found by Mr. D. White, on July 14, 1884, five feet deep in the gravel, and given to Mr. Masterman; a spear-head of red flint, found at a depth of seven feet while denn another well, together with other specimens believed by their discoverer to be of glacial age, while it is further stated that in the well where the axe in question was found Masterman had previoúsly unearthed at a considerable depth in the gravel a small arrow or spear- point of white stone. If the gravel deposit at New London is really glacial drift, and if the objects enumerated above have been found in it in situ, let us hope that further discoveries will follow as they have followed the first findings at the important drift beds of Europe. Let us hope that Mr. Claypole has prepared Mr. Masterman . for a temporary preservation of the records in future, and for the calling in of witnesses, while it may be supposed that not a few archeologists would gladly sieze the opportunity of hurry- ing to New London on wire, to see an exposure of the gravel where one or more signs of human handiwork could be shown protruding from the stratified drift, or where, as at Caddington or Hoxne, Chelles, Amiens or Abbeville the discovery of other such objects could be reasonably guaranteed. Should the evi- dence become generally satisfactory we need not be trou- bled because the object thus found in American driftis polished, while all blades of human handiwork till now procured from LPE AR ae Ee A Ee iy Be ee 1897.] The Biologic Origin of Mental Variety: 3 European drift are chipped and never polished, since though much evidence has been accumulated to show that man chipped before he polished stone in Europe, the testimony of Africa, Asia and America is not yet in upon such sequence in the de- velopment of the stone craft of primitive man. THE BIOLOGIC ORIGIN OF MENTAL VARIETY, OR HOW WE CAME TO HAVE MINDS. By HERBERT NICHOLS. Continued from Vol. XXX, p. 975). The widely popular theory of like nerve currents having been put out of the field, it remains for us to examine the rival one that the afferent nerve currents differ correspondingly with the forms of sense which they mediate. Before doing so it is well - for us at this point to recall the main purpose of this paper as a whole, and the somewhat tortuous course of its investigations from the beginning. Our main object, as our title states, is to dis- cover how man came to have such a mind as he now has; or, put otherwise, to discover the origin of our mental diversity and its relationship to our organic evolution. At the outset we found it doubtful whether protoplasmic life originated with one sense or with many. We next determined that molecular differences, underlying our various senses, must have been de- termining factors of their own selection and survival, and that therein, when rightly followed out, must lie the key to the secrets we are in search of. Alternative theories regarding these molecular differences then presented themselves, one of which we werg enabled to dispose of. And we are now left with the probability that the afferent nerve-currents differ correspondingly with the forms of sense they mediate, and with the task of examining what light this fact sheds on the origin of our minds, and on the question whether life began with many senses or with one. 4 The American Naturalist. [January, Thus reoriented in our work, it must. be observed that our remaining hypothesis also divides into alternative possibilities. Granting that the currents in the afferent nerves are diverse, still it remains possible either: That they may continue on, through the end-organ processes, each preserving its distin- guishing characteristic or phase of molecular activity till, at last, it articulates directly with its appropriate external stimu- lus. Or, that they may specifically terminate in the end-organs, and be linked, thence onward, to their outer stimuli by one — or more intermediate processes. These, if I am not mistaken, are the ultimate alternatives which remain for the solution of our problem. To decide whether, on the one hand, the afferent currents do preserve their specific nature through the end-organs, till they articulate with the external forces, or if, on the other, inter- mediate activities come between them and these last, is, there- fore, a crucial point in our investigations, and one of the impor- tant crux of our science. Unfortunately, however, it is one that the world’s present stock of knowlege is unable to deter- mine, and one that this paper must leave for future investiga- tion. The best authorities of our day present arguments on both sides, and too few facts of any kind are known to make any of them even approximately conclusive. Within the sphere of vision, the theories of Helmholtz, Herring, Ebbinghaus and Mrs. Franklin all demand intermediate retinal processes between the light vibrations and the neural conditions which must be conceived to be correspondent tothe final color-pictures. On the other hand it is the notion of Prof. Wundt that the vari- ous color-currents result immediately from diverse functions of — the light vibrations as they fall on the ends of the optic fibrils in — the retina; and Prof. Cattell and many others incline to follow this opinion. In the sphere of hearing it is well determined — that the sound-waves do not break immediately on the ends of ~ the auditory fibres; yet it is difficult even to guess whether the — final stimulus is a mediatory form of mechanical vibration, oF — is some unknown and perhaps chemical process set-up in the — end-cells in which the auditory fibrils terminate. Still less is — known regarding smell and taste, save that chemical processes, — cn RR ee eee nk OR: Jo Se oe mga 1897.] The Biologie Origin of Mental Variety: 5 mediate or immediate, are here certain, and make the possibil- ity of their being involved in other end-organ processes the more likely, and, therefore, the more confusing. The question whether temperature acts directly on the nerves of heat and cold is again illustrative of the difficulties of our end-organ problem. The wide diversity of stimuli that, apparently, affect the pain nerves is also perplexing. And finally the fact that all sorts of artificial stimulation of the cut stumps of the sensory nerves—pricking, pressing, burning, and the applica- tion of ice, electricity and various chemicals—alike produce the one customary effect, sets the task of deciding definitely as to the initiation of sensory impulses entirely in the future. While it is thus impossible for us to determine the nature of the end-organ processes by positive evidence of their present condition, there still remains the wide field of their morphol- ogy, which ought, if we could understand it, to reveal both their nature and their evolutionary history. But here again we find ourselves among uncertainties. The best we may do, therefore, in survey of the final hypotheses among which future science must find the ultimate truth, is to set in order the loose-ends of their several, at present, indeterminable possi- bilities, somewhat categorically, and with brief enumeration © of the conditions involved in each. In so doing, we reach the limits of what should be expected regarding these matters within the limits of this entirely prospective paper. As a step to this end, it is necessary to recognize still one other source of difficulty. While all problems of physiological morphology are much complicated by uncertainty whether we must be guided therein by Weismann or by Lamarck, we must anticipate peculiar difficulties from this source, in our present problem. We become aware of this the moment we weigh our two main propositions in view of these rival biologic principles. If life began with one primary sense and developed our various ones at successive periods, the cue for this develop- ment would be different under the one theory than under the other. If Weismann is to be followed we must depend chiefly on spontaneous variations; in which case we must estimate the difficulties of new specific energies being born into the central 6 The American Naturalist. [January, nervous system at different epochs, and finding serviceable articulation with environmental exigencies by means of the nerves and end-organs. If Lamarck is to guide us, then we must think of the various external forces as playing upon the surface of the developing organism, and modifying the nerve currents through to their central terminations in agreement with their own molecular, or molar characteristics and peculiar needs. The course of morphologic development would be oppo- posite in the two cases. In the first, the variations would begin in the nerve centers and make their way to the surface. In the second, the modifications would work from the surface, inward. Until a decision may be reached, therefore, between these two great morphologic principles, we shall be obliged, in estimat- ing the probable mode of origin of our senses, to keep up a double system of conjecture on this score, as well as on others. Its many difficulties having been set before us, we can now formally sum up, under its remaining contingencies, what may be called the residuary outlook of our general problem. We have remaining our two main postulates, that life began (O) with one sense or (M) with many ; our belief that the afferent nerve currents are diverse ; the alternatives that these currents articulate (d) directly, or (i) by intermediate end-organ pro- cesses ; and the two evolutionary principles, (w) the Weisman- nian and (l) the Lamarckian. With these before us, we have to cast up the possibilities of our mental origin under the combinations offered by their several limiting determinations. Beginning with the postulate, ‘O’ of one primary sense, and the doctrine ‘d’ of direct articulation, the course of morpho- logic history may be prospected as follows: (Od w). Under the Weismannian principle we may conceive that, from time to time, neural variations appeared, making possible certain molecular activities (sense-energies) whose res- pective peculiarities were diversely adapted to different envi- ronmental forces, and to physiological congruency and main- tenance within the creatures own organism ; and which varia- tions, therefore, were rejected or perpetuated according to the sum total of their fitness within the five spheres of evolutionary selection pointed out in our preliminary investigations. Look- il eas cm reel Seas CR A Ms ee oii ae, De Paar: SAE gee ete ito Sel BS. a tbe A 1897] The Biologic Origin of Mental Variety : 7 ing upon our own sensory equipment as the outcome of this process, we must conceive each present coupling of sense and appropriate stimulus to be one that has existed unaltered since the first appearance of that sense. Asan example of this we must conceive, that although many primitive creatures display actinic susceptability, yet they experience thereby no such color sensations as we do; that these last were born in to the line of our ancestry at an unknown period, (not necessarily coincident with the appearance of eyes); and that the rise of serviceable end-apparatus has gradually specialized the neural basis of these sensations to a coupling with certain ranges of ether- vibration called light.’ (O41). Under the Lamarckian principle we may conceive that the diversity of environmental forces played on the devel- oping organism, from without, each in a way tending to mod- ify the nervous mechanism to its own peculiarities and needs, and to mould the total organism: in accord with its net func- tional efficiency within, again, our full five evolutionary spheres. In this case it would be extremely difficult to deter- mine whether the sort of.sense that now responds to any given stimulus, let us say light, is at all like that which responds to the same stimulus in primitive creatures. An actual example of this mode of development may possibly be found in the his- tory of our ears ; that is, if as Prof. Lloyd Morgan has suggested, gross vibrations, such as rolling the body, were the appropriate stimuli for the cilia of the otic organs at a primitive stage of development, a crude sense of equilibrium being the psychic result; and if our present hearing has come about by perfect- ing adjustment of these organs, continuously, to finer and finer vibrations, while a correspondent change took place in re- spondent sensations. Starting again with the same postulate of one primary sense, we must next couple it with the doctrine of intermediate arti- culative processes in the end-apparatus. 1 Since there is evidence that amorphous creatures react to various stimuli, if we suppose but one primitive sense, we must conceive that it responds, alike, to several forces. Also similarly for each newly appearing sense. Under these conditions, the narrowing of each of our senses to its present stimulus, is to be explained by morphologic specialization. 8 The American Naturalist. [January, (Oi w). Under the Weismannian principle, we may conceive the same general plan of developnent to have proceeded, here, as formerly under this principle (Od w) with reference to the -birth of each new sense, but with a more complicated pro- gramme with reference to the couplings of inner sensations with different outer forces, at different periods. Relative to this last we may observe that, since the permanency of intermediate articulations must depend on the permanency of the organs that perform them, therefore it is not likely, that the precise couplings now obtaining in us were constant or, perhaps, occurred at all before these organs developed. Under these conditions it would be even more difficult to follow the his- tory of our sense-origins, than under the method of our last above paragraph. The method of this present paragraph, however, may be exampled, if it should prove true that the phenomena of color-blindness are due to the failure of birth in certain people and species, of neural variations sufficiently differentiated to be responsive to the solar waves in the fuller way exhibited in our normal color spectrum. Some- thing like this is demanded to explain the origin of color sen- sations under Prof. Wundt’s theory of vision. (Oil). Under the Lamarckian principle, as under the Weis- — mannian, the intermediate processes would but complicate — the general plan of evolution outlined under direct articula- _ tion (O41). And again the Morgan explanation of otic mor- phology may serve as an example, except that now we should ; no longer conceive vibration of the otic cilia to have direct — determination of the auditory impulses; but should be obliged to consider certain as yet undetermined mediatory processes, — including, perhaps, unknown chemical activities in the otic — cells. several senses have risen at successive periods, and that for — _ each of them the peculiar fitness of its underlying neural corre- spondence has been the ultimately determining factor of its — birth and selective perpetuation from among other possible senses, and also of its connection with its present stimulus. SPS TS OE ip, OM rn Pane Chee ae oe See oN ed eee, MRE eae as “3 Ae fee are yer The last above four paragraphs exhaust, if I mistake not, the 4 evolutionary possibilities under the postulate that life began — with one sense; the central idea in each case being that our — 1897,] The Biologic Origin of Mental Variety : 9 Turning now to the postulate of many primary senses, we have no longer to account for the birth of new senses. Our problem, here, is to determine how our present senses were shut in, and all others shut out; and this is the problem of the origin of our sense organs, and of the establishment and per- petuation of the articulate processes, mediate or intermediate which they perform. (M4 w). The Weismannian principle, here, of course can have no immediate bearing on the birth of different senses, since all of ours, and many more are supposed to have existed origin- ally. Under this postulate taken with the doctrine of “ through currents directly articulate,” our problem would be at its sim- plest ; for the same couplings of senses and stimuli that exist now are likely to have continued, fixedly, from the beginning. The perpetuation of any particular sense, under these conditions, must have been decided jointly, on the one hand, by the need which the developing organism had of being adjusted to cer- tain environmental forces rather than others; and on the other, by the capability of the organism to fit itself to, and to main- tain the peculiar neural modes (energies) correspondingly to these forces. As examples of this sort of development we should explain the skin to be a peripheral organ which has preserved our sensibility to heat and to cold through the profitability of preserving the developing creature from temperature extremes, at the expense of losing sensibility to an unknown number of other forces. Or perhaps, and as I suspect this is a far more profound statement, it may quite well have been that it was the adaptability of certain molecular sense-forms for general physiological organization, that originated such organization in lines of their correspondent stimuli, rather than in other lines; as for instance in the line of a creature suspectable to our environmental stimuli, rather than in the line of a creature susceptable, let us say, to electrical influences. (M41). Under the Lamarckian principle the reasons for the selection and perpetuation of the particular sense elements, which now make up our mental equipment, would be so similar to those set forth in our last above paragraph, that they need not be here repeated. It is the method of general biologic growth that would be different in these two cases. 10 The American Naturalist. [January,. Turning again and for the last time to the doctrine of inter- mediate end-processes, we come as I suspect, under its combina- tion with the postulate of many primitive senses to the particu-- lar combination of possibilities most likely to accord with the- truth, and which therefore, must solicit the attention of future investigators. Yet for olr present purposes of merely schedul-- ing the different possible categories, and the general plan of each, it is perhaps sufficient, after what we have said of the other case, to state of the present ones as follows. (Miw). Under the Weismannian principle, with many primitive senses, and complex end-processes, the resulting pro- gramme and the reasons therefor should easily be constructed by modifying our third and seventh last above paragraphs. (Oiw and Mdv). (Mil). And under the Lamarckian principle the correspond- ing programme should be easily constructed by modifying paragraphs third, seventh and tenth now last above. (O41, Oil, and M4@}). Finally we must observe regarding all the above possibilities that it is not necessary that any one of them should have pre- vailed universally. In other words it is logically possible that. some one of them should have ruled in the production of one of our senses, and another sense have followed quite a different course. Thus while it is quite possible that light is the direct. stimulus of color sensation, as Prof. Wundt thinks, and always has been, yet it may be that the final stimuli for our heat and cold sensations are certain processes of mechanical contractions and expansions among different tissues, which processes are intermediate between the nerve impulses and the physical modes of motion called heat and cold; or, directly the reverse of this may have been true. Moreover it is possible that cer- tain of our above categories may have prevailed at one period, and another at another; though this could not apply to all the categories, some of them being mutually exclusive. Such is the field of our problem. It is doubtful if there is an- other that has been equally neglected, or that presents greater confusion. Yet because of its importance there is still required of us to consider what avenues offer themselves for solving its 1897.] The Biologie Origin of Mental Variety. 11 many difficulties; and why it is imperative that its several propositions should henceforth be taken to heart in all prac- tical investigations both of Biology and of Psychology. By way of establishing the roads of sound attack, certain false paths must be pointed out that, heretofore, have continu- ally led our subject to obscurity and to contempt. Some of the errors here indicated have been made by Biologists, and others by Psychologists; but most of them are made by bot alike. Biologists are wont either to underrate the part that mind, or its physical equivalent plays in evolution, or to read into it, everywhere, the same world of psychic life that we our- selves experience. The doctrine of Parallelism is responsible for the first mistake ; for in conceiving that all conduct must be accounted for within physical forces alone, there is a tendency to fail of full recognition of the facts themselves. The marvel- ous variety of our mental life is nearly sure to be left out of practical account. Nor is it any excuse for this to say that our notions of “ molecular differences” and “specific energies” are vague; for once having adopted Parallelism, it is hardly con- sistant to ignore the most important factors in the whole course of Evolution, on the ground that they are too complex to reckon with. This is the crucial error made in our problem to-day ; for since mind would not be mind without this variety, therefore all that “ mind” means in the vast region of conduct, and all that “conduct” means in animal evolution is centered in the problem of specific energies, whether Parallelism be accepted or not. To neglect them is the greatest practical error in modern Biologic Science. It is scarcely less wrong to read our life into simpler lives. This is done by most investigators of primitive fields, and detracts lamentably from their work. The fault originates in a lack of careful examination of the whole field of possibilities ; such an examination as we have followed out in this paper. So long as it is uncertain whether primitive creatures react, sensorily, with many responses or with one; or whether the forces that mould our sensory life now, are the same as gov- erned the analogues of our sense organs during earlier periods; and above all while the world’s present “ artificial, scholastic 12 The American Naturalist. [January, and untrue ” conceptions of emotion and feeling shall continue to be read into amoeba and protozoa; for so long are gross mis- interpretations and fallacies scarcely to be avoided.” Another region of misleading assumption isembraced with- in current doctrines regarding “ unconscious ” neural processes, and “ subconscious consciousness.” Itis the accepted attitude ? Examples of these difficulties abound. Already I have spoken of the prob- lem, now become classic, of determining whether fishes hear with their ears, or get only such a sense of equilibrium as we get from the semicircular canals— our canals and our cochlea being both derived from the single otic vesicle of the fish. Of course it must make much difference whether the comparative Psychologist and Biologist, in estimating the conduct of fishes in their sensory en- vironment, credit them with hearing or not A similar question is raised in a still more striking manner by a species of Cle- 7 psine reported by Prof. Whitman. This creature displays a series of dorsal pairs 3 of segmental sense organs, in graded states of development, all the way from fully developed eyes in the anterior segment, down through organs that show but a bit of pigment imbeded in the skin, to final posterior analogues that can not be distinguished from ordinary dermal organs of touch. The problem here is not only where touch leaves off and sight begins, but also where mechanical pressure leaves off and the sun begins, as a part of the creatures active environment. Again the ordinary earth worm serves as an example. It moves in response to light, heat, odors and such stimuli as in us cause taste and touch. Yet no differ- . ence has as yet been discovered among its simple sense-fibres, which apparently are all alike. Until our general problem is somewhat cleared up, the psychic life — : of this creature must be extremely doubtful, and most easy of misinterpretation J | : : : by the careless observer As we go backward from the worms the difficulties increase, till with amor- phous creatures the greatest possible doubt is reached, and we are finally brought to face our two main propositions of many original senses or one. Acco ing as the naturalist assumes the one proposition or the other, does he make both = the psychic and the environmental life of such creatures either very simple, or toloreably complex. Be. the careless assumption of any one sense or function as necessarily the first, comes in here by way of example. As, for illustration, the assumptions respec- tively that touch, or taste, or muscle sense, or heat and cold, or pain, or pleasure must have come first; or that the innervation function of central cells must develop before the carrying power of nerves, and perhaps the contractility of ‘muscles develop before either. It by no means follows that such matters may not be legitimately considered, and with results of great value. But inthesame way — ave the Srey of the actinic susceptability of protozoa should make the Biolo- the appearances of eyes vile truth being that a sort of i incipient sight may prevail previous to the appear. _ ance of any special sort of eye apparatus whatever), so the numerous possibilities bera we have traced out in this lecture should make one careful in interpretting milar matters along this whole line of Biology and Psychology, 1897.] The Biologie Origin of Mental Variety: 13 of most “ good science” to avoid.“ speculation ” on these topics. Yet it is the loosest and most reckless kind of wholesale specu- lation, to build up the whole of modern Psysiology and Biology on the theory that all but a certain fraction of neural activities are unconscious, while really so little is known of the whole subject. Already, in my last lecture,*? I have pointed out the evils resulting from doing this in several concrete problems of Physiology. We have now to consider these results in a larger field. The truth is that the right to dub all subcortical neural activics “unconscious,” though but little contested since the death of Pfluger, still rests on little else than ill-founded prej- udice.* And to dub them so on insufficient grounds isto run 3 A lecture on “ Psychology and Physiology,” next preceeding the present one in the course mentioned in note on p. 963. + A crucial departing point for practical errors in all assumption of ‘‘ uncon- scious” processes must obviously lie in the criterion applied for deciding whether _ consciousness is present or not. The tests heretofore applied are always either the “ purposeness ” of the activity in question, or our “immediate cognizance” of it, in case it is an activity within our body. It is evidence of the surprising ease with which Science is led astray in these matters, that both of these tests prove the shallowest sort of fallacies when properly examined. If by ‘‘purposeness” be meant psychologic purposing, or conceiving of the end to be accomplished, by the creature performing the act, and immediately initiatory to its performance, then plainly this is preposterous. Notoriously not all “ motor ideas” are of this sort. If “ability” to preconceive the end be meant, then this is more absurd ; since it makes the “ability ” of consciousness the test, where the presence of consciousness is to be tested. And again if mere conduciveness to some purpose is meant, why then, every iron locomotive and nearly scales else in nature must, by this test, be a “conscious ” machine. It is remarkable that such psychologists as Romanes, Profs. Wm. James, Lloyd Moric and Edward D. Cope should stumble into such a visible pitfall in matters of such grave importance. Regarding the other “test ”—i. e. of our “immediate cognizance” of our bodily rocesses—it may first be noted that we are never “directly conscious ’’ of any of our bodily processes, not even of those curtical activities supposed most immedi- ately to underlie ovr conscious states. And next re should be noted that the question is not at all of our bei f any of t ‘or SR of certain activites ofe some of the lower nerve-centres of the spine) ; si not this more than of our being conscious of the psychic life of some other person or creature than ourselves. But the real question is: are these : themselves, attended by correspondent psychic states? That such states, if they exist, do not form a part of our personality, in those cases where their correspond- ing neural activities are momentarily shut-off from meddling with our cortical activities, should be no more surprising than that the conscious states of an- other man’s brain do not mix in our personality, his brain being shut off from 14 The American Naturalist. [January, the risk of ignoring the evolutionary influences of “mind” throughout the major bulk of our nervous system, and of introducing false and misleading analogies along the whole line of Comparative Biology. For Neurologist, Physiologist and Biologist, then, to fall into the habit of considering neural processes generally as “unconscious” is nearly certain to end in their losing sight of the problem of mind altogether. How important is the rôle of “ mind,” even though one adopt, strictly, the doctrine Parallelism, I have all too scantily out- lined in this paper. And in view of this I now sincerely trust that the evils, which I here emphasize as natural to false notions of unconscious processes, may not seem exaggerated. Turning from false paths to true ones, we are finally brought to consider, in a few brief words, those lines of investigation which promise a sure advance upon our desired goal. Itisa prevailing sentiment among modern scientists, that the funda- mental relation of mind to body lies, at present, beyond the limits of profitable investigation. We are led in this paper to think otherwise. We are not likely to solve the whole problem in a leap, yet unmistakeably the time has come when we may enlarge our conceptions of it widely, both within the fields of Biology and of Psychology ; and may do this without aband- ing any of the ususal severities of Science. In our summary we reduced our general problem to eight remaining possibilites, among which we are unable to choose at present. This number immediately reduces to four upon reach- ing a decision upon the Weismann-Lamarck Controversy ; and no one conceives that this decision lies beyond profitable inquiry, or doubts that it will soon be reached. The remain- ing four uncertainties will be reduced to two by determining whether end-organ processes are “ immediate,” or complex ; and our brain. And, finally, in those cases where such subcortical activities do reach- up to influence the cortex, there is reason to assume that, then, their correspondent consciousness does form a part of our personality. It would appear, then, that to determine if our subcortical processes are “ conscious ” or not, we must be driven back upon the same grounds as for deciding whether any separate animal is con- scious. And all simple and direc: tests, must, therefore be henveforth abandoned, if great resultant harm from false conclusions, ey Science, is to be avoided. 1897.] The Biologie Origin of Mental Variety : 15 thus, again, is a practical region of investigation. Already there is enlivened interest in the subject, and results of great value are being reached along the whole line of our several senses; results which, indeed, as a good numbcr of eminent scientists are likely to claim, leave no doubt, even now, as to how we should decide regarding this region of our perplexity. Should this happy consummation be reached, we should then have but our two primary propositions to decide between. And here, also, we have not only a legitimate field, but one regarding which it is probable the world of Science already has abundant data to give substantial conclusions, when once its importance is appreciated. In truth I have not, from the first, lost sight of or neglected the great value of the work done and being done in the field of Comparative Sense Organs; nor have I thought so much of the task being insur- mountable, of determining whether all our senses date from the beginning or not, as of the problem being too grave and far reaching for me to seem to treat it either lightly, or dogmatic- ally within the short space I have been able, here, to devote to it. It seems, therefore that our categories of doubt are likely to narrow to a substantial conclusion, even if the present aspect of Evolutionary Science should in no way broaden. But here, again, our problem is bright with promise; for its horizon is sure to broaden. And in setting down how this is likely to happen, I beg that my few concluding words, because of the importance of the subject, may be given special emphasis. However, natural the explanation may be, it still remains sig- nificantly true that the modern Science of Biology, wonderful as it is, has yet hardly progressed beyond the bare facts of Comparative Anatomy. These have been set up, like mile- stones, showing us where the course of Animal Morphology has run. But the Physiological processes, explaining how the course was run, remain nearly as unknown, and as little considered as before the day of Darwin. That Biologic Evolution can never be an understood fact until these physiological processes are given due study, is, among Scientists of first rank, just beginning to be appreciated. When fully appreciated as, it 16 The American Naturalist. [January, will soon be in the coming century, a more wonderful period | of Evolutionary Science will then open, than even that which has made this 19th Century conspicuous. And when these physiological processes do thus become the object of enthusi- astic research, at that moment will the rôle of “mind” begin duly, and necessarily to receive preponderating attention. This will happen the same, whether Parallelism remain the popular doctrine or not. Conduct is sure to be recognized, in time, as the major region of Physiological Biology; and “mind” is the chief source of conduct, whether the word im- ply “ molecular activities or “ psychic force.” This, then, in one word, is the summary of all our conclu- sions. Mind would not be mind save for its marvelous com- plexity. The basis of this emplexity is the variety of its sen- sory elements. These elements, or their physical equivalents, then, must be major factors of animal evolution; they must ex- plain the origin of mind; and they must play in Biology and Physiology all the part that mind unquestionably plays. To neglect them hereafter, either in Biology or in Psychology, is to neglect a major = and probably the major factor of both Sciences. FOSSILS AND FOSSILIZATION. By L. P. GRATACAP. HI (Continued from Vol. XXX, p. 1003.) Two very remarkable and instructive deposits of vertebrate remains which illustrate their placement, sepulture, and min- eralization, are represented in the tertiary beds of the Niobrara River in Nebraska, the lacustrine basins of Wyoming, in the United States,and the fluviatile plains of Argentina and Uru- guay in South America formed by the water-ways which pre- ‘ceded and defined the present Parana, Paraguay, Uruguay and La Plata Rivers. In South America the Parana, Para- guay and Uruguay Rivers carry down vast amounts of sand, 1897.] Fossils and Fossilization. 17 clay and detritus from the eroded mountain chains of Brazil. - And this is due to the fact, as pointed out by J. Ball (Notes of a Naturalist) that a continuous and heavy rainfall in Brazil not only aids in the process of disintegration of the rock, but sup- plies the necessary vehicle for transporting itaway. Theannual rainfall in Brazil varies from 100 to 130 inches, and as its east- ern seaboard is its oldest surface, this region has been “subjected throughout vast periods of geological time to the utmost force of disintegrating agencies, applied to a rock very liable to yield to them, and where, without reckoning the large proportion which must have been carried by rivers to the sea, we see such vast deposits of the disintegrated materials formed out of the same matrix.” The lofty maritime ranges of Brazil have been reduced by this constant withdrawal of their materials, and the predecessor of the present river system which had its in- ception in those early ages afforded the conduits by which the vast quantity of detrital matter was borne down over the broad pampas and plains of Argentina and Uruguay. We may conceive that this weathering and deposition were carried on with greater energy at a time when meteorological disturban- ces were more violent, and when these same streams, repre- sented in that distant time by much shorter rivers, had a steeper slope, ran more swiftly, and possessed greater erosive or tearing and sweeping power. This discharge of abraded matter has built up the wide level country which now consti- tutes the flat lands of Argentina and Uruguay, whose exten- sive pampas arose through this sedimentation continued through ages of this current of abrasion. In turn the rivers ploughing new channels through the vast accumulations over which they were now compelled to make their way, contin- ually added to the outskirts of the new formation, and with every increment extended their own banks, and gradually assumed their present proportions and their present course. For, to use the language of Prof. Ball, “it cannot be doubted that the finer constituents carried down by the Parana and its tributary, the Paraguay, from the same original home, have largely contributed to the formation of the Argentine pampas, and Paraguay, including the northern portion of the Gran- 2 18 The American Naturalist. [January, Chaco. Borings and chemical analysis of the soil may here- after give us reliable data; but in the meantime we may safely reckon that an area of 200,000 square miles has been mainly formed from the materials derived from the ancient mount- ains.” In the west, in Wyoming, Nebraska, and Montana, there ex- isted in tertiary times large fresh-water lakes,’ the success ors to the wide cretaceous seas which before that era swept over the axis of the scarcely emergent Rocky Mountains. Into them, from the erosion of the non-resisting strata of their mar- gins and encircling ridges—an erosion caused by heavy rain- falls which appear at times to have acquired the strength and permanency of the precipitation in the tropical rain areas— was washed enormous quantities of shore sand and continental mud and silt. These contributions of earthy matter in con- junction with the organic testaceous life of the lakes were finally consolidated into deposits of shales, marls and earthy limestones. Into the wide bosom of these contiguous and more or less connected sheets of inland water was also gathered the remains of a remarkable fauna, wherein, as Dr. Newberry remarks, we have the proof “that during unnumbered ages this portion of the continent exhibited a diversified and beau- tiful surface, which sustained a luxuriant growth of vegeta- tion and an amount of animal life far in excess of what it has done in modern times.” The fossilization of these mammals (Carnivora, Insectivora, Ruminantia, Pachyderma, Rodentia) is a matter of considerable interest. They must have been in- troduced into the lakes by sudden meteorological emergencies when their own capture and imprisonment in these seas was synchronous with violent terrestrial denudation by which they _ were safely entombed. Their own character and that of the associated flora forbid the supposition, advanced by Lyell and apparently applied by Hayden, as to their having fallen into the waters through breaking ice, over whose precarious sur- *It must be remembered, however, as Dr. Hayden indicated, that ‘‘ the lowest ; beds of the Tertiary exhibit a somewhat brackish or estuarine character, and & few fossils (Ostrea subtrigonalis) are found which are peculiar to such waters.” Preface to Leidy’s Extinct Mammalian Fauna. 1897.] Fossils and Fossilization. 19 face they were passing. The year was then one of sub-tropical mildness and warmth. Their excellent preservation in many instances, as well as the number and completeness of their skeletons, prove that their fossilization resulted from a sudden calamity and rapidly ensuing sepulture. It seems most likely that the floors of those ancient lakes were themselves abysses of mud, a soft calcareous and argillaceous silt into which the great mammals sank when dead, or if caught in overwhelm- ing floods were speedily enveloped in the accompanying tor- rents of earthy material. These remains have undergone a partial mineralization, and have been penetrated by the min- eral matrix quite extensively. In examining the typical col- lection of mammalian fossils from the White River of Dakota, from which Dr. Leidy made many of his species, I have ob- served the process of fossilization. The marrow cores of the leg-bones of Oreodon culbertsonti Leidy are almost closed with chalcedony quartz and calcite. The brain cavities of the same animal are filled with an exact mould of marl which in- dicates the pasty consistency of the original substance in which the skull was placed. The remarkable series of similar moulds used by Prof. Marsh (Monograph of Dinocerata) to illustrate the growth and specialization of the animal brain have been formed in the same way, retaining with fidelity the furrows and rugose character of the interior surfaces of the skull.? The interparietal spaces of the lower jaws of Hyracodon nebracensis Leidy are also invaded by clay and mineral matter, so as to partially mineralize the contiguous bone. In the leg-cores of the same animal a cement of argillaceous limestone with sep- arated grains of quartz and sometimes a solid stem of quartz filling the passages are noticeable. The bones of Menodus proutii Leidy are heavy from parietal petrifaction and replace- ment, and in some the cellular structure of the bone is satu- rated with chalcedony flakes and granules. It is quite cer- tain that the geological changes which have effected the ele- vation of these tertiary lakes and made them dry basins, ? These brain moulds might not be strictly considered fossils, but they come within the application of our definition as an “indication of life” in the same way as casts of shells. 20 The American Naturalist. [January, bringing with them a train of mineralogical accidents as a necessary accompaniment in the percolation of mineral waters and the solidification of the natural cement which surrounds the fossils have contributed towards rendering these remains impenetrable. I do not know how the petrifaction of bone compares with the silification of wood, either as a process or in the time required, but it is certain that, in some instances, teeth have been completely changed into a mineral, as in the case of the saurian teeth found by Mr. C. M. Wheatley in a bone bed at Pheenixville, Pa. Here, to quote Mr. Wheatley’s own words, “ the casts only of the teeth remain, the substance of the tooth being converted into dolomite, but retaining the exact form of the tooth with the sulcations as distinct as in the original. Twenty teeth, of probably three or four genera of Saurians, all converted into dolomite occur on a piece of sand- stone six by three inches.” Bischof, quoting the results of Marcel de Serres and L. Figuier, says that the chemical changes involved in the petri- faction of bones consist principally in a diminishment of the organic matter, in an entire disappearance of the phosphoric acid, and in an increase of the carbonate of lime and iron oxide. Again, Fremy found that the animal substance of bones— the so-called ossein—was decomposed by burial and replaced by various incrusting minerals, namely, silica, sulphate of lime, fluoride of lime, and especially carbonate of lime. Dr. Mantell has made some interesting observations on the mineralization of bones. He remarks (Petrifactions and their Teachings) of the bones of reptiles that “the osseous carapaces and plastrous of the turtles, and the bones and teeth of the crocodiles and lizards, are almost without exception heavy, and of various shades of brown or umber, from the permeation of their structures by solutions of carbonates or oxides of iron.” Mantell refers to the curious appearance of bones imbedded in white limestone, which have become a blue-black from the combination of their phosphoric acid with iron, forming the blue phosphate of iron (vivianite), while in other cases the ~ Pi P< oe eT E ed =< i ee Oe ere ye S y a ah Re ee RE NT eee ep eee 2 open surfaces and cells are infiltrated with cale-spar or reful- J gent with a golden frost of iron pyrites, 1897.) Fossils and Fossilization. 21 It is rare to find fossil bones silicified, and this replacement so common in vegetable or invertebrate remains is very un- common. The bones of vertebrates are often found distorted from having undergone softening from their partial macera- tion in water, and become almost unrecognizable upon their extraction. “The Maidstone Iguanodon,” says Mantell, “is a striking example of this kind ; in the entire series of bones exposed, there is scarcely one that is not more or less altered by com- pression. The humerus and thigh-bones especially are com- pletely distorted ; the vertebrate pressed almost flat, or squeezed into abnormal shapes, etc.” Bones of the Moa, taken out at North Island, New Zealand, were of the consistency of putty, and could be broken or kneaded almost like columns of clay, but hardened upon exposure and drying. In this connection, relative to the accumulation of bone de- posits in the past, some observations of the recent African traveller, J. W. Gregory, are of vital interest. He says (The Great Rift Valley, J. W. Gregory, p. 268) “here and there around a water hole we found acres of ground white with the bones of rhinoceros and zebra, gazelle and antelope, jackal and hyena, and among them we once observed the remains of alion. All the bones of the skeletons were there, and they were fresh and ungnawed. The explanation is simple. The year before there had been a drought, which had cleared both game and people from the district. Those which did not mi- grate crowded round the dwindling pools and fought for the last drop of water. These accumulations of bones were there- fore due to a drought and not to a deluge.” The fossilized remains of marine vertebrates are not uncom- mon, and in the cretaceous beds of Wyoming they have been preserved with remarkable completeness, eliciting the remark from Prof. Marsh that “ he noticed the skeletons of six of those mighty swimming lizards—the mosasaurs—each eighty feet in length, in sight at one time.” The fish beds at Twin Creek, Wyoming, the fish remains in Ohio, including the great Dinicthys, those at Sunderland, Mass., together with numerous indications of marine creatures 22 The American Naturalist. [January, in the Cretaceous of New Jersey and the phosphate deposits of the Ashley River, S. C., seem to show that somewhat more favorable conditions for their preservation existed in these earlier times than at present, when bones appear to become quickly destroyed in the ocean, and only the most refractory substances, as enamel and very dense bone, resist the agencies of solution. Itseems altogether likely that the sedimentation must, at least at seasons or periods, have been rapid and con- siderable; that vast volumes of calcareous mud discharged into the cretaceous seas entrapped fish and reptile within the unchanging films and sheets of earthy matter. The wonder- fully preserved fish of the eocene in the Green River beds, ex- hibit instances of almost complete immobility, as if no motion had disturbed the fish since its death, no tide or current, and that it was quickly covered over by sediment. The fish and reptilian remains in Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Iowa and Missouri bear evidence of separation and rolling, the articula- tions being infrequently retained in place, the mouth parts — and skulls alone cohering together, though these are more commonly dismembered, while in complete uniformity with the experience of to-day, in many cases, teeth and spines are the sole representatives of these ancient denizens of the sea. Mechanical conditions under which marine vertebrate re- mains have been entombed very naturally affects the nature of their preservation. The sandy, coarse shore deposits which prevailed in the Catskill period—our equivalent of the Old Red Sandstone of Europe—was unfavorable for the cohesion of the fish which were enclosed in it, and the action of shore — waves and the agitation of the gravelly matrix broke them apart, and scattered over the shore surface the fragments of bones, scales and spines. On the other hand, the shallow sea basins wherein the Huron and Erie (now shown by Prof. Orton to be identical) shales were deposited, furnished a fine- grained impalpable carbonaceous silt in which occasionally the remains of the monstrous placoderm Dinicthys were en- tombed entire, and preserved with comparatively slight dislo- _ cation or injury. In the open sea of the Upper Helderberg and Carboniferous where conditions similar to our present seas _ ae 1897.} Fossils and Fossilization. 23 may have prevailed, little else than the hardest portions of the fish were preserved as the dermal tubercles, spinesand armored heads, with an occasional jaw retaining its teeth. Even this slender survival of material compares favorably with the de- structive activity of our seas, and may perhaps add weight to the opinion of Verrill and Smith that this destruction to-day can be only assigned to the depredations of small crustacea. It also lends some seriousness to suspicions that in these pale- eozoic waters deposition was more rapid than at present. But in the fish layers of Boonton, N. J. and Sunderland, Mass., in the Triassic slates and in the thinly fissile lime shale of Twin Creek, Wyoming, we find an extensive placement of fish skel- etons and bodies which are usually quite perfect in outline and which must have been deposited almost simultaneously by some sudden catastrophe, and also very rapidly sealed within fresh sediment, in which they remained undisturbed by the motion of the water, and protected against change by the overlying films of calcareous mud. Dr. Newberry has suggested that in the case of the triassic fish their death was connected with the irruption of hot waters produced by the intrusion of the igneous trap rocks through the floor of the triassic sea. The similar beds at Weehawken, N. J., show that the fish have undergone considerable maceration and distor- tion, and the subsequent breaking of these slates have helped to obliterate the organic remains. The Twin Creek fish bed is a compilation of very thin sheets of flaky limestone with clay, between whose slightly undulating surfaces runs a wav- ing black film, the section of a slab presenting a delicately lined face like a paper pencilled with parallel tracings. Here the fish lie with very slight dislocation appearing ; to use Dr. Leidy’s words, “as if whole shoals had been suddenly en- shrined for the contemplation of future ages.” It would seem as if an innumerable series of overflows, each carrying with it floculent carbonaceous matter, had left a deposit of carbonate | of lime from suspended particles over the fish, and, as each overflow receded, these fine particles followed the absorbed water and remained upon the surface in a veil of black sedi- ment. It may be that a sudden irruption of water carrying , et The American Naturalist. [January, suspended mud may have overwhelmed these fish, and this water-burst may have been attendant upon other circumstan- ces by which the fish were frightened into shoals and ex- posed to a common death. The carbonaceous films may also be due to the penetration of oil between the lamine of lime- stone, the oil arising from the decomposition of fish. | Some of the bone beds of Ohio present a mass of ground plates, broken teeth and crushed spines, which have become cemented together by carbonate of lime into a breccia of or- ganic fragments. They represent, according to Dr. Newberry, a deposit in deep water of the excrements of larger fish whose digestive vigor has failed to entirely destroy the harder parts of their prey. It is not necessary to assume that these remains were buried very quickly, as their own strength and hardness would resist erosion, solution and the destructive power of animal feeders, though the circumstances attending its deposit must have been peculiar. A fragmentary layer of such a character accumulated in deep water—this conclusion Prof. Newberry believes is warranted on account of the absence of shore stones, gravel, pond wash, ete——and not dispersed by the currents, and quite destitute of all other fossils than fish debris, is an anomaly which Prof. Newberry explains by this assumption: “It has seemed to me not impossible that this fish bed was, for the most part, made up of excrementitious matter, and that it represents the hard and indigestible parts of fishes which have served as food for other and larger kinds. On this supposition the fragmentary and worn appearance of the bones would be attributable to the crushing, maceration and partial digestion which they have suffered. If this is the true history of the deposits, it accumulated in some nook or bay, perhaps bordering a coral reef, where large and small fishes congregated, age after age, until their kjokkenméddings formed a sheet some inches in thickness over all the sea-bot- tom.” It may, however, be said that the strongly bituminous or oil odor in this rock elicited upon striking it, shows that it did not represent solely the excrements of fish, but received very probably the occasional contribution of the bodies of living 1897.] Fossils and Fossilization. 25 members of the surrounding marine fauna. In this connec- tion the important observation recorded in Lyell’s Principles (Vol. II, p. 583), that upon the north coast of Ireland—the Rockhall Bank—“ a bed of fish bones was observed extending for two miles along the bottom of the sea in ten and ninety fathoms of water,” is of interest. Lyell,in the same place, also speaks of fish bones occurring in extraordinary profusion east- ward of the Faroe Islands. This “bone bed” was three miles and a halfin length and forty-five fathoms under water, and contained a few shells intermingled with the bones. In the cranial plates of Acanthaspis pustulosus, one of the fishes of the Devonian of Ohio, the space between the outer hard bony walls are filled with carbonate of lime which has infiltrated and consolidated the intra-mural cellular tissue, while the clavicle of Onychodus sigmoides presents internally a granulated area of carbonate of lime similarly formed and Prof. Claypole speaks of the second layer of the shield of his placoderm fish from the Upper Silurian of Pennsylvania as having its cells “ filled with infiltrated calcareous matter which, under the ac- tion of the weather, is dissolved out, leaving an exceedingly brittle cellular mass to represent the original shield”. These bones probably retain their phosphate of lime, since fish bones and teeth in the Old Red Sandstone in Lievland (?) according to Bischoff, have lost but very little of the original percentage of this salt. It must, however, be remembered that normal calcium phosphate is soluble in ammoniacal salts, sodium nitrate, com- mon salt and other salts; that its abstraction from buried bone may be quite rapid, and the cavities left by its absorption may become filled with mineral matter. An exchange may be effected between carbonates of alkalies and the phosphates in bone by which carbonate of lime remains and the phos- phoric acid is removed, and solution may be effected by aque- ous carbonic acid alone. The turtles of the Miocene of Ne- braska, which are so numerous, are represented by their joined carapaces and plastrons, and these are filled with the porous marl or earthy limestone of the White River beds. The bone of these parts presents a finely reticulated structure, and 26 The American Naturalist. [January,. through its minute passages a ferruginous infiltration ap- pears, giving it a speckled surface. It seems more than likely that much of the original phosphate has disappeared, and that carbonate of lime with argillaceous admixture composes: the present skeleton. The fish of the Twin Creek, Wyoming basin have each been immersed in the products of its own decomposition. Their bones seem to be, in many instances, covered by an in- tegument formed from the dried and mineralized skin and scales of the living fish, while the oily elements arising from their dry distillation or decomposition have impregnated the bones, converting them to a dark honey-brown substance some- what laminar in structure, in places, elsewhere irregularly cubical, and soft and brittle. The fish in the triassic shales: present ichthic outlines made up of rhomboidal scales. These scales, as is well-known, are essentially bone, very smooth, hard and lustrous, their shining and durable surface being formed of a substance allied to enamel and now called ganoin. This ganoin has undergone little or no change. The scales yield slowly to hydrochloric acid. The original cartilaginous or fleshy parts have probably aided preservation by forming oily products which bathed the fish, enclosed as it was in the shale, and upon dessication contributed their indestructible carbonaceous residues to its mass. The eretaceous saurians entombed in the gypsiferous shales and limestones of Kansas have successfully escaped the action of decay, while the remains of sharks, predaceous fish, and tor- toises are also found as fossils, but only in a partial phase, at least, of preservation. The bones of the fish, who were, accord- ing to Cope, related to the salmon, possess such a density and hardness that they are maintained as nuclei crowning knobs of shale, which stand in relief amidst the worn and denuded surfaces about them. This is quite remarkable, and seems to clash completely with what we know to-day of the preserva- tion, or rather absence of preservation, of the bones of marine vertebrates. Prof. Marsh, in speaking of the specimens of cre- taceous birds, remarks that “that they are all mineralized and | in the same state of preservation as the bones of the extinct reptiles which occur with them in these deposits.” 1897.] Fossils and Fossilization. 21 In the process of mineralization, which is the last phase of the entire process of fossilization, we may imagine that bones undergo contrasted changes, according to the varying circum- stances of their position. Prof. Leidy has even observed in a letter to Dr. Holmes that fossilization, petrifaction or lapidifi- cation is no positive indication of the relative age of organic remains. The cabinet of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia contains bones of the megalonyx and of the ex- tinct peccary, that are entirely unchanged: not a particle of gelatine has been lost, nor a particle of mineral matter added, and, indeed, some of the bones of the former even have por- tions of articular cartilage and tendinous attachments well- preserved. On the other hand, bones of mammals from the Keuperkalk near Schweinfurt, Germany, yielded to Von Bibra scarcely a trace of phosphoric acid (Bischof); the principal constituent was clay. Bones exposed to saturation by water which may, or must, contain a very considerable quantity of mineral salts in solution, soon surrender their soluble elements and undergo a gradual reconstruction amounting, in some cases, to complete lithification. The phosphate and carbonate of lime may be replaced by silica, or the former may be ex- pelled by reaction with alkaline carbonates, and the bone as- sume more and more entirely the composition of carbonate of lime. The circumstances attendant upon the fossilization of inver- tebrates necessarily contrasts strongly with those observed in the fossilization of vertebrates. Invertebrates—corals, mol- lus, crustacea—are more usually the inhabitants of the salt waters, they are sedentary or somewhat limited in the range of their voluntary wanderings, their hard parts are almost en- tirely carbonate of lime, and at their death their shells or coverings are apt to be so situated as to secure more or less perfect preservation. The invertebrates which form the largest part of the fossil remains of the world are shore occupants, or, if removed from land, were living in comparatively shallow waters, waters certainly not exceeding 500 fathoms in depth. They lived either in the sandy flats or rocky barriers along the very margins of the ancient ocean and upon the oscillat- 28 The American Naturalist. [January, ing edges of the continent, or in the impalpable sediment de- posited further away from the shore, or gathered in estuarine inlets, or they formed the denizens of purer and deeper waters and became later, in the secular changes of the earth’s crust, consolidated into limestone beds. This variation of position implied a greater or less likelihood of preservation as fossils. Darwin has observed that along the west coast of South America “ no record of several successive and peculiar marine faunas will probably be preserved to a distant age.” And the reason he assigns is that as the coast of that continent is rising, “the littoral and sub-littoral deposits are continually worn away, as soon as they are brought up by the slow and gradual rising of the land within the grinding action of the coast- waves.” The remains of animals so situated as to become ex- posed to the reassorting action and denudation of the shore currents and waves may suffer pulverization and dispersal, and those which are not soon covered by sediment may be dissolved or injured. Those farther away are entombed in the accumulation of sediment which falls down over the sea- floor more uninterruptedly at some distance from land where | it is less agitated and shifted by the waves and currents. In the elevation of the ocean bottom and its gradual change to dry land the emergent surfaces would undergo considerable disturbance from the waves, and along these eroded edges the fossils would disappear by crushing and attrition. Yet Dar- win’s observation seems scarcely so important, when we con- sider that the same stratum continued outward upon the slop- ing bed of the ocean is for some time exempt from this wearing, and during that time the sediments produced by the destruction of its own emergent portions are constantly ac- cumulating over it and rendering its own stability greater. This view has been indeed taken by Mr. Hopkins, who ex- — pressed his belief that sedimentary beds of considerable hori- — zontal extent have rarely been completely destroyed. Further- — more, we must remember that, in so far as we have indicated © three different cycles of deposition with their accompanying and characteristic forms of life, these animal forms are not re- stricted with any precision to these areas, and that organic 1897.] Fossils and Fossilization. 29 remains which, by some accident, have been destroyed upon one kind of bottom, may remain represented in another that was not subject to the same exigencies. As Prof. Verrill re- marks, at the end of an enumeration of six or seven sorts of bottoms which carried distinctive faunas: “It must, however, be constantly borne in mind that very few kinds of animals are strictly confined to any one of these subdivisions, and that the majority are found in two, three or more of them, and often in equal abundance in several, though each species gen- erally prefers one particular kind of locality. In other cases the habits vary at different seasons of the year, or at different hours of the day and night, and such species may be found in different situations according to the times when they are sought.” The animals living along rocky shores and clinging to the rocks themselves or dwelling in their crevices and amongst the sea-weeds that clothe them, are not so apt to be preserved as fossils, except as they die they are swept seaward and be- come buried in the muds or sands of the less exposed beaches and flats. The occupants of the sandy beaches are provided with organs and have developed habits which enable them to secure protection against the wear and violence of the waves and the alternating drying and wetting of the district they in- habit. They penetrate the sand deeply and secure immunity from the accidents of the surface in the pockets, burrows and tubes within which they can withdraw themselves. These pro- tective habits render their preservation as fossils much more probable. The animals living in the muddy bottoms, whereon we may suppose a finer deposit settles, forming a tenacious and impalpable sediment or silt, are, in many cases, identical with those placed within the sandy areas, and immediately along the shores of a country the sandy and mud types of beach grade insensibly into each other so that a sandy beach can hardly be free from mud or a muddy margin of the land free from sand. And in this way the animal species found on one or the other accommodate themselves freely and easily _ to the vicissitudes and qualities of both. But the character of a mud bottom insures a better preservation of a shell as a fos- 30 Fhe American Naturalist. [January, sil, and many fragile and delicate organisms, such as the fossil hydrozoans, known as graptolites, are retained in the fine- grained slates (which have originally been mud layers) that would have scarcely survived comparison in the coarser and impressionable beds of sand. Such muddy layers may be en- - tirely argillaceous or markedly siliceous, or they may be cal- careous and formed at considerable depths, as in the case of the deep-sea ooze which assumes the character, as described by Sir C. Wyville Thompson, of a grayish, calcareous paste. These beds from this fine state of mechanical division are pre- cisely adapted for keeping unbroken the tests, coverings and hard parts of the animals that are buried in them, and if sufficiently argillaceous to prevent crystallization, upon con- solidating into stony strata retain their contents in a very beautiful and perfect condition. The deeper zones of the sea nurture the coral growths, or receive from the pelagic life above them the unceasing con- tributions of dead shells, the cases of foraminifera, and the skeletons of aberrant crustacea, or form beds congenial to glassy sponges, submarine thickets of crinoids and fields of gorgonias. These sea-deposits, which are somewhat exempt from the mingling sediments of the shore, though, of course, only approximately, and more or less completely, according to the nature and distance of the neighboring coasts, as regards their fossiliferous character, form very perfect beds of deposi- tion. The variety of animal life becomes here very great, and its fertility continually augments the rising sheets of animal precipitation. The pelagic life above these regions is con- stantly contributing its mineral contents to these beds, and the broken, half-dissolved shells of pteropods, with the tests and insoluble residue of foraminifera, form a calcareous com- mixture, in which whole shells, corals, crinoids, star-fishes, sea- urchins and the dust raining down from dead and decomposed swimming organisms, parts of fish, etc., become imbedded. The explorations of the Challenger showed that, according to _ Murray, the foraminifera of the open sea are subjected to solu- tion in the carbonated sea-water, and that their argillaceous . ash, so to speak, drops down and spreads upon the floor of the 1897,] Fossils and Fossilization. 31 ocean basin as a red or gray clay, while in places the siliceous parts of radiolarians also furnish a very considerable propor- tion of this mineral sediment, and the mass holding carbonic acid in solution has doubtless a solvent influence on many of the contained testaceous remains, and destroys their perfection as fossils. Upon elevation and consolidation into stony layers, the process of crystallization, started in the calcareous paste or jelly—which process partakes also of the nature of a hardening in a natural cement—produces sometimes a cementation of the parts, so that the fossils are coherent throughout with their matrix, and are extracted with difficulty, or, indeed, but ob- scurely detected at all. Centers of crystallization also form in the centers of the fossils themselves, by which all trace of organic structure is obliterated. . One of the most typical and important groups of fossils is the corals, and to discover the circumstances of their accumu- lation in the past we must look at the coral making portions of our globe to-day. Many of the deep sea corals are simple or single individuals, and are living in neighborhoods in the deep seas, while the great reef-making corals rising in coral banks to the surface of the water and prolonged by branching or acervuline growths are communal, and these coral colonies form the substantial basis of sea islands. They furnish the material which is heaped up in calcareous sand strata, making porous limestones, such as are seen in the Aeolian rocks of the Bermudas, or which, dissolved as a calcareous glue, unites the agglomerated fragments of beach shells into the Coquina beds of Florida. The coral colonies begin their growth at depths hardly exceeding 50 fathoms, though the Challenger explora- tions revealed coral life at depths of 1,300 fathoms. If they establish themselves in more shallow water at the customarily assumed limit of 20 fathoms, the sinking of the shores they skirt, according to the convenient hypothesis of Darwin and Dana, depresses the platforms from which they start to this depth or much more. The thermal conditions probably de- termine the depths at which reef-building corals can live, and it is a possible and probable circumstance that in varying positions and in other geological times, reef-making corals may 32 The American Naturalist. . [January, have begun their labors at depths much exceeding 20 or even 50 fathoms. The coral wall rises upward, and it bears in its midst and over its surface an extensive and variegated ocean life. First the corals of different genera massed together in contiguous groups and colums, then the fan corals (gorgon- ias) with bryozoa, crinoids, coralline sea-weeds and sponges, and finally numerous sea-worms (annelids) like Serpula com- plete the heterogeneous assemblage with an occasional molluse or some sedentary crustacean. “All these things,” to quote the expressive description of Thompson, “living and dying, are constantly yielding a fine powder of lime, which sinks down and compacts in the spaces among their roots; and every break- er of the eternal surf grinds down more material and packs it into every hollow and crevice capable of receiving and retaining it.” In this dust the dying portions of the coral wall become entombed, and mingling with them the shattered or complete skeletons and remains of the associated fauna. Thus the whole is ready for fossilization; it is raised, or similar beds were raised, above the action of the ocean waves, becoming more and more bound together, more and more hardened and — more dense. The solvent action of surface waters cement it — together and converge through the interstices of the mass molecules of carbonate of lime which fill up the minute crev- ices, the microscopic pores, hastening the formation of a fossil- _ iferous limestone. In these perfectly preserved masses, heads — and nodules of coral are found retaining the most delicate de- tails of structure, and with them fragments or complete exam- ples of their associated guests and tenants. One of the most — striking illustrations of an ancient fossil coral reef is that offered by the Falls of the Ohio at Louisville, Ky., where — ledges of horizontal limestone form a low escarpment over — which the river plunges. The formation is Devonian, and, — while the softer parts of the stone have weathered away, the harder calcareous corals stand out in projecting groups, and in their commingled diversity of genera with bryozoal remains — and the joints, stems and heads of crinoids, forms a complete | reproduction of a modern coral reef. As to the condition of | preservation in which the corals are found, Lyell has taken ~ 1897.] Fossils and Fossilization. 33 occasion to call attention, in the collection of Dr. Clapp,’ to the equal perfection of the “ pores, foramina and minute micro- scopic structure” of the palaeozoic corals with those gathered from our present oceans, remarking that “no one but a zoolo- gist would have been able to guess which set were of modern, and which of ancient, origin.” We may feel quite confident that in any study of our fossil- bearing strata we are generally contemplating beds that have not been abyssal in their origin. The remains of mollusca in the abundance usually present in our fossiliferous beds, cannot easily be regarded as indicative of very great depths of deposi- tion. The Challenger expedition, while it revealed an unex- pected fertility in the deep-sea life, also showed that molluscan life at great depths was scanty and unimportant. Sir C. Wyville Thompson summarizes the conclusions reached by say- ing that “the two great modern groups of the mollusca, the Lamellibranchiata and the Gastropoda, do not enter largely into the fauna of the deep sea. Species of both groups, usually small and apparently stunted, were widely, though sparsely, diffused.” The character of many of the fossiliferous beds be- trays readily enough the bathymetric relations they bore to the continent. The sandy grits, coarse conglomerate, the shales and slates, modified by the calcareous debris of shells and the argillaceous marls, are not deep-sea products. The pure limestones themselves cannot be regarded as having been formed at excessive depths since so much of the ancient life preserved in their fossils is irreconcilable with this view. Prof. A. Agassiz has indeed written (Dredgings of Three Cruises of the Blake): “ Probably no invertebrates of a period older than the jura and chalk existed in the deep sea, or, if they did exist, they did not wander far from the continental shelf. Their distribution was then as to-day, mainly a question of food. The animals of those times lived upon the shelf, and, while they and their predecessors remained as fossils in the littoral beds of the earlier formations, their successors, belonging either to the same or to allied genera, passed over into the fol- lowing period.” 3 Second Visit to the United States: Sir Chas. Lyell. 3 (To be continued.) 34 The American Naturalist. [January, THE BACTERIAL DISEASES OF PLANTS: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE PRESENT STATE OF OUR KNOWLEDGE. By Erwin F. SMITH. (Continued from Vol. XXX, p. 924.) My II. THE HYACINTH (HYACINTHUS ORIENTALIS L)). 2. THE BACTERIOSIS OF HYACINTHS (1889). (I) THE DISEASE: (1) Author, Title of Paper, Place of Publication, ete.—This dis- — ease was described by Dr. A. Heinz, Director of the Botanical- Physiological Institut in Agram. His paper (85) Zur Kentniss | der Rotzkrankheiten der Pflanzen was published in Centralblatt — J. Bakt. u. Parasitenkunde, Bd. V, No. 16, 12 April, 1889, pp. 535-539. ‘a (2) Geographical Distribution—The disease was discovered in some potted hyacinths received from a florist in Agram. There is no statement respecting its occurrence in the field or in hot- houses. : (3) Symptoms.—All of the potted plants developed equally well until blossoming time, the last of January. Then visible — differences appeared, although the plants were exposed to the — same external conditions. Some of the plants continued their — normal development, unfolded their blossoms in regular order, © and remained entirely sound. Others were delayed in their development, and several circumstances indicated the presence — of a disease before there were unmistakable symptoms. These — symptoms soon appeared. The tips of the leaves yellowed, 3 shriveled, and dried out for a distance of some centimeters — The blossoms either fell off before unfolding or opened in ir- regular order, and fell off soon after. Finally, in all the dis- eased specimens a progressive rotting was detected. This first attacked the axes of inflorescence, and then the leaves and bulb 1897.] The Bacterial Diseases of Plants: 35 scales. This rot produced a viscous (schmierigem), bad smell- ing slime. After two or three days the bulbs were entirely softened, and only the slightest pull was necessary to draw the leaves and scapes out of the bulb scales. (4) Pathological Histology.—A microscopic examination of the slime and of the affected tissues showed the existence of great numbers of bacteria. Primarily, they occupied the intercellu- lar spaces ; but the dead cells and the vessels were also full of them. The nucleus of the cell resisted longest, and could still be detected after the rest of the protoplasm was destroyed. No Hypomyces or other fungus was present. (5) Direct Infection Experiments.—No record of any. (II) Tue oRGANIsM.— Bacillus hyacinthi septicus Heinz. This name does not mean that Dr. Heinz regarded his or- ganism as in any sense a variety of B. hyacinthi Wakker, the practice of using trinomials to designate varieties not being current in bacteriology or generally accepted as good usage in any branch of botany. Dr. Heinz simply followed a common and vicious practice in the selection of his specific name, the literature of bacteriology being full of trinomials, quadrinom- ials, and even more extended names. Of course, all of these polynomials, Dr. Heinz’s included, must give way to binomi- al names, but in as much as I have not seen his organism, and as it was not fully described, I prefer to leave the consideration of its proper nomenclature to whomsoever shall have occasion to study it thoroughly. 1. Pathogenesis : (A) Yes. (B) Yes. Very easy. “The material may be taken from any suitable diseased spot; and it is demonstrable that everywhere the same species of bacterium is present in large quantities—I might almost say in pure cul- ture—foreign organisms occurring only in the outer bulb scales, where they might be expected, and where they are of no consequence.” “ The here observed bac- teria belong toa single species.” “ I could not discover a mixture of different bacteria; the above named is also unlike Bacterium termo (Cohn?). So much is The American Naturalist. [ January, established not only by the microscopic investigation but also by the very successful culture experiments. Bacillus butyricus was also not to be found.” “ Necessary precautions being taken for granted, a pure culture is obtained the easiest, when, by means of flamed instruments, the epidermis is lifted from a diseased but not yet entirely softened spot, a trace of — the slime removed from the parenchyma, and the same transferred to a nutrient substratum. The ma- — terial may be taken just as well from a bulb scale, only in this case one must set to work so much the more — carefully. Whether we inoculate a liquefied substra- — tum directly, or put a trace of the slime in sterile water, and inoculate only from this (a very simple method _ of dilution, which here leads to entirely satisfactory results), we always get on the plate an abundance of — the uniform colonies of this bacterium.” | (C) Yes.. The inoculation experiments were very suc- | cessful. “ If, by means of a needle, an extremely small | ; quantity of the bacilli are pricked into the epidermis : of a leaf, or of a scape of an otherwise entirely sound — hyacinth, the sickening of this part with the described | symptoms can usually be observed within 24 hours. — The most destructive action takes place around the- point of inoculation, over a breadth of about 3 cm. Here at first the tissues softens, the part becoming transparent. Finally, as a rule, the organ breaks, as its tissue, including the epidermis, is changed for the specified distance into the characteristic, slimy-v1s- cous, rotten-smelling pulp. We obtain the same result : when the inoculation is made on a bulb scale. Theim- oculated scale first sickens, but soon after the neigh- — boring ones also become affected, and the disease spreads from this point even into the parts abovè ground. The reverse behavior (inoculation of the aerial parts, and the spread of the disease into the bulb) could not be observed. This circumstance indi- | cates, in all probability, that under natural conditions 1897.] The Bacterial Diseases of Plants : 37 the disease spreads from the bulb upward. I would add, that the spread of the bacilli from the point of inoculation is very rapid. Ifa leaf15 to 20 cm. long is inoculated at its base outside of the bulb, the bacilli may be detected even after 24 hours, at a distance of 5 to 10 em. in the leaf parenchyma.” (D) Apparently; in part, at least. Statements not very explicit. Conclusion.—Pathogenic nature clearly established. Note.—Lack of full proof under D seems to be atoned for by repetitions under B and C. 2. Morphology : (1) Shape, size, etc—The organism is a conspicuous bacillus, with rounded ends. It is 4 to 6x1», and always single. Shorter rods occur; but direct observation shows these to be younger stages, which have resulted from division. The pro- cess of division is easily observed in hanging drops. (2) Capsule—No mention of any capsule. (3) Flagella.—Organism actively motile. Nothing concern- ing organs of motion. (4) Spores—No mention of any spores. (5)- Zooglæa.—“ Inoculated nutrient fluids become uniformly cloudy. I have not observed in them any local heaping-up of the bacilli.” (6) Involution Forms.—No mention of any involution ae, 3. Biology : (1) Stains—No special peculiarities. The organism Se readily with all the ordinary stains. (2) Gelatin.—Organism grows well upon ordinary gelatin. — The surface colonies on plate cultures are circular, about 2 mm, in diameter, smooth and shining, not very prominent, bluish- white with a somewhat darker center, translucent. The buried colonies have an oval form, and are rather (ziemlich) pointed at the poles. They are yellowish-whiteand dull. The bacillus does not liquefy gelatin. (3) Agar.—Growth as on gelatin. There are no noteworthy differences either in plate or stab cultures. In stab cultures the bacillus grows uniformly the whole length of the stab, and 38 The American Naturalist. [January, forms on the surface of the agar a smooth, bluish-white, in- tensely shining growth, which does not reach the wall of the tube even after weeks. After 8 to 10 days little vesciculate projections appeared along the stab. (4) Potato, ete—Organism grows well upon potato, forming after 36 hours a dirty yellow, slimy covering, the surface of which is granular. Cultures several days old sent forth an in- i tense rotten odor. (5) Animal Fluids.—No mention of specific sorts. See (IT) 2 (5). (6) Vegetable Juices—No mention of any trials. (7) Salt Solutions and other Synthetic Media—The organism | grows well in Cohn’s nutrient solution, and in sugar solutions, etc. In sugar solutions, with addition of sodium phosphate ! and peptone, a fine growth, but no butyric acid. (8) Relation to Free Oxygen—Aerobic. No special experi- ments, but from the behavior of the agar stab cultures the bacillus is probably also facultative anaerobic. (9) Reducing and Oxidizing Power—No statement. (10) Fermentation Products, and other Results of Growth : (a) Gas Production.—No statement. (b) Formation of Acids—No odor of butyric acid could be — detected in any of the cultures. No mention of any other acid. — (c) Production of Alkali—No statement. (d) Formation of Pigment.—Organism dirty yellow on potato. — (e) Development of Odors.—Causes a rotten smell in the host — plants, and an intensely putrid odor on potato. Chemical — nature of the odor not determined. No smell of butyric acid. — (£) Enzymes.—No statement. Cell walls are softened and — destroyed, and protoplasm is consumed in the presence of this — organism. (g) Other Products—No mention of any. (11) Effect of Dessication—No statement. (12) Thermal Relations : (a) Maximum for Growth—Not determined. (b) Optimum for Growth—Not determined. (c) Minimum for Growth—Not determined. (da) Death Point—Not determined. (13) Relation to Light—No statement. 1897.] The Bacterial Diseases of Plants: 39 (14) Vitality on Various Media.—No statement. (15) Effect on Growth of Reaction of Media (acid, neutral, alka- line).—No statement. (18) Sensitiveness to Antiseptics and Germicides.—No statement. — (17) Other Host Plants—The common onion, Allium cepa, was inoculated both in the leaves and in the bulbs, and in both cases with positive results. This plant must therefore be in- cluded as a possible host. Inoculations into other plants, such as Richardia, Chlorophytum, Triticum, Phaseolus, etc., gave negative results. (18) Effect upon Animals.—No statement, and probably no experiments. (III) Economic ASPECTS: (1) Losses—Disease not observed in the field. (2) Natural Methods of Infection —Not known. (3) Conditions Favoring the Spread of the Disease-—Not known. (4) Methods of Prevention —No suggestions. Remarks.—Organism not satisfactorily described. The first part of the paper is devoted to a brief review of papers by Wakker and Sorauer. De Toni and Trevisan in (11) Saccardo’s Sylloge, vol. VIII, p. 984, under B. hyacintht Wakker, make the following remark concerning B. hyacinthi septicus Heinz,—“ ver- isimiliter huc spectat.” The reason for this remark is not ap- parent. Certainly, so far as we can judge from the published statements of Drs. W. and H., the two organisms are widely different in their pathogenic effects, and also in their behavior on culture media. The rapid destruction of the host by Dr. Heinz’s germ is specially noteworthy. Whether the hyacinth disease described by Dr. Sorauer is distinct or identical with the preceeding, whether it is identical with the white rot of the Netherlands, or, finally, whether it is in any proper sense of the term a bacterial disease at all, must be left an open question. His account of the symptoms especially in the foliage certainly suggests the disease described by Heinz. Sorauer himself identifies it with the white rot of the hyacinth described by Schneevoogt and others, and also erroneously supposes it to be the same as the yellow disease described by Wakker. Dr. Sorauer made numerous and 40 The American Naturalist. [January, apparently quite careful microscopic examinations, but no — pure cultures. His attemps at direct infections yielded nega- tive results and he says that the bacteria do not attack sound well ripened bulbs under normal meteorological conditions. The fungus, Hypomyces hyacinthi Sorauer, was closely associated with this rot but is believed to be only a secondary trouble in as much as the bacteria were sometimes found in the affected — tissues where no mycelium could be detected. The fungus — may however spread the disease by acting as a carrier of the — microorganisms. The latter consisted of coccus forms and 3 rods, and were identified, in part, as Clostridium butyricum — (Bacillus amylobacter), apparently on no better grounds than the microscopic appearances and a bad smell supposed to be due to butyric acid. This work was done fifteen years ago and : now has little other than a historic value. The following are — Dr. Sorauer’s papers: (36) Der weisse Rotz der Hyacinthenzwiebeln, Deutscher — Garten, 1881, pp. 198, (not seen), and (37) Der weisse Rota — (Bacteriosis) der Hyacinthenzwiebeln, Sorauer, Handbuch der — Phlanzenkrankheiten, 2nd. ed., part II, pp. 95-102, with one plate — (devoted exclusively to the Hypomyces), Berlin, 1886. Concerning the “white rot” of the Netherlands, Wakker states distinctly that it is not a parasitic disease, and seems to have proved that it does not attack sound bulbs but only such as have been weakened by anonparasiticgummosis. Whether this is always the case may, perhaps, be regarded as doubtful, in as much as Dr. Wakker’s inoculation experiments were not very numerous. This white rot is a slimy, and often foamy, stinking, bacterial decay to which gummosed bulbs are fre- quently subject in rainy, warm weather, particularly after the _ bulbs are dug and placed in silos in the earth to undergo & ripening process. The disease may also appear afterwards in rooms where the bulbs are spread out to dry. The whole or : only a part of a bulb may be attacked according as the whole | or only a part is gummy. The diseased parts are soft and white and look as if boiled. Dr. Wakker’s views may be found in (34) and in (38) Contributions à la pathologie végétale. — VI. Nouvelles recherches sur la gommose des Jacinthes w 1897.] Editor’s Table. 41 plantes analogues. Archives néerlandaises, T. XXIII, Haarlem, 1889, pp. 383-396, 2 plates. In confirmation of the statements made in No.1 of this series, p. 632, 2nd paragragh, and as a curious commentary on the way in which many books are thrown together, we may in passing refer to the account of “the white or yellow rot of hyacinth bulbs” given in Dr. Frank’s new book (89) Die Krankheiten der Pflanzen, Bd. II, pp. 23-25, Breslau, 1896. Most of the two pages is wasted in an exposition and criticism of Dr. Sorauer’s views; Wakker’s studies are condensed into four lines and badly at that; no mention is made of Heinz’s paper; and the review concludes as follows: “ Für eine patho- gene Bakterienwirkung fehlt wenigstens bis jetzt der Beweiss.” EDITOR’S TABLE. WE publish in our news department an account of a project now on foot in Europe for the protection of the large game of Africa. It is greatly to be hoped that this plan will be carried into effect without delay. Certain members of the French Société d’Acclimatation have formed a committee haying for its object the domestication of the Af- rican elephant, which seems to be entirely feasible. Meanwhile, in America the plans for the preservation of a herd of bison are not being realized. This is due to the neglect of Congress to legislate for the proper protection of game in the Yellowstone National Park. This must be done at an early day, or the herd of bison there will be exter- minated. It is expected that a portion of Fairmount Park, Philadel- phia will be set apart for the breeding of bison. If this hope shall be realized and other small herds now existing are preserved, this species may be saved from extinction as a result of inbreeding. This fate is said to be overtaking the herd of Aurochsen or European bison in the government preserve in Lithuania. They are said to be becoming very infertile. The seals of Alaska are having a rest, and their de- struction is for the time being delayed. Enough remain to enable them to recover their old abundance if protected. The American and British Commissions are composed of able men who will see 42 The American Naturalist. [January,. the herd preserved if they can accomplish it. The crusade of the Audubon society against the slaughter of birds for the decoration of ladies’ bonnets has produced good fruit. The practice of wearing birds has become less common in America at least, and a relatively small number of women appear to be willing that the most beautiful of living things shall be exterminated to gratify a fleeting fancy. Ir is to be hoped that the recent enormous seizure of game being illegally shipped out of the State of Minnesota, over the Chicago, Mil- waukee and St. Paul Railroad, will be very much of a check upon the extinction of the game mammals that has been going rapidly onward for some time. The seizure made in the freight yards of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, at St. Paul, comprises several tons of venison, and the fines, at the rate of $50 per piece, may amount from 40,000 to 50,000 dollars. THE newspaper press is again publishing reports of the existence of the Mammoth in the interior of Alaska. Bones of this species are abundant in that region in the latest deposits, and there is no a priori impossibility in the supposition that some herds of this gigantic mam- mal still survive. On the other hand, the sole source of the stories are the aborgines, who, as we are informed, are not noted for veracity, and who like to be entertaining. The huge bones havé not escaped their observation, and may have given rise to the stories that they tell, | The matter is, however, worth looking into by persons who have oppor- tunities for doing so on the spot. How differently different people regard nearly the same subject may be illustrated by the people of Massachusetts struggling hard for the last five or six years to exterminate the gypsy moth and by the action of the Entomological Society of London in appointing a committee to take measures for the protection of British lepidoptera from extermina- tion at its meeting on October 14. Warm sympathy with the movement has been expressed by the London Entomological and Natural History Society the North London Natural History Society, and the Liecester Literary and Philosophical Society. The first step to be taken is to learn what species are in danger of extermination.—F. C. K. Tue Field Museum of Chicago has been recently enriched by an ex- _ tremely valuable callection of Egyptian Antiquities, through the gen- erosity of one of the trustees, Mr. Edw. E. Eyre. Some remarkably fine Roman bronze bath tubs from near Pompeii have been procured : for the Museum by Dr. Brestrad. SR a AN amas E F. pig 1897.] Recent Literature. 43 Mr. Oscar Roun has at considerable expense collected together series of 86 specimens of rocks from the Keeweenawan, the Penokee and the Marquette districts in the Lake Superior region. The collections represent all the important rock types found in these districts. They are intended more particularly to illustrate the reports of the United States geologists upon the copper and iron-bearing series of the Lake Superior region, though they may serve also as supplements to the col- lections of Paleozoic rocks at present furnished by dealers in geological materials, since they embrace specimens from the Algonkean and the Archean systems as recognized by the U. S. Geological Survey. The collections, having been made at the suggestion of Prof. C. R. Van Hise, may safely be accepted as typical. In spite of the great expense that has attended the making of the collection its price has been placed at $40.00. A rare opportunity is offered to practical geologists and to teachers of geology in our colleges to secure a trustworthy set of rock specimens from one of the most interesting geological regions in the United States. Itis hoped that the offer will be availed of, and that Mr. Rohn may be induced to collect from other much discussed districts. RECENT LITERATURE. Zur palaozoischen Flora der Arktischen Zone by A. G. Nathorst, Zur Fossilen Flora des Polarlinder, I, Theil, 1 Lief, 80 pp., XVI pl., Stockholm, 1894. In this memoir on the Paleozoic Flora of the Arctic Zone, Dr. Na- thorst presents a comprehensive and exhaustive review and revision of the Paleozoic plant material brought by the various expeditions from the Arctic regions. Following in the footsteps of Heer, he has been so fortunate as to have in hand not only all the Arctic specimens hitherto described, with the exception of the fragments brought by McClintock from Mellville Island, but also important later collections made from several localities in the Devonian and Eocarboniferous of Spitzbergen by De Geer and himself in 1882. The results of Nathorst’s work diverge along three lines, viz., the material imperfectly or often erroneously figured or described by Heer is presented in its true relations with detailed accuracy, and is supple- mented by the more recent collections ; the geological age of the fossili- 44 The American Naturalist. (January, ferous teranes is more definitely fixed; and the identity or affinity of the floras with the others of the same age in lower latitudes is verified and found to constitute important evidence of climatic uniformity. In the strictly paleobotanic portion of the memoir, which is most useful to students of fossil plants, there are, besides the refiguration and redescription of many of Heer’s types, numerous points of special in- terest. To mention the many interesting species found, or the valuable specific correlations made by Dr. Nathorst, would far exceed the space available in a short notice. Among the more notable cases in the former class are the new provisional genus Pseudobornia, and the elaborations of the characters of Cyclostigma Haughton, which is here included in Bothrodendron, though a subgeneric differentiation is suggested. Pseu- dobornia appears, as its name indicates, to be Calamitic in its nature, though no prejudice is expressed as to its relations or possible identity with Bornia or Calamites. Pseudobornia ursina Nath. is very sugges- tive of Calamites inornatus Dn. The existence of a Knorrid stage in | Bothrodendron is made plain beyond doubt, while the absense of both _ Lepidodendron and Sigillaria in the Bear Island Ursa beds, gives rise : eee Ade a mg ioe wot A tir cB ES a S es to a strong presumption that the Stigmariæ found there are to be re- — ferred as roots to Bothrodendron, which Nathorst seems to think may have been the ancestor of Sigillaria and Lepidodendron. ; The flora of the Liefde Bay system of Spitzbergen with species of | Cyclopteris, Lepidodendron, Bothrodendron?, Psilophyton-like stems, — | and Psygmophyllum, while, indicating a Devonian age, is insufficient to warrant with confidence a closer correlation. A comparison, how- — | ever, of Nathorst’s figures shows a close relation of the Arctic Le ; l pidodendra with the American Upper Devonian species. It seemsto the writer that the Psygmophyllum williamsoni Nath., which isregarded by Nathorst as a Gymnosperm, deserves a comparison with our Archa- a opteris obtusa Lx., or the A. archetypus Schmalt. i The flora of the Lower Carboniferous of Spitzbergen with Sphenop- teris bifida L. and H., and other species (several of them new) of Sphen- opteris, Adiantites, Cardiopteris, Archæopteris, Lepidodendron, Halonia, Bothrodendron (B. tenerrimum A. and T.), Carpolithes, and Samarop- — sis, is closely related to, when not identical with, species in the Calici- — ferous Sandstone and Lower Carbonifi Limestone of Great Britain, or the Culum of continental Europe. Several of the species, €. g. Sphenopteris sturii Nath., S. flexibilis, S. kidstonii and Lepidodendron spitzbergensis are very close to, if not identical with plants found in the Pocono (Vespertine) series of the Alleghenies, or the Horton series of Nova Scotia, though the general aspect of the flora seems as a whole to be somewhat younger. 1897.] Recent Literature. 45 The “ Ursa” flora of Bear Island, with Calymmatotheca, Pseudobornia, Lepidodendron cf. pedroanum, and Bothrodendron (B. kiltorkense and others), has, with the exception of the comprehensive Stigmaria ficoides, nothing definite in common with the Lower Carboniferous flora, and appears to be nearest related to the Kiltarkan flora of upper Devonian age, or perhaps it represents the transition from the Devonian to the Carboniferous. Finally, Dr. Nathorst discovers no difference in the character of the vegetation in the Devonian or Lower Carboniferous of the Arctic zone and that of the contemporaneous deposits in other parts of Europe, both the ferns and the Lycopods being of full size and apparently grown under conditions equally favorable, so that, so far as yet known, fossil plants offer no evidence of a difference in climate at those periods, between the Arctic and the lower latitudes of Europe. We may add that the same climatic conditions appear to have existed contemporan- eously in the Appalachian region of the United States—Davip WHITE. A Biological Examination of Lake Michigan in the Tra- verse Bay Region.—The Sixth Bulletin of the Michigan Fish Commission bears this title and in some one hundred pages records the work done by Dr. H. B. Ward and an efficient corps of assistants. Besides Dr. Ward’s report, there are to be found within the covers of the bulletin the reports of five others, either assistants or those to whom specimens were sent. Aquatic plants are treated by H. D. Thompson, the Protozoa by Dr. C. A. Kofoid, the Rotifera by H. S. Jennings, the Turbellaria by Dr. W. McM. Woodworth and the Mol- lusca by Bryant Walker. The objects of the work were a study of the life of the lake in all its manifold relations and especially of those factors which bear upon the welfare of food fishes in general and of the young white fish in par- ticular. The more important conclusions that Dr. Ward arrives at are: That 63 per cent of the food of the common white fish, Coregonus celupeiformis consists of Crustacea. Twenty per cent of this is formed by Mysis relicta Loven, and 43 per cent by Pontoporeia hoyi Smith. After the crustacea come small mollusks at the rate of 26 per cent, made up mostly of several species of Pisidium. That the ultimate source of the food supply is found in the plankton of which he estimates that there is for Lake Michigan almost 9,300,000 cubic meters, representing a weight of from 102,300 to 118,600 metric tons, or 12 to 16 pounds to each acre of surface. With Hensen he 46 The American Naturalist. [January, concludes that the productiveness of the water about equals that of the land; but, at the same time, he points out that there is an element of error in these comparisons since they are made with an artificial productiveness in the land. The plankton does not occur in swarms; and that it gradually in- creases to a depth of 30 meters, below which it decreases. The varia- tions found in distribution through different strata of water are prob- ably due to vertical migration. The uniform distribution of the plankton indicates that the fish feeding upon it find a limited food supply everywhere. The bottom flora and fauna are not sufficient to maintain large numbers of bottom fish. The well known migrations of white fish along shore seem thus to be correlated with the non-localized food sup- — pl white fish except over catching. Finally he speaks strongly and with the very best of reason in favor of the fisherman and pisciculturist being given the same govern- — mental attention that is given the agriculturist. Piscatorial stations — where the best of investigatorial talent may be employed continually — would not only offer the best means for preventing the extinction of the — food fishes, but would enable the piscatorialist to maintain a good sup- — ply.—F. C. Kenyon. Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Sciences for 1895. —Several times we have had occasion to notice the volumes put out — by the Indiana Academy of Sciences, and always in a favorable man- — ner. The present volume, recently issued (although its title page bears date February 1896) proves no exception. These 300 pages contain papers on mathematics, physics, chemistry, botany, zoology, physiology and hygiene, the total presented in full or in abstract numbering. these, but a few can be mentioned here. In his presidential address — Mr. A. W. Butler discusses the changes in the flora and fauna which — have occurred since the beginning of the century and these changes — have been numerous and important. Many are the animals, once abundant, which are now rare or exterminated. Read Audubon’s ac — count of a pigeon roost and now “a single pigeon in a year.” Mr. A- H. Purdue presents his studies of the earthquake of Oct. 31, 1895, the — greatest in the Mississippi Valley since 1811, and the interesting fact — was brought out that its epicentrum nearly coincided with that of y- There is a plentiful supply of white fish food on the old fishing grounds and no reason can be given for a diminution in the supply of ah ahs Uaioe 1897.) Recent Literature. 47 the New Madrid earthquake. Science, apparently, is not favored by those having charge of the State Library, if we can judge from the catalogue of the botanical literature which is contains. The Academy should endeavor to change this. Certainly Science should be as well treated as literature in a state library. Mr. R. E. Call revises the Unios allied to U. parvus, doing it in a way to please those who do not believe, with the late Dr. Lea, that we have over 600 fresh water clams in the United States. There are two or three papers on fishes, but most important is one by Evermann and Scoville upon the spawn- ing of the blue back salmon of the Pacific rivers. These studies were made in the lakes of Idaho and the conclusion is drawn that these fish spawn but once and then die, and that the well known mutilations are received on the spawning beds while making their nest. The Academy is trying to make a thorough biological survey of the state and hence the local lists published have no little value. These include molluses, birds, fishes, the bird notes of Mr. Butler being espe- cially valuable from their fullness. Prof. Stanley Coulter reports upon the collections of plants—nearly a thousand species—that have come into the possession of the Academy ; but the first place in importance, though the last in the volume, should be given Prof. Eigenmann’s re- port of the biological survey of a limited fauna—that of Turkey Lake. The physical features of the lake are described in detail and small collections are reported upon by several persons but most interesting -and valuable are the studies of variation, the preliminary stages of which are reported upon. Such studies carried on in this manner would be of great value did they only give us results of use in system- -atic science ; but they promise more than that. The State of Indiana for two years past has published the Proceed- ings of the Academy, and it should continue to do so. There is not a state organization of similar character anywhere which is doing better work than is this. Its members are working for the good of the State, ‘and this without any hope of gain. The State should make the results of these labors accessible to all.—J. S. Beal’s Grasses of North America.'—About ten years ago Dr, Beal, brought out his useful Vol. I, and now we have the companion volume after many years of waiting. The first volume treated the subject somewhat agriculturally while here we have a scientific de- scription of every species occurring in North ict including all the cultivated species also. 1 Grasses of North America, by W. J. Beal, Ph. D., in two volumes. Vol. II, pp. viii, 706, 8vo, with 126 figures. New York, lanis Holt & Company, 1896. 48 The American Naturalist. [January, The plan of the work is excellent and in the main it is well worked out. The sequence followed is that of Hackel in Engler and Prantl’s Naturalichen Pflanzenfamilien. The characterization of each division and tribe is full and apparently well drawn, and under these the de- scriptions of genera and species are equally well made. Occasionally one notices a little redundancy of words, but this is a fault which will displease very few. We are so accustomed to short and insufficient de- scriptions that it is quite gratifying to find descriptions in which there is something to spare. To a large extent these descriptions are new, at least the book is not a mere compilation of scattered descriptions. The student will find here, for the first time, descriptions of all our grasses, 809 native and 103 exotic species. The author has attempted to illustrate nearly every genus, and he has succeeded so well that of 146 genera, 126 are figured. Some of these figures are crude, and the lettering in some is cruder still, but taken as a whole, they are helpful, while many are very well done. We notice with pleasure that the nomenclature is in accordance with the “ Rochester-Madison Rules,” and, contrary to what some have feared, the changes in well known names are not many. The synonomy is full, but has not been as carefully collected as it should have been, due probably to the employment of clerical help. We notice with regret also that the range of many species of the Plains has not been acurately given, although authentic lists, and even her- baria, could have readily been consulted. These errors of omission and commission are, however, not so great as to be seriously harmful, and they can easily be corrected in a second edition. As it is, the work will be very useful, and American botanists are deeply indebted to the author, for completing this laborious task—Cuar.es E. BES- SEY. Brush’s Determinative Mineralogy and Blowpipe Analy- | sis.’—This most valuable text-book on blowpipe analysis, with tables — for the determination of Mineral species by blowpipe methods has long ~ been the standard text used in our colleges. The first part (Blowpipe : Analysis) has now been entirely rewritten and enlarged from 62 to — 163 pages. The valuable tables which were based on von Kobell’s Tafeln zur Bestimmung der Mineralien are now in process of revision — for a later edition of the work. As these tables comprise but 33 a double pages against 163 pages of the text devoted to blowpipe analy- 2 Fourteenth Edition, Revised and Enlarged, by Prof. S. L. Penfield. Wiley, 4 $3.50. 1897.] Recent Literature. 49 sis, it seems to the reviewer that it would be well to change the title to Blowpipe Analysis and Determinative Mineralogy, which would then indicate the natural order of considering these subjects and the one followed in the book. The new text is admirably written and of especial value because of the discriminating judgment that has been shown in selecting the characteristic tests for the elements. When no really satisfactory blowpipe test for an element exists the author recommends a test em- ploying the wet methods. In order to make the work as complete as possible tests for the rarer elements are included but appear in finer print. Valuable hints concerning the best quantity of material to be used in each case and little “ tricks” of manipulation which are usually only learned after considerable experience in applying the methods abound in the book. Mineralogists generally will rejoice to see this valuable work brought up to date by so experienced and so accurate a mineralogist as Professor Penfield and will look forward with inter- est to the appearance of the revised tables. The author announces in his preface that he intends to add a chapter to the work so as to treat briefly ere and the physical properties of minerals— Wm. H. Hos Chudzinski on the Facial Muscles.’—M. Chudzinski, who for many years was the preparateur of anatomy, and the active colleague of Paul Broca, has just published a work of well matured thought, the result of dissections carried on by the author during twenty-five years. This paper comprises a study of the muscles of the face and neck in many different races of men, their variations, their anomalies, and their analogies and differences with those of the monkeys. When it is considered that these muscles are the ones that control the physiog- nomy, that is to say, control the expression of mind, one can appreci- ate the interest whirh this work of M. Chudzinski will have, not only for anatomists, but also for anthropologists and artists. 3 Some Observations on the Muscles of the Human Skull and Face, by Theo- phile Chudzinski, Assistant in the Laboratory of Anthropology at the School of Hautes Etudes, Member of the Society of Anthropology, Laureate of the Acad- emy. One volume in 8vo, with 25 figures in the text. 4 fr. 50 The American Naturalist. [January, AMERICAN NATURALIST LIST OF RECENT BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS. ANDREWS, C. W.—The Osteology of Palxolimnas chatamensis and Nesolimnas (gen. nov.), dieffenbachii. Extr. Novitates Zoologice, Vol. III, 1896 —— The Osteology of Diaphorapteryx hawkinsii. Extr. Novitates Zoologice, Vol. IJI, 1896. ——Note on the Skeleton of Diaphorapteryx hawkinsii. Extr. Geol. Mag, — 1896. From the author. 2 —On a Skull of Orycteropus gaudryi, Forsyth Major, from Samos. Extr. — Proceeds. Zool. Soc. London, 1896. From the author. Baker, F. C.—Preliminary Outline of a new Classification of the Family Muri- — cide. Bull, Chicago Acad. Sci., Vol. II, No. 11, 1895. From the author. Boure, M.—La Topogruphite Glaciare en Auvergne. Extr. Ann. Geog. 5e Ann., 1896. From the author. DAVISON, A .—The Tentacular Apparatus of Amphiuma. Extr. Amer. Nat, save. Fron the author. a Wm.—The Animal Nature of Eozoon. Extr. Geol. Mag., 189. — 4 ; ! From t sie author DEPERET, C. athe Vexistance de Dinosauriens Sauropodes et Théropodes dansle Crétacé supérieure de Madagascar. a —Sur les phosphorites quaternaires de la régione d’Uzél. Extrs. Comptes endus, Paris, 1895. From the author. FAIRBANKS, H. W.—The Geology of Point Sal. Extr. Bull. Dept. Geol. Vol. 2, 1896. From the author. Fisher, A. K.—The Mammals of Sing Sing, N. Y. Extr. Observor, Port- land, Conn., Vol. VII, 1896. From the author. 4 GARMAN, H.—Some Notes on the Brain and Pineal Structures of Polyodon folium. Bull. Ill. State Lab., Vol. IV, 1896. From the author. Hay, O. P.—On some Collketions of Fiha aud:On thé Skeleton of Toxochelys latiremis. Field Columbian Mus. Pub. 12 and 13. Zool. Ser., Vol. I, 1896. From the author. n _ INGEN,,G. VAN AND T. G. WHITE.—An Account of the Summer’s Work in Ge- ology on Lake Champlain. Extr. Trans. N. Y. Acad. Sci., XV, 1895. From the author. a JorDAN, D. S.—Notes on Fishes, Little Known or New to Science. Extr. a Stanford, Jr. Univ. Pub., 1896. From the author. Keyes, C. R.—Orotaxis: A Method of Geologic Correlation. Extr. Amer. Geol., Vol. XVIII, 1896. ac Revie ew of Wachsmuth and Springer’s North American Fossil Crinoidea Camerata. No date given. From the author. Livy, P. O.—I Coccodrilli Fossili del Veneto. Dagli Atti R. Inst. Veneto T. VIL Ser. 7, 7, 1895-96. From the author. MERCERAT, A.—Etude comparee sur des Molaires de Toxodon et d’autres rep” Heuntante=de la méme famille. Extr. Anales Mus. Nacion., Buenos IV, 1895. From the author. 1897.] Recent Books and Pamphlets. 51 Merriam, C. H.—Revision of the Lemmings of the genus Synaptomys, with Descriptions of New Species. Extr. Proceeds. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol X, 1896. ——Sigmogomphius lecontei, a New Castoroid Rodent from the Pliocene, near Berkeley, Calif. Extr. Bull. Dept. Geol. Univ. Calif., 1896. From the uthor. MILLER, G. S.—The Central American Thyroptera. —Note on the Milk Dentition of Desmodus. Extrs. Proceeds. Biol. Soc. Washington, Vol. X, 1896. From the author. Genera and subgenera of Voles and Lemmings. races American Fauna, No. 12. Washington, 1896. From the Smithsonian Institutio OctLey, J. D. On a New Genus and Species of Fishes from Jimia Bay. a a Galaxias from Mt. Kosciusko. Extrs. Proceeds. Linn. Soc. N. 8. Wales, 1896. From the author! PavLow, M.—Noveaux irati tertiaires trouvés en Russia. Extr. Bull. de Moscow, 1896. From the au Peracca, M. G.—Retiili ed ‘Gan raccolti nel Darien ed a Panama dal Dott. E. Festa. Extr. Boll. Mus. Zool. ed Anat. Comp. Torino, Vol. XI, 1896. From the author. PERRINE, C. D.—Earthquakes in California in 1894. Bull. U. S. Geol. Surv., Washington, 1895. From the Survey. Ricumonp, C. W.—Catalogue of a Collection of Birds made by Doctor W. L. Abbott in Eastern Turkestan, the Thian Shan Mountains, and Tagdumbash Pamir, Central Asia, with Notes on Some of the Species. Extr. Proceeds. U.S. . Natl. Mus., Vol. X VIII, 1896. From the Museum. RITTER, E.—Etudes sur l’orographie et l’hydrographie des Alpes de Savoie. Extr. du Globe, 7, XX XIV, Mémoires Genève, 1895. From the author. RoLLINAT, R. ET E. Trovessart.—Sur la Reproduction des Chauves-souris. Extr. Mem. Soc. Zool. de France, 1896. From the authors. TT, W. B.—On the Osteology and Relations of Protoceras. Extr. Journ. Morphology, Vol. IX, No. 2, 1895. From the author. SHuFELDT, R. W.—On the Affinities of Harpagornis. Extr. Trans. New Zealand Inst., Vol. XXVIII. 1895. From the author True, F. W.—Note on the Occurrence of an Armadillo of the genus Xenurus in Honduras. Extr. Proceeds. U. 8. Natl. Mus., Vol. XVIII, 1896. From the author. Weekly Weather Crop Bulletins North Carolina State Weather Service. Geological Map of the verse of the Passaic, New Jersey. Trenton, 1895. From the New Jersey Geol. S Wuite, T. G.—The Faunas a the Upper Ordovician Strata at Trenton Falls, Oneida Co., N. Y. Extr. Trans. N. Y. Acad. Sci., Vol. XV, 1895. the author. Wuiteaves, J. F.—Notes on some of the Cretaceous Fossils Collected during Capt. Pallizer’s Explorations in British North America in 1857-60 umbia. Extrs. Trans. Roy. Soc. Canada (2), Vol. I, 1895-96. From the author. 52 The American Naturalist. [January, WILDER, H. H.—Lungless Salamanders. Extr. Anat. Anz. XII Bd., 1896. From the author. WOLTERSTORFF, W. AND JOH. BorHM.—Ueber fossile Frösche aus den altpleis- tociinen Kalktuff von Weimar und Taubach. Adbruck a. d. Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Geolog. Gesell. Jahrg. 1896. From the author. General Notes, PETROGRAPHY.' The Basic Rocks of Devonshire.—The diabases of southern — Devonshire, England, have been carefully investigated by Busz.’ The — diabases occur in floors often between Devonian slates and schists. The — plagioclase of a specimen from Anstie’s Cove, near Torquay, is partially . changed to prehnite. All specimens contain brown hornblende, which — is regarded as original. At Babbacombe the diabase is full of porphy- ritic crystals of labradorite. The groundmass in which these lie is- composed of a second generation of plagioclase in a serpentine-like sec ondary matrix, which has been derived from the augite and other com- ponents of the original rock. Both porphyritic and groundmass pla | gioclases are deformed as the result of pressure. At Highweek blocks — of a pale pikrite were found. Their material is identical in appearance — with the rock of Nassau. It consists of olivine, augite, feldspar, bie tite, enstatite, apatite and magnetite. The rock is very much alte Its composition, as shown by analysis, is: SiO, Al,0, Fe,0, FeO CaO MgO Na,O K,O H,O TiO, P,O, FeS, Total — 40.12 7.76 7.35 8.66 6.53 23.69 1.20 58 4.03 .37 .18 2010 It contains also traces of Cl, CO, and Cu. Along the banks of the Avon, at South Brent, blocks of Kersantite are met with. The rock possesses no noteworthy features, except that : in it are crystals of orthoclase surrounded by zones of newly formed plagioclase. The Magmatic Alteration of Hornblende and Biotite.— Hornblende and biotite in many igneous rocks are surrounded by i 2 of augite and magnetite that have resulted from their alteration. process by which this zone or rim has been formed is generally cal 1 Edited by Dr. W. S. Bayley, Colby University, Waterville, Me. ? Neues Jahrb. f. Min., ete., 1896, I, p. 57. i iA i s t 4 BS 1897,] Petrography. 53 upon as a chemical one. The rock magma is supposed to have fused the hornblende or biotite grains, or to have partially dissolved them, and from the resulting mass the augite and magnetite are believed to have crystallized. Washington,’ in a recent article, discusses this theory. He shows that the alteration is confined almost exclusively to the con- stituents of the intermediate and basic volcanic rocks. It is not a phenomenon of acid rocks, nor of plutonic basic ones. The author believes that the two minerals named are formed under intratellurial conditions, and that when the conditions are changed to those prevail- ing at the surface the complete but homogeneous compounds break up into a heterogeneaus aggregate of simpler ones, i. e., becoming para- morphed. It is believed that many of the grains of augite and magne- tite scattered through certain volcanic rocks may have been components of these paramorphs that have been carried from their original positions by magma movements. Some of the augite andesites are thought to owe their augitic constituent to the processes above outlined. Petrography of the Little Rocky Mountains, Mon.—The Little Rocky Mountains are situated in central Montana, about 180 miles east of the Rocky Mountains proper. They are formed by a dome- shaped uplift of Paleozoic and older rocks in the midst of horizontal cretaceous strata. The nuclear rocks are classed by Weed and Pirsson* as Archean-Algonkian, because consisting of various schists associated with a quartzite. Around these and covering them, over much of the extent of the mountains, are porphyries that grade in places into phenolitic facies. The rock was extruded asa laccolitic mass, which now partially covers the Archean schists. In the main it is a granite porphyry, con- taining orthoclase and oligoclase phenocrysts in a fine grained ground- mass composed almost exclusively of orthoclase, anorthoclase and quartz. This rock is replaced occasionally by a syenite-porphyry, or by a granite-diorite-porphyry, which differs from the granite-porphyry in the presence of chloritized augite and in the predominance of plagio- clase phenocrysts over orthoclastic ones. At two places tinguaite re- places the normal rock. This phonolitic phase is a dense, dark-green rock, that is apparently a contact phase of the normal porphyry. In their section the tinguaite shows large phenocrysts of sanidine and smaller ones of augite in a fine groundmass of alkali-feldspars, aegirite and nephelite. The syenite-porphyry from Lookout Butte is charac- terized by the absence of all minerals but the feldspars and a little 3 Jour. Geol., Vol. IV, 1896, p. 257. ‘Jour. of Geology, Vol. IV, 1896, p. 399. 54 The American Naturalist. [January quartz, and by the fact that the feldspars of the groundmass are almost — | exclusively albites. An analysis of the predominant granite-porphyry i yielded : % SiO, Al,O, Te,O, FeO MgO CaO Na,O K,O TiO, BaO S,0H,0 Cl Total 68.65 18.31 .56 .08 .12 1.00 4.86 4.74 .20 .13 .10 1.10 .08=99.88 ~ id i The Volcanic Rocks of Bolsena, Italy.—The volcanic rocks a of the Bolsena region in Italy are reported by Washington‘ to comprise two distinct types—the trachytie and the leucitic. The former include andesite and vulsinite, a rock that differs from normal trachyte in con- 1 taining a great deal of plagioclase and occasionally some olivine. The — plagioclase is anorthite. Both this mineral and the large crystals of | orthoclase that occur as phenocrysts are surrounded by mantles of | orthoclase in optical continuity with the nuclear grains. An analysis — of the rock gave: } 8:0, TiO, Al,0, Fe,0, FeO MgO CaO Na,O K,O P,O, Ign Total 58.21 tr 19.90 4.0 Of. -98 -3:58 2.57 . 9,17 —100.09 E The vulsinite is ar an effusive rock intermediate in eae be- tween trachyte and andesite. 4 The leucite rocks are leucitites, leucite-phenolites (leucite- orthoclae) leucite-tephrite and leucite-basanites. All these rocks are briefly scribed by the author. The Analcite-bearing Rocks.—Pirsson,’ in a general article om the monchiquites and other related rocks gives the results of his study of a number of interesting rock types, all of which contain analcite — The glassy base of monchiquites is shown to have the properties of this mineral. Analcite is also thought to be present in many other rock as an original component. The conditions favorable to its production are those that obtain in dikes or other small intrusive masses—they proa of rocks, Jok as there exists a leucite group. The monchiquites are analcite basalts and the fourchites are analcitites. Petrographical Notes.—Callaway’ gives a brief account of the origin of schists of the MalvernjHills, England. The rocks were orig- inally diorites, epidiorites, granites and felsites. They have been chang® to schists by the usually processes of dynamic metamorphism. 5 Jour. Geol., Vol. IV, 1896, p. 542. e Jour. Geol., Vol. IV, 1896, p. 679. ™Proc. Liver. Geol. Society, 1895-96, p. 453. 1897.] Geology and Paleontology. 55 banding of some of the schists is due to interlaminations of igneous rocks of different characters. Several new occurrences of alnoite are described by Smyth* from near Manheim, N. Y. The rock of a small dyke does not differ in any essen- tial respect from the rocks described a few years ago. The rock of a large dyke is very fine grained on the margin of the dyke, but in its interior it is a coarse grained panidiomorphic aggregate of reddish- brown mica and serpentine pseudomorphs after olivine, together with a little magnetite, apatite and perofskite. Melilite has not been ob- served in the rock, but the author thinks that it may have been present before alteration set in. In the report on the the Mine la Motte sheet of the Missouri Geo- logical Survey, Keyes and Haworth’ describe the Archean rocks found within the district as granites which pass upwards into prophyries, Some of the granites are granular, while others are porphyrtic. In composition they are normal. The porphyries are like those of the - Iron Mountain district. The acid rocks are cut by intrusions of diabase, and of quartz disabase porphyrites. In a collection of rocks from the Provinces Kansu, Schensi, Hupe and Honan, in China, Steuer” finds granites, hornblende-vogesite, melaphyre, serpentine, amphibolite, gneiss, and various schists and sediments. GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY. Lambdotherium not Related to Palzosyops or the Titan- otheres.—The little species Lambdotherium popoagicum of the Wind River beds, found contemporary with Paleosyops borealis, has been treated by Cope, Earle and others as an ancestral titahothere. A more careful examination of the numerous specimens in the American Museum shows at once that it bears much closer resemblances to the horses, especially in the chisel-shaped incisors, the atlas, the manus and A restatement of its definition and principal characters appears to be of value. 8 Amer. Jour. Sci., 1896, Vol. II, p. 290. ® Missouri Geol. Survey, Sheet Report, No. 4. p. 24. 10 Neues Jahrb. f. Min., etc., 1896, II, p. 477. 56 The American Naturalist. (January, GEN. LAMBDOTHERIUM Cope. Incisors chisel-shaped. Premolars relatively reduced, a wide diastema in front of p}. Superior molars bunoselenodont with an oblique ectoloph, including a very prominent parastyle and sharply defined mesostyle; protoloph with a sharply defined protoconule. Manus with the fourth digit reduced, functionally tridactyl with lunar widely displaced. L. popoacicus Cope.’ This species was established upon two man- dibular rami with the anterior and posterior portions fractured (Am. Mus. Cope Coll., 4863). The animal is small (pm2—m3=.069), rang- ing in size between the largest Hyracotheres and smallest species of Paleosyops (P. brownianus). Remains of twenty individuals are — now contained in the American Museum, Cope Collection. The num- ber of incisors is unknown and it is also uncertain whether there are three or four premolars. The incisors are chisel-shaped. The canines are sharply pointed. The second and third upper premolars have — single internal lobes. The form of the molars is very characteristic; they differ from the contemporary Hyrachothere molars in the obliquity of the ectoloph, the prominent parastyle and sharply defined meso- style, the protoconule is acutely triangular, while the metaconule is not defined but merged in the low metaloph ; in fact, the inner half of the crown is quite like that of the early horses. In the lower jaw P, is a laterally compressed protocone, P, has rudiments of additional cusps, P, is submolariform with its tetartocone rudimentary or absent. The lambdoidal lower molar crests give the name to the genus; the the paraconid (as in the Hyracothere) is feebly reduplicate; in M; the hypoconulid varies from a conic to a selenoid or crested form. The few skeletal characters known are very significant (See Am. Mus., Cope Coll., No. 4880). Asin the Equide the vertebrarterial canal passes through the upper side of the transversal process of the atlas. The displacement in the manus is extreme, the lunar resting on the unciform and demonstrating that although four toes existed the foot was mesaxonic ; at the same time the median digit was not greatly en- separated inferior and sustentacular facets as in the horses. Remains of the tibia, of the calcaneum and other characteristic limb bones all resemble the corresponding parts in the contemporary Equide. 1 Am. Nat., 1880, p. 748, Tert. Vert., p. 1897.] Geology and Paleontology. 57 This animal differs, however, from the contemporary horses in the prominent median cusps (mesostyle) of the superior molars, and the asymmetry of the outer wall (ectoloph) caused by the prominent par- astyle. This forbids our placing it with the true line of horses. The molars and the pes resemble those of the imperfectly known Triplopus amarorum & species whose relations to Triplopus the writer has always doubted. It appears possible that we have here another side line of perisso- dactyls, related to the horses. —Hrnry F. OSBORN. Development of the Foot in the Paleosyopinz.—The fol- lowing observations are based on the specimens contained in the col- lections of the American Museum of Natural History of New York. The Lower Eocene member of the group, Paleosyops borealis Cope, was rather slenderly built, with comparatively long toes, well sepa- rated. With the great increase in size in the Middle and Upper Eocene came a corresponding change in foot structure. Two types developed, one with short broad foot, the toe bones short, stout and widely spreading ; the other with longer and rather stilted foot, the metapodials long, but set close together. The former type is that of Palseosyops, and is correlated with a short wide head and general stout heavy build. The latter is the Telmatotherium type, and is associated with long heads and probably much more slender form. The species ean be conveniently distinguished by two characters in the astragalus, viz., the length and thickness of the neck, and the shape and relations of the sustentacular facet. In an astragalus referred to P. borealis, the neck is moderately long and not thickened at the base. The sustentacular is a rather long oval, and scarcely separated from the distal (cuboid and navicu- lar) facets. In our specimens of P. laticeps Marsh, the characters are much the same asthe above. P. paludosus Leidy, and P. ultimus’ Osborn, have a broad, short-necked astragalus, the sustentacular facet, in the former species at least, being short-oval and generally (but not always) well separated from the distal facets.’ The other (Telmato- therid) line shows a slight lengthening and considerable thickening of the neck, and a change in the shape of the sustentacular facet, either to an extremely long oval, separate from the distal facets, as seen in a specimen referred to T. hyognathum Scott & Osborn, or else a long 2 Species not yet described. 3 It is not so, cae in the Princeton specimen described by Earle in his Memoir on Paleosy -> 58 The American Naturalist. [January, triangular shape, confluent at its base with the distal facets, as seen in T. cornutum Osborn, of the lower Uinta. In the small species T. meg- arhinum Earle, the primitive type persists through to the Lower Uinta, with some lengthening of the neck of the astragalus and of the sustentacular oval. A Bridger specimen of T. cultridens is more ad- vanced, being intermediate between megarhinum and the supposed hyognathum. Diplacodon in the Upper Uinta, shows a short neck, but the facet was long elliptical, tending towards confluency ; it ap- pears more nearly allied to the persistent primitive forms than to — either extreme type, as shown in T. cornutum on the one hand and P. paludosus on the other. These characters of the foot-structure appear to be mainly dependent on the size of the animal and are, therefore, of — little taxonomic value; but there appears to be a valid distinction be- — tween the long-footed Telmatotheres and the short-footed Palseosyops, — which may serve as a further reason for separating the two genera. — It must be remembered, however, that intermediate forms were abund- — ant, and gave rise, probably, to the later Titanotheres. In all but two of the above mentioned species the foot material is — associated with skulls more or less complete. The determinations of — the latter are on the authority of Osborn and Earle, and they will be _ fully described by Prof. Osborn in a forthcoming paper, this note, by his kind permission, being published in advance.—W. D. MATTHEWS. The Western American Læœss.—In a paper read before the : Iowa Academy of Sciences Mr. B. Shimek states that his investigations concerning the deposition of the Læss of Iowa have convinced him that the theory of the lacustrine origin of the deposit and its origin in violent fluviatile floods are equally untenable. He offers instead the theory that the less is of æolian origin, and that it was deposited principally in forests amd to a lesser extent in dense growths of smaller plants, while proportionately small quantities only were carried directly into the waters and there deposited. The author adduces the following facts to show that the loss is not of aquatic origin : “ First.—The land area during the period of the formation of the loess was large as is shown by the remains of great numbers of terres- trial mollusks.” , “Second.—The occurrence of dry region mollusks, many of which species are now living TATEN Iowaand eastern Nebraska, particu- larly in wooded regions.” Sar ee nea ee OE tae EN E AAA ae E E oo Sin Sate Ih tat gtk a E MER aria, Ole gto ct Cope Prat PI 1897.] Geology and Paleontology. 59 “Third.—The deposits often occur so high above the surrounding region that it is difficult to conceive of the manner in which water laden with the fine silt could reach the place of deposition.” “ Fourth.—The siliceous and other particles which the loess contains are generally angular and often show a freshness of fractures which would scarcely appear in particles which had been rolled and washed about by the waters.” “ Fifth.—The distribution of the loess is better accounted for by the consideration of the action of the winds, and by the distribution of the forest areas.” Mr. Shimek adduces evidence demonstrating (1) that the lcess was deposited under climatic conditions essentially the same as those which prevail in the same region to-day; and (2) that the deposition was slow and continued through a period of considerable extent; and (3) that a forest lying adjacent or near to drift covered plains is especially favorable to the deposition of lcess. The differences between the loess of eastern and western Iowa are in accordance with the general topographical and climatic differences which probably existed during the loess period, as they do now. In considering the time element the author estimates the deposition to go on at the rate (minimum) of one mm. a year. If this be correct the time required for the formation of the entire deposit would not be unreasonably great. (Proceeds. Iowa.Acad. Sciences [1895], 1896.) The Extinct Birds of Chatham Island.—The Tring Museum is in possession of an immense collection of bird remains from the Chatham Islands, consisting of many thousands of bones. The collec- tion is being worked up by Mr. C. A. Andrews, and the results pub- lished in Novitates Zoologicee. From so large a mass of material Mr. Andrews was able to obtain nearly complete skeletons of several of the extinct species, and to form a tolerably accurate idea of the degree of individual variation in some of them. The first paper on the subject appears in the March number (1896) of the publication above men- tioned. It comprises a detailed description of the osteology of Diaph- orapteryx, prefaced by a brief explanation of the adoption of the gen- eric name. In closing he calls attention to its close resemblance to Aphanapteryx, and discusses Milne-Edwards’ statement that the simi- larity of the two forms is a strong evidence that the islands in which they occur, viz., Mauritius and Chatham were formerly connected with the great Antarctic Continent. The author is inclined toward Dr. 60 The American Naturalist. [January, Gadow’s explanation that the likeness of the two forms is the result of parallism in evolution. The ancestors in the two cases, generalized rails capable of flight, were probably of different genera, or, at least, of different species. ; A second paper (Sept., 1896) gives the osteology of Paleolimnas — chathamensis and Nesolimnas (gen. nov.) dieffenbachii. = The proportions of Paleolimnas, together with the considerable — size of the sternal keel and the deep impression of the insertion of the — Pectoralis major on the crest of the humerus leads the author to state T that “it seems probable that Palæolimnas may have still been capable of heavy flight for short distances.” Of Nesolimnas, the new genus, Mr. Andrews remarks as follows: “In Nesolimnas we have an annectant form linking the flying to — the flightless rails. In its plumage, in the condition of its sternum, and in many other points, it reminds us of Hyopotænidia ; while on the other hand, in the reduction of its wings and the consequent mod- ification of its hind limb it approaches Ocydromus. The existence f such an intermediate type seems to give strong support to the opinion that the Ocydromine rails have originated from forms capable of flight at a comparatively recent date and in the islands they now in- — habit.” 4 Both papers are profusely illustrated. | BOTANY.’ Climatic Influence of Lake Erie on Vegetation.—In small district in northern Ohio, including Erie County, Sandusky Bay and the peninsula that bounds it on the north, with the islands of the Put-in-Bay group, there are growing wild 103 species and varieties of ‘ phanerogams, which so far as known have not been found anywhere iN Michigan, 118 not found in Canada, and 233 not within fifty miles 0 the city of Buffalo, at the east end of the lake. Bo Lake Erie is not a barrier to the dispersal of seeds, but it affects dif ferently the climate of places on its different sides, making each differe from the others and different from that of places lying in the same lati- tude, but not near the lake. The south shore is protected from north winds, and receives the full benefit of those from the opposite direction, 1 Edited by Prof. C. E. Bessey, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska. — 1897.] Botany. 61 while it is the reverse with places on the north side; but why such a great difference in the vegetation at the east and west ends? Is it not due to something else than climate? Let us see. At Buffalo the mean temperature in summer is about four degrees lower than at Sandusky. In the spring months the difference is even greater, being five degrees in April and nearly five in May and in June. The prevailing winds are from the southwest, and traverse the lake for nearly its whole length before reaching Buffalo, keeping it cool insummer, the temperature not having exceeded 92° since the establishment of the weather bureau there twenty-six years ago. Moreover, at the opening of spring the wind takes the ice with it to the east end of the lake, where it remains so crowded as to prevent navigation three weeks or more after Sandusky Bay is clear. The average date of the last killing frost in spring at Sandusky is April 30th, at Buffalo, May 20th. Moreover, Buffalo is not, like Sandusky, so situated as to be protected from cold northwest winds in autumn. Its first killing frost comes on an average September 15th; but at Sandusky it is not until October 24th—thirty-nine days later. The summer at Buffalo, counting the time between the average dates of killing frost, is about two months shorter than at Sandusky— 118 days at Buffalo, 177 at Sandusky. The fact that a number of plants belonging to the Sandusky flora have been found nowhere in Canada, except on the southernmost points, viz., Pt. Peleé Island and Pt. Peleé, which must enjoy nearly as much im- munity from frost in spring and autumn as the United States shore immediately to the south of them, implies that the climate elsewhere is too severe for them, and probably for most of the 118 Sandusky plant that are not known to grow in Canada at all. The influence of the cli- mate is further shown by the fact that besides 103 species which have not been found in Michigan at all the Sandusky flora includes a number that have been found only in the southern and especially the south- western part, where Lake Michigan affords them some protection from ost. It is interesting to observe that the protection from frost afforded by Lake Erie scarcely extends beyond the counties that border upon it, and as a result we have many plants in these that have not been re- ported from any other county north of the middle of the State, and quite a number that have been found nowhere else in Ohio except in the southern part, within forty miles of the Ohio River. Even so far south as Columbus the first killing frost in autumn occurs on an average six days earlier than at Sandusky. 62 The American Naturalist. [January, When Lake Erie subsided after the melting of the glacier, and Mar- blehead emerged from the water, it was left bald, so to speak, for what- ever deposit the glacier may have left upon it was washed off from most of it by the lake. The same was true of portions of Kelley’s Island and Put-in-Bay, and here, where one would expect to find a moist climate, the scant soil formed by disintegration of the limestone becomes more parched under the summer sun than any spot in Ohio farther — east. I doubtif another place could be found in the country as far east where there are so many plants that belong to the western plains ason Marblehead. 4 Having shown that the conditions of climate and soil near the south- western extremity of Lake Erie are peculiarly suited to southern and — western plants, it remains to indicate briefly how the seed succeeded in getting so many miles away from home, though the problem is no more difficult than accounting for the dispersal of any rare plant that is found only at widely separated stations. The seeds of the Composite, which ` are the best represented of all, might many of them have come on the wings of the wind, and so with Asclepias and others. The seeds Ammania coccinea and Rotala ramosior may have stuck to the feet of a eS by cattle, which, before the time of railroads, were driven from Illinois | east by way of Marblehead and Cedar Point, being made to swim across the channel that connects Sandusky Bay with the lake. At an earlier day, when the bison roamed as far east as Lake Erie, seeds of various kinds must have clung to its hair. Others, probably came with the- Indians, who seem to have been attracted by the good fishing in this region. Few, if any, are such as have fruit whose seeds are dropped by birds. Fruit-eating birds in migrating would carry northward only those whose fruit survives the winter. Following is a list of plants which, on the south shore of Lake Erie, 1 believe occur farther north than anywhere else in this part of the coun- try. Some of them in the west, where the summer isotherms bend to the north, extend to southern Minnesota. As a number of these arè both southern and western in distribution, I include in the same some that appear to reach their eastern limit near Sandusky. Onl a few of either the southern or western species extend east along the lake as far as Cleveland. Quite a number, I believe, have not hitherto been recorded as occurring as far north by one hundred and fifty miles, or so far east by a still greater distance. 1897.] Botany. 63 Viola pedatifida, Desmodium sessilifolium, D. illinoense, Baptisia leucantha, Psoralea melilotoides, Petalostemon candidus, P. violaceus, Ammania coccinea, Rotala ramosior, Spiræa lobata, Eryngium yuccefo- lium, Thaspium aureum trifoliatum, T. bardinode angustifolium, Acti- nella acaulis glabra, Aster shortii, Boltonia asteroides, Eclepta alba, Helianthus grosseserratus, H. hirsutus, H. mollis, H. occidentalis, Eupa- torium altissimum, Kuhnia eupatorioides, Liatris squarrosa, Solidago rupestris, Asclepias sullivantii, Phacelia purshii, Cuscuta decora, Cono- bia multifida, Gerardia auriculata, Seymeria macrophylla, Lippia lan- ceolata, Euphorbia dentata, Populus heterophylla, Smilax bona-noz, §. ecirrhata, Juncus scirpoides, Carex conjuncta, C. shortiana, Poa brevi- folia, Equisetum levigatum.—E. L. MosELEY, Sandusky, Ohio. The Systematic Arrangement of the Protophyta.—[In a re- -cent study of the families and genera of the Protophyta I have reached some results which involve a rearrangement of the group, the general outlines only of which may be given here. It is, of course, here as else- where, a matter of individual judgment as to the value to be assigned to any structure in determining the place which a particular plant must occupy in a system, and it is doubly difficult when we are dealing with such minute and simple structures as the protophytes. Moreover, it is -quite probable that some of the forms now thought to be distinct are ônly stages of others also given specific or generic standing. Neverthe- less, we have here a great mass of organisms with sufficient autonomy to demand classification at our hands, and we may not excuse ourselves -from this task merely because we do not know fully the life history of -every species, The following provisional arrangement has therefore been made as a result of a careful study of the whole problem. As will be observed, I have not considered the hysterophytic habit of some of the forms as entitling them to be separated widely from those to which they are struc- turally similar. In other words, the “ Bacteria” are here not regarded as constituting a distinct family. Furthermore, it appears that “ Bac- teria” have arisen at various points in the protophyte system, so that it is now impossible to maintain a compact group of the hysterophytic genera. Indeed, it is highly probable that we should admit into some genera both holophytic (green) and hysterophytic (colorless) species, as, for example, the species of Schizothrix. In the arrangement below, the hysterophytes are preceded by a star -(*),80 that the position of the “ Bacteria” may be noticed at a glance. 64 The American Naturalist. [January, ORDER I.—CysTIPHOR&. Plants one-celled or associated in loose groups in a gelatinous matrix. Family 1.—Chroococcacee.—Our genera may be disposed as follows: A. Cells globose, dividing irregularly in three planes, Chroococcus, Glceocapsa, Aphanocapsa, Microcystis, Polycystis, Anacystis, Gom- — phospheeria, Cœlophærium, Clathrocystis. B. Cells globose, dividing ragulariy.i in two or three planes. Merismo- pedia, *Sarcina. C. Cells cylindrical, dividingin one plane only. Synechococcus, Glæo- theca, Aphanotheca. ORDER II.—NEMATOGENEÆ. . Plants several- to many-celled by division mainly in one plane, form- ing simple or branched filaments ; cell-walls often thickish, and sepa- — rating an outer continuous layer as a sheath, which encloses the row — of cells. Five families may be distinguished as follows: A. Cells in each filament alike ; no heterocysts. Filaments cylindric motile, Oscillariacee. B. Cells differentiated ; heterocysts present. a. Division of cells in one plane only. 1. Filaments moniliform, unbranched, Nostocaceé. 2. Filaments cylindrical, sometimes spuriously branched, | Scyton 3. Filaments tapering, sometimes spuriously branched, Rivulariacee. b. Division of cells ultimately in three planes. Filaments with true branches, Sirosiphoniacee. The relationship of these families to each other may be indicated by the following diagram : Sirosiphoniacee Rivulariacee Scytonemacece Nostocacece Oscillariacee l Chroococcaceee 1897.] Botany. 65 The arrangement of our genera within the families may be as follows: Family 2.— Oscillariacee. A. Cells green or greenish; usually two or more filaments in each sheath; Schizothrix, Porphyrosiphon, Hydrocoleum, Dasyglea, Microcoleus. B. Cells green or greenish ; filaments solitary in the sheaths, or sheath- less; Plectonema, Symploca, Lyngbya, Phormidium, Oscillaria, Arthrospira, Spirulina. . Cells colorless; filaments without sheaths, or nearly so; *Lepto- trichia, *Beggiatoa, *Bacillus, *Pasteurella, *Clostridium, *Cor- nilia, *Vibrio, *Spirillum, *Pacinia, *Bacterium. This series is parallel to B, and perhaps may eventually be merged into it. Cer- tainly Spirulina and Spirillum are closely related, if, indeed, they are not identical. Q Family 3.— Nostocacee.—Nostoc, * Leuconostoc, *Staphylococeus, *Mi- crococcus, Wollea, Anabzena, *Streptococcus, Aphanizomenon, No- dularia, Cylindrospermum. Family 4.—Scytonemacee.—Microcheete, Scytonema, Hassellia, Toly- pothrix, Desmonema. Family 5.—Rivulariacee.—Calothrix, Dichothrix, Polythrix, Isactis, Rivularia, Gleotrichia, Brachytrichia. Q foe i LT 1 ~ 1 i i Family 6. , Stigonema, It will be observed that the “ Bacteria” are confined to the first, second and third families, by far the greater number occurring in the Oscillariacee. The “Slime Moulds” (Mycetozoa) are not here regarded as proto- phytes. These interesting and often very beautiful organisms I am reluctantly compelled to consider as falling outside of the dominion of Botany; and much as I dislike to do so, I am assured that we must surrender their study in the future to our zoological friends —CHARLES E. Bessey. 66 The American Naturalist. [ January, ZOOLOGY. The Relation of Nuclei and Cyptoplasm in the Intestinal Cells of Land Isopods.'—Somewhat more than two years ago the late Professor Ryder and Miss Pennington (Anat. Anzeiger, Bd. IX, Nr. 24 & 25) announced the discovery of the fact that nuclei in the adjacent cells of the intestinal epithelium of Porcellio may become amoeboid, wander toward each other, and in some cases fuse together. This surprising fact the authors mentioned interpreted as a non-sexual form of conjugation; and, while recognizing its unique character, did not doubt that it was a normal phenomenon, even suggesting that it might have some relation to sexual conjugation. : Owing, however, to the entire novelty of these observations and inter- pretations the paper was received by many persons with considerable reserve. One author, W. Schimkewitsch (C. R. Soc. Natural., St. Pe- — tersbourg, 1895, I, and Biolog. Centralblatt, Bd. XVI, Nr. 5), while — confirming the observation, denied that the nuclear fusion was a normal — phenomenon. He interpreted it not as a form of nuclear conjugation } but simply as as an artifact. : In the course of a study of amitosis, upon which I was engaged, it occurred to me that the phenomenon is question might be an irregular form of direct nuclear division ; and with the approval of Dr. Mary — Pennington, the junior author of the paper first mentioned, I undertook — a review of that work. i My observations began with Porcellio, and were then extended to ‘ Oniscus and Armadillidium. On the whole the results of this review — confirm the conclusions of Schimkewitsch. The phenomenon, which — may be readily observed, is in most cases neither a form of nuclear con- — jugation nor division, but simply an artifact. I was first impr i with the fact, as was also Schimkewitsch, that in the most carefully pre served preparations relatively few of these so-called “ conjugating nuclei” were found; on the other hand, in cases where the intestine was cut open before fixation, or was in other ways roughly handled, many of them occurred. The shape and structure of these nuclei is such as to suggest the idea that they have been squeezed out of shape by some sort of pressure. They are most frequently long and pointed, with the chromatic substance condensed at one end, and with an empty nuclear membrane at other, Figs. 1,2 and 3. In some cases these nuclear processes are ‘Contributions from the Zoological Laboratory of University of Pennsylvania, No. VI. : . 1897.] Zoology. 67 forked or branched, in others they are uniaxial. In adjacent cells the axes of nuclear elongation are frequently parallel; sometimes they radiate more or less regularly from a common area. The chromatic substance within these elongated nuclei is usually drawn out into rods or threads, which are parallel with the axis of elongation, Fig. 3. They frequently extend through several cells, and in a few cases were ob- served to protrude through the coelomic parietes of the cells. They show no marked tendency to fuse with each other, their long processes frequently passing through two or three cells without fusing with the nuclei of those cells. They are no more abundant in animals, which have been starved four weeks, and in which the alimentary canal has been for a long time entirely empty, than in animals which are well fed. In many cells the nuclei are broken up into several fragments, Fig. 2, each of which, though possessing no part of the original nuclear membrane, is yet sharply marked off from the cytoplasm. In all such cases the nucleus shows its characteristic staining reactions ; in fact, the nuclear substance, though flowing through the cytoplasm, does not mingle with it. In general the nucleus and cytoplasm behave like two fluids, which are not miscible, e. g., oil and water. In some cases, how- ever, which will be described a little later, the substances of the nucleus and the cytoplasm appear to mingle at a definite point in the cell, and this under what seems to be normal physiological conditions. The view that these distorted nuclei are squeezed from one cell to another is still further supported by the fact that the coelomic, and especially the luminal walls of these intestinal cells, are strong and thick, while sections show that in most regions the parietal walls are so thin that they cannot be distinguished; the nuclei might therefore easily pass through these parietal walls. The apparently well-marked cell boundaries which one observes in surface views of the intestine are really the superficial muscle fibres which run in the furrows between successive rows of cells. I was at first inclined to attribute the source of the presumable pres- sure by which these bizarre forms of nuclei were produced to the con- traction of these circular and longitudinal muscle fibres which, especially in the posterior portion of the alimentary canal, lie with great regu- larity between the successive circular and longitudinal rows of cells. The fact, however, that these abnormal nuclei may occur singly or in very narrowly circumscribed areas, and do not usually follow the lines of a single muscle fibre, whereas the fibres most probably contract as a whole, Jed to the abandonment in the main. of this view. 68 The American Naturalist. (January, A study of sections of the intestine show that almost every cell, and — : especially those in the anterior region of the alimentary canal, is trav- : ersed by bundles of very strong fibres, which run from the luminal to the coelomic side of the cell, and inclose the nucleus as in a bard i cage, Fig. 4. These fibres when cut across curl slightly at the ends, — showing that they are elastic; and it is possible that they may, under certain circumstances, contract, thus forcing the nucleus out through 4 the bars. The presence of these fibres certainly explains the re and branched, or even broken appearance, which the nuclei ohne present. : Experiment, however, demonstrates the fact that the principal, if not the only cause of these distorted nuclear forms, is merely the mecha : ical pressure incident to the ordinary methods of removing the intestine — 7 from the body. I find that by pulling off the head segment and then l carefully separating the tail segment from the next anterior one the intestine can be slipped out of the body, generally without injury, $ simply a by pulling on the tail segment. I have prepared many such specimens n which do not show a single distorted nuclear form. If now an intestine — so removed be gently pressed in several spots with a blunted pencil, the distorted nuclei are found, after staining and mounting, to be locate immediately around these spots. If the entire alimentary tract ? gently pressed with a spatula, every nucleus may be caused to take t form, I believe, therefore, that these distorted nuclei are largely. not entirely, the result of mechanical pressure produced by contact with foreign objects. Whether cells which have undergone such pre sure may afterwards restore their nuclei to a normal condition, oF gain them, if altogether lost, is a question which I am now investigating: In some cases in which the intestine was removed with the mot pains-taking care a few cells were found in which a normal looking nucleus extending into two cells, Fig. 8. Some of these cases, I convinced, are amitotic divisions of the nucleus; e. g. figures 7 an show cells which are indented on the ccelomic side and in which t nuclei are dumb-bell shaped. That this is nota case of “ conjugation is evidenced not only by the shape of the cells but also by their size!" they are scarcely any larger than single neighboring cells. other hand there are many cases in which nuclear forms which mig be mistaken for amitotic division figures are plainly proclaimed to squeezed nuclei by the absence of a nuclear membrane from one €P Fig. 3 3 There remains to be described the remarkable structure of some which, I believe, are entirely normal. In the anterior region 1897] Zoology. 69 alimentary canal the luminal side of each cell is covered by a very thick coat of chitin. Through this chitin run a great many minute channels which unite to form larger channels and ultimately open into the cell. The space into which they open is filled with a homogeneous, non-granular substance which stains an intense black in iron hæma- toxylin. This substance is limited to the space lying between the nucleus on the one side and the chitinous wall on the other and it evi- dently fills the channels which penetrate this wall. Its appearance is very different from ordinary cytoplasm and I believe it is a form of secretion which is being elaborated by the cell to be poured through the channels mentioned into the alimentary canal. The proximity of the nucleus to this substance, as well as the aggregation of the chroma- tin on the side of the nucleus next to it, suggests that the nucleus must play an important role in its formation; the nuclear membrane, how- ever, is intact on all sides. In that portion of the intestinal wall on the ventral side immediately posterior to the well developed typhlosole the nuclear membrane is in all cases excessively thin on the side of the cell next the lumen, and it is usually drawn out into finely pointed processes which become con- tinuous with the cyto-reticulum. In several cases which I have ob- served the nuclear membrane is altogether wanting on this side of the nucleus, and in such cases it can be readily seen that the cyto-reticulum is continued into the nucleus, while the chromatin granules, which are densest toward the middle of the nucleus, become directly continuous with the large microsomes of the cytoplasmic net. This transition of chromatin granules into microsomes is most beautifully shown when a differential stain such as the Biondi-Heidenhain mixture is used. such cases the chromatin granules within the nucleus are green, the microsomes are red, and between these the granules shade from one into the other through various tints of blue and lilac. It is of course pos- sible that in this case the nuclear membrane may be ruptured owing to pressure. Against this view, however, may be urged the fact that the disappearance of the membrane always occurs at one point, viz. on the side next the lumen and furthermore there is no evidence of rupture, the structures of the cytoplasm being continued without interruption into those of the nucleus. I hold, therefore, that these cells normally show a direct continuity between cytoplasmic and nuclear structures, though I cannot at present explain the functional significance of this fact. Finally in the cells of the dorsal wall posterior to the typhlosole the nucleus is deeply indented in certain cases on the side next the lumen, 70 The American. Naturalist. [January, the chromatin is massed on the opposite side and the nucleus is very large and vesicular containing many irregular dark-staining masses or nucleoli, which are frequently vacuolated. On the luminal side the nuclear membrane becomes so thin that it is impossible to say whether — it is continuous or not. Between the nucleus and lumen the cytoplasm is unusually dense and immediately outside of the nucleus it is massed into a dense darkly-staining substance, which projects by one or many processes into the cavity of the nucleus. These processes frequently contain vacuoles and in structure and staining qualities they exactly resemble the nucleoli. Frequently these processes are deeply con- stricted at the base as if they were about to be cut off and set free into the nuclear cavity, as indeed I believe to be the case. a The general similarity of this process to the reception of food material by the egg of Dytiscus as observed by Korschelt is at once apparent, — In this case, as in that, there is little doubt that the granular material is a nutritive substance, which, in the case of the Isopods, is taken up — from the alimentary canal and sent up in a broad band to the nucleus, where it aggregates immediately outside the nuclear wall. Unlike the — cases observed by Korschelt; however, this substance projects into the vesicular nucleus in the form of processes which appear to be cut off and set free within the nucleus. There are many reasons for believing — that this substance projects into the nucleus rather than that the nu- — cleus sends out pseudopodial processes into it. The nuclear wall is ab this place so extremely thin as to be absolutely invisible in many places, and the nucleus itself is of such an open and vesicular character that it seems scarcely possible that it should actively send out processes into this densely granular mass. Moreover the evidence that these processes _ are set free into the nuclear cavity seems to me very good, though, pe _ haps, not absolutely convincing. I shall leave the consideration of thé functional significance of this phenomenon to a future paper. DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES. Fig. 1. A small portion of the intestinal wall of Porcellio which had been gently pressed upon with a spatula. The entire intestine W similar to the bit here shown. Fixation, Corrosive-Acetic ; stain, Br ondi-Heidenhain ; Obj. 8mm.; Occ. 4 (all the figures were sketch with a camera lucida under Zeiss Apochromatic lenses). a Fig. 2. Longitudinal section through dorsal wall posterior to typhlo sole showing distorted nuclei. The contiguous cell boundaries atè marked only by the circular muscle fibres which are seen in cross-sec" tion. Fixation, picro-formalin; stain, Biondi-Heidenhain; Obj. Š mm.; Oce. 4. a PLATE ILI. Conklin on Isopoda, PLATE HI. aR eo on y KG, eA Mia {sige Conklin on Isopoda. PLATE IV. ey a Ren S t3 = Seu eae: ~~ Conklin on Isopoda. 1897.] Zoology. 71 Fig. 3. Cell from ventral wall near anus showing nuclear substance which has been forced from right to left in the sedan Fixation, Hermann’s fluid; stain, iron haematoxylin ; Obj. 3 mm.; Occ. 12. Fig. 4. Section of elongated cell at dorsal margin of typhlasdlė show- ing fibres which traverse the cell. No lateral cell walls visible. The chitinous lining of alimentary canal is shown in double contour. Fix- ation, Flemming’s fluid ; stain, iron haematoxylin ; Obj. 3 mm.; Occ. 12 Fig. 5. Cell from region of typhlosole, dorsal side, showing the very thick chitinous wall (unshaded) which is perforated by many minute canals. Nucleus slightly distorted. Feu Hermann’s fluid ; piain iron haematoxylin; Obj. 3 mm. ; Occ. 1 Fig. 6. Cell from ventral side pokorio : typhlosole showing Satan ity of nuclear and cytoplasmic structures. The cyto-reticulum is very strongly marked on the side of the cell next the lumen. Fixation, Hermann’s fluid; stain, iron haematoxylin; Obj. 3 mm.; Oce. 12. Fig. 7. Cell from dorsal wall posterior to typhlosole showing an in- dentation on the coelomic side which is probably the beginning of cell division ; the circular muscles are shown in cross section. A densely granular process of nutritive substance projects into the nucleus on its luminal side. Fixation, corrosive sublimate; stain, Biondi-Heiden- hain; Obj. 3 mm.; Oce. 12. Fig. 8. Cell =e same region as preceeding figure, showing later stage of amitosis. Fixation, stain and magnification same as Fig. 7. Fig. 9. Cell from same region as Figs. 7 and 8. Nutritive substance projects by many processes into nucleus, some of which contain vacu- oles and are apparently being set free into nucleus to form nucleoli. Fixation, stain and magnification same as preceeding figure. E. G. Conxiiy, University of Pennsylvania, Myriapoda Climbing Vertical Glass Surfaces.—Dr. C. Ver- hoeff has been making experiments upon the climbing powers of Polyz- enus and of juloid diplopods. His results show that unless the surface is such or is covered with some substance that gives a purchase to their claws the diplopods have not the power of climbing in the true sense of the word. They are only able to reach up the sides of a glass dish by using the last few segments of their body as a base of support. On the other hand the Polyxenids can climb. This fact, it may be noted, is patent to every one who has collected and kept them alive in a vial. They are invariably found in the neighborhood of the cork, ready to escape as each new one is putin. And it may be added that the pauro- pods can climb, though ‘scarcely as well as Polyxenus. But what they 72 The American Naturalist. [January, lack in the power to climb clean, dry glass surfaces may, perhaps, be accounted for by the fact that these little fellows, dependent as they are upon respiration through a delicate cuticle, quickly succumb to dry- ness. I have watched individuals of both Pawropus and Europauro- pus as they ran up the sides of a vial or of a crystallizing dish, going easily where the surface was covered by fine particles of earth or hu- mrus, and falling off where the surface seemed clean.—F. C. KENYON. Lepidosiren articulata Not Distinct from L. paradoxa.?— Prof. E. Ray Lankester has lately made a study of the limbs of the various specimens of Lepidosiren conserved in the various European museums, and finds that in every case examined the skeleton of the limbs is hot a continuous cartilaginous rod, but is composed of a series of articulated cartilages. This removes the difference that Ehlers sup- posed to exist between his specimens from Paraguay and those from the Amazon basin, and caused him to create the species L. articulata. To further show that the specimens from the two river systems are in all probability of the same species L. paradoxa, Prof. Lankester compared the specimens in head-length units, with the following result, which shows differences of no specific importance. Brazilian, average: total length, 9.87; inter-membral, 5.25: post- membral, 3.5; cervico-dorsal, 3.21. Paraguayan, average: total length, 9.75; inter-membral, 5.21; post-membral, 3.59; cervico-dorsal, 3.2.—F. C. KENYON. The Regeneration of the Lens in the Eye of Triton.— Some two years ago we were astounded by the contents of a brief com- munication by Gustav Wolff in the Biologischen Centralblatte® bear- ing the title, “ Remarks on Darwinism, with an experimental contri- bution to the Physiology of Development.” In this the author brought forth the results of an experiment that flatly contradict one of the chief tenets of Weismann, inasmuch as he showed that the destruction of an organ formed from the ectodermic layer is followed by a regen- eration of the structure from a layer of cells of mesodermal origin. In other words, the lens of the eye of Triton teniatus, when destroyed, is reproduced by a lens that develops from the iris! Later on, Wolff published his final paper with illustrations. But the work was in great need of confirmation, This has been done by Erick Miiller, who seems to have begun his task with as much skepticism as might be expected. 2 Trans. Zool. Soc., XIV., 11-24. ? Bd., XIV (1894), No. 17. * Arch. f. Entwicklungsmechanik d. Organismen, I, 1895. 5 Arch. f. mikr. Anat , xlvii (1896), 23-34. 1897,] Zoology. 73 The larvee chosen varied from 3-6 em in length. Each was held in a damp cloth to avoid injury, the cornea carefully slit with a scalpel and the lens removed without injuring the iris. Within one day changes were noted in the layer of cells composing the latter. The inner layer began to take on the appearance of embryonic cells. The cells began to loose their pigment, which was taken up and carried off by the leucocytes that began to fill the pupillar space. Then they began to Vy prow: Fig. 1. I0 days after the destruction of the lens; showing the new lens, 4 n. iglecidenitag from the iris. Fig. 2, 18, days after the operatio increase in size and by the tenth day a small group of them, recogniza- ble as a small swelling in the accompanying figure, copied in outline from the author’s figure, had been pushed into the pupillar space. From this time on, the group of cells underwent all the changes recog- nizable in the normally developing lens. The posterior layer became much thicker than the anterior; its cells became more or less colum- nar and finally arranged themselves in concentric layers covered as a whole by the outer one-celled layer. By the fortieth day after the op- eration, the inner cells forming the inner three-fifths of the lens had lost their nuclei and become transparent. By the sixtieth day the re- generated lens had every appearance of a normal one. The changes were followed through from day to day and, as shown _ by the fifteen figures given by the author, seem conclusive.—F, C. Kenyon. The English Sparrow not Always a Nuisance.—It is grati- fying to run across direct evidence that that feathered nuisance of our large cities, the English sparrow, does a little real good, after all that may be said against him. According to a late communication by S. D. Judd in the Auk, this sparrow has a fondness for the seeds of the common dandelion. Of all the seed-heads of this plant collected from aspace of ground six feet in diameter, one hundred and thirty-five showed traces of the bird’s beak. The same author says that he has seen an English sparrow chase through the air, catch and devour a cicada. Catching insects that fly in a direct line does not seem to be a very difficult matter, but others able, like the dragon fly and flies generally, to dodge, as well as 74 The American Naturalist. [January, others of a naturally uncertain course, nearly if not always elude the bird’s bill. He also reports that the sparrow is very fond of picking up the in- sects injured or killed by the electric lights.—F. C. K. The Origin of the Chiropterygium.—lIt has been said that the- limb of the higher Vertebrates—Man, Reptile, Batrachian—does not exhibit the rayed structure of fishes. To explain this condition M. Mollier offers four possible solutions. 1. A single ray may have persisted and present segmentation is a. secondary formation, all the other rays having degenerated. 2. Two rays only may have been preserved. Traces of these two rays. would then be found in the forearm. The five fingers would be a secondary division, while a fusion of two rays would take place in the region of the humerus. 3. Five primitive segments might be represented, indicated both by the number of nerves together with the muscular buds, and by the number of the fingers. 4, The number of rays might be indefinite; they united to form a single mass, which ulteriorly underwent a secondary segmentation. To the first hypothesis is opposed the fact that concentration is every- where the rule, while this supposition would necessitate that the primi- tive outline, which had started from at least two segments, must en- large. As to the second hypothesis, embryology shows that the two bones of the fore arm develop from a single mass. The third hypothesis rests on several concurrent conditions. But we find, according to M. Mollier, that the number five is not constant. Among the Batrachians, there are only three. The only plausible theory then, is the fourth which agrees with all the facts of embryology which Mollier therefor accepts. (Revue Scientif. Sept., 1895, p. 340.) A New White-footed Mouse from British Columbia.— During a collection trip in the northwest, Mr. Will C. Colt made sev- eral excursions to Saturna Island (in the Gulf of Georgia half-way between Victoria and Vancouver City), British Columbia, and secured there over two hundred white-footed mice. This enormous series, now in the Bangs collection, taken in January, February, March, April and May, 1894, represents a strongly marked and hitherto undescribed subspecies of Peromyscus texanus. The same form is probably found on all the islands and coasts of this vicinity, and agrees in its dark coloration with the whole fauna of this saturated region. 1897.] Zoology. 75 Through the kindness of Dr. ©. Hart Merriam, I have been able to compare the Saturna Island series with a series of P. tavranus gambellii, ` belonging to the collection of the Department of Agriculture, from the type locality, Monterey, California. . I have also made comparison with a large amount of material from Nicasio, California. Specimens from the latter place agree very closely with specimens from Monterey. The Saturna Island form is the darkest colored member of the texanus group, and is readily distinguished from either of its two nearest allies, P. texanus gambellii and P. texanus arcticus, by the peculiar sooty black of its upper parts. The new form may stand as: PEROMYSCUS TEXANUS SATURATUS subsp. nov. Type from Saturna Island, B. C., No. 2581 Sold adult, coll. of E. A. and O. Bangs. Col- lected by Will C. Colt, January 31, 1894. Total length 190; tail ver- tebræ 94.5. General Characters —Size and proportion about as in P. taxanus gambelli, from which form it differs in being very much darker in color ; the general tone of the upper parts sooty-black instead of yellowish- brown. : Color. —Upper parts sepia-brown, much intermixed with sooty-black, most intense on face and middle of back, paling off on sides ; a narrow and indistinct band of cinnamon along lower sides ; under parts grayish- white, the hairs deep plubeons basially; a black orbital ring; ears black, narrowly-edged with white; tail quite hairy, sharply bicolored, black above, white below; feet and hands white. Size—Average measurements of ten old adult specimens: total length 180.95; tail vertebre 76.20; hind foot (from dried skin) 21.25. Remarks.—P. texanus saturatus has a short tail, shorter than the head and body, and this character will always serve to distinguish it from any of the long-tailed mice with which it might be found, such as P. austerus, P. macrorhinus and P. keenii, all these having the tail longer than the head and body.—Ourram Banos. Some Bats from Lower California.—A small collection of mammals made by Mr. A. W. Anthony at San Fernando, Lower Cal- ifornia, during April, May and June, 1894, includes four species of bats. All of these are interesting, on account of the locality at which they were taken, while one, an addition to the ‘North American’ fauna, is very slightly known. In a paper on the birds of San Fernando (Auk, XII, April, 1895, p. 134) Mr. Anthony has given a detailed account of his collecting ground. “The region,” he writes, ““* * * has for its center the old 76 The American Naturalist. [January, abandoned copper mines of San Fernando, one league south of the ex- mission of the same name which is situated about twenty-five miles from the Pacific coast of the peninsula in about latitude 29° 30’. It has an approximate altitude of fifteen hundred feet above sea level, and is the center of one of the most barren of the Lower California deserts.” Such a locality could not be expected to furnish a very ex- tensive bat fauna. Hence the collector’s notes on the habits of the animals under conditions apparently so unfavorable are of such value that they may be quoted entire for each species. CH#RONYCTERIS MEXICANA (Tschudi).—Mr. Anthony secured ten specimens of this species in the shafts of the abandoned mines. Southern Mexico has hitherto been the northern limit of the known range of this bat, which now finds a place in the fauna of ‘ North America.’ The ten specimens, all but two of which are adults, measure as follows: Number, | | Sex, Slee ae ba Total length Tt \@ 118 T5 i 86 65 1? 75 nf Tail v bree 98/8 9.6 9 6 7:6| 8.6 8.4 Free of tail, 8/ 1.8) 1.4 -2 0.8) 1 4 2 L. of interfemoral membrane from base of tail,.. 18 |16 1 16 |12 |15 (16.4116 |145 Occiput to tip of nose,... 2 132.4 | 3% 82 |26 |28.6/32 |30 |32 TODS Wel: balghti gariey-pin aA 5.4 : 5.4| 3.8 4.2| 4 Nose leaf: width, .8| 4.6) 4.4 4.4 3.4| 3. 8/4 |4 from meatus, 2 14.8 14.4|14 |14 |1 16 |15 -4/10 110 | 8 | 9.2110 {10 110 5 | 5 5 | 6.2 4 oA} 2 26| 2.8 6143 J44 |38 4 4 40 )\43 8.8 |10 8] 8 110 37.4 |28 l-4186 197.6 35.6 |41 |29 40 |41 16.5 |17.4|12.6 16.4 |17 21.6 |21.4 |15 20.6 20 11.4 |11 | 8.4/10.4 12 {11.8 87.6 (39 |27 t l. 187 186 10.6 12 9.4 -6 11.8 11.4 13.9 14.6 11 t > |14 jl4 36.8 137 |28 t > 186 4 9.6 10.4! 8.8 |10 ) | 9.4)10 12.7 |13 110 2 2 113 {12.4 “ This bat I never saw flying about in the evening. One came into my cabin one night about 9.30, but with this exception, I never saw one outside of the shafts and tunnels of the mines. Here they were fairly common and usually found near the mouth of the opening—fre- quently where the sun could reach them at some hour of the day. When disturbed during the day, they usually took to the open air, and either sought shelter in one of the old buildings about the shaft, or flew into one of the abandoned shafts near by. They showed a marked preference for the light, but if pursued took to the lower levels 1897] Zoology. 77 and for a number of days did not venture from that Stygian darkness that Vespertilio seemed to prefer. In flight they were quick and strong—more so than any other bat I have met with. I think they seemed to see well even in bright sunlight, and were by no means easy to secure after being driven from the mine. “In fresh specimens the tongue is very similar to that of Dryobates, being extensible for at least an inch and a half and also barbed, though of course the barbs are soft.” ANTROZOUS PALLIDUs (Le Conte).—Five specimens. “The large, pale bat I only took in the cabin. They frequently came in through the open door and were secured with a shingle.” VESPERTILIO NITIDUS H. Allen, Threespecimens. As Mr. Anthony did not distinguish between the species of Vespertilio and Vesperugo in his collection it is probable that his notes refer in greater part to the latter. “ Vespertilio is the only bat I saw during the evening. They usu- ally came out early, but owing to their habit of flying through the brush very low (3-6 ft. above the ground) they were hard to shoot. During June I found them catching insects about the tops of the cardones and shot several. One was found under a plank where it had crawled to spend the day. They were common in the mine, seeking the deeper levels where it was very dark, in marked contrast to the leaf-nose Ch ycteris| the only other species found under ground.” VESPERUGO HESPERUS H. Allen. Sevenspecimens which the collector did not distinguish from Vespertilio nitidus—Gerrit S. MILLER, JR. i Deaths from Wild Mammals and Snakes in India.—From the annual report for 1895 of the government of Madras’ one learns that 1923 persons were killed by wild mammals and snakes, and that of these, 277 cases are attributed to wild mammals and the rest, 1646, to snakes. It is possible that the deaths reported’ from snake bites may be due to poisoning from other sources. The deaths caused by wild mammals are shown to be: 4 from elephants. 177 from tigers. — 64 from panthers or leopards. 12 from bears. 10 from wolves. “In his notes Mr. Anthony does not distingush between Vespertilio nitidus and Vesperugo hesperus. 7 The Zoologist, September, 1896. 78 The American Naturalist. [January, 2 from hyenas. 8 from other mammals. Of these deaths, 85 occurred in the district of Ganjam and 73 in Visagapatam. In Ganjam much of the destruction was due to a man- eating tiger. The largest number of deaths from snake bites occurred in Chingle- put, North Arcot, South Arcot, Tanjore, Trichinopoly and Salem, from which districts 58 per cent of the total number were reported.—F. C. K. The Number of Living Animal Species.—For the benefit of the curious, as well as the zoological student, the following table giving the census of the animal kingdom as known in the years 1830, 1881 and 1896 is inserted. The first two columns are taken from a note by A. Günther, in Annals‘and Magazine of Natural History,’ and the last from a note in The Zoologist.? The last was compiled in February (1896) by the contributors to The Zoological Record. 1830 1881 | 1896 Mammalia, ù ‘ . $ { j 1,200 2,300 2,500 arm, r ; r 5 $ ; : 3,600 11,000 12,500 ‘eptilia, . : ; j í s i 443 2,600 Maieiehiane, oi gutiuce OPADU 4 100 300 |} 4400 Fishes, k ‘ í ‘ : |. 3,500 11,000 12,000 Tunicata, a Mollusca, . 11,000 33,000 50,000 Brachiapoda, $ 5 150 Bryozoa, à ` ; : 1,800 i r r . 1840 wits 7,500 20,000 \rachnida, i : : : 1 8,000 L enogonida, . ‘ 70 10,000 Myriapo ® 450 1,300 Protracheata, : ; ; z 4 : : pot 3,000 Hexapoda, ; i á ė ? : 49,100 | 220,150 230,000 Vermes, $ ‘ : 412 6,090 6,150 Echinodermata, ‘ ; 230 1,843 3,000 lentera ° 1834 500 2,200 2,000 ngiæ, . 1835 50 400 | 1,500 Protozoa, . 305 3,800 6,100 71,588 | 311,558 | 366,000 It may be noted that among the mollusca, the tunicates, brachiopods and bryozoa were probably included in the 11,000 and 33,000 of the first 8 XVII, 180. ° Aug., 1896. PLATE V. The Terceira Dog. 1597.] Zoology. 79 ‘two dates. The dates 1840, 1834, 1835, are the earliest at which the ‘enumeration of the groups opposite them was made. Of course the sum 366,000 will not be recognized as complete by the student of fatinistics, who will claim that many valid species have been described that are not mentioned in the Zoological Record, and if we take estimates into consideration, it may be noted that the late Dr. C. V. Riley estimated that 10,000,000 would not be too great a number to represent the probably existing species of insects alone. If this be a fair estimate for the one group, insects, then, since they seem to represent about two-thirds of the whole, a reasonable estimate for the whole animal kingdom would be about 15,000,000 of species. But at the same time that this estimate is considered, it should be noted that the facts brought to light within the last few years by students of the mechanics of ontogeny and especially by such experiments as those made by Weismann and others in studying the seasonal dimorphism of of Lepidoptera indicate that very many of the species hitherto regarded as valid may be far from valid, and that descriptions of species in the future unless they are based upon a long series of experiments are apt to be much more uncertain than before. F. C. Kenyon. The Terceira Dog.—While many other dogs of various breeds are seen in Terceira, the yellowish-brown bull dog, often with black face, is so abundant as to be recognized as the characteristic dog of the island. Commonly it stands some two feet high, and while often gentle is frequently very savage. It is said that those intended for watch dogs are trained to jump at a hat held in the hand, in this way learning to spring at a person they attack. When kept chained, and not fondled, they will attack any person approaching, even refusing to recognize their master at night in many cases. Usually the ears are trimmed round, and the short, deformed tail is docked to a stub, so that these marks are almost as characteristic as those which are hereditary. Occasionally a dog of this breed is seen on the other islands, Madeira, or the continent, but all that I have ever seen were originally derived from Terceira, and are called Terceira dogs by the Portuguese. The group of these dogs accompanying (Plate V), I owe to Mr. A. E. Cady, of Providence. The single animal I took with a Kodak on aship in the islands— Wm. TRELEASE. 80 The American Naturalist. [January, ENTOMOLOGY! Antenne of Lepidoptera.—Mr. Donaldson Bodine summarizes” his studies of the antennz of Lepidoptera as follows: 1. “ Muscles in the head move the scape; muscles in the scape move the pedicel ; distad of the scape no muscles have been demonstrated, and the clavola is, therefore, capable of motion in itself only when acted upon by some external force causing a flexure and a subsequent exten- sion. 2. Besides organs for protection there are at least six types of sense organs situated in the antennz, and all but one are developed from a simple sense-hair, inserted at the ectal end of a pore canal through which it is connected with a multinuclear sense-cell. 3. The antennz doubtless function as sense organs of touch, smell and hearing, although those senses are not subject to the same limita- tions as in the higher animals and may be considerably different in their range of perception. 4. The antennz show that all Lepidoptera are descended from one primitive stem form, of which we may predicate the more essential feature of structure, 5. The evolution of ventral expansions, of pectinations, of the chitin- ous surface, of the sense organs shows an increasing differentiation of structure following the demand for increasing specialization of fune- tion. 6. In the more essential features, the evidence of the antenne of all the families of the Lepidoptera confirms the provisional classification based upon the wing structures, though in a number of cases it indi- cates a change in the relationships of the families.” Sleeping Trees of Hymenoptera.—At a recent meeting of the Entomological Society of Washington, Mr. E. A. Schwarz reported these interesting observations.’ In Texas during April and May two species of bees, Melissodes pygmaeus Cress. and Celioxys texanus Cress- were seen at 7.30 A. M. sleeping on dead bushes, mostly Celtis pallida. It is on the thinnest, outermost twigs and more particularly on the stout thorns with which this shrub is liberally provided that single sleeping ! Edited by Clarence M. Weed, New Hampshire College, Durham, N. H. ? Trans. Am. Ent. Soc., XXIII, 47. 3 Proceedings, IV, 24. 1897.] Entomology. 81 specimens of these bees are found. Their position is uniform; the twig or thorn is grasped tightly with all of the six legs, and, in addition the mandibles are widely opened and with their tips firmly inserted into the wood. It requires some force comparatively speaking to dislodge the bees from their position. * * * On the very first day I found that there are certain dead shrubs which serve as sleeping quarters for a multitude of the bees. In the course of time I discovered within a short distance four shrubs (or dwarf trees) upon each of which from 50 to 70 specimens of the sleeping bees could be seen every morning, and several other shrubs which harbored a smaller number of specimens with plenty of room for more. Here my third species the Sphegid Coloptera wrightii comes in. It was always on the sleeping trees in company with the bees, but not so numerous as the latter. I neversaw it asleep at the hour I made these observations, but the specimens were, like watchmen, slowly walking up and down the twigs, over the bodies of the sleeping bees, carefully and deliberately touching and examining with their antennz the bees, as if trying to arouse them from their sleep. If I had been on the spot at an earlier hour I would no doubt have ascertained also the sleeping habit of the Coloptera. A well- frequented sleeping tree presents a very striking and exceedingly pretty sight, which I never wearied of observing day after day.” Effectiveness ofa Net in Excluding Insects.—-Prof. F. Plateau has made a number of interesting experiments as to the effectiveness of a net in excluding insects, although the meshes were wide enough to allow their passage. His conclusions are: (1) A stretched net does not absolutely stop the flight of insects. (2) In their flight the insects behave as if they did not see the meshes. (3) Direct passage during flight is always rare; in most cases the insect stops and scrambles through, if at all. (4) The explanation is to be found in the lack of precision associated with compound eyes; the threads of the net, like etchings on an engraving produce the illusion of a continous closed surface.—Journal Royal Mier. Society. Life-History of the Peach-tree Borer.—There is but one gen- eration of larvæ of Sannina exitiosa annually. The moths appear as early as May in the latitude of Washington, D. C., and southward, over what approximates the lower austral region. In the upper austral region, roughly comprising the States above the cotton belt and below the northern tier, the moths do not appear until after the middle of June. In the transition region, which comprises the northern tier of States, together with most of New York and New England, the moths 6 82 The American Naturalist. [January, appear chiefly in July and later, emerging, however, as early as June, and belated individuals as late as October. June and July are there- fore the worst months for the moths over the principal peach districts. The egg is deposited on the bark, usually at or near the surface of the ground, although rarely it may be placed well up on the trunk or in the crotches of the larger branches. The egg is very minute, not ex- ceeding 0.2 mm. in length, oval, yellowish-brown in color, and irreg- ularly ornamented with hexagonal sculpturing. The young larva on hatching is very active, and immediately burrows into the bark, usually entering at cracks, Having worked its way to the sapwood, usually near or below the surface of the ground, it feeds steadily through the balance of the summer and well into the fall, constantly enlarging its excavation, and causing the exudation of the gum intermixed with ex- erement and fragments of bark, which is so characteristic of its pres- ence. It remains dormant in the larval state du ring winter and resumes feeding again the following spring, reaching full growth in the central districts by the middle of June. It transforms to chrysalis within an elongate, cocoon-like cell constructed of its own frass and particles of bark attached with gum and threads of silk. The moths emerge very shortly after the chrysalis state is assumed, usually only a few days intervening. The males appear a few days earlier than the females.— C. L. MARLATT, Cireular No. 17, Dept. of Agriculture. Smith’s Economic Entomology.—Professor J. B. Smith has written and the Lippincott Company has published a valuable and read- able book of nearly 500 pages with abundant illustrations. Its full title “ Economie Entomology for the Farmer and Fruit-grower and for Use as a Text-book in Agricultural Schools and Colleges” indicates its scope and purpose. Itis divided into three parts the first devoted to the structure and classification of insects; the second to the classifica- tion and life-histories of insects, and the third to insecticides, prevent- ives and machinery. Hight chapters are devoted to the first part, nine to the second and five to the third. The book is an admirable resumé of the present status of economic entomology, and will prove especially helpful in those agricultural colleges where the course in entomology . is too short for the use of Comstock’s excellent manual.—C. M. W. Oceanic Migration ofa Dragon -fly.—Robert McLachlan‘ records the taking of many specimens of the Dragon-fly Pantala flavescens F. on the P. and O. Steamer “ Victoria” in the ocean 290 miles from ` * Ent. Monthly Magazine, VII, 254. 1897.] Embryology. 83 Kealing Island. “The insects were observed at night and during heavy rain, suggesting nocturnal migration with the possibility that they were seeking shelter from the rain, or were attracted by lights in the cabin. This power of extended migration will also account for the extension of the species over the whole intertropical zone, and far beyond it on either side, EMBRYOLOGY!’ Movements of Blastomeres.—In a lengthy and detailed paper Professor Roux? gives the! results of certain experiments upon the isolated cells of the morulas and young gastrulas of the frog. In pre- vious papers he had shown that when the cells are teased apart in solu- tions of salt or of white of egg they may move together again, travers- ing short distances without any apparent means. He considered that cells aitracted one another somewhat as do sperm and ovum and rele- gated such attractive phenomena to the field of chemical influences. In the present paper minute and rigorously classified descriptions are given of changes which such cells undergo when once they have come into contact. In general two or more cells in contact glide, or crawl as it were, upon one another into some new relative position. This movement of one or both may be accompanied by a revolving or waltzing, very slowly. The form of the cells becomes changed very markedly, as is especially well shown when three cells form a row. In this case the middle one is very much compressed, as if the cells crowded together with great force. The rearrangements and changes of shape are in some cases much as take place with soap bubbles and might be explained as the resultant of the surface tensions of the separate bubbles or cells. But in many cases the arrangements are directly opposed to the laws governing the arrangements of soap bubbles and cannot be explained on so simple a asis. Besides the external changes in form and position there are internal changes, as is made evident by the changes in position of the pigment, In such cells as have more or less pigment this may recede from the Surface to appear again in concentrated form at some one region of the i Edited by E. A. aremt Baltimore, Md., to whom abstracts reviews and preliminary notes may be se ? Archiv f. erep d. Org., TET June 12, 1896, pps. 381-464. 84 The American Naturalist. [January,. cell. When several cells are together the arrangement of the pigment appears to be in some way determined with reference to the arrange- ment of the cells, being at like poles or in zones, ete., according to the way the cells are combined. The bearing of these facts upon normal development becomes evident when we recall that not only are rearrangements of cells of importance in the normal processes of cleavage in many eggs, but that they also seem to play an important part in the formation of the later embryo in the case of the eggs of Ascaris as emphasized by O. zur Strassen.’ Such movements of cells may then he looked for as a not unimpor- tant factor in the production of the characteristic shapes and organs of embryos. The explanation of the nature of these movements is by no means ready. The author recognizes that simple surface tension of a homoge- neous material will not account for all the phenomena, but he is in- clined to think that surface tension may be a sufficient cause provided there were a change in its character at different parts of the same cell and at different times in the same area owing to some change in the nature of the material of the cell. A Mechanical Explanation of Cell Division.—As the phe- nomena of cell division form so large a part of the visible changes the embryologist studies, he will eagerly welcome any clue to their better understanding. Especially when we are offered an explanation of ; the complex changes of indirect or mitotic cell division, which figure so strikingly in the important early changes the egg undergoes. If weary of the idea of muscle-like contractility of fibres or the mysterious movements of chromosomes under chemical influences he will turn with relief to the mechanical views presented by Dr. Ludwig Rhumbler.* The keynote of this honest attempt lies in the assumption that the observed physical changes of cell division may be due to purely physical causes, whatever the complexity and differences of the unknown chem- ical factors lying back of these physical changes. The author first assumes that protoplasm is a viscous fluid, next that it has essentially the structure claimed by Bütschli, that is he regards protoplasm as a froth or foam of more liquid drops or alveoli surrounded by less liquid surfaces or lamellæ—in which may be fibres of soft gran- ules arranged in rows, In such a foam radiating lines may appear from the arrangements of the vesicles or alveoli and the author assumes that the radiations in "See American Naturalist, Dec. 1896, p. 1059. * Archiv f. Ent. der Organismen, an Taly 21, 1896, pps. 527-618. 1897.] Embryology. 85 cleaving cells are of this nature and not due to actual threads. That radiations may be formed in various preparations of soap-suds and mixture of white of egg and gelatine is shown by careful figures and by diagrams and the similarity of such artificial radiations to cell radiation demonstrated. Here a contraction of a central body, as an — air-bubble, suggests the way in which the centrosome may act. In elucidating the phenomena of cell division on the basis of a foam structure the author takes the figures given by Ziegler for sea-urchin and nematode as a norm. In these eggs the nucleus and the attraction spheres undergo very marked changes in size while the radiations in the protoplasm outside the nucleus quickly grow long and then short. These rhythmic changes of size and distinctness lead to the following assumptions, The centrosome absorbs liquid from the surrounding cytoplasm and then concentrates it into smaller bulk than it formerly occupied. The nucleus swells from absorbtion of liquid. The detailed application of these assumed factors to the phenomena of cell division cannot well be given in the bounds of an abstract and must be sought in the original. The author there sets forth how the absorbtion of liquid by the centrosome will lead to the formation of radiations, asters, as well as to the removal of yolk bodies, ete. from the neighborhood of the ‘centrosome. The final division of the centrosome is brought about only in consequence of the swelling of the nucleus. This body removes liquid from the regions not affected by the centrosomes and this removal of liquid will cause a strain which may be represented as a system of ‘curves concentric with the nucleus. Where the centrosome lies the cyto- plasm is already less liquid, more viscid, while on the opposite side of the nucleus it is most liquid. The removal of liquid from lines of alveoli causes the alveoli to become ‘smaller and thus the rows exercise a pull upon the region of the centro- some. This pull of the alveolar material eventually parts the centro- ‘some and draws the halves asunder. As the rows of alveoli that sur- round the nucleus are the longest their contraction under continued loss of liquid to the nucleus will lead to the separation of the centrosome halves till they reach the poles of the nucleus. The observed second increase in size of the centrosomes follows this period of nuclear swelling and leads to the formation of new sets of radiations. These radii, pr lines of alveoli, now reach to the cell wall and exert a pull upon it as liquid is taken in from the alveoli to the ‘centrosomes. As the rows of alveoli become most viscid near the cen- trosome a more liquid region is left in the equatorial plane and here the 86 The American Naturalist. l [January,. alveolar rows finally break in the cleavage of the cytoplasm. Mean- while the vacuole-like nucleus has been pulled apart towards the centro- somes. After the cleavage of the cell the centrosome again ceases to absorb liquid and so passes into the resting stage. The case where there is an immediate division of the centrosome into two that remain for the sub- sequent cell divisions also admits of explanation upon this alveolar basis; the same is true of various other cases and phenomena. If this attempt at an understanding of the complex marvels of cell division appears much too ineffectual it is partly due to the imperfect representation given in this abstract and in part the result of the un- finished character of the present paper which claims to be but the first of a series. In the next article the author hopes to consider the nucleus with its chromosomes and spindle; and we cannot well judge of the success or failure of the attempt till that part lies before us. Probably few will judge that much ultimate truth has yet been dis- covered in the attempted explanation of such exceedingly complex phe- nomena but if it prove that the right line of research has been struck the author has added much to our conceptions of the forces at work in embryological processes. PSYCHOLOGY.’ Experiment on Reinversion of the Retinal Image.—The inversion of the image on the retina, and its influence upon our visual perception of space, have given rise to considerable discussion in the past. That we see things in an upright position notwithstanding this inversion, has seemed to many writers to require special explanation- Accordingly, some have assumed a reinversion of the image in the — cerebral cortex, while others have adopted a theory of visual projection which makes the retinal inversion essential to upright vision. During all this discussion the possible relativity of up and down escaped notice for a long time. What we mean by down is simply the ground side, and by up simply the sky side. As everything imaged on the retina is inverted, there is no point of reference to give an indication of the inversion of the rest. The only problem that arises, then, is concern- ing the co-ordination of visual with tactile space. This is a real diffi- culty: I see my left hand down at my left side; I feel it in the same place. How can this co-ordination be reconciled with the fact of retinal 1 Edited by H. C. Warren, Princeton University, Princeton, N. J. 1897.) Psychotogy. 87 inversion? There have been attempts to explain the situation in two different ways; either on one of the theories mentioned above, which assume the subjective space-scheme to be something absolute and rigid, and which postulate a cortical or projective re-inversion of the visual figure to conform with the uninverted tactile figure; or else by suppos- ing the space-scheme plastic, so that it is capable of being determined, or at least “oriented,” by experience. According to the latter view the visual and tactile “spaces” are not necessarily the same in origin; they have come to coincide only through habitual association. Dr. G. M. Stratton, of the University of California, reported at the recent Psychological Congress at Munich an experiment of his own, which was, so far as it went, a crucial test between these two lines of theory. The details have since been published in the Psychological Re- view, (Vol. III, pp. 611-617), from which I quote. By means of a pair of convex lenses, he succeeded in inverting the field of vision with- out otherwise altering its relations. The effect of this contrivance, when placed to the eye, was to give a re-inverted (or upright) retinal image. For the experiment, the apparatus was bound to the face in such a way as to exclude from the right eye all light except that pass- ing through both lenses, and the visual field of the other eye was dark- ened. The observer wore the apparatus constantly for two days, except at night, when his eyes were carefully bandaged; so that dur- ‘ing all this time he saw only the inverted field of vision. “ The course of experience,” says the author, in reporting the results, “ was something as follows: All images at first appeared to be in- verted ; the room and all in it seemed upside down. The hands when stretched out from below into the visual field seemed to enter from above. Yet although all these images were clear and definite, they did not at first seem to be real things, like the things we see in normal vision, but they seemed to be misplaced, false, or illusory images between the observer and the objects or things themselves. For the memory- images brought over from normal vision still continued to be the stand- ard and criterion of reality. The present perceptions were for some time translated involuntarily into the language of normal vision; the present visual perceptions were used simply as signs to determine how and where the object would appear if it could be seen with restored nor- mal vision. Things were thus seen in one way and thought of in a far different way. This held true also of my body. * “ As I moved about in the room, the movement of the visual images of my hands or feet were at first not used, as in normal vision, to decide what tactual sensations were to be expected. Knocks against things 88 The American Naturalist. [January, in plain sight were more or less of a surprise. I felt my hand to be in a different position from that in which I saw it, and could not, except by cool deliberation, use its visual image as a sign of impending tactual experience. After a time, however, repeated experience made this use of the visual image much less strange; it began to be the common guide and means of anticipation. I watched my feet in walking, and saw what they were approaching, and expected visual and tactual contact to be reported perceptionally together. In this way the limbs began actually to feel in the place where the new visual perception re- ported them to be. The vivid connection of tactual and visual percep- tions began to take away the overpowering force of the localization lasting over from normal vision. The seen images thus became real things just as in normal sight. I could at length feel my feet strike against the seen floor, although the floor was seen on the opposite side of the field of vision from that to which at the beginning of the experi- ment I had referred these tactual sensations. I could likewise at times feel that my arms lay between my head and this new position of the feet; shoulders and head, however, which under the circumstances could never be directly seen, kept the old localization they had had in normal vision, in spite of the logical difficulty that the shape of the body and the localization of hands and feet just mentioned made such a localization of the shoulders absurd. “Objects lying at the moment outside the visual field (things at the side of the observer, for example) were at first mentally repres- ented as they would have appeared in normal vision. * * * But later I found myself bringing the representation of unseen objects into har- monious relation with the present perception. They began now to be represented nos as they would appear if normal vision were restored, but as they would appear if the present field of vision were widened or moved so as to include them. * “ As to the relation of the visual field to the observer, the feeling that the field was upside down remained in general throughout the experi ment. At times, however, there were peculiar variations in this feel- ing according to the mental attitude of the observer toward the present scene, Ifthe attention was directed mainly inward, and things were viewed only in indirect attention, they seemed clearly to be inverted. But when, on the other hand, full attention was given to the outer ob- jects, these frequently seemed to be in normal position, and whatever there was of abnormality seemed to lie in myself, as if head and shoulders were inverted and I were viewing objects from that position, as boys sometimes do from between their legs, At other times the im- version seemed confined to the face or eyes alone. 1897.] Psychology. 89 “On removing the glasses on the third day, there was no peculiar experience. Normal vision was restored instantaneously and without any disturbance in the natural appearance or position of objects.” As the author remarks, the experiment did not cover enough time to determine the full power of experience. But the main point at issue—the two opposing views of subjective space already alluded to— seems to have been fairly well settled. There was shown to be a pos- sibility of co-ordinating our tactile space with an artificially inverted“ visual space ; the localization of the hand (e. g.) by feeling was gradually assimilated to its position in the new visual field, ete. There was not, of course, time to overcome completely the experience of ages in one direc- tion. But that it was overcome at all, and that the new experience was to a large degree reconcilable with the tactile data, shows clearly, I think, that the original co-ordination is quite independent of any mental projection or cerebral re-inversion. The two space-schemes arise separatively ; that they correspond, point for point, as they do, is owing simply to repeated and uncontradicted experience. It is to be hoped that the author will be able to repeat the experi- ment again and observe the effect of a longer continuation of the experi- ence. He might be able eventually to get rid of the persistent inver- sion of the head and shoulders, perhaps, by looking at himself fre- quently in a mirror. If a single pair of lenses could be devised to cover both eyes, the difficulties arising from imperfect convergence might be overcome, and the experiment extended to binocular vision. Howard C. WARREN. Birds’ nests and instinct.—Some very interesting observations on the nesting habits of birds recorded by Dr. R. Williams in the Oct- ober (1896) number of the Zoologist are worthy of note, the more so since they bear upon the subject of instinct and the power of learning from experience that has lately been occupying the attention of cer- tain psychologists. It must be regretted that Dr. Williams’ observa- tions seem to be hap-hazard and, therefore, lacking the detail that would make them conclusive. In this respect he is not different from the host of oological observers that claim the title of scientists. Take for in- stance his note regarding cuckoos hunting their nests. He says “my son informed me one day that he knew where a cuckoo was going to lay. He said he had seen a cuckoo fly out of a hedge, which on ex- amination he found to contain a hedge-sparrow’s nest ready for eggs. The boy’s expectation was realized. He visited the nest repeatedly, and one day announced that the Hedge-sparrow had begun to lay. Three days later he brought me the contents of the nest, consisting of 90 The American Naturalist. [Januaryy one cockoo’s egg and the clutch of hedge-sparrow’s eggs.” Now, it may be asked, how, from this account, is one to be sure that the egg was laid by the cuckoo that was seen to fly out of the hedge? There is no statement that the bird was watched from day to day, or that it was known to roost and feed in that immediate vicinity. No one is said to have gone early in the morning to the roosting tree and from that time follow and note the actions of the bird through the day until it ' went to roost again for the night. It is improbable that such obser- vations were made in this case in this way. Yet it is not impossible to make them thus carefully, for it has been done in studying the feeding habits of our American cuckoo. Aside from this criticism the observations are very interesting so far as they go. For instance in 1889, he found the nest of a European blackbird situated in a depression in the ground very much as one usually finds the nests of the skylark. Several other blackbirds nests were found by the keeper of the wood, which were similarly placed. Two thrushes nests were also found in the neighborhood, and like those of the blackbirds on the ground. The wood abounded in thickets and fir trees, but these more favorable places contained very few black- birds or thrushes’ nests. It was learned upon inquiry that the pro- prietor finding the wood a stronghold for these species had made- systematic raids upon their nests in consequence of their destruction of his fruit. Did the birds profit by experience and seek a safer position for their nests ? The other instance to be noted concerns the sandpiper. “In May, 1886, just when these birds were commencing to set,” the author says, we had a very heavy rainfall, heavier than any remembered by my father, who is over eighty years of age. The land on each side of the river near my house was under water. The common sandpiper usually nests on patches of gravel thrown up by the water, and more or less covered with docks and other weeds. These places being flooded, the nests were swept away and destroyed. On the subsidence of the flood, the sandpipers built again on their old sites, only to find their nests swept away by another flood. In the nesting season of the following year (1887), wishing to secure a few clutches of sandpiper’s eggs, searched in the usual places for a whole morning without success. The next day I accidently came upon a sandpiper’s nest containing four eggs, the nest being placed at the foot of a willow fully 100 yards from the river. The discovery put me on the right track, and I found six more nests in various positions, all a long way from the river.” Evi dently this was profiting by experience and the conclusion is borneout 1897,] Psychology. 91 by the fact that the birds seemed to conclude that the new position was not so favorable as the old to which next year they returned. His numerous other observations are interesting but space permits noting only the case of a wood warbler—which usually makes a covered nest—making a nest in a situation such that the top was formed by the root of a tree.—F. C. Kenyon, Psychic Evolution.—lIn the paper by Mr. Nichols which is con- cluded in this number of the NATURALIST, is to be found the Neodar- winian doctrine of psychic evolution, which is also adopted by Prof. W. H. James. I have already criticised this doctrine as expressed by Prof. Mark Baldwin in a paper in the Narurauisr (1895, April, p. 342; May, pp. 422-28). This doctrine is in short, that structures come into existence before the functions which they represent, and it is, therefore in direct opposition to the Lamarckian view, that structures are the result of functions. Of course the Lamarckian view does not deny that completed structures perform their’ functions better than they can be performed by unspecialized structures. This doctrine has the distinct advantage as a hypothesis, of really doing what a doctrine of evolution is supposed to do, i. e. of explaining the origin of structures. This the Neodarwinian doctrine does not do. Asa theory of origin of organs of specific consciousness and of their functions, it is quite the same whether we assume with Prof. James that central organs must first exist, or whether we believe with Prof. Wundt that special end-organs must first exist. The fact is that a doctrine that assumes that any organs must be primary and not secondary is in so far not a doctrine of evolution. The evolutionary doctrine of the origin of organs of special conscious- ness must be the same as that which explains the origin of other organs. That is, that energies acting as stimuli, external and internal, impinging on live protoplasm, produce modifications of its structure. If these structures are concerned directly or indirectly in the produc- tion or modification of states of consciousness, their use, or the subjec- tion of the tissues to the stimuli which produce them, will produce pleasure or pain. The organism proceeds to repeat or avoid the ex- posure thereafter accordingly, and use and disuse have their beginning. Whether any form of general and diffuse consciousness preceded in time special forms of consciousness, or whether all forms of conscious- ness have been due to corresponding stimuli, is a subject of present research. It can be assumed with much probability however, that the stimuli of pressure, heat, light, and hunger, would produce different forms of consciousness, since they would produce different effects on the ultimate structure. 92 The American Naturalist. [January, That this is the proper order of psychic evolution may be inferred from two considerations. (1) The sensations due to pressure, light, heat, hunger, ete. are experienced by animals of low as well as of high organization. (2) The order of structural evolution is from the homo- geneous to the heterogeneous, or from the generalized to the special. ized.—E. D. Corer. MICROSCOPY. Formal,’ (Formaldehyde 40 per cent. solution).—Practical experience with Formal in the Laboratory. By Bert B. Stroud, D. Sc., Instructor in Physiology, Vertebrate Zoology, and Neurology. Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y During the past two years much interets has been shown concerning formaldehyde, as an agent for hardening and preserving anatomic material. An extensive literature has arisen, which as Lee’ has ob- served, is sadly confused by the indiscriminate and incorrect use of the terms Formol and Formalose. The term formol is a very bad one. Because according to the principles of chemical terminology the suf- fix ol is applied to a different class of compounds, examples of which are alcohol, glycerol, and phenol. The molecular structure of the aldehydes differs from that of the ex- amples given. Formalose might be confused with formose, a mixture of carbohydrates made from formaldehyde. Formalin is a term which has no meaning. We have to deal with a definite chemical individual; why then should it not be called by its own proper name or by a suitable contrac- tion of that name? It may be urged since the commercial product is a solution of gaseous formaldehyde in water, that the name should in- dicate such solution. But the term hydrochloric acid is an excellent precedent for saying formal or formaldehyde, since the acid of the laboratory is a solution of the gas HC1 in water. But every one calls the solution hydrochloric acid. 1 The term Formaldehyde is a cumbersome one. Professor W. R. Orndorff has suggested that Formal, from Formal-dehyde is the best scientific contraction. The term Methanal, for formaldehyde, was adopted by the Geneva Congress of Chemists 2 Formol or PAREL Anatomischer Anzeiger. XI, No. 8, October 24, 1895, 8. 255-256 1897.] Microscopy. 93 The strength of the 40 per cent. solution of formal is subject to some variation, since on standing for a long time it deposits a precipitate of metaformal and the solution is weakened by the amount of formal pre- cipitated. _Metaformal may also be obtained, as a bluish-white amor- phous powder on simple evaporation of the commercial 40 per cent. solution. This amorphous form is readily soluble in water heated to 60°-70° C. It can be easily manufactured and would soon become a commercial article if there were a demand for it. The writer suggests that this would be the most convenient and economical way to use for- mal. Solutions of definite strength could be easily prepared, by simply weighing the proper amount and dissolving it in water heated to 70° C. Considerable expense for packing and transportation would be avoided. Action of formal on animal substances—The writer is inclined to believe that the action of formal varies with the kind of tissue, its source, whether from an aquatic or a terrestrial vertebrate, and the period of immersion in the liquid. 1. Action on white of egg.—Six portions of 4 ce. each were treated with solutions of formal of the following strengths,—0 2 per cent.; 0.8 per cent.; 1.6 per cent.; 3.2 per cent.; 8 per cent.; 40 per cent. The mixtures were put into vials and tightly corked. A flocculent preci- pitate resulted. It was slight in the dilute solutions, but more copious in the bottle which contained the 40 per cent. formal. After 48 hours, the dilute solutions had assumed a translucent appearance but remained perfectly fluid. The 40 per cent. solution was of a jelly-like consistency and was more opaque than the weaker solutions. 2. The mucus of petromyzon, fishes, and necturi was coagulated ; at first translucent, it finally became more or less opaque and sometimes could be peeled off from the skin. The first general effect of formal on animal tissue is to coagulate the proteids; this fact probably accounts for its value in the Golgi method. Fats are apparently little altered. It has been used in this laboratory for the preservation of lampreys, Amia, and other fish-like vertebrates, of amphibia, reptiles, birds, mammals and of brains. The action on verte- brates up to and including amphibia has been more or less satisfactory. But the results upon muscles and viscera of reptiles, birds, and mam- mals where the specimens were immersed for four months or longer were far from being satisfactory. The action is rapid at first, then pro- ceeds more slowly, several months being required to obtain the final effect. However, material for immediate dissection* may be kept in 2 per cent. formal (formal 2 ce., water 98 cc.). * Material will keep quite well for four to six weeks. 94 The American Naturalist. [January, Among the undesirable effects may be mentioned : 1. Swelling of tissue from absorption of water. 2. Partial solution of connective tissue elements. 3. Diminished elasticity, sometimes brittleness, of glands, ducts, and membranous viscera so that they may not survive the rough usage of the average beginner. 4. The action on tissues rich in proteids as muscles of the terrestrial vertebrates is something like dissociation. The connective tissue is either softened or dissolved so that the fasciculi and fibres are easily teased apart. 5. Muscles are shortened so that the limbs are usually flexed. Ifthe limb is forcibly extended, either the muscles themselves or the tendons break. The dissection of individual muscles is liable to tear them. If the specimen has been in the fluid for several months, the muscles be- come rigid and brittle. If the limb be forcibly adducted, the hume- rus or femur will usually break. The separation of individual muscles. and the demonstration of their actions are very difficult or even im- possible. In June, 1895, a lot of sea-lampreys were prepared by injecting 2 per cent. formal through the dorsal aorta. They were then put into 2 per cent. formal. The solution was changed three times and about Sept. 1, they were put into 50 per cent. alcohol. In Jan., 1896, the specimens had shrunken slightly. Preservation was fair, with the exception of a long longitudinal check in the axon (notochord) and the blood vessels did not show so well as in the previous year when al- cohol was used for injection and preservation. Brains.—Formal appears to be almost an ideal fixer and preserva- tive for brains where gross morphology is the object. They are tough and flexible; the alba, cinerea, and fibre tracts are well differentiated. The natural color is more perfectly retained than where other agents are employed. But membranous portions, telas, and plexuses are not so well preserved as where alcohol is used The following mixture was sa aladoniiy employed for sheep brains— a 2 per cent. solution of forma Formal (40 per cent. solution) ; wit 120-00 Aea chloride... i . 46 grams. Wate After 5-8 inhi sles nostima may on into 2.5 per cent. formal in- definitely. Eyes.—Sheeps’ eyes were well preserved in 2 per cent. formal; the cornea, lens, and vitreum had a more natural appearance but the lens, 1897.] Microscopy. 95 capsule, and recti muscles were much better preserved when alcohol was used. The chief objections to formal are: 1. It does not preserve well the plexuses and membranous parietes of the brain. 2. It is in unstable chemical equilibrium. 3. The conditions attending its use are favorable to chemical change, t. e., (a) solution, (b) moderate heat, (c) the presence of substances themselves in unstable chemical equilibrium. 4. The large excess of water present causes tissue to swell and aids in dissolving connective tissue. 5. The cost of a given solution is less than that of alcohol, but the renewal of solutions brings the total expense up to nearly that of alcohol free of tax; and in the writer's judgment, excepting for brains and perhaps for aquatic vertebrates, the final result is less satisfactory. SuMMARY. 1. The most suitable contraction of the name Formaldehyde is Formal. Formalin is meaningless. Formol is incorrect. Formalose is mislead- ing. 2. Some uniform standard for preparing solutions is desirable. 3. Formal is an unstable chemical compound. It polymerizes on standing. A precipitate of Para- and Metaformaldehyde, insoluble in water at ordinary temperatures, is formed and the solution is weakened by the amount of the precipitate. 4. Para- or Metaformal may be procured in the dry form and solu- tions can be prepared when desired by simply dissolving the required amount in hot water (70° C.). This would be the more economical way to nse formal. 5. Formal coagulates proteids and dissolves connective tissue. The action proceeds slowly and the final effect is reached in about yow months. 6. Solutions of formal will freeze so that it is unsafe for the — of museum preparations. T. Formal, as a general preservative for terrestrial vertebrates, is ihadlicfukonh Formal appears to give good results for: a. The fixation and preservation of bfhins for the study of gross morphology and fissures. b. For the preservation of the cornea aol vitreum of the eye. c. For the Golgi method of staining nerve cells. - 96 The American Naturalist. [January, d. For Weigert’s method. e. For the temporary preservation of anatomic material. f. Perhaps for the preservation of aquatic vertebrates. g. For hardening material in which the blood vessels have been in- jected with colored gelatin. . PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. Boston Society of Natural History.—December 2d.—The fol- lowing communications were made: “The Early Services of Mr. Thomas T. Bouvé to the Society,” by Charles J. Sprague and James C. White; “ Mr. Bouvé’s Work in the Society Since 1870,” by Alpheus Hyatt; “Mr. Bouvé’s Work in Geology and Mineralogy,” by W. O. Putnam, “ Statement Concerning Some Recent Discoveries at Trenton, N. J., Bearing Upon the Early Presence of Man in the Delaware Valley ;” Prof. G. Frederick Wright,“ The Extent of Preglacial Erosion in the United States, and its Bearing on the Question of the Length and Date of the Glacial Period.’—Samurt Hensuaw, Secretary. American Philosophical Society.—December 18th.—Drs. W. H. Furness, 3d, and H. M. Hiller made a preliminary report on their explorations in Borneo and the Loochoo Islands. University of Pennsylvania Biological Club.—December 7th. Program.—* Demonstrations of Some Mexican Plants,” Dr. John W. Harshberger; “ Demonstrations of Slides Showing Conjugation of Nuclei in the Intestinal Cells of Land Isopods,” Dr. E. G. Conklin. Reviews: Botanical, Dr. J. M. Macfarlane, Dr. H. C. Porter; Chemi- cal, Dr. Mary E. Pennington; Psychological, Dr. Lightner Witmer. Original Communications: “ Diseased Action and Senility, Considered in Connection with Biological Work,” Dr. J. H. Allen. December 21st Program.—Demonstrations: Slides showing deform- ation of nuclei in the intestinal cells of Land Isopods, Dr. E. G- Conklin. Reviews: Botanical, Drs. Macfarlane, Harshberger, Porter ; Chemical, Dr. Mary E. Pennington; Psychological, Dr. Lightner Witmer ; Pathological, Dr. Ferree Witmer. Original Communications: “The Native Dahlias of Mexico,” Dr. John W. Harshburger.—H. C. PORTER, Secretary. | 1897.] Scientific News. 97 SCIENTIFIC NEWS. Mr. Gosselin, of the British Embassy in Berlin, mentions in a recent report (says the Times) that the question of preserving big game in German East Africa has been under the consideration of the local au- thorities for some time past, and a regulation has been notified at Dar-es- Salaam, which it is hoped will do something toward checking the wanton destruction of elephants and other indigenous animals. Under this regulation every hunter must take out an annual license, for which the fee varies from five to 500 rupees, the former being the ordinary fee for natives, the latter for elephant and rhinoceros hunting, and for the members of sporting expeditions into the interior. Licenses are not needed for the purpose of obtaining food, nor for shooting game dam- aging cultivated land, nor for shooting apes, beasts of prey, wild boars, ‘reptiles, and all birds, except ostriches and cranes. Whatever the circumstances the shooting is prohibited of all young game—calves, foals, young elephants, either tuskless or having tusks under three kilos, all female game, if recognizable—except, of course, those in the ' above category of unprotected animals. Further, in the Moschi dis- trict of Kilima-Njaro, no one, whether possessing a license or not, is allowed without the special permission of the Governor to shoot ante- lopes, giraffes, buffaloes, ostriches and cranes. Further, special per- mission must be obtained to hunt these with nets, by kindling fires, or by big drives. Those who are not natives have also to pay 100 rupees for the first elephant killed, and 250 for each additional one ; and 50 rupees for the first rhinoceros, and 150 for each succeeding one. Special game preserves are also to be established ; and Major von Wissmann, in a circular to the local officers, explains that no shooting whatever will be allowed in these without special permission from the Govern- ment. The reserves will be of interest to science as a means of pre- serving from extirpation the rarer species, and the Governor calls for suggestions as to the best places for them. They are to extend in each direction at least ten hours’ journey on foot. He further asks for sug- gestions as to hippopotamus preserves, where injury would not be done to plantations. Two districts are already notified as game sanctuaries. Major von Wissmann further suggests that the station authorities should endeavor to domesticate zebras (especially when crossed with muscat. and other asses and horses), ostriches, and hyena dogs crossed with a European breeds. Mr. Gosselin remarks that the best means of pre- venting the extermination of elephants would be to fix by international alana amongst all the powers on the East African coast a close 98 The American Naturalist. [January, time for elephant, and to render illegal the exportation or sale of tusks under a certain age. (Nature, Oct., 1896.) Dr. Baumann, who died at Freiburg, on November 2d, in his forty-ninth year, was Professor of Medical Chemistry at the University e Freiburg i. ~A Ahe “n of a chemist he served the full term of'a i ip and then entered the Technical College of Stuttgart in order to concplatis his studies in physics, chemistry and natural science. Thence he went to Tübingen to take his diploma. There the noted physiologist, Hoppe-Seyler, recognized his talent and made him his assistant ; and when he left Tiibingen to take a professor- ship at the University of Strassburg, in Alsace, in 1872, Baumann ac- companied him. In 1879 Baumann was made Director of the Chemical Department of the Physiological Institute of Berlin. In 1882 he went to Freiburg as ordinary professor of medical chemistry, and there re- mained until his death. Dr. Theodor Morgo died September 5, 1896, at Szent Lorinez in the Comitat Boranyu. He was born in 1816, and at the time of his death was Professor of Zoology at the University of Budapest. Dr. Raffaele Zoja died September 26, 1896, in consequence of an Alpine catastrophe. Dr. Zoja was born March 10, 1869 and at the time of his death had done considerable work in the field of histology and embryology. Under Maggi he worked upon Hydra; at the Naples Zoological Station, upon the cell structure of the lower inver- tebrates; at Messina with Kleinenberg, on the ontogenomechanics of Medusa ; and in Berlin with O. Hertwig on the development of Ascaris megalocephala. This last work he had just finished at the time of his death. Dr. August Louis Boot died Aug. 30, 1896. He was born Sept. 18, 1821 and took the degree of M. D. in 1845. Medicine not proving to his taste he gave up practice for the study of conchology in which he became well known as the author of “ Materiaux pour servir a l'étude de la famille des Mèlaries ” (1868), “ Catalogue scientifique des especes qui composent la famille des Mélaniens” (1862), and “ Die Melaniaceen in Abbildungen nach der Natur mit Beschreibungen.” It is to be noted that the salary attached to the position of Mackay Bacteriologist to the Linnzean Society of New South Wales, which re- cently advertised in Nature for applicants, arises from £12,000 be- queathed by Mr. Wm. Mackay. His total benefactions to the society amount to £100,000. The object of the appointment is entirely the advancement of natural knowledge by research. ADVERTISEMENTS. THE ACCIDENTS OF LIFE o T. S. QUINCEY, ikat ry nae ale Secre- y so doing you can save membership ac feom paid over $600,000.00 for accidental inju our own Agent. NO MEDICAL EXAMINATION REQUIRED. For Sale Fossil Leaves, Dakota Group Cretaceous. 3 sets of 50, 30, and 20 species and varieties, at $15.00, $10.00 and $5.00 each. Also a good set of 20 for $2.50. NO EXCHANGE. WRITE FOR LISTS. Charles H. Sternberg, LAWRENCE, KS, K tatoan e : A i teas onth by a harm sremtinent by a ticing physician ar 20 years’ ex we aon No bad peo or Gironaan from b business. No starving, wrinkles or flabbin Im- proves general Meite and paren complexion, on it. Thow sicians and society ladies indorse PATI BY ‘MAIL confidentially. For particula: with stam: DR SNYDER, zig ss Tessier, CHICAGO, ILL.s . $ Or 907 Broadway, NEW YORK CITY, OF INTEREST TO ALL STUDENTS AND LOVERS OF NATURE. THE GBSERVER All Departments of Nature Studies: OUR MOTTO: “ Keep Your Eyes Open” (To observe the wonders and beauties of Nature.) @ Official Organ of the Agassiz Association. Consists of Three Departments: 1. The Outdoor World. 2. Agassiz Association. Practical Microscopy. E. F. 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The Contributors, who are all Scholarly gentlemen and specialists will continse as before, but several new names will be added. : ollowing may be mentioned as having contributed to the Volume for 94. r. D. G. Brinton, Rev. Wm. M. Beauchamp, Prof. A. F. Cha mberlain, Mr. James Deans, G. O. Dorsey, Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, H. C. Mercer, tics „Zelia Nuttall, 7 Staniland Wm. Wallace Tooker, Dr, Cyrus Thomas. The Magazine during 95 will e : different er and the following iehi will have charge and report all explorations and nee : Win . C. Winslow, D. D., L. L. D. , Egypt. Prof T F. Wright, Ex xplo rations į in Palestine. m W. Haynes, Paleolithics and European Archaeology. A. S. Gatschett, Indian Linguistic Marshall H. Seville, Mexico and Central Americ on. James Wickersham, The North West Nc and Eastern Asia. A FEW COMPLETE SETS ARE IN THE HANDS OF THE EDITOR AND WILL BE SOLD AT SPECIAL PRICES TO LIBRARIES. ca Price per Vol. $4.00 or with American Naturalist $6.00. The American Antiquarian will be furnished with The American, Naturalist for $6.00. ADVERTISEMENTS. iii COMMENCED JANUARY, 1888. TWO VOLUMES PER YEAR. eed MS = tye AMERICAN GEOLOGIST, LS The Oldest Exclusively Geological Magazine Published in America. EDITORS AND PROPRIETORS: CHARLES E. imin Ar” Do E, pr S. A., Yale University, New Haven, Conn. SAMUEL CALVIN, Ph, D F. G. 8. , Sta ai Geologist, State hago ed Iowa City, Ia. Joun M. OLAN, M. A., Deut. Gooi Gessell., Soc. Imp. Min., New Yor k Geol. Bets, Albany, N.Y. soy W. CLAYPOLE, B. A., Ds Be. (London), F. G. BS., Éi E. and A., Buchtel College, Akron, FRANCIS W. Craain, B. Se., F. G. S. A., pen “2 Geology and Paleontology, Colorado College, Colorado Dago Colo. Texas Geo 1. JOHN Everman, ge F: Z Si, E.G SoA T e S., M. I. M ‘Oakhurst,’ Easto: Persiror FRAZER, Doct. es. Sei. Nat., a pi de 7 Instruction "Publique (Eranee), Correspondant Reichsanstalt ian, F. S 8. re Prof. of Chem., Horticul. Soc., P elphia, Pa. Epwarp O. ULRICH, M. 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ESTABLISHED IN 1873. A. N. BELL, A. M., M. D., Editor, 7; ite Ree BE w ù, D} - Associate Editors. “THE SANITARIAN is the American authori ity fe people at mag ire contributions are from medical m ngii ose writings on disease in at p ienr are a as authority. householder should be without such i velnabie mont ily. ”— Virginia Chronicle. Based at i n medical knowledge and naval service, over an extensive field of f observation in various climates in different quarters ys the worl ical san apre Te the maintenance peri —_— more good than all of the oth ” Hydraulic and Siar pensaran 8 e other et ceil se pibot ly “ As its name Splis, THE SANITARIAN is devoted entirely to Sanitary Science, in its liberal and proper pera A The field field be ee is a most important one, and the editor is admirably qualified for the wor: —itéaica The edi thse, Dr. pi 1, is well-known to the me his ea with the tities in ia. ari a a reantile community for his bing s profession as a leader in sanitary science.” —N. 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The advance of Philosophical and Biological questions relating to insects is made a special feature as is also the causes of their variation. Monthly critiques of the articles in the leading German and American entomological magazines. A monthly summary of the scientific progress made by the Societies. Current notes on entomological science from all parts of the world. Practical Hints for collectors, as to breeding, capturing and preserving insects. Subscriptions for the current volume 7p, should be sent by all scientific entomologists and students to SW TUTT. F. E S.. Raleigh Villa, Westcombe Hill, Blackheath, England. 125 PLASTER CASTS OF THE FOLLOWING MAMMALIA with dentition in good preservation, made under direction of Professor E. D. Cope may be had by application to Jacob Geisman, 2102 Pine St., Philadelphia. Phenacodus primaevus Cope, (Wyoming) $100.00. Hy- vacotherium venticolum Cope, (Wyoming) $50.00. Protohippus micabilis Leidy, skull $7.00. Protohippus pachyops Cope, skulls of adult and young, and P. fossulatus Cope, skull, $5.00 each. Tetrabelodon shepardii Leidy, mandibular ramus and symphysis with two molars, $20.00. Didelodon tropicus Cope, do., $15.00; Mastodon precursor Cope, last molar $5.00. The horses and ‘nastodons from the Cenozoic beds of Texas, are uncolored. vi ADVERTISEMENTS. Hills, Valleys and Plains of the U. S. THE IVES ALTITUDE MAP y the inventor of the “Strata Map” differing from any Sa ms “racks, xpos ee ecm carefully embossed to represent the River Syste tain Pca , whilst successive altitudes are emphasized by strongly ogi trasted colors. The Mapi is beautifully gotten up, framed in oak and varn SIZE 33 X 23 INCHES. PRICE $9.50. Aid in the Study of Geology. THE IVES STRATA MAP graphically exhibits Superposition, pare on, and outcrop of strata, with the phenom of escarpments, outliers, inliers, dip, strike, pE il ts 238 etc., and the Cards may be bent ds. to show syzclinal or anticlinal fol is a novel device Size, 30 x 24 inches. Price, $17. 50. Is the Inventor of the Method of Construction and thee Siini been derived by him f 9 ' Government Sources of Information. z sinens ppt M edal Awa rded of these Maps at the World’s Columbia n Exposition TOPINIONS OF EMINENT AUTHORITIES. Pro r E. D. Core, of the University of Penns sylvania, writes: “ Useful to ce! student of topography ae geology. The map indicating elevations in relief is an he nest aid to the strati- J AM ES T. B. IVES. Office of the American Naturalist, 518 Minor Street, Philadelphia, Pe FOUNDED BY E. LITTELL IN 1844. THE LIVING A A Weekly Magazine of aes : FOREIGN PERIODICAL LITERATURE, Giving Yearly 3,600 Double Column Octavo Pages of Matter (mak- ing Four Large Volumes) Unequalled in Quality and Quantity: It is issued Every Saturday and Contains ARTICLES OF STANDARD AND POPULAR INTE ES THE LIVING AGE embraces the productions of The Ablest Living PE a olitics d Discovery g amount of reading unapproached by any other periodical in the world, a _ the most valuable Literary and Scientific matter of the day. “Reviews of recent publications, the latest results of ` Research, Biographical Sketches of eminent characters, Travel, ation, Literary Criticism, and every phase of Culture ani . Europe, Fiction and Choice Poetry—all these make rue The Li 1844 cat ah its fifty-three years of existence it has maintained, invailelly the highest degree of literary excellence, and has held a pinin Bay among the rae hcouee magazines of the day. - year, WAS REDUCED To SIX DoLrars. i ig Enco uraged by the response to that announcement and in pursuance ‘the ee plan of its ex ai to give the best the world can offer, the aea Ne: arran introducti n of Ate me widening its scope as to embrace od Ast, TRANSLATIONS | i2 -The Mutual Benefit Mining and Leasing Co. Has a three years’ lease on Oldest Tunnel — Site in Cripple Creek, containing 100. acres, | between the Anchoria Leland and C. O. B. mines, also the Lelia mine, containing 10 acres. 700,000 shares out of 1,100,000 still in the Treasury. $7,000 plant of machinery, etc.. This stock is now selling at 5% cts. WRITE OR WIRE US FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: The Mechem Investment Company, — COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. Se ae xs \. - $4.00 per Year. $4.60 per Year (Fortign). 35 cts. per Oopy. — THE ; ; 7 ; A MONTHLY JOURNAL | DEVOTED TO THE NATURAL SCIENCES ! IN THEIR WIDEST SENSE. MANAGING EDITORS ProF. E. D, COPE, Philadelphia, Pa., and DR. F: C. KENYON, Washington, D. C., goreti EDITORS: Ps PROF. Ç. M. WEED, Lome, N. H., Dr. C. E. BESSEY, Lincoln, Neb . C MERCER, Philadelphia Pror. A. C. aoe aca. ROF. W. s BA YLEY, Waterville, Maine, ProF. É. A. AET Baltix Eey C. WARREN, Princeton: RWIN F. SMITH, Washington, D. Vol XXXI. FEBRUARY, 1897. A f; 4 ae 4 CONTENTS. P | NOCTURNAL PROTECTIVE COLORATION OF MAM- ; MALS, BIRDS, FISHES, Insects, ETC Eaton sik Ratón North Aerien Sphagaiee Verrill. 99 | The Cell Nucleus—Another Australian Curios- 5 » THe INFERIOR BOUNDARY OF Ma ; Quat ER it Era, r H. Hershey, 104 P ARREA coli not hope Bie 4 “Tue POCKET, OR PoucHED sikai lium kewense — Egg-Laying in Sagitta > Clement L, Webster. 114 | Chætognaths of American Wate aa "Protons CEDAR BIRDS. tral American Diplopods—The Developt Dr. R. W. Shufeldt 120 | of the Wing-scales and their pi THE BACTERIAL Diseases oF PLANTS: A CRITI- Lepidoptera—Rapid Growth of Apus S CAL REVIEW OF THE PRESENT STATE OF OUR dachneria—Mautilations of the Oregon KNOWLEDGE. (Continued.) Zr win F, Smith. 123 | —On. the Decurrence of the Genus Rei _ Eprror’s TasLe—Ori : dontomys in Virginia—I ‘ BLE—Original Research in the 2 Universities—Prof. W. Wilson on Science ae “4 ee Pegs a a p and the Humanities. . . ote od kee ec etc eae i Reep Lrrerarone—Ba iley’s Survival of the ' De toa Dh The eae } a nike—Prillieux’s Diseases of Plants— Sphinx Caterpillar So tar Ichneumon Campbells Mosses and Ferns. T te ee tack- Viviparoos Rphom E ~ RECENT BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS 145 . r l mga Ne A Embryology—The Corpus Lateam —Creavage ; 4 GENERAL Norss. iù Ovarian Eggs. ! : a ‘aphy—Petrography of the Viterbo Re- Psychology. L Anina Meating bE the American gion, Italy—Missourite, a New Leucite Rock— eae LenS Association. 1 F SCIENTIFIC Sorri ; The Ciyataliimo Schists of the WT PROCEEDINGS X eat —Petrographical Notes. oe . 148 | Screntiric ent R ge ON wc E ee PHILADELPHIA, U. S. A. THE EDWARDS & DOCKER Cí 518 ano 520 MINOR STREET. NATURAL SCIENCE: A MONTHLY REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS. Chat Mt Nes THE FOLLOWING ARE A FEW FACTS AS TO THE WORK OF “NATURAL SCIENCE” DURING 1895. NATURAL SCIENCE for 1895 has published contributions from ie 104 distinguished writers. | NATURAL SCIENCE for 1895 has published 63 specially contrib- | uted Articles in all branches of Zoology, Botany, and Geology, besides the large July number, condensing the results of the a i a, D “Challenger”? Expedition. 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Although much has been written regarding the protective and imitative colors and forms of various animals, as seen by daylight, very little attention has been paid to their protective colors as seen by moonlight, twilight, and starlight, when large numbers of species of small mammals and fishes, and numer- ous insects are most active in search of food and most of the large carnivorous and insectivorous species are abroad in search of their prey. Moreover most birds and many fishes and insects sleep in exposed situations and are thus subject to the attacks of nocturnal predaceous species. The latter, in turn, need protective colors for the night-time, in order to avoid the notice of their prey. One of the most evident effects of moonlight or starlight is to give very black shadows. In the case of bright moonlight these black shadows of trees, etc., may be broken up by patches of white moonlight. Therefore, black or dark-brown animals are nearly invisible in such shadows. If black animals have patches of white or light yellow these will serve a useful purpose by breaking up and obscuring the outlines of bird or beast and look like patches of moonlight on a shadow. 7 oor of a paper read before the Morphological Society. Dec. 30, 1896.) 100 The American Naturalist. [February, Accordingly we find many nocturnal carnivorous mammals that are black (e. g., minks, fisher, bears) and some that are black and white. We also find numerous black, as well as black and white, birds, insects, etc., whose colors can best be explained as due to the influence of natural selection among protective nocturnal colors. The dark gray and brownish-gray colors so common among small nocturnal mammals, like mice, arvicole, moles, shrews, marsupials, etc., are highly protective at night. Even when these creatures are running about among green grass and weeds they are scarcely visible in a feeble light. Such colors are not at all protective in the day time, in such places. Moreover, such mammals usually hide in holes or crevices in the day time, where the color does not matter. Most nocturnal black, brown, and dark gray insects, like the ground beetles, crickets, ants, etc., unquestionably find protec- tion in these colors, though they are conspicuous in the day time. Among diurnal birds and insects there are, also, many cases of conspicuous and bright colors that become protective by moonlight and starlight, when these creatures are asleep or quietly resting among foliage or flowers, and most exposed to their nocturnal enemies. In general, it may be said that in all cases where black or very dark colors are strongly contrasted with white, yellow, or other light markings, these patterns are more likely to be protective at night than in the day time. Such colors may be due, in many cases, to other causes, but when no special cause for their origin can be found, they are probably due, in most cases, to nocturnal protective value, and this can be definitely ascertained by a study of the nocturnal habits and surroundings. Many of our native butterflies have bright and conspicuous colors which are the reverse of protective in the daytime, when their acute senses and active habits afford fair protection. But I have observed that at night, when roosting on flowers, their colors so blend with those of the flowers as to render them inconspicuous, even in good moonlight. Many species of Argynnis and allied genera are conspicuously marked with red, brown, and orange on the under side of the wings, and have bright silvery spots or blotches in addition, so that they are ° 1897.] Nocturnal Protective Coloration of Mammals, Ete. 101 conspicuous in the daytime. I have noticed that when these large butterflies are roosting at night on goldenrods and other favorite flowers, with their wings folded up over the back, their colors not only blend with those of the flowers but their silvery spots shine in the moonlight like the dewdrops that surround them. Many birds, insects, etc., have acquired colors that are equally protective both by day and by night. This is true inthe case of the green colors of those that live on or amongst foliage, and in the case of those that have dull gray and brown colors, imita- tive of the bark of trees on which they rest. It also applies to bright colored insects that live on flowers of the same colors. But the multitudes of cases, which cannot be explained in this way, are probably due to special nocturnal protection. Many fishes that rest at night amongst the stems of aquatic ” grasses, sea-weeds, etc., have dark or black stripes crossing the body transversely, obliquely, or longitudinally. Such colors are highly protective at night, when they are most exposed to their predaceous enemies, for the dark bands then resemble the dark stems and shadows of the weeds, and serve admirably to conceal the outline of the fish. Black fins and tails serve a similar purpose. Such markings of fishes are generally more distinctly developed at night than in the day time, as explained in the next article. In a similar way, the striped colors of the tiger are doubt- less more effective for concealment at night, or in the dusk of evening, among the stalks of reeds and shrubs, than in the day time. The same is true of the colors of the spotted jaguar, leopard, etc. The common raccoon is fairly well protected even in the day time by its gray fur, when resting on the large gray branches of trees, but as it generally hides by day in holes, we must regard its peculiar coloration as due to nocturnal protection, for which it is emniently adapted. 102 The American Naturalist. [February, Nocturnal and Diurnal changes in the Colors of Certain Fishes, and of the Squid (Loligo), with notes on their Sleeping Habits. —These observations were mostly made in the U. S. Fish Commission Laboratory, at Wood’s Holl, Mass., in 1885 to 1887, when the laboratory was in excellent condition for bio- logical studies. In order to observe the nocturnal habits of the fishes, ete.,in the aquaria, the gas was turned down low, so as to give a light just sufficient for distinct vision, after every one except myself had retired. Great care was also taken not to jar the floor or furniture. Under these conditions many interesting observations were made. It was noticed that while many species became very active others took this opportunity to sleep, and in doing so, assumed unusual colors and positions. Several species of fishes, while asleep, had colors very different from those seen in the day time. Others showed a decided increase in the intensity or contrast of their colors, without changing the pattern. The latter was the more common habit, and was noticed especially in the case of species that have longitudinal, transverse, or oblique dark bands or stripes or irregular mottlings. As previously explained, these dark stripes are highly protective colors for fishes that rest at night among weeds and grasses. Among those showing this change are several species of minnows (Fundulus), and the king-fish (Menticirrus nebulosus), in which the blackish stripes come out more strongly and clearly when asleep than when awake. The black sea-bass, (Serranus furvus), especially when young, shows its black markings more clearly when asleep. The sea robins (Prionotus palmipes and P. evolans), and various species of flounders show more strongly contrasted and darker colors than in the day time. But the scup or porgy (Stenotomus chry- sops) shows much more remarkable changes in color. This fish, in the day time, usually has a bright silvery color, with a brilliant pearly iridescence, but at night, while asleep, it be- comes dull bronzy or gray, and is crossed by about six trans- verse black bands, colors very effective for concealment among the stalks of eel-grass or sea-weeds. If aroused by suddenly turning up the gas, it immediately resumes its day time colors. If killed in alcohol this fish, and many others, as well as the 1897.] Nocturnal Protective Coloration of Mammals, Ete. 103 squids, usually taken on their nocturnal colors, though these generally soon fade out. A species of file-fish (Monacanthus) which has, in the day time, mottled olive-green and brown colors, with slightly darker fins and tail, when sleeping becomes pallid gray, or’nearly white, and the fins and tail become black. This and other related species took curious positions while asleep, often lean- ing up obliquely, with the back against the glass of the aquaria and the abdomen resting on the bottom ; sometimes, also, lean- ing up in a corner of the aquarium with the body curved, or against stones in similar attitudes. The tautog or black fish (Tautoga onitis) usually sleeps on one side, resting under the edges of rocks, or half buried in sand or gravel, much after the manner of flounders. They ` often had their bodies variously bent. This fish did not show any marked change of colors, but its ordinary dark colors are nocturnally protective. The common squid, when resting quietly on the bottom, late at night, and apparently asleep, takes on its darkest colors, due to the full expansion of the brown and purple chromatophores, so that the color is much like that developed when excited in the day time, and similar to the usual color of alcoholic Specimens. When swimming quietly in the day time the usual color is pallid or translucent bluish-white, with very small, Scattered, dark specks, due to the strongly contracted chroma- tophores. It takes this color, also, when resting upon the light sandy bottoms, waiting for the approach of the small fishes on which it feeds. It has the power of changing its colors at will, but its nocturnal color is probably automatic and protective. 104 The American Naturalist. [February, THE INFERIOR BOUNDARY OF THE QUATERNARY : ERA. By Oscar H. HERSHEY. The great diversity of physical conditions of the earth’s surface in the Quaternary era of its geological history, has been conducive to much legitimate difference of opinion among students as to the most natural boundaries of the era. A few consider it proper to commence it at the opening of de- position of the now well known Lafayette formation. A few others, the writer included, would date it from the close of the Lafayette epoch of aggradation in the coastal plain and Mis- sissippi embayment regions. But the larger number of geolo- gists are accustomed to refer its beginning only as far back as the first marked extension of land ice in North America and Europe, namely, to the opening of the Kansan epoch. It is the purpose of this paper to defend, if possible, the intermediate proposition. The Quaternary era, as limited by many geologists, was characterized by a great extension of land ice in the form of broad névés passing into and bordered by vast glaciers. As known from their effects, these masses of glacial ice were of great extent, covering at their maximum expansion millions of square miles of the northern temperate zone, and having great development on other parts of the earth’s surface, nota- bly in the southern portion of South America, and on nearly all high mountain ranges even under the equator. But be- tween the several maxima of cold, producing and in part pro- duced by these glaciers, there seem to have been climatic periods of comparative mildness. These are commonly known as interglacial epochs because the deposits which belong to them are frequently found interbedded with those which are due to direct ice action, and also because they separated the several epochs whose most characteristic condition was glacia- tion. But the interglacial epochs were longer than the alter- nate glacial epochs, so that in point of time, the Quaternary 1897.] Lhe Inferior Boundary of the Quaternary Era. 105 era, even considered as synonymous with the term, “The Ice Age,” did not have glaciation as its predominating condition. In the light of modern discoveries in the later geologic history of Europe and America, the “ Glacial period ” becomes more figurative than real. Glaciation was the most remarkable and the most prominent feature of the Quaternary era, but its im- portance was not so great as to overshadow the claims of other natural conditions to the right of constituting the essential ele- ments in the definition and limitation of the era. It is the opinion of the present writer that the era whose early boundary is under discussion, was naturally set apart from all preceding time by a difference in climate, and toa less marked extent by a difference in fauna and flora; not so much by new species of animals and plants as by a different distribution of them. Just as the present climate differs from that of the Tertiaries so also differed the general Quaternary climate therefrom. We are, in fact, probably living under the normal conditions of the Quaternary era; at least there is no very important difference between the interglacial floral and faunal remains and those of the present time. But all of the various lines of research into the conditions prevalent in the Tertiary era, combine to demonstrate that its climate, in any given geographic district, was somewhat milder than in the same locality at the present time. It is the time of change from the mild Tertiary climate to the somewhat colder Quater- nary climate that I would consider as the most natural and, therefore, the most convenient divisional line between the two eras. In endeavoring to fix this time of climatic transition by means of the effects produced, we are confronted by the imper- fection of the geological record. A large part of the interval between the time of pronounced Tertiary mildness and early Quaternary severity, was occupied by conditions not favoring the preservation of organic remains, namely, by an elevated condition of the land and rapid erosion. Hence, we are reduced to the necessity of theoretically deducing the most probable cause of such a general change in climate, and then endeavoring to fix by evidence, if possible, the time when said cause or causes came into operation. 106 The American Naturalist. [February, EAH G LThe general climate of any portion of the earth’s surface is determined by latitude, i. e., by the amount of heat received from the sun. But there are other influences which combine to modify the climate of any given locality. The most im- portant are the extent and position of the bodies of land, the heighth and trend of mountain ranges, and the relation be- tween ocean and air currents. If all these conditions remain un- changed fora very long period, no great diversity of climate will effect the locality. But any disturbing influence, destroying the relations between the conditions mentioned must, in rerum nature, effect the climate of the entire earth toa certain extent. Of strictly terrestrial causes there are none so potent to bring about this result as great earth movements, changing the rela- tion between the continents and seas, thus modifying the ocean currents, and by presenting barriers in the form of high mountain ranges, interfering with the courses of the prevailing winds. In view of the fact that astronomical causes of the changes of geologic climates are not capable of practical demon- stration, while the terrestrial or land movement theory not only is capable of such proof, but already such evidence has been collected to indicate at least a time relation between the main land disturbances and the most important climatic changes, I shall consider only the latter hypothesis in the pres- ent discussion. If the peninsula of Florida were uplifted several thousand feet into a high narrow plateau, and then dissevered by the erosion of deep valleys into separate mountain peaks and ridges, the present warm temperate and subtropical flora and fauna would largely disappear. With the production of a rocky sea-cliff about its borders and the destruction of the swamps and marshes, the palmetto and alligator, each the most characteristic portion of the Floridian flora and fauna, would be eliminated; forced to migrate or become extinct, With them would go the destruction of many other animals and plants. The geologist who would make a study of the region one million years hence, would find such a great con- trast in the fossil remains enclosed in the strata laid down near the coast now and those after the uplift, that he would be con- 1897.] The Inferior Boundary of the Quaternary Era. 107 strained to refer them to separate periods in his geologic clas- sification. Yet the climate and natural history conditions of the rest of the earth’s surface may have remained unchanged, so that his divisions, based on the changes in Florida, would be of merely local significance. But if the uplift, instead of being confined to the peninsula of Florida, were of continental extent, its effects would be far reaching and very important. With the extension of the land area, there would be an increase of the distinctly interior por- tion of the continent, whose climate, slightly different from that of the coasts, would have an appreciable effect on the flora and land fauna of the present coastal regions. The eleva- tion of the continent, also, would lower the general tempera- ture throughout its extent, driving southward the present north border of various temperate species of trees and other plants, and so changing the facies of the flora in any given locality. Such elevation of a very extensive land area, if thousands of feet in height, would have some effect on the climate of the entire earth, although just what this effect would be would depend largely upon the situation of the uplifted land with relation to the prevailing winds and ocean currents. But the most important manner in which the uplift would effect the natural history of the continent would be through radical changes of its soil and physical features. The low-ly- ing, somewhat swampy plain, with its deep soil resulting from a long accumulation of the products of secular decay, would give place to a sharply dissected plateau, the steep hill sides and narrow crests of its individual ridges covered but thinly with a stony soil. While the effect upon the flora and fauna of any one change in conditions would probably be compara- tively slight, the combined effect of all must be considerable, even if the uplift be but little. Indeed, it seems evident that not even the least change in the relation between land and sea can occur without somehow effecting the climate, and through it the life characters of the region in movement. In an article entitled “The Relation between Baseleveling and Organic Eyolution,! J. B. Woodworth discusses “ the effect, * American Geologist, Vol. XIV, No. 4, October, 1894. 108 The American Naturalist. [February,. on organisms, of the changes in physical geography which arise in the process of baseleveling.” One of his most im- portant conclusions is that the great change at the close of the Mesozoic era, from a characteristically reptilian to an equally characteristic mammalian land fauna, was due primarily to the great change in the physical features of the continent which is known to have closed the Cretaceous and introduced the Eocene period. The low-lying denudation plain of the later Mesozoic era was rapidly changed into the more elevated hilly land surface of the early Tertiary era. Toward the clos- ing stages of Tertiary time, a peneplain had again been formed over a large portion of the continent, but it was not so perfect nor so extended as the previous one, and, hence, its. effect upon organic life was less marked. The main Tertiary or Tennesseean period of base-leveling in the eastern portion of North America was terminated by a slight seaward tilting of the continental plateau. A portion of the former land area was depressed beneath the sea, and om it was laid down a marine formation of red and orange grav- elly loam—the Lafayette formation. The land on the alterna- tive side of the axis of general deformation was slightly up- lifted, thereby stimulating the streams to greater activity, which carried the products of rock disintegration into the neighboring sea to form the Lafayette formation. The soil and subsoil of the land area of that time were prevailingly of a red color, for had it been otherwise the Lafayette formation would not be so generally of that tint. Red soils are charac- teristic of lands whose climate is comparatively mild. The soils of the central and upper Mississippi basin, from whence chiefly was derived the red Lafayette loam of the Mississippi embayment region, are not known to have been of a decided reddish tint in the Quaternary era, except locally during the mild Aftonian interglacial epoch. On the contrary, the col- ors which almost exclusively dominate the deposits and buried soils of the Quaternary era are blue, yellow, brown and black. The fineness of tho materials introduced by glaciation, the broad swampy flats, and the usually severe winter climate were the combined causes of the dark color of the Quaternary 1897.] The Inferior Boundary of the Quaternary Era. 109 soils. None of these conditions were present in any marked degree during the Lafayette period, as the color and composi- tion of the marine deposits and interior river gravels positively demonstrate. The causes which produced glaciation not yet having begun to operate on the continent, the extension of the warm gulf waters to the head of the Mississippi embayment and the borders of the southern Appalachian province, must have in- troduced a milder climate into the upper and central portions. of the Mississippi basin, providing no counteracting influences. were brought to bear. The probable slight elevation of the continent northward from the Lafayette coast certainly did not possess sufficient power to modify the climate to any ap- preciable extent. Therefore, it seems evident that any change of climate in the eastern half of the territory now included in the United States, which may have accompanied the opening and culminating stages of the Lafayette epoch, must have been in the nature of increasing mildness instead of an increase in the severity of the climate. In short, so far as the climate is- concerned, all the evidence which is at present known to exist is demonstrative of the practical continuance of Tertiary con- ditions to the close of the Lafayette epoch. Hence, those geologists who wish to include the Lafayette epoch under the Quaternary era, must base their claims on some other natural feature than climate. Mere earth movement, if its effects are not prominent, cannot be considered as instituting a new era, and, as the elevation of any part of America or the world at large in the Lafayette epoch is not known to have been great in vertical extent, and to have seriously effected climates, 1t- can hardly constitute a legitimate reason for placing the epoch in the Quaternary era. Immediately following the close of the Lafayette epoch there Was a period of pronounced elevation of the continent. This is indicated by the valleys which have been eroded beneath the surface of the Lafayette deposits, by the great depth of the coastal valleys now submerged to form the fiords of the coasts of British America, Alaska, Scotland, Norway, Patagonia and other portions of the earth’s land area; and no less truly 110 The American Naturalist. [February, though less definitely by the cafion valleys of the interior por- tions of the North American continent. The period of high- level continued to the opening of the Kansan epoch of glacia- tion, when, through some cause not rightly understood, but probably largely the great weight of the accumulating ice- sheet, the land in the eastern half of North America was de- pressed, and has remained to the present time at a much lower altitude than before the Kansan epoch. The high-level period or epoch just mentioned, seems naturally set apart both from the preceding low-level Lafayette epoch and the succeeding low-level Glacial epochs. It has, therefore, been defined as a geologic time unit and designated the Ozarkian epoch, from the fact that its results are so well seen in the sharp cut cafion valleys of the Ozark mountain and plateau regions of southern Missouri and northern Arkansas. Although commonly considered as a unit, the Ozarkian high-level epoch was probably characterized by two main ele- vatory movements. The first began and ended at and very soon after the opening of the epoch, and was of great areal ex- tent but not very marked vertical movement. To it, however, may be traced nearly all the recognized effects of the Ozarkian high-level condition of eastern North America. The second decided disturbance of the earth’s equilibrium seems to have occurred very nearly at the end of the epoch. It was some- what local in nature and effected most the northeastern por- tion of America, (and probably all the lands surrounding the North Atlantic). I must acknowledge that Iam basing my claims for this elevatory movement on somewhat slender evi- dence. But the deep, narrow, now submerged valley channels in the border portions of the continental plateau off the mouths of such rivers as the Delaware and Hudson, certainly were not in process of excavation during the whole or even any large part of the Ozarkian epoch. They must be the result of a special elevation near the close of the epoch. And, further, the cafion valleys of the Mississippi basin sometimes have rock shelves buried under the present valley bottom. Often these rock shelves cannot be explained by any inequality of the strata excavated, but seem to indicate a renewed period of up- 1897.] The Inferior Boundary of the Quaternary Era. 111 lift near the close of the epoch. I may also add that those who, like the present writer, are inclined to find between the preglacial high-level of the eastern part of North America and the immediately succeeding glaciation a relation somewhat like cause and effect, see nothing at all improbable in the idea of a marked, comparatively rapid, local uplift of the regions afterwards glaciated. The Ozarkian epoch, as already indicated, was terminated by the accumulation of the Kansan ice-sheet and the conse- quent depression of much of the land formerly elevated. It is here that most geologists wish to open a new era in the earth’s geological history. There are, I believe, a number of objections to it. Inthe first place, glaciation, although effect- ing millions of square miles, was yet local when the entire land area of the globe is taken into consideration. Beyond the districts actually glaciated, it is often very difficult to ac- curately locate in a series of “ effects” those which are chron- ologic equivalents of the opening of the Kansan epoch. A marked elevation of wide extent would, by reason of its hav- ing an observable effect on the streams of the disturbed area, and thereby modifying to a certain extent the erosion forms produced, be of vastly more utility in establishing a natural classification of time than a local accumulation of land ice. Furthermore, we have no evidence of any great change in climate, and hence in flora and fauna in the unglaciated dis- tricts at the opening of the Kansan epoch. Certainly the tem- perate species of animals and plants were driven away from the near vicinity of the ice, but to what distance we cannot say. Indeed, there is no probability that the change in the natural history conditions of regions not close to the great Quaternary glaciers at the opening of the Kansan epoch, was nearly as radical as that which must have resulted upon the withdrawal of the sea to beyond the present coasts and the general continental uplift and peneplain dissection which characterized the early stages of the Ozarkian epoch. If change of climate, of the physical features of continents, and of the geographic distribution of faunas and floras be accepted as the prime essentials in establishing a new era, the opening 112 The American Naturalist. [February, of the Ozarkian epoch has superior claims over the opening -of the Kansan epoch. The great geological eras are demarked by widespread un- conformities and a radical change in sediment. As every effect has had a cause adequate to produce it, it may be as- sumed that these breaks in the sedimentary series were cor- related with and directly dependent upon great changes of the ‘land areas, usually of continental and often of almost world- wide extent. These changes were of the nature of great earth pulsations, uplifting and depressing the continental plateaux, -and, when the contraction of the earth’s crust was very severe, corrugating it and even, at times, fracturing it along certain lines of weakness. The new geological era thus instituted is usually considered to date from the time that the disturbance first assumed prominence, modifying the flora and fauna of the land areas and the nature of the sediment deposited in the -sea about their borders. In short, it may be considered a rule that the natural opening event of the eras previous to the ‘Quaternary as at present constituted, was a profound distur- bance of the earth’s equilibrium, and it does not seem to the writer that this rule should be set aside in subdividing the later geological history. Therefore, convenience and the need of a classification based strictly upon natural conditions, seem to demand that the Ozarkian epoch should be included under ‘the term Quaternary era. If we accept the above proposed innovation on the gener- ally accepted scheme of geologic time divisions, we are con- strained to reconstruct the previously established Quaternary classification. For it will soon become evident that the time of Ozarkian high-level of the continent deserves more than 4 mere recognition as an epoch equivalent in significance to any one of the succeeding glacial or interglacial epochs. It was pre-eminently a time of comparatively elevated conditions of the land without glaciation. Succeeding it was a period chat- acterized by alternating glacial and non-glacial conditions, rapid epeirogenic movements, repeated migrations of faunas and floras, but no long continued high-level conditions. In point of time the former or Ozarkian period or epoch was by 1897.] The Inferior Boundary of the Quaternary Era. 113 far the longer. This is graphically illustrated by the vast dif- ference in the amount of valley erosion accomplished during the two periods. Although the glacial epochs are usually con- sidered to have been accompanied by increased precipitation and other favorable conditions for rapid erosion, the valleys then excavated are quite insignificant as compared with the ] 3 2 Modern Epoch—Flood plain deposition. D = g S Pe Terrace Epoch—Valley erosion. Wisconsin Epoch—Drift deposition. z — m Toronton ? Epoch— Valley erosion. i E > ` ; e 3 z 3 Iowan Epoch—Drift deposition. eee ee 3 S| See i ; : © © Aftonian Epoch—Valley erosion. =] : Q 8 2 Kansan Epoch—Drift deposition. A 28 fz 2 Ozarkian Epoch—Valley erosion. as Ozarkian valleys. More erosion was accomplished in certain districts during the Aftonian interglacial epoch than during the combined Kansan, Iowa, Toronton ? and Wisconsin epochs. Yet the Aftonian rock gorges never approach in size the ‘Ozarkian valleys of the same region. In fact, any one who has studied the Ozarkian valleys of the southern Appalachian, the Ozark and the upper Mississippi regions, and compared them with the results of post-Kansan erosion in such districts as western Illinois and northern Missouri cannot fail to be im- pressed with the fact that the time which has elapsed between 114 The American Naturalist. [February, the close of the Lafayette epoch and the opening of the Kan- san epoch was longer than all the time since. If we do not adopt any very large factor of safety, the known evidence will imply a length of time for the Ozarkian period twice and, per- haps, thrice as great as all subsequent time. Therefore, by reason of its length and other features in some respects pecu- liar to it, the Ozarkian period, or more properly sub-period, may be considered co-ordinate with the Glacial sub-period, the two to constitute approximately equal divisions of the Pleisto- cene period as in the table on page 113. THE POCKET, OR POUCHED GOPHER. (Geomys bursarius.) By CLEMENT L. WEBSTER.’ In passing over the beautiful prairies of the west, especially in portions of Iowa and southern Minnesota, the attention of the “traveler is arrested by the great number of isolated or grouped mounds, which are seen over the surface. Fic, 1. Geomys bursarius. These mounds are generally circular, and have a rounded or flattened top; and a diameter, at the base, of from four to twenty feet; and usually rise to a height of from one to three feet. 1 Charles City, Iowa. : i ‘sniapsing shwoay j 3 (repay? settee š 27 ah y, 2 y 4d) Fu yuan” aye Seer e A ” s a J eT 4 tet ‘Linh pid: i) ó P ~ s oE RE y > ry : N: / ore, ics å i A i a ASS Aa , fe b 3 & i 7 4 (i ae : iy if nit j - ; m 2 at OF uf BETZA SAAS LAAL pri AA Uf Ssh r TS CON PA r ? wind? tj É f A 2 “4 Pet Z; ORN bi ERE rD iee 4 His f P, tiig feed", n U uyd A IDEA 4 GA aps ty wed ee 2: a hog es es H bh! Ie, ‘= A a te a $ iis j MALL Peg 4a " p Uh I 4 (iy Le f nxt RAY ` i IA ALV Id 1897.] The Pocket, or Pouched Gopher. 115 Although the marginal outline of these mounds are usually circular, still, some of them are oblong, or have a gently flow- ing contour. These mounds are isolated from five rods to one mile from one another, or are closely and irregularly grouped, or arranged in rude circles, semicircles, or even straight lines. In some instances, we have counted as many as sixteen of these mounds in an area containing about two acres. The locations of these mounds are exclusively in the prairie regions, and may be found on either high and dry, or on low and rather moist land. In Iowa and Minnesota, where I have devoted considerable study to these “ peculiar mounds,” they may be seen for many miles over the level prairies. By far the greater number of these mounds owe their origin to the Pocket Gopher, (Geomys bursarius), which, year by year made additions to them by the dirt brought forth in the exten- sion of their underground channels, until they finally assumed the proportions now seen. Fic. 2. Geomys bursarius. Upon the death of the animal, or for some other cause, these mounds, and channels, were finally abandoned, and the 9 116 The American Naturalist. [February, mounds left to be taken possession of by the indigenous plants of the region, which are always, under such circumstances, of much ranker growth than is usual under other conditions. Although I have been a resident of Iowa for more than twenty-eight years, yet comparatively few of the mounds under consideration have been reared by these Rodents during that time. The question may arise: If nearly all these structures (which are very numerous) are the works of Geomys bursarius, why are there so very few of them in process of erection to-day. To this query, we conceive of but one or two satisfactory replies; and thisis: In the somewhat remote past, this species reached its culmination, or greatest expansion, in the regions under consideration ; and that to-day witnesses its final decline; or else, that for an indefinite time in the past, this animal was a resident here, the mounds witnessing to their long abode, and upon the advent of the white settlers and the breaking up of the wild prairie lands, its mound-building propensities, or habits, was, to a considerable extent, modified. Instead of erecting these great mounds to-day, this animal usually throws up little hillocks of earth, as described farther on in this paper. One instance of what I may call the early mound-build- ing propensity of this animal, was observed some years ago by the writer on his fathers farm near Rockford, Iowa. First there was thrown up a small hillock of the usual size and appearance; and this was added to year by year (appar- ently by the same animal) until a conical mound three and one half feet in height and perhaps five feet in diameter at the base, was reared; when for some cause the animal ceased to work here. In this instance several small mounds or hillocks were seen in the vicinity. In fig. 1 is shown a sketch of this conical mound as last seen by the writer. Some of the early writers on this subject have supposed that the great mounds of the prairies referred to, represent the ruins of ancient “muskrat houses” the builders of which existed 1897.] The Pocket, or Pouched Gopher. 117 here when the country was far wetter than now—in fact when the country was almost one great “slough.” Others believe them to be the “ burial mounds of the In- dians;” while still others of these writers attribute their origin to various causes. In Fig. 2 is given a sectional view (and it conveys a good general idea of internal structure of nearly all of them) of one of these mounds as explored by the writer. In nearly all cases the old, and sometimes recent, nests of this animal is found in the large expansions of the burrows in the mounds; with sometimes the decayed remains of stored food. In a few cases it has been found that this animal has in recent times, taken up its abode in these mounds and here reared its young. In one case, in 1895, near Rockford, Iowa, there was found in one of these mounds what was pronounced to be human bones, by a Physician at Rockford. As to the correctness of this identification, however, I am un- able to state, not having personally examined the relics. If, however, they were undoubted human bones, they then simply represent an intrusive Indian burial here during the early days of the country. As a general rule, no small hillocks are thrown up by the Pocket Gopher, or seen near, the large mounds herein treated of. The Pocket Gopher is usually considered a great pest; although not altogether because of the quantity of grain, etc., eaten. They do not often destroy much grain by eating it, though they not infrequently get into a shock of wheat or barley and ‘eat the heads of a few bundles and cut the bands of many others, and raise little hillocks in the shocks, from seven to fourteen inches in height and ten to twenty inches in diameter. Considerable damage is done by this animal in gardens, both by eating the vegetables and covering many others with their mounds of earth. “ When their holes run through a hill of 118 The American Naturalist. [February, potatoes, they always clean out the hill.” “Sometimes they do noticeable damage in a patch of potatoes.” ? The greatest damage done by this Gopher, however, is in covering small grain and grass with the earth they throw from their holes; the injury done in this way, is, in some sections, considerable. During the latter part of March (1889), I counted, near Rock- ford, Iowa, ninety hills, from five to nine inches in height and | one to three feet in diameter, thrown up by these Gophers in a field of Clover and Timothy. These mounds were all located in an area four by five rods in extent. Their channels are at times quite straight for some distance ; but most usually they frequently bifercate, or are somewhat tortuous. Little hillocks, averaging from five to eight quarts of earth each, are brought to the surface, along the line of work, at irre- gular intervals; the distance between them varying from twelve inches to five feet. At other times only a single hillock will be observed in the vicinity ; the animal filling the burrow behind him as he pursues his nocturnal way. lf any channel be opened, which has even been closed for a long period, it will most usually be filled again very soon, by the Gopher; thus showing that, generally, all the underground galleries are frequently traversed by their inhabitant. The burial mounds of the prehistoric inhabitants of lowa, are frequently taken possession of by these Rodents, and the bones of the interred often gnawed ; thus giving rise to the sup- position, in the minds of some, that this evidences to the canni- balistic habits of the originators of these monuments. This species lays up large stores of food for winter, such as corn, wheat, buckwheat, and other grains, as well as roots and stems — of weeds, which are usually cut up into short pieces. i The store of food laid up, is generally much greater than 18 used. Under straw-stacks, on western farms, where the soil is not frozen, this Gopher sometimes works all winter. It is stated by Mr. Bailey (Joc. cit.) that “ Pocket Gophers work mostly by night.” So far as my personal observations extend, ? Vernon Bailey, U. S. Agricultural Report, 1887,p. 448. 1897.] The Pocket, or Pouched Gopher. 119 however, it is shown that fully as great an amount of work is done by this animal during the day, especially in the early morning, as is done at night. It is also observed by the same author, that “in the spring many of them leave their holes and travel above ground.” In only two cases do I recollect having observed this animal traveling in this way. In one instance (during an open winter) an individual of this species was found by me traveling through the snow in February. At another time, an individual was observed (dur- ing a cold winter) traveling aimlessly about over the deep snows, during the latter part of February or the first of March. In both cases, these Gophers were observed near Rockford, Iowa. Dr. C. Hart, Merriam, chief of the Division of Ornithology and Mammalogy of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, whose exhaustive and attractive works on the Pocket Gophers and other subjects in natural history entitles his statements to the highest consideration, says, regarding the general belief exist- ing that the Pocket Gopher use their cheek pouches to “ cart dirt” from their burrow’s. ‘These cheek pouches are used exclusively in carrying food, and notin carting dirt as is often erroneously supposed.” (See p.17; North American Fauna ; “Monographical Revision of the Pocket Gophers).” Mr. Vernon Bailey, another eminent naturalist of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, says, regarding the same subject. “ Although it is commonly supposed that the pouches are used for carrying dirt out of the holes, the fact is they are never used for this purpose. “In examining the pockets of more than a hundred specimens caught in traps I could find no evidence that they had been filled with earth. Occasionally specks of dirt from roots clung to the hairy inner surfaces, nothing more. If the pouches had been filled with earth, the short hairs would inevitably retain some of it. Furthermore, Gophers shot in the very act of pushing dirt from their holes had none in their 3 The statements of this author are doubtless eminently correct, when applied to the species in the region he had under consideration (Elk River, Sherburne County, Minnesota); although apparently not applicable to the same species in the regions considered in this paper: 120 The American Naturalist. [February, pouches.” (See p. 15, Bulletin, No. 5, “The Pocket Gophers of the United States).” : The writer has, however, on several occasions in northern Iowa, observed this animal (Geomys bursarius), to carry dirt out of its burrow in its cheek pouches, and eject it in exactly the same manner as Dr. Merriam describes their method of empty- ing their cheek pouches of food, which is as follows: The fore feet are brought back simultaneously along the sides of the head until they had reached a point opposite the hinder end of the pouches; they are then pressed firmly against the head and carried forward. “In this ways the contents of the pouches are promptly dumped in front of the animal.” (See p. 19, Monographical Revision of the Pocket Gophers.) This action of the fore feet is also apparently accompanied by some muscular action of the cheek pouches themselves. This act of carrying dirt in the cheek pouches, I have person- ally observed, and several times killed the animal while in the very act, and have with my own hands completed the opera- tion. I am not, however, prepared to say that this is really a constant habit of this species in northern Iowa. It seems scarcely possible that so high authorities and keen observers as Dr. Merriam and Mr. Bailey should be deceived in their observations of the habits of this species in this respect in the regions they have studied; so we may consider their statements when applied to those regions, as eminently correct. PHOTOGRAPHING CEDAR BIRDS. By Dr. R. W. SHUFELDT. It is now over five years ago since the writer in THE AMER- 1cAN NATURALIST invited the attention of photographers to the value to science of first-class photographs of living animals, taken in natural attitudes, so that they could be used as study- models for artists and taxidermists.!. Since contributing that 1 SHUFELDT, R. W. Where young amateur photographers can be of assistance to Science. THE AMERICAN NATURALIST, V. XXV, No. 295, Phila., July, 1891, pp. 626-630. Plate XIII, Figure 1. 1897.] Photographing Cedar Birds. 121 article, and during the intervening period, not a little of my time has been spent in perfecting methods by means of which serviceable photographs could be made of the class of subjects just mentioned. Most of these experiments, however, were made last summer, and, upon the whole, with a degree of suc- cess far beyond my most sanguine hopes and expectations. From living specimens,and with the animals for the most part life size, in natural attitudes, and with natural surroundings, there have been obtained by me excellent photographic pic- tures of Opossums; White-footed Mouse (Peromyscus leucopus), in the act of jumping; Turkey Buzzard (life size head); nest and two young of Icteria virens (life size); also the same of Prairie Wabbler; Indigo Bird; Wood Thrush (Turdus mus- telinus); Chipping Sparrow; Cat-birds; Red-eyed Vireo; sev- eral woodpeckers (mostly life size) ; various species of bats (life size); many snakes, lizards, hylas and toads; bumble-bee and flowers; and others too numerous to mention. Many of my photographs, too, not in this list, have been published, and ap- peared in various places. My success with some of the birds was extremely gratifying, and I have succeeded not only in obtaining many beautiful pictures, but likewise a number that are in my opinion more truthful portraits of their subjects than any of the ordinary illustrations we usually see of them in zoological works and text-books. Early last summer I had in my possession a pair of living Cedar Birds, and they were most gentle and remarkably tame. One of them is still mine, and is kept in a large cage in order that I may study the moult in that species, which process it is at this writing (October 11, 1896) passing through. During July, I also had a pair of nestling Cedar Birds, at the age they quit the nest. With these, as well as with the adults, I made many photographic studies. In my studio I obtained a fine, life size picture of the male, in a most animated attitude; the pair was also obtained, and were equally satisfactory. Out of doors the operation is far more difficult, and the effort to secure the young was rewarded with but partial success, while in taking the adults under nearly the same conditions, a much 122 The American Naturalist. ` [February, better result was obtained. When I say nearly the same conditions, I mean that the young were attempted out in the open, were nothing obstructed the rays of the afternoon sun; while the old birds were tried in a piece of woods, where the light was nicely moderated by the shade of the trees. Itisa reproduction (by the half-tone process) of this last picture that I desire to bring before the reader in connection with the present contribution. It was secured in the middle of the fore- noon of a bright summer’s day, under the following general conditions, to wit: by means of a large sheet of buff-colored blotting-paper the view was cut off beyond a'small branch of poplar; this latter was next focused upon, and the camera made steady; next, the pair of birds were allowed to alight upon the limb at that part of it seen upon the camera’s ground- glass. With closed shutter, and sensitive plate ready for an exposure, the proper moment must now be intently watched for, and with the pneumatic bulb in your hand, absolutely nothing must distract your attention, if you have any hope of obtaining a picture worthy of the name. Observe the light most closely ; see to it that there is not a breath of air moving when you are ready to expose; make no sudden movements whatever, or your birds may, and likely will, quit the limb; let them become accustomed to their surroundings; and, finally, let your patience be absolutely inexhaustible. Thus it was I stood when I made the exposure—the male bird quietly as- sumed the attitude seen in the plate; while the female, with her back towards me, extended her neck to its fullest length (in that peculiar way these birds have), and slightly moved her right wing to avoid the annoyance of a couple of leaves that touched her shoulder. The diaphragm had but an eighth of an inch aperture, and the time was two seconds. One of the most difficult things to control in the out-of-door photography of small, wild animals is the light. It is not only the black, shiny bills of birds and backs of beetles that will take pure white, if they get the full benefit of the sun’s rays during the exposure, but many other structures will produce the same un- desirable result. Before I had much experience with this tricky factor I met with many disappointments, and ruined upon one a 1897, The Bacterial Diseases of Plants: 123 occasion nearly an entire box of the best plates in my endeavor to secure a picture of a pair of nestling Pewees (Contopus virens) in their nest. In the pictures the birds looked as though they had been snowed on. Cutting off the light from above in a later attempt rectified this defect. One good way to study the effect of the light, is upon the ground glass of the camera, when the subject has been carefully focused upon it—and I think it will be found a safe rule in many cases to make the exposure when a light cloud partially veils the sun’s face. All such matters, however, can only be gained by experience ; and to pass through this, the best of all schooling, one must be pre-armed with an enormous stock of the best kind of patience, with a slight reserve fund of the same article on hand in the event of a run upon the original supply. The picture of the Cedar Birds taken in this way is repro- duced in Plate I, January number of the NATURALIST. THE BACTERIAL DISEASES OF PLANTS: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE PRESENT STATE OF OUR KNOWLEDGE. | By Davik F. Smit. (Continued from p. 41.) VI. Ill. THE POTATO (SOLANUM TUBEROSUM L.) 1. THE GAS-FORMING WET-ROT OF THE TUBERS (1891). (1) THE DISEASE: (1) Author, Title of Paper, Place of Publication, ete.—This dis- ease was studied by Dr. Ernst Kramer in 1890-91. His paper, entitled (40) Bakteriologische Untersuchungen über die Nassfäule 124 The American Naturalist. — [February,. der Kartoffelknollen may be found in Oesterreichisches landwirts- chaftliches Centralblatt, Jahrg. I, Heft 1, 1891, pp. 11-26, 2 text figures. 3 The rot of the potato has been known to the agriculturist for a long time and was described by Julius Kühn as early as. 1830. Since that time it has been noticed or written upon ex- tensively by many persons, e. g., de Bary, Hallier, Reinke and Berthold, van Tieghem, Sorauer. For a time owing chiefly to- the writings of de Bary, its ravages were confounded, especially in the popular mind, with those due to the potato mildew, Phy- tophthora infestans, but it has no necessary connection with this fungus although in Europe, at least, it usually follows the ` latter. Prior to Dr. Kramer’s investigation the organism as- sociated with the rot was usually considered to be Bacillus amylobacter van Tiegh. and this was supposed to be the same as the Vibrion butyrique of Pasteur, Bacterium navicula Reinke and Berthold, Amylobacter clostridium Trécul, Bacillus butyricus de Bary and Clostridium butyricum Prazm., but no one had ap- proached the problem from a purely bacteriological standpoint using approved methods of isolation and inoculation. The object of the author in undertaking this series of experi- ments was to determine first of all whether the wet rot was actually due to bacteria and, if so, how they gained entrance into the tuber; second, to identify the species and determine its morphological and biological peculiarities; third, to deter- mine what decompositions it was capable of producing in the potato and in other substrata. Owing, says Dr. Kramer, to the fact that several bacteria cause the butyric fermentation and several color blue with iodine and agree in morphological par- ticulars more or less closely with Clostridium butyricum Prazm- (Bacillus butyricus de Bary) “ it appears still very questionable whether the specific cause of the wet rot is C. butyricum Prazm., especially as the predicated cause was not studied critically in relation to its morphology and biology by the above named investigators [Reinke and Berthold, yan Tieghem, Sorauer].” (2) Geographical Distribution—Potato rot occurs in many parts of the world, in fact almost wherever the potato is cultiv- 1897.] The Bacterial Diseases of Plants : 125 ated, but by no means all of it is due to the particular organ- ism isolated by Dr. Kramer, as the writer of this review has proved conclusively (see next review). Considering the read- iness with which almost all bacteria grow upon cooked potatoes it seems not unlikely that even in its natural state the potato tuber may offer a suitable nidus for the growth of a variety of bacteria especially when it is kept unduly warm and moist. However, this may be, only two bacterial diseases of the potato have been worked out conclusively. The distribution of Dr. Kramer’s wet rot of the potato is not known. Very likely it occurs in North America as well as in Europe but no one has established this fact, probably because no one hassearched for the organism, his paper having been very generally overlooked. Even the European distribution of this rot is a matter of much doubt as it has probably been confused with the brown rot due to Bacillus solanacearwm. The potatoes from which were derived the bacteria used in these experiments came from the vicinity of Graz where the wet rot was very destructive in the autumn of 1890. (3) Symptoms.—Under the influence of this disease the con- tents of the tuber becomes soft, pulpy, vile-smelling, and usually of a yellowish color. The disease may either attack the tubers before they are harvested or during the winter in the store houses. If one of these wet rotten tubers is pricked or squeezed a fluid pours out which hasa strongly acid reaction and a very bad smell, mostly like butyric acid. Gas bubbles are also fre- quent. The remaining pulp, which is rather compact, gives an alkaline reaction either immediately or after a short time. This reaction is plainest in the tissues which have already be- come completely pulpy. At the commencement of the de- struction of the potato while the tissue is still firm, the reac- tion is moderately acid. The tubers forwarded to Dr. Kramer for investigation pos- sessed all the above mentioned characteristics of wet rot. They still had a plump look. The skin was apparently uninjured but the whole potato was a bloated sack with a yellow ichor- ous contents. When punctured a very bad smelling, sour fluid escaped. The smell recalled butyric acid and amin bases 126 The American Naturalist. [February, (trimethylamin). In some cases the escaping juice as well as the remaining pulp gave at first an acid reaction and subse- quently an alkaline reaction. (4) Pathological Histology—Under the microscope the fluid pulp appeared to be composed of starch grains, single cells of the potato, or groups of such cells, fragments of cell walls, rem- nants of protoplasm, and countless numbers of bacteria, chiefly in the form of bacilli, These measured 1.5-5.0 x 0.8, and were actively motile. Frequently they appeared as though composed of non-septate threads, or were in chains. The single rods were rounded at the ends, while not rarely the longer threads appeared to be narrowed toward the extremity (zugespitzt). Ellipsoidal forms, 1x2, appeared regularly among these bacilli. A roundish, strongly refractive body was visible in the protoplasm of these ellipsoidal forms. This represented the beginning of spore formation, as was shown by later and more exact investigation. (5) Direct Infection Experiments.—No direct infections. (II) Tue organism: Described as a bacillus but not named. I have been in the habit of calling this organism Kramer’s potato bacillus, and until such time as it can be re-studied and carefully compared with other gas and acid producing species it is probably best that it should remained unnamed. Some critical student of the species is certainly the only one who has any right to name it. We have had altogether too much of naming things without study, i. e. on the strength of the im- perfect descriptions of other writers. 1. Pathogenesis : (A) Yes. (B) Yes. This was accomplished in the following manner. Wet rotten tubers having the skin still uninjured were cut open with sterilized knives and small quan- tities of the fluid pulp were transferred by means of a sterilized platinum loop into flasks closed by cotton plugs and half full of distilled, sterilized water, which was then well shaken to distribute the bacteria. To obtain a proper dilution definite quantities of this 10- fected water were transferred to similar flasks, each 1897.] 8 The Bacterial Diseases of Plants: 127 half full of sterilized water. From these second dilu- tions, the inoculations were made. The bacteria were isolated by the poured plate method, dextrose-pep- tone, nutrient gelatine being first used as asubstratum, and subsequently nutrient glycerine agar which proved very satisfactory. - Yes. The method of infection was as follows. The bacillus was first cultivated in a variety of fluid media until a suitable one was found. A watery potato juice with the addition of 1-2 per cent dextrose was finally selected as most suitable, the bacillus develop- ing better in this than in any other medium. This broth was made as follows: Fresh potatoes were reduced to pulp and digested for some hours in cold water. The fluid was then filtered out and the dex- trose added. The filtrate was then boiled, filtered again, and finally sterilized in the ordinary way under cotton plugs. A series of glass dishes (Präpar- atengläsern), about 8 cm. deep and 10 cm. broad, were filled half full of this broth. These dishes were closed by corks having a short, cotton-plugged glass tube passing through them. The vessels with the enclosed nutrient fluid were then sterilized by discontinuous heat. The potatoes to be tested were selected with great care, and their surface was sterilized as far as practicable in the following manner. These living tubers were first cleaned mechanically, then plunged for some minutes into a solution or mercuric chloride, and finally washed repeatedly in sterilized, distilled water. In this way some of the tubers (not all of them) were rendered completely sterile. The tubers were then placed in the sterilized broth in the glass. dishes, the mass of the fluid having been so chosen that when the sterilized tubers were in place they were entirely covered by the broth. The fluid was then inoculated with small quantities of the bacilli, derived from pure cultures, by removing the cotton plug from the glass tube for a moment and inserting 128 The American Naturalist. [February, the germs on the end of a sterilized platinum wire. The vessels were then placed in a brood oven at a temperature of 35°C. Within 12 hours the nutrient fluid became very turbid and began to give off gas bubbles rapidly. After 8 days three vessels were opened and the potatoes taken out. Tubers and broth were examined immediately. In places the skin of the tubers ex- hibited folds and the tissue underneath appeared to be soft. When these spots were cut out and examined microscopically the entire tissue was found to be honeycombed, the intercellular substance being strongly swollen or entirely dissolved, the cell mem- branes wholly or partially destroyed, and the starch grains free in places. After 14 days more vessels were opened and the potatoes removed. Under the skin of these tubers there were very soft spots and exact investigation showed that in these places the tissue was almost en- tirely destroyed so that great cavities were formed. The softened tissues surrounding these cavities gave a faint acid reaction and contained numerous bac- teria. Finally, after 20 days, the remainder of the potatoes were removed from the broth and examined. By this time the appearance of these tubers had entirely changed. They consisted only of bloated sacks filled with a half fluid pulp. Exactly as in case of the original wet rotten tubers the contents consisted of free starch grains, single cells and groups of cells, cell membranes, remnants of protoplasm, and myriads of bacteria. The fluid pulp gave a strongly acid re- action and had a smell like butyric acid. When such tubers were pressed, gas bubbles came out. Taken out of the nutrient fluid and kept in a damp chamber at 25°C., the tubers rapidly underwent a still further decay. After 12 hours the smell of butyric acid dis- appeared and the tissues showed a strong alkaline 1897.] (D) The Bacterial Diseases of Plants : 129 reaction, accompanied by a smell recalling ammonia and amin bases. Checks did not develop this rot. In sterile water they either remained sound for weeks or else, in case the skins were not thoroughly sterilized, contracted a different kind of decay, due chiefly to Bacillus fluore- scens. Yes. In case of the tubers which were in the fluid 8 days the softened spots contained large numbers of bacteria (bacilli), which, when critically examined, turned out to possess all the morphological and bio- logical characters of the bacteria obtained by pure cultures from the wet rotted potatoes, and from which the nutrient solutions had been inoculated. At the same time that the tubers were examined the solu- tions were subjected to an exact bacteriological inves- tigation. In two instances no other bacteria were found in them than the sort which had been put in purposely. In the third case, several other bacteria were present, indicating that the skin of the tuber had not been completely sterilized. In case of the tubers which remained in the fluid 14 days, the bacteria in the softened tissue around the cavities were isolated and found to be identical with those used for inoculating the fluid. In two cases also, only the inoculated form was obtained in cultures made from the nutrient fluid surrounding these tubers, and consequently there could be no doubt that the destruction of the tissues was due to these bacteria. Similar cultures were made from the tubers left in the broth 20 days, and with the same results. When cultivated out, the bacteria swarming in the rotten tubers proved to be morphologically and biologically ‘identical with the form originally inoculated into the nutrient solution in which the tuber lay, and from which alone the infection could result. In brief, the previously sound potatoes became infected and wet rotten as a result of the action of the bacteria intro- 130 The American Naturalist. (February, duced into the nutrient solution, and these bacteria. had been previously cultivated pure from wet rotten potatoes. Conclusion.—Pathogenic nature clearly established. Remark.—‘ The objection may perhaps be raised that the artificially induced wet rot, just described, did not begin with infection from without, i. e. from the nutrient solution, but that. bacteria were present in the apparently sound tissue of the potatoes used for the experiment, i. e. foci of infection dating from the harvest time, which later on with higher temperature and sufficient moisture, developed further. In opposition to this it may be stated, first, that the potatoes used in the experi- ment came from a locality in which, in previous years, wet rot had not appeared; and, second that the tissue of several of these potatoes was tested for the presence of bacteria, but always with negative results. The infection was also transmitted to sound tubers by puncturing them with a sterile platinum wire and then inserting into the stab a slight quantity of a bacter- ial, pure culture. These tubers were kept in a damp chamber at 35°C. The decay of the tuber, which always proceeded from the inoculation puncture, was identical with that of the wet rotten tubers. The wet rot of the potato tuber is, there- fore, nothing but a decomposition of the same induced by a particular species of bacteria. Sorauer, and van Tieghem per- formed similar experiments but these differ from my own in that the investigators I have mentioned worked neither with bacterial pure cultures nor with sterilized tubers and sterilized. nutrient fluids.” There is another objection which does not seem to have occurred to Dr. Kramer, viz., that the tubers which rotted were exposed to abnormal conditions. They were either submerged or placed in very moist air and quite likely deprived of their vitality through lack of aeration. They were also exposed to an unusually high temperature. Under these conditions,. which would occur in the potato fields only exceptionally as the result of exceedingly hot weather and of very frequent or very prolonged rains, possibly many other organisms, which are usually saprophytic, might enter and destroy the tubers,. 1897.] The Bacterial Diseases of Plants: 131 lying in the warm, wet earth. This seems to be established by Dr. Kramer’s own experiments (see last paragraph under (IT) 1 (C.). He has shown clearly that the species in question will produce wet rot, but not that many other species would not also produce it under like conditions. A much severer test of the parasitic nature of this organism would be the inoculation of the growing leaves and stems of the potato under normal conditions of temperature and moisture, simply by. means of needle pricks. Under these conditions it is possible the organism might be shorn of much of its power or refuse to grow altogether. The determination of this point offers an interesting field of experiment for some one. 2. Morphology : (1) Shape, size, ete.—This organism is described as a Bacillus. It forms rods 2.5-4.0 x 0.7-0.8 ». On gelatine and agar plates chains are common, as are also apparently non-septate threads which frequently reach a length of 16 ».and more. In nutrient fluids and on potato the rods are for the most part shorter, 7. e. 1.5 to 2.0 ». long. The rods are rounded at the ends. The threads taper off and are wavy. Spindle-shaped organisms could not be found. (2) Capsule—No mention of any capsule. (3) Flagella.—The rods are actively motile. No mention of flagella. (4) Spores.—Thicker, ellipsoidal forms occur in old cultures. These are 1.83 x 2.0. They have a strongly developed mem- brane and their plasma becomes differentiated and more strongly refractive. This is the commencement of spore formation. The mature spores fill the whole interior of the cell. (5) Zoogloea.—No mention of zooglæa. (6) Involution forms—No mention of any distorted forms. 3. Biology : by (1) Stains—The vegetative rods take all the common anilin stains, and the spores may be colored very prettily by Neisser’s method. : (2) Gelatin.—On plates of nutrient gelatin the organism forms dirty-white colonies, around the periphery of which the gelatin 10 132 The American Naturalist. [February, liquefies allowing the colony to settle to the bottom of a pit. The funnel of liquefaction extends rapidly over large areas of the plate. Owing to this rapid liquefaction successful gelatin plates can be made only by very thin sowings. In most cases, the whole plate was soon liquefied at 25° C., if somewhat abundant sowings were made. In stab cultures, dot-formed colonies first develop along the track of the needle and finally fuse so that the stab appears as a thread. The liquefaction begins at the mouth of the canal and proceeds very energetic- ally so that ordinarily in 48 hours at 25° C., the whole gelatin has become fluid. Streak cultures on nutrient gelatin are very characteristic. Within 12 hours the track of the needle ap- pears as a raised dirty white line. The line spreads rapidly and widely to each side, forming a surface not unlike an elon- gated, irregularly margined leaf. Scarcely has this leaf formed when the gelatin begins to liquefy. Such streak cultures can be carried on only at room temperatures and with inoculations from cultures that have been grown on gelatin repeatedly; otherwise, the gelatin is liquefied too quickly. (3) Agar.—On plate cultures of nutrient glycerin agar the organism forms small, dirty-white, slimy drops. When exam- ined with a hand lens these appear to be round, have a sharp contour, and show in the interior a brownish center. In stab cultures the track of the needle appears as a thread, and the organism spreads from the mouth of the canal toward the peri- phery as a delicate layer (Auflagerung). (4) Potato, ete—On potato it forms a dirty-white, slimy layer, | which at first gives an acid reaction, and then becomes strongly ‘alkaline. The decomposition proceeds rapidly through the whole slice of potato, 2 to 3 days, at 25° C., being sufficient to involve the whole thickness. During this decay there is a copious evolution of gas from the interior, bubbles as big as & pin head bursting through the slimy covering and leaving ™ it little funnel shaped openings. (5) Animal Fluids—Judging from statements cited under — Pathogenesis C., probably several were tried but there is no specific mention of anything but milk. In this fluid the organism caused the separation of the casein but no other 1897.] The Bacterial Diseases of Plants: 133 change. Unlike Hueppe’s aerobic Bacillus butyricus it caused in the milk no formation of ammonia, leucin, tyrosin, and a bitter tasting substance, when kept at 25° C.—not even after three weeks. : (6) Vegetable Juices—This germ grew best of all in cooked potato juice to which 1-2 per cent of dextrose was added. At 35° C., this fluid became very cloudy in 12 hours and gas bubbles were given off. (7) Salt solutions and other Synthetic media.—In dextrose solu- tions with addition of tartrate of ammonia or peptone and the necessary mineral substances (not stated what) the organism developed very satisfactorily with formation of carbonic acid and butyric acid. In a starch paste to which tartrate of ammonia and the common nutrient salts were added, the organism grew well but there was only a slight dissolving of the starch and no formation of butyric acid. For behavior in mineral solutions containing 5 per cent peptone see Biology 10c. (8) Relation to Free oxygen.— Bacillus amylobacter (Clostridium butyricum Prazm.), as is well known, grows only on exclusion of the air, and since the wet rot of the potato was generally attributed to this organism, Dr. Kramer first started anaerobi- ontic cultures. The inoculated nutrient dextrose-peptone gelatin was poured into plates and covered with films of mica. At the same time anaerobiontic cultures were started in Gruber’s tubes, using dextrose-peptone, nutrient gelatin. The cultures were kept in a brood oven at 26°C. The colonies began to appear in 24 hours. On the plate cultures under the mica, after 48 hours, tiny colonies appeared which did not increase in size to any noteworthy extent. Colonies on the same gelatin, uncovered, developed rapidly, so that on the second day this was entirely liquefied. The liquefied gelatin smelled like butyric acid, i. e., distinctly like sauer-kraut. In Gruber’s tubes minute, dotdike colonies also appeared, but only a few ‘of these developed any further. The larger colonies caused a circular liquefaction of the gelatin, 2-4 mm. broad and increas- ing but slightly. These experiments indicated that the organ- ism is not anaerobic. A more careful examination of the 134 The American Naturalist. | February, colonies in the Gruber’s tubes showed that every colony buried in the gelatin was unable to develop further, and that only a few of the superficial ones reached a somewhat larger size and liquefied the gelatin. “Evidently a slight quantity of oxygen. remained in the tubes (it is impossible to pump out all the air) and this sufficed for the development of some of the colonies. The tiny, dot-shaped colonies under the mica, those in the Gruber’s tubes, and those which produced liquefaction on the uncovered gelatin were then studied carefully and found to be all of one sort. They were bacilli agreeing exactly in their morphological characters with the rods which had been ob- served previously in the wet rotten tuber. That the dot-shaped colonies in the Gruber’s tubes failed to develop further simply from lack of oxygen is best shown by the fact that after the opening of the tubes the growth of the colonies and the lique- faction of the gelatin proceeded so rapidly that within 12 hours the latter was completely liquefied, even at room temperatures. (9) Reducing and Oxidizing Power—In stab cultures in nutri- ent gelatin rendered blue by tincture of litmus, a confluent, dirty-white growth was formed in the canal, and at the same time the gelatin began to change from blue to red, comment- ing at the upper end of the stab. When this reddening had reaching the bottom of the tube the gelatin began to liquefy commencing at the upper end of the stab. Along with this liquefaction there was a complete bleaching of the litmus, the gelatin resuming its original yellow color. It could not be determined whether this reduction shouldbe referred to removal of oxygen or to the liberation of hydrogen. Nutrient gelatin stained red by carminic acid was also entirely bleached by this bacillus. (10) Fermentation Products and other Results of Growth : (a) Gas Production—The organism causes a copious evolu- tion of gas from potato tubers, living or steamed ; potato broth with dextrose; and dextrose solutions containing ammonium tartrate and mineral salts. This gas was determined to be CO:- No mention is made of any hydrogen. Possibly some was overlooked. 1897.] The Bacterial Diseases of Plants : 135 (b) Formation of Acids. —The bacillus produces a strong acid reaction in solutions or substrata containing sugar, i. e., in the potato; in steamed potato juice with addition of 1-2 per cent dextrose; and in dextrose solutions containing tartrate of ammonia and the necessary mineral substances; but not in starch paste with ammonium tartrate and the nutrient mineral substances, nor in peptone solutions containing nutrient mineral substances. This acid was determined to be butyric and in the following manner. The soft contents of a tuber in the first stage of rot while still acid, was extracted in water by boiling, filtered, and mixed with a small quantity of calcium carbonate. A white precipitate resulted, presumably of calcium butyrate. This was, consequently, filtered boiling hot. The precipitate which crystalized out of the liquid exhibited under the microscope the very characteristic rhombic prisms of calcium butyrate. When this salt was mixed with dilute hydrochloric acid a fluid resulted which was miscible in water, had a boiling point of 163° C., and possessed the characteristic smell of butyric acid. (c) Production of Alkalti—In the second stage of the rot the tissues show a strong alkaline reaction. Ifa little of the soft contents of a tuber in this stage of the rot is mixed with a few drops of distilled water, the fluid filtered, and the filtrate mixed with Nessler’s reagent, a decided brown color appears instantly, indicating ammonia. A part of this ammonia combines with the free butyric acid to form ammonium butyrate and the remainder serves to render the decomposed tissues strongly alkaline. The ammonia is attributed to the decomposition of albuminoid substances by the bacillus. As additional evi- dence, it is stated that if a 5 per cent peptone solution contain- ing the necessary nutrient mineral substances be inoculated with a pure culture of this bacillus, a sort of rotting fermenta- ‘tion takes place, the first evidence of which is a strong am- moniacal smell. Nessler’s solution indicates the presence of ammonia. ; (d) Formation of Pigment.—Growth described as dirty-white on agar, gelatin, and cooked potato. 136 The American Naturalist. [ February, (e) Development of Odors.—As already stated, there is a strong odor of butyric acid in the first stage of the rot, and sub- sequently other bad odors appear. The latter are due to ammonia, methylamin, and especially trimethylamin. The existence of the amin bases was determined as follows. Methy- lamin was found by taking a little of the thoroughly rotted tissue, mixing it with water, filtering, and mixing the filtrate with platinous chloride, whereupon there resulted a green pre- cipitate, PtCl, 2CH, NH,. Trimethylamin was detected by adding to a second part of the filtrate acid (salzsaures) platinic chloride, the resulting orange precipitate consisting only of the well developed octahedrons of the corresponding platinie double salt. The formation of these amin bases is attributed to the action of the bacillus on the nitrogenous part of the sub- stratum. They were also detected by the same methods in the above mentioned mineral solution containing 5 per cent pep- tone, and consequently must have been derived from the pep- tone. These substances may also be detected in old pure cultures of this bacillus in peptone nutrient gelatin. (f) Enzymes—No mention is made of any study of these bodies. The organism undoubtedly produces several since it is capable not only of peptonizing gelatin and of dissolving cellulose but also of attacking albuminoids. Starch is but little affected. -~ (g) Other Products—See Biology 10e. (11) Effect of Dessication—No statement. Probably not readily injured by dry air. Forms spores. (12) Thermal Relations : (a) Maximum for Growth—Not determined. (b) Optimum for Growth—Not determined. This germ grows well at 25° C., and at 35° C., apparently most rapidly at the latter temperature. (c) Minimum for Growth.—Not determined. (a) Death Point.—Not determined. (13) Relation to Light——No statement. (14) Vitality on Various Media.—No statement. The organ- ism forms spores. 1897] The Bacterial Diseases of Plants: 137 (15) Effect on Growth of Reaction of Medium (acid, neutral, alka- line)—No specific statement. Organism will evidently grow in either acid or alkaline media. (16) Sensitiveness to Antiseptics and Germicides—No state- ment. (17) Other Host Plants—No mention of any. (18) Effect upon Animals.—No mention of any tests. (III) Economic Asprcts: (1) Losses.—Serious. (2) Natural Methods of Infection —The question at once arises : How is the disease spread in the field, the tuber being, as is well known, carefully protected from external injuries by a firm layer of cork cells. If this layer is not punctured or broken the tuber appears to be safe from parasitic attacks. Even when the bacillus was placed on the cut surface of a living tuber in the air of an ordinary room, Dr. Kramer found that it was never able to cause the disease, the tuber developing a protec- tive layer of cork cells under the mass of bacilli before they could grow. The case was quite different, however, when tubers lying in the infected nutrient solutions were stabbed with a sterile platinum wire. When, after 8 days, such tubers were examined by cutting through the stab, the canal in most cases was found occupied by the bacteria, and the decay of the tissue was seen to have proceeded from this canal outward. If the cork covering was shaved off in any place, the infection _ ordinarily began there. There is, consequently, no doubt that in the presence of sufficient moisture the bacteria can gain an easy entrance if the corky covering of the tubers is injured in any way, and such injury, we know, is frequently brought about by insects. It is well known also that the lenticels open when potato tubers are exposed to moisture for some time, e. g., in wet earth, and this readily accounts for the infection of uninjured tubérs. Indeed, Dr. Kramer demonstrated experi- mentally that in apparently uninjured tubers lying in his in- fected‘broths the rot frequently began with a darkening and softening around the lenticels, these changes being visible Wwithinfa few days. When such spots were examinsd it was found that the bacteria had already penetrated into the tissue 138 The American Naturalist. [February, in considerable numbers. Dr. Sorauer attributed the infection of sound tubers to this cause and Dr. Kramer was thus able to confirm it. (3) Conditions Favoring the Spread of the Disease-—There is nothing on this subject beyond the statement that potatoes rich in sugar would be attacked and destroyed sooner than those rich in starch. It is clear, however, that this disease is likely to be most prevalent in warm and wet autumns, high tempera- tures and excessive rainfall offering favorable conditions for its development. (4) Methods of Prevention—No experiments, and no observa- tions. Disease not studied in the field. Of course, whenever warm, rainy weather occurs in autumn potato rot of some sort is likely to appear, and common sense would dictate the prompt digging of the tubers and their storage in thin layers in a dry place, otherwise the whole crop may be destroyed in the ground, or subsequently in the pit or cellar. Remark.—In the later stages of decay Bacillus fluorescens is quite common, and one is also likely to find almost any of the common soil bacteria. This paper was announced only as a preliminary communication, but no second paper has been published, so far as known to the writer. This organism differs from Bacillus amylobacter van Tiegh. (Clostridium butyricum Prazm.) in that the latter is strictly anaerobic, produces spores in spindle shaped cells and colors blue with iodine. Bacillus butyricus Botkin, which is thought by Lehmann and Neumann (41) Bakteriologische Diagnostik, Munich, 1896; Bd., II, p. 315, to be distinct from the preceed- ing, is also strictly anaerobic. Bacillus butyricus Hueppe differs from Dr. Kramer’s organism in the way metioned above (II) 3 (5) in the absence of gas production, and in some less impor- tant particulars. A number of other butyric acid forming species have been described but all more or less imperfectly. 1897.] Editor’s Table. 139 EDITOR’S TABLE. Waite the primary object of the University is instruction, there are several reasons why original research is of more than incidental im- portance to its prosperity. The mastery of his subject, which is charac- teristic of the man who advances the knowledge of it, is an essential of a good teacher. The belief in this truth is so general that the teacher who is known as a discoverer will more successfully attract students to his classes than he who is not so known. But, apart from this, the gen- eral reputation of a school before the public is more surely affected by the research work that issues from its faculty, than the managing bodies of some of them seem willing to admit. As an advertisement, success- ful original work.is incomparable. It serves this purpose in quarters where the detailed work of the university is of necessity unknown. We know how it is with our estimate of institutions of foreign lands; we know them by the work of their professors in original research. We believe that those universities which permit of the production of orig- inal work by those of its professors who have proven themselves com- petent for it, are wise above those who do not do so. Those who load such men with teaching, so as to forbid such work, reduce their pros- perity. We regret to learn that a tendency to the latter course is in- creasingly evident in some of our great schools. Who, in the chemical world, does not think the more highly of Harvard, on account of the work of a Gibbs; how much better is Brown known through the work of a Packard, and so on? Chicago, Pennsylvania and Cornell profit greatly in various fields by the work turned out by certain members of their faculties. Who does not know Columbia, Princeton and Johns Hopkins as the seat of the labors of men whose names are familiar to every American? Yet, in a few of these institutions, the prosperity brought by these very men is becoming the means of choking their vitality of these their life centers, by the increase of drudgery which it brings. The managers will be wise to preserve for these men suffi- cient leisure to enable them to advance the frontiers of the known, and thus to obtain juster views of things as they are, and to bring us ever nearer to a comprehension of the great laws, whose expressions 1t 18 their business to teach to the growing intelligences of the nation. By all means nourish the nuclei of the mental life, which will thus preserve the vitality of the cytoplasm of society, and protect them from being smothered by it into stagnation and ultimate crystallization. 140 The American Naturalist. [February,. ProressoR Wooprow WItson delivered an address at the recent susquicentennial anniversary of Princeton University, which contained pointed reference to the energy displayed by the sciences in the field of thought and education at the present time. This reference not only pointed out what the sciences are not competent to do, but was distinctly uncomplimentary in its allusion to supposed evil-effects on the minds of its cultivators, which he characterized as “ noxious gases which issue from the laboratory.” Whatever Prof. Wilson’s private views may be, his expressions in this address did not include those qualifying words. which are in place in dealing with the subject from the point of view which is to our mind the broadest and best. If the sciences do not. teach the humanities from the side of the ideal and the esthetic, they enforce them in sterner fashion by an exposition of the nature of neces- sity. We may also admit, that the humanities are not their field im general ; but they are none the less beneficial to thought as well as to- practical life on that account. The scientific training appears to us to- be of inestimable value, as supplying the habit of orderly thought, which. must infallibly lead to the truth in whatever field it may be applied: Let the humanities flourish, but let then not decline the aid of the sciences. Together they constitute a working partnership, which em-- braces the field of human culture, and gives the mind all sides of reality,. which includes not only “sweetness ” but “ light ”. RECENT LITERATURE. Bailey’s Survival of the Unlike.'—This new book from the facile pen of Professor Bailey consists of essays and papers all of which have been presented elsewhere, and now brought together in accord- ance with the author’s plans. Thus while a collection of essays, it is- not without unity. “In making these essays” the author says, “I have constantly had in mind their collection and publication and have,. therefore, endeavored to discuss the leading problems associated with the variation and evolution of cultivated plants, in order that the final collection should be somewhat consecutive.” The following quotations from his very suggestful preface will give the reader a general idea of the author’s position. “The underlying 1 The Survival of the Unlike, a collection of evolution essays suggested by the study of domestic plants, by L. H. Bailey. New York, The Macmillan Com~ pany, 1896, 515 pp., 8vo. 1897.] Recent Literature. 14f motive of the collection is the emphasis which is placed upon unlike- nesses and their survival because they are unlike. The author also denies the common assumption that organic matter was originally en- dowed with the power of reproducing all its corporeal attributes, or that, in the constitution of things, like produces like. He conceives that heredity is an acquired force, and that, normally or originally, unlike produces unlike.” The author's a priori reasons for belief in the hypothesis of evolution are “the two facts that there must be a struggle for existence from the mere mathematics of propagation, and that there have been mighty changes in the physical character of the earth, which argue that organisms must either have changed or per- ished.” On the other hand, “the chief demonstrative reason for be- lief in evolution is the fact that plants and animals can be and are modified profoundly by the care of man.” The body of the book is in three “ parts,” the first including essays. touching the general fact and philosophy of evolution ; the second, those expounding the fact and causes of variation ; and third, those tracing the evolution of particular types of plants. The first essay gives name to the book. In it the author discusses (1) the nature of the divergences of plants and animals, suggesting the Mycetozoa as the point of divergence; (2) the origin of differences, holding that all plants and animals came from one original life-plasma which had the power of perpetuating its physiological but not its structural identity, no two organisms ever being exactly alike, it follows that unlike pro- duces unlike; (3) the survival of the unlike, this being an extension of our notion of the meaning of the phrase “ the survival of the fittest,” by showing that the fittest are unlike. The author gives us some interesting pages on the species dogma, in which he pointedly shows the inconsistency of those who demand ex- perimental evidence of the evolution of a species, and yet reject “ hor- ticultural species” because they have been produced under cultivation. Many examples are given of the origination of well marked “ varieties ” which are much more different from the species from which they sprung than are the recognized species from one another. Here Professor Bailey’s experience as a horticulturist enables him to cite striking ex- amples of what the candid reader must admit are good species of beans (Phaseolus), tomato (Lycopersicum), maize (Zea), soy beans (Glycine), ete. The horticulturist who is familiar with the plasticity of plants, and who is accustomed to see new and persistent forms arise, cannot help being an evolutionist, nor can he help being impatient with the botanist who refuses to accept such forms as true varieties or species as 142 The American Naturalist. [February, much entitled to recognition as those whose origin we do not happen to know.—CHARLES E. Bessey. Prillieux’s Diseases of Plants.’ —Among recent contributions to botanical literature is the first volume of a work on the diseases of agricultural plants including forest and fruit trees by Ed. Prillieux, Pro- fessor in the (“ Institut National Agronomique,” Paris). The work is the outcome of the author’s twenty years study and teaching of Eco- nomic Vegetable Pathology. In the introduction the change in the methods of viewing plant dis- eases is referred to. Instead of trying to trace an anology between human pathology and phytopathology, plant diseases came to be re- garded as due to changes of normal physiological functions produced either by unfavorable conditions or by the action of parasitic organisms penetrating the tissues. The placing of phytopathology on a more rational basis is attributed to De Candolle.’ In this connection Unger‘ might well have been cited. The author next speaks of the aims and purposes of the work. He says: “If I am able to render the study interesting and intelligible to agriculturists and to all persons living in the country who have received some general knowledge of the structure of plants, I shall have obtained the end I have in view.” In speaking of the difficulties of studying minute parasitic plants he adds: “It seems to be established that such researches present too many difficulties to be carried on by any one who wishes. My great- est desire is to dissipate this belief and to facilitate the beginnings of observers who, living in the country, are able to test on cultivated plants the facts already observed and described, and to examine the parasites in quantity in all their stages of development. If they ac quire a taste for these oe they may be able in their turn to add many new facts to science.” We believe the many acute investigators who after thorough equipment have spent years in trying to solve some of the problems presented by plant diseases will not think us pessi- mistic if we venture to predict that the author’s hopes regarding the contributions to the life histories of parasitic fungi which he expects from the novice will not be realized. If, however, he succeeds in get ting the intelligent farmers to observe carefully the parasitic plants ? Prillieux, Ed. Maladies des Plantes Agricoles et des Arbres fruitiers et Forest- ders causées par des parasites végétaux. Home Premier, Paris, 1895. 3 De Candolle, Aug.-Pyr. Physiologie Végétale. Paris, 1832. * Unger, Franz. Die Exantheme der Pflanzen. Wien, 1833. 1897.] Recent Literature. 143: which destroy their crops, and to study and become familiar with the facts that have already been established by investigators he will have rendered an incalculable service. He next refers to the diverse forms and various stages in the life histories of many disease-producing para- sites and the necessity of knowing all the facts connected with the con- ditions of their propagation and growth, and the importance of this knowledge as a basis in devising means of preventing or combatting them. It seems to us he might well have urged in addition the need of a comprehensive knowledge of the complex physiological activities of plants under normal conditions, as this must be the basis for an un- derstanding of abnormal or pathological conditions, and must precede any rational treatment of such conditions. The remainder of the introduction is devoted to detailed directions for the use of the microscope. These directions are intended for be- ginners, and cover the simple manipulations of the instrument as used in the elementary study of plant histology. The various parasites of which the volume treats are arranged in systematic order. The first part treats of “Cryptogamic Parasites other than Fungi.” These are discussed in two chapters, one on Bac- teria and one on Myxomycetes. The second part treats of “ Parasitic Fungi,” to which five chapters are devoted in the following order : Phycomycetes, Ustilaginexe, Uradinex, Basidiomycetes and Ascomyce- tes. The style is rather concise and exact, though not so technical as to make the work forbidding or unintelligible to the non-scientific reader. The numerous figures, though in many cases crude, give a fair idea of the general characters of the object represented. It would seem that in a work intended for the use of agriculturists and horticul- turists more attention might profitably have been given to the treat- ment of the diseases discussed. There can be no doubt, however, of the usefulness of the work, and if the class for whom it is especially in- tended can be prevailed upon to use it, it will assist greatly in popular- izing and advancing a branch of botany which is at present in its in- fancy, but which is destined to great growth in the near future. C. L. SHEAR. Campbell’s Mosses and Ferns.*—This book has appeared at a most opportune time in the history of botanical science, if, indeed, a long-wished for book can ever fail to be opportune. The Archegonia- 5 The Structure and Development of the Mosses and Ferns (Archegoniatæ), by Douglas Houghton Campbell, Ph, D., Professor of Botany in the Leland Stanford Junior University. Macmillan and Company, London and New York, 544 pp.,. 8vo 144 The American Naturalist. [February, tæ have long been most fruitful objects of research, and the bearing of the results of such investigations upon the terminations and the begin- nings of phylogenetic lines has been of absorbing interest. It was to be expected that such a field would attract the attention of many of the best botanists. So true is this, that the literature of botany for the past fifteen years has abounded in articles upon the morphology and the embryology of the Archegoniate. The activity of specialists along these lines has been so great that the general student has long since been compelled to relinquish the task of keeping himself accurately informed of the most recent investigations and theories. The publica- tion of these results in numerous diverse periodicals rendered all the more imperative the demand for their collation and co-ordination. Above all, it was desirable that these collected data should come to us, not as the compilation of some superficial student of the subject, per- haps, but as a judicious and discriminating compendium based upon no inconsiderable amount of original work. To the making of .a book for American students, no one, probably, could have brought out a longer experience or a greater knowledge of the subject than the author of the present volume. The collection and arrangement of the scattered data of numerous texts and their presen- tation, together with the extensive results of original research, has been done in a masterful manner. The information gained by the author’s -own investigations have enabled him to construct an admirable ground plan into which he has woven the results of others in a most skillfully relevant fashion. Though dealing with a subject not a little complica- ted, the general scheme of the text is particularly fortunate, and the ‘subject matter itself much more than ordinarily perspicuous. A critical compilation entails the discussion of numerous antagonis- tic views and theories, and renders necessary a discriminating treat- ment of them. The author has here had no easy task and merits espe- cial congratulation upon the successful manner in which he has acquit- ted himself. It would have been no more than expected if he had per- mitted himself to incline rather strongly toward his own views upon mooted questions. Yet such is not the case. In all instances, the arguments on both sides have been presented in the fullest manner and, ‘in some cases, in a spirit of fairness, he has conceded, perhaps, more than necessary. The bringing together of such a mass of facts and theories has given the author a rare opportunity to deduce the tenden- cies which they suggest, and to critically weigh the contradictory opin- ions to which they have given rise. This has been thoroughly done, and the book, besides standing as a most able symposium of the pres- , 1897.] Recent Books and Pamphlets. 145 ent knowledge concerning the Archegoniatze, will be of almost inesti- mable value for its effectual relegation of worn out ideas, and its lucid elaboration of those which are to direct future thought in these lines. The text treats consecutively of the various orders and families of Bryophyta and Pteridophyta, dealing exhaustively with their organo- geny and morphology, and discussing in a concise manner their classi- fication and general affinities. The peculiar thoroughness and com- pletion of the work are among its most pleasing features. From its -comprehensiveness, it must be primarily a reference book, and the sub- ject matter has been so subdivided and arranged as to greatly facilitate this purpose. The typography of the book is good, perhaps rather above than be- low that which should be regarded as standard for any scientific work, in order that it may not receive unfavorable mention. Many of the figures unfortunately, show the effects of haste, whether upon the part of the artist or of draughtsman is not certain. It is to be regretted that the illustrations, which so often make a poor book, has here been permitted to mar so good a one. I shall not place an incubus upon the book by calling it “ epoch- making ;” such can never be truthfully said of any scientific work. It ‘does stand, however, as a most welcome and effective milestone, not merely for the general student of botany, but for the specialist as well. - Not only will it remain for a long time a much thumbed summary, but it must be regarded as indicating at least the most immediate lines of future research among the Archegoniate. FREDERIC E. CLEMENTS. AMERICAN NATURALIST LIST OF RECENT BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS. ANpREws, C. W.—Note on the Pelvis of Cryptoclidus oxoniensis (Phillips). Extr. Geol. Mag., Decade IV, Vol. III, 1896. — ote on the Skeleton of Aptornis defossor. Extr. Geol. Mag. London, 96. —On the Structure of the Plesiosaurian Skull. Extr. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., May, 1896. On the Skull, Sternum and Shoulder Girdle of Æpyornis. Extr. The Ibis, July, 1896. From the author. 146 The American Naturalist. [February, Bain, H. F.—Geology of Woodbury Co. Extr. Iowa Geol. Surv., Vol. V, Ann. Rept., 1895. Des Moines, 1896. From the Surve Bancs, O.—Notes on the Synonymy of the North American Mink with De- scription of a New Subspecies. , Q. F.— Reconnaissance of the Gold Fields of the Southern Appalach-~ ians. Extr. Sixteenth Annual eine U. S. Geol. Survey, 1894-95, Part IL. Washington, 1895. From the a Contributions from the Geologien Depdrtinetit of Columbian University, No.. XXXIII. From the Uni CookE, M. C.—Across a Common. London, 1895. From T. Nelson and’ Sons, Publishers CoquiLtett, D. W.—Revision of the North American Empide—a Family of Two-winged Insects. Extr. Proceeds. U. S. Nat. Mus, Vol. XVIII. Washing- ton, 1896. From the Museum. Crosspy, W. O.—Tables for the Determination of Common Minerals, Boston, 1895. From the author. Curtis, M. M.—An Outline of Philosophy in America. Reprint from the Western Reserve Univ. Bull., March, 1896. From the author. Deran, B.—Is Paleospondylus a Cyclostome? Extr. Trans. N. Y. Acad. Sci., Vol. XV, pp. 101-104. ——Sharks as Ancestral Fishes. Extr. Natural Science, Vol. VIII, 1896. From the author DEPERET, C.—Sur quelques mammifères de l'étage Burdigalien (premier étage- Mediterranéan) (de Suisse et du bassin du Rhone). Extr. Compte Rendu Soc. Geol. de France Nr. 13, 1896. r les Dinosauriens, Sauropodes and Théropodes du Crétacé supé- rieur de Madagascar. Extr. Bull. Soc Geol. de France (3), XXIV, 1896. From the author. ELDRIDGE, G. H.—A Geological Reconnaissance in Northwest Mathie ems No. 119, U. S. Geol. Surv. Washington, 1894. From the U. eol. Poa H. L.—Kame Areasin Western New York south of Irondequoit and Sodus Bays. Extr. Journ. Geol., Vol., IV. ae 1896. ——Glacial Genesee Lakes. Extr. Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., 1896. —— Physical Characters of Monroe Co. and Adjacent Taiha. Extr. Pro- ceeds. Rochester Acad. Science, Vol. 3. Rochester, 1896. From the author. GANNETT, H.—A Geographic Dictionary of New Jersey. Bull. No. 118, U. S. Geol. Surv. Washington, 1894. —— Results of Primary Triangulation. Bull. No. 122, U. S. Geol. Surv. Wash- ington, 1894. From the U. S. Geol. Surv. Geologische Karte von Böhmen Section II and III. Archiv. der Naturwiss: Landesdurchforchung, X Bd., Nro. 1. Prag, 1895. GILL, T.—The Differential Characters of the Syngnathid and Hippocampid _ Fishes. Extr. Proceeds. U. S. Nat. Mus, Vol. XVIII, 1895. From the Museum. Goove, G. B.—The Principles of Museum Administration. Extr. Ann. Rept. Mus. Assoc., 1895. York, 1895. From the author. 1897.] Recent Books and Pamphlets. 147 Groos, K.—Die Spiele der Thiere. Jena, 1896. From the author. GruLicn, O.—Geschichte der Bibliothek und Naturaliensammlung der kaiser- lichen Leop. Carol. deutschen Akad. d. Naturf, Halle, 1894. HATCHER, J. B.—Recent and Fossil Tapirs. Amer. Jour. Sci , Vol. I, 1896. From the author. Herrick, F. H.—The American Lobster: A Study of its Habits and Develop- ment. Extr. Bull. U. S. Fish Commission for 1895. Washington, 1895. From : the author. l HorLanDp, W. J.—Lists of Lepidoptera collected in East Africa by (1) Dr. W. L. Abbott; (2) W. A. Chanler and Lieut. von Hoehnel; (3) from East African Islands, collected by Dr. W. L. Abbott ; (4) from Kashmir, collected by Dr. W. L. Abbott. Extr. Proceeds. U. S. Natl. Mus., Vol. XVII. Washington, 1895. From the Smithsonian Institution. International Zoologist’s Directory. Berlin, 1895. From Frieländer & Sohn, Pub. Keyes, C. A.—Bibliography of North American Paleontology, 1888-1892. Bull. No. 121, U. S. Geol. Surv. Washington, 1894. From the U. 8. Geol. urv. ; Kivana, J.—Das Moldauthal zwischen Prag und Kralup. Aus Archiv. der Naturwiss. Landesdurchforschung, IX, Bd., Nro. 3. Prag, 1895. From the author. LUTCHER, H. J.—A Stronger and More Permanent Union. Orange, Texas, 1896. From the author. Mearns, E. A.—Preliminary Diagnoses of New Mammals from the goen Border of the United States. Extr. Proceeds. U. S. Natl. Mus., Vol. XVIII. Washington, 1896. From the Smithsonian Institution. MERcrRAT, A.—Etude comparée sur des Molaires de Toxodon et d’autres Re- présentants de la même famille. Extr. Annales del Museo Nacional de Buenos Aires, T. IV, 1895. From the Mus. ; Ha MoENKuAus, W. J.—Notes on a Collection of Fishes of Dubois Co., ana. No reference given. ——Variation of North American Fishes, II. The Variation of rea caprodes in Turkey Lake and Tippecanoe Lake. Extr. Proceeds. Ind. . Sci., No. 5, 1895. From the author. í ings of the Biological Society of Washington, Vol. IX, 1894-95. From the Society, ‘ Prosser, C. S—The Devonian Svstem of Eastern Pennsylvania ss eyd York. Bull. No. 120, U. S. Geol. Surv. Washington, 1894. From the U. Geol. Survey. : i PumereLLY, R., J. E. WoLrF anp T. N. DALE.—Geology of the iino ains.—— Monographs of the United States, Vol. XXIII. From the U. 8. Survey. Reis, O—Zur Osteologie und Systematik der Belonorhynchiden und Tetra- 8onolepiden. No date given. From the author. IMPSON hical Distribution of the Pearly Freshwater Mussel. Extr. Proceeds. U. S. Natl. Mus., Vol. XVIII, 1896. From M um. 3 : e e Muse 11 148 The American Naturalist. [February, Situ, H. M.—History and Results of the Attempts to Acclimatize Fish and other Water Animals in the Pacific States. Art. 10, Bull. U. S. Fish Commission for 1895. Washington, 1896. From the Commission. SmYTH, C. H.—Metamorphism of a Gabbro occurring in St. Lawrence Co., N. Y. Extr. Amer. Journ. Sci., Vol. I, 1896. From the author. Transactions of the Wisconsin Academy of Arts, Sciences and Letters, Vol. X. Madison, 1895. From the Academy. VAN BIERVLIET, J. J.—Eléments de Psychologie Humaine. Paris, 1895. From the author. Watcott, C. D.—Fossil Jelly-Fishes from the Middle Cambrian Terrane. Extr. Proceeds, U. S. Natl. Mus., Vol. XVIII. Washington, 1896. From the Weeks, F. B.-—Bibliography and Index of North American Geology, Paleon- tology, Petrology and Mineralogy for 1894. Bull. U. S. Geol. Surv. No, 135. Washington, 1896. From the Survey. Wuire, C. A.—The Bear River Formation and its Characteristic Fauna. Bull. U. S. Geol. Surv. No. 128. Washington, 1895. From the Survey. Woopvwarp, H.—Address delivered at the Anniversary Meeting of the Geo- logical Society of London, Feb, 15, 1895. General Notes. PETROGRAPHY.’ Petrography of the Viterbo Region, Italy.— Washington’ continues his description of the young volcanic rocks of Italy in an article dealing with the lavas of the interesting Monti Cimini, Monte Venere and Monti Vico. The principal rocks of the district are vul- sinite, composed of phenocrysts of orthoclase, plagioclase, diopside and biotite in a trachytic groundmass consisting of diopside, magnetite and the feldspars ; ciminite composed of small olivine, diopside, plagioclase, and sanidine phenocrysts in an andesitic felt of diopside needles, mag- netite grains and feldspar laths—both orthoclase and plagioclase ; peperino—a trachy andestic tuff, and a series of leucite rocks belongmg with the leucite phonolites. The phonolites from Monte Venere are characterized by the presence of phenocrysts of biotite. Analyses of the three principal types are given as follows: SiO, Al,O, Fe,O, FeO MgO CaO Na,O K,O H,O TiO; Vulsinite 57.32 19.85 2.21 2.35 1,603.82 3.22 9.15 :57 ==100.09 Ciminite 55.44 18.60 2.09 4.48 4.75 6.76 1.79 6.63 .25 .16 =100.75 Leucite phonolite 55.21 19.81 2.69 2.86 1.68 4.61 3.13 845 .99. tr= 99° 1 Edited by Dr. W. S. Bayley, Colby University, Waterville, Me. 2 Journal of Geology, IV, p. 826. 1897.] Petrography. 149 Missourite, a New Leucite Rock.—The body of rock consti- tuting the core of one of the volcanic centresof the Highwood Mount- ains, Montana, is a new type of leucite rock named Missourite by Weed and Pirsson.* The rock isin the form of a stock intrusive in Creta- ceous shale. It variesin character in different places, but is of the same general nature in all. The coarsest grained variety is a-dark gray granular rock composed of grains of fresh olivine, of pale green augite, of brownish-yellow biotite, apatite and iron oxides embedded in perfectly clear leucite in formless masses. The composition of the min- eral is as follows: SiO, AlO, FeO, MgO CaO K,O Na,O H,O Total 54.46. 2224 68 tr 10 1886 .70 _ 2.29 = 99.33 A slight zeolitization has occurred in some of the leucite, the new pro- ducts being analcite and a new potash zeolite analogous to natrolite. An analysis of the rock yielded : SiO? Al,0; FeO; FeO MgO CaO NaO K,0 H,O TiO. P.O; BaO SrO SO; Cl Total 46.06 10.01 3.17 5.61 14.74 10.55 1.31 5.14 144 .78 21 32 20 05 03 99.57 This is very close to the composition of absarokite.‘ Since the structure of the missourite is penite, the author classifies it as the plutonic equiv- alent of the leucite basalts The Crystalline Schists of the Spessart. apap to Klemm the crystalline rocks of the Spessart,Germany, and schists of unknown age, with which are associated basic intrusive and effusive rocks and their tufis. The schists occur on the periphery of a great granite mass, dykes from which have intruded them. Among the foliated rocks are quartz-echists, m miom schiste, staurolite-echists, cale- silicate hornfels, limestone, d sandstones and graywackes. The biotite, ‘staurolite and other similar constituents exhibit no evidences of the action of pressure upon them, although the rocks in which they occur are highly schistose. This fact leads the author to conclude that the foliation of the rocks was imposed upon them when in aplastic state and not after they had become rigid. The amphibolites are thought to be metamorphosed tuffs. The granite is a biotitic variety with a foliation produced by pressure, but in this case as in the case of the schists, the foliation was produced before the rock finally solidified. In the character of its intrusion the granite is lacco- “Amer. Jour. Sci., Vol. II, 1896, p. 315. “Cf. AMERICAN NATURALIST, p- 299. * Zeits. deutsch. geol. Geo., XLVII, p. 581. 150 The American Naturalist. [February, litic. After discussing the nature of the schists and gneisses of this region the author concludes his paper with the statement that the term gneiss should be used in a geological sense only when the origin of the rock designated by it is unknown. He further surmises that many gneiss areas will, upon close study, be found to be underlain by granites and variousschists whose nature can be learned. Instruments.—Leiss® describes a number of new instruments for the use of petrographers. They are made under the direction of Fuess of Berlin. The first instrument is a microscope with nicols so arranged as to be capable of revolution independent of the stage. The stand is constructed for the attachment of the ordinary accessories. The three models at present on the market are known as VII, VIIa, VIII. The second instrument is a simplified form of Federow’s universal stage, admitting of the revolution of an object about two axes while under the microscopic objective. The third is the apparatus planned by Klein to aid in the examination of thin sections immersed in liquids. The other instruments described are a compensator-ocular, invented by J. Amann, a mica-wedge after the pattern proposed by Federow, à vertical illuminator for use with opaque objects, a very simple micro- scope camera made to fit over the ocular of an ordinary microscope and an achromatic condenser for use with the same. Diller describes an improved form of Smeeth’s separating tube for the separation of rock powders by means of heavy solutions. The new tube possesses several advantages over the Harada and the Brogger tubes. Petrographical Notes.—The reciprocal relations existing betweeD hornblende and augite in plutonic and volcanic rocks is explained by Becke’ as due to the fact that hornblende contains a small percentage of constitutional water in its molecule, and that it can therefore be formed only under certain conditions of pressure and temperature when water is present ina magma. When the conditions of pressure and temperature are not right augite forms in place of hornblende. A fig- ure showing curves exhibiting the possibilities of formation of the two minerals explains the author’s views. A massive holocrystalline rock composed of biotite, cyanite and cor- dierite, with apatite and rutile as accessories, was discovered by Me 7 Neues Jahrb. f. Min. B.B. X, 1896, p. 412. 8 Science, June 12. 1896, p. ®Sitzb. deutsch. naturw.-med. Ver. f. Böhmen. Lotos, 1896, No. 5. 1897.] Botany. 151 Mahon” as a bowlder in the bed of the Satlej River near Wangtu in the N. W. Himalayas. It is regarded as a product of contact action. Its original form is thought to have been diabasic or basaltic. In the pre-Cretaceous, Cretaceous and Eocene beds of northwestern Oregon, Diller”! finds glaucophane schists, sandstones, limestones, ba- salts, tuffs and shales. The granophyres of Strath, Skye, according to Harker” are filled with gabbro inclusions where they intrude a great mass of volcanic ag- glomerate. They are denser and darker than the normal granophyres lying north of them, in which no basic inclusions are known. The gabbro debris in the grease) is more or less dissolved, those frag- ments that have most nearly disappeared being represented by isolated grains of augite, hypersthene, altered olivine, magnetite and occasionally plagioclase. The pyroxenes have suffered greater or less change into hornblende and the olivine into pilitic amphibole. The new rock formed differs from the normal granophyre in its structure, in that it appears to contain nests of secondary minerals. Other fragments besides gab- bro were also noticed in the same rock. In the course of an article on the mineral deposits of the Central Alps, Weinschenk™ describes the granite, gneiss, aplite, lamprophyre, mica-schists, quartzite, amphibolite, serpentine and other rocks of the Hohen Tanern. BOTANY? The Metric System in Botany.—The recent appearance of two very important works on North American botany, viz., “ Gray’s Syn- ‘optical Fora of North America, Vol. I, part I” and “Britton and Brown’s Illustrated Flora of the Northeastern United States and Can- ada, Vol. I,” in which the English units of measurement are used throughout, suggests the necessity of some missionary work among American botanists. Can it be possible that the botanists of this coun- ‘try are the most conservative of our scientific men? We take part from time to time in the action of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in which in vigorous and logical sentences 1 Min. Magazine, XI, p. 141. "17th Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, Pt. 1, p. 14-16. - ™ Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc., Mey.) te p. 820 ®© Zeitschr. f. Kryst., XXVI, * Edited by Prof. C. E. Bessey, vadai of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska. 152 The American Naturalist. [ February, we express our admiration for the metric system and our conviction that the United States Congress is derelict toward this important mat- ter. We urge Congress to make the use of this system compulsory, and yet we go on calmly writing books in which we use the most antiquated of measuring units. Not content with using feet and inches, we ex- press fractions of inches in lines! We vote enthusiastically that mechanics, surveyors, farmers, statisticians and schoolmasters shall use the metric system exclusively, and yet we, the botanists, who of course are “the salt of the earth” are slow in doing what we so urgently recommend others todo. The writer hereof must plead guilty to his full share of blame in this matter in the past, but he wishes to assure his botanical friends that he does not intend to inflict a long suffering public with any work whose use will compel a retention of the old units, as in the case of the books referred to above. Nor are these the only books which offend in this important matter; they are singled out be- cause of their great excellence in other respects, and also because such an anachronism was not to be expected in them. Following their lead, however, we may look for many little books with English units ; thus it happens that the very books which should familiarize the peo- ple with the metric system, the semi-popular and popular books, serve to perpetuate an obsolescent, and what we say we hope will soon be an obsolete system. It is not necessary to point out the commendable exceptions to the rule; we may, however, mention the botanical publications of the United States National Herbarium, all of whose contributions, if we mistake not, conform rigidly in this respect to the demands of modern science. The writer would urge that every botanical writer insist upon the use of metric measurements throughout, in some cases with the English equivalents in parentheses, and that the editors of our botanical jour- nals and other scientific journals in which botanical papers are pu lished lead the way in requiring conformity to this rule. If our acad- emies of science and other scientific societies also will insist upon the use of metric units, the present humiliating condition will rapidly disappear. CHARLES E. Bessey. Eaton and Faxon’s North American Sphagna.—A short time ago a most important distribution of Peat mosses (Sphagnacew) was made by Mr. George F. Eaton. In 1893, Professor D. C. Eaton and Edwin Faxon announced the intended preparation of a set of dried specimens of all the North American species. Since that time per) Botany. 153 the work has gone forward, retarded greatly by the death of Professor Eaton in 1895, whose son then undertook to bring it to completion. It is now issued under the title “ Sphagna Boreali-Americana Exsiccata,” and includes 172 numbers representing 39 species, distributed as fol- lows: I. ACUTIFOLIA.—S. girgensohnii Russ., S. fimbriatum Wils., S. rus- sowii Warnst., S. warnstorfii Russ., 8. tenellum (Schimp) Warnst. S. fuscum (Schimp) Klinggr., S. quinquefarium (Braithw.) Warnst., S. acutifolium (Ehrh., e. p.) Russ. and Warnst., 8. sub- nitens Russ. and Warnst., S. tenerum (Aust.) Warnst., S. molle Sulliv. (62 specimens, representing many varieties). II. Squarrosa.—S. teres Angstr., S. squamosum Pers. (10 specimens and several varieties). HI. Poryetapa.—S. wulfianum Girg. (3 specimens including two varieties). IV. Cusprpata—S. macrophyllum Bernh., S. floridanum (Aust.) Card., S. lindbergii Schimp., S. riparium Angstr., 8. cuspidatum (Ehrh.) Russ, and Warnst., S. dusenii (C. Jens) Russ. and Warnst., S. recurvum (Beauv.) Russ. and Warnst., S. fitzgeraldi ~ Renauld, S. molluscum Bruch. (39 specimens, including many varieties). V. Rietpa.—S. compactum DC., S. garberi Lesq. and James. (8 specimens, including several varieties). VI. Sussecunpa.—S. pylaesii Brid., S. obesum Wils., S. subsecundum Nees, S. platyphyllun Warnst., S. contortum Schultz, S. rufescens Bryol. Germ., S. orlandense Warnst., S. microcarpum Warnst. (26 specimens, including many varieties). . VIL. Cymprror1a—S. portoricense Hampe, 8. imbricatum (Hornsch.) Russ., 9. eymbifoliam Ehrh., S. papillosum Lindb., 8. medium Limpr., S. ludovictanum (Ren. and Card.) Warnst. (24 speci- mens, including many varieties). ‘ A personal examination of this set shows it to be in every way satis- factory, the specimens being ample and prepared with exquisite neat- ness.—CHARLES E. Bessey. The Cell Nucleus.—The latest contribution to our knowledge of the plant cell nucleus is from the hands of Dr. Zim mermann of the Uni- versity of Berlin. His “ Morphologie und Physiologie des pflanzlichen Zellkernes” is destined to be one of the most useful of books, for in “e he has brought together what has been made out as to the nucleus 7E structurally and physiologically, for all groups of plants. In the first 154 The American Naturalist. [February, part of his book he takes up methods, chemistry of the nucléus, histol- ogy of the nucleus, nuclear division (karyokinetic and direct division), physiology of the nucleus, ete. Inthe second part the subject is taken up from the systematic standpoint, the stracture and division of the nucleus being discussed for each group of plants, e. g., Angiosperms, Gymnosperms, Pteridophytes, Bryophytes, Fungi, Algæ and Schizophy- tes. The author has summarized the results of the investigations, and apparently given the essential facts. In all cases he makes a direct citation of the particular paper to which he refers, thus enabling the student to verify the statements made by the author. It must not be supposed, however, that the work is a mere compilation ; on the con- trary the author has wrought into it a great deal of his own matter, so the book is full of fresh material. It will at once find a place in every laboratory, and we hope will be made still more useful by a good Eng- lish translation.—Cuar.es E. Bessey. Another Australian Curiosity.—Some time since we reviewed an article on astrange Australian fungus which appeared to be a peculiar edible sclerotium. A recent paper’ describes what the authors call “ a stone-making fungus” for which a new genus is erected. This genus appears to us, however, of doubtful validity, and illustrates a tendency to the multiplication of genera founded upon slight and un- important characters, which is being carried to the extreme by many of our systematic botanists and which it seems to us should be con- demned. Laccocephalum is said to differ from Polyporus “ in being hard and woody from the first, in the peculiarly pitted pileus and in the character of the spores.” The most striking peculiarity to the superficial observer, however, is a large stone like nodule at the base of the stipe. This has a diameter equal to or exceeding that of the pileus, and is apparently composed of sand agglutinated and held to- gether by the mycelium into a mass resembling a concretion of ferru- ginous sandstone. In the specific description there are apparently some typographical errors, as the spores are said to be “ 44-50 inches in diameter ” (mean- ing # probably) with spines “3 inches long” (#?). The paper is ac- companied by a good lithographic plate giving three views of one of the plants.—C. L. SHEAR. 2D. McAlpine and J. G. O. Tepper: A New Australian Stone-making Fungus (Laccocephalum basilapiloides), Proc. Roy. Soc. Victoria, 1894, Art. XIV. 1897.] EE T 155 ZOOLOGY. Ameeba coli not Pathogenic.—This amæba has been met with by Sig. O. G. V. Casagrandi and Sig. P. Barbagallo-Rapissiardi' in cases of typhoid diarrhea, simple intestinal catarrh, and in spasmodic ‘dysentery, as well as in healthy persons, and the conclusions drawn were that it is not pathogenic but is a very useful guest, destroying the other organisms living in the intestine. Experiments with cats show that diarrhoea does not develop unless the intestinal canal is already in a catarrhal condition. Ameba coli will develop in them, but only be- cause the dysenteric material injected sets up at the same time the con- dition necessary for development. Bipalium kewense.—Mr. Woodworth’s notes induce me to place ‘on record the probable occurrence of this phanarian at Kingston, Jam- aica. Some years ago, when resident there, I had brought to me an ‘example which accorded perfectly with my recollection of the creature, which I had formerly seen at Kew. The longitudinal markings were distinct. While I have no serious doubt of the identity, I was ill at the time of receiving the specimen, and failed to give it the attention it deserved —T. D. A. COCKERELL, Mesilla, N. M. Egg-Laying in Sagitta.’—In the case of Sagitta hispida Mr. F. S. Conant finds that the process of egg-laying takes place in the morn- ing, in this respect differing widely from Sagitta bipunctata, which de- posits its eggs at about sunset, as observed by Fol, and agreeing with Sagitta hexaptra as noted by Grassi. Variations in temperature affect the time somewhat, cold retarding the process. The ova pass through the wall of the germinal epithelium into the oviduct, apparently through interspaces in the wall of this, undergoing by the way a progressive series of changes in shape. In the oviduct the ova remain from 20-30 minutes, their gelatinous envelope thickening meanwhile. Contractions of the ovary result in pushing the eggs back- ward towards the external opening, and when the pressure has become sufficient the plug closing this is forced out and the eggs are extruded in two linear rows (one on either side the animal) of only a few or as many as 60-70 eggs each. This does not differ essentially from the "Catania, 1895. See J. R. M. S., p. 429. _ *Ann, Mag. Nat. Hist., XVIII, pp. 201-214. Johns Hopkins University Cir- Culars, xy. (1896) p. 82-4. 156 The American Naturalist. [February,. act of laying, as seen and described by Boreri in S. bipunctata, the sausage-form that these eggs pass through being given them in the latter case by pressure while still in the ovary. Mr. Conant was unable to determine definitely the location where — fertilization takes place, but supports Hertwig in affirming contra Grassi: that no spermatozoa are found in the ovary. What little evidence he has indicates that fertilization takes place while the ova are in the duct. between the exterior opening and the opening of the duct of the recept-- aculum seminis. Self-fertilization seems impossible. The eggs when laid become attached to the sides of the dish by a gelatinous substance that facilitates handling, but collects dirt. Im warm weather development to hatching takes place in about 36 hours, and then the animals are miniatures of the adult form, and all are as- ready to devour their comrades as are the mature animals.—F. C.. KENYON, The Chetognaths of American Waters.—In his paper just. cited Mr. Conant gives nine species as the total number known to occur in American waters. Among them he enumerates five new species added by himself. One of these has caused him to make some very pertinent. remarks concer ning the divisions of the old genus of Sagitta into Sagitta,. Krohnia, and Spadella. He agrees with Béraneck’s criticism of the systems proposed by Langerhans, Hertwig, and Grassi, and like this. author concludes, though under protest, to follow with Strodtmann the arrangement proposed by Langerhans. It would have been much - better, however, had he obeyed the impulse that his new species pro- duced, and described all nine as species of Sagitta, instead of sand- wiching species of Krohnia and Spadella in irrregularly between un- doubted species of Sagitta. Or he might at least have placed the terms Krohnia and Spadella in parenthesis. But, notwithstanding the doubt that arises as to which of the older arrangements to follow in placing Mr. Conant’s new species, it should be remembered that after all any system of classification is very largely for convenience, and that in the present state of our knowledge, not only of this particular group of animals but of the fundamental laws gov; erning the evolution of one form from another, any system proposing to show genetic relationship is at least only tentative, and often weakly so at that. In this particular case whether we should regard the number of fins with Hertwig, the so-called teeth, or with Strodtmann and Béra- neck, the sum of the characters as the determining features is still a doubtful matter. Judged from the standpoint of convenience the ar- 1897.] Zoology. 157 rangement given by Hertwig seems the best, and for that reason, if not for the sake of showing true genetic relationships, the synopsis below is given. A. With caudal and with one pair of lateral fins, Spadella.. a. Anterior teeth wanting. Posterior teeth many. Seizing-hooks 8-9. Length 35 mm. (According to Mobius). Taken off Martha’s Vineyard, North Atlantic, S. (Krohnia) hamata (Mob). b. Anterior teeth present. 1. Seizing-hooks 6. Anterior teeth 3-5; posterior teeth 5-7. Length 52 mm. North Atlantic. Lat 42°, 28'; long. W.. 50°, 55’, 30”, _ N. maxima Con. . Seizing-hooks 10. Anterior teeth 8; posterior teeth 18. A broad bilateral outgrowth of the epidermis distinguishes this from all others. Bahamas (Binnini), Messina, Naples, Madeira and Canary Islands. Length 10 mm., S. draco (Krohn) Langer B. With caudal and with two pairs of lateral fins, Sagitta. a. Posterior teeth wanting. Second pair of fins split posteriorly into 4 villus-like processes. Seizing-hooks 8. Anterior teeth 4-6; corona ciliata forming a peculiar triangle on head and neck, Tail equal half total length. Bahamas (Binnini). Length 4 mm., S. sehizoptera Con. - Posterior teeth present. Fins entire. 1. Seizing-hooks 7-8. ‘ a. Anterior teeth 3-4; posterior teeth 4-7. 2 external in- testinal diverticula. Length 24-34 mm. Martha’s Vine- yard, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, S. hexaptera (Orb.).. b. Anterior teeth 4-5; posterior teeth 7-10. No diverticula. Length 5.25 mm. Jamaica, S. i tenuis Con. 2. Seizing-hooks 8-9. a. Anterior teeth 4-5; posterior teeth 8-15. Caudal seg- ment one-third total length. Length 7-11 mm. Jamaica, Bahamas, N. Carolina, S. hispida Con. b. Anterior teeth 7-8 ; posterior teeth E a ciliata c ength 13-18 mm. Bahamas, onfined to head. Length re > bo ~ Con.. 4. Seizing-hooks 9-12. Anterior teeth 5-7 ; posterior teeth 12-15. With both ex- ternal and internal etedicent diverticula. Length 16-33 mm. Vi n English "e ineyard Sound, Gay head o g op a —F. C. KENYON. 158 The American Naturalist. [February, New Central American Diplopods:'—A mong a lot of chilopods and diplopods that De. Filippo Silvestri describes as collected by Dr. Festa at Guayra, Darien and Cuenca he describes the new species Ar- chispirostreptus guayrensis; Plusioporus feste, Rhinocricus diversicauda, Oxypge varicolor, Ortomorpha feste, Aulocodesmus angustalus. The genera Oxypyge and Alocodesmus are new. The former approx- imates very closely to Rhinocricus, but differs from that in having the anal valves produced into long straight spines. The latter approaches Pocock’s Udontopeltis, but differs in the position of the pores, in the granular surface and the dorsal sulcus.—F. C. Kenyon. The development of the Wing-scales and their pigment in the Lepidoptera.‘—The scales of the wings of Lepidoptera are shown by Mr. A. G. Mayer to be developed from modified hypodermis cells like the hairs of other arthropods. The pigment comes from the so-called pupal blood by a series of chemical changes. The colors of the adults are not formed at once, but all pass through a series, the first of which is a dull ochre-yellow. He succeeded by chemical means in making pigments from the pupal-blood or hemolymph that were similar in color to the colors of the adult insects. These pigments react to chemical agents similarly to the pigments of the insects. Dull ochre-yellows and drabs such as one finds among the nocturnal Lepidoptera are the oldest, the bright yellows, reds, and greens of the diurnal forms are derived by a complicated chemical process brought about in the parts most exposed to the light—F. C. Kenyon. Rapid Growth of Apus.—F rom Spencer and Hall’s® account of the crustacea of central Australia we learn that not more than two weeks, and probably only a few days after the fall of rain, specimens of Apus were found measuring 23 to 3 inches in length. When it 18 remembered that the eggs of Apus must pass through a stage of drought before they will develop, this enormously rapid growth is truly re markable. And the evidence of it is conclusive, if it be impossible for the mature or nearly mature form to pass through the period of drought, which certain forms, e. g., Astacopsis and Telphusa are known to be able to do.—F. C. K. Steindachneria.—In 1888 the name Steindachneria was twice used to designate new genera of fishes. Goode and Bean in Agassiz, Three Cruises of the Blake II, p- 26 (April, 1888) used the name for a macrurid taken by the Albatross off *Bull. Mus. Zool. Anat. Comp. Univer. Torino., XI. * Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., XXIX, 209-36, 7 Pls. $ Horn Scientific Exp., 1896, pt. II. J. R. M. S., p. 410. 1897.] Zoology. 159 the delta of the Mississippi River. The fish was mentioned in the following language: * * * Steindachneria, a macruroid with a high differentiated first anal fin, has been obtained by the “ Albatross” in 68 fathoms.” No specific name and no figures were published. We used Steindachneria for a silurid genus inhabiting the rivers of southeastern Brazil in a paper issued July 18, 1888 (Proc. Cal. Acad. Sei. 2d. Ser., Vol. 17). The name was defined and referred to a de- scribed species. Mr. S. Garman called our attention to the previous use of Steindachneria by Goode and Bean. An examination of Goode and Bean’s note showed that their name was a nomen nudum, neither described nor referred to any published species. On learning this we wrote Dr. Goode an apologetic note calling his attention to these facts and received the following in reply.“ Steindachneria has never been published, though the diagnosis of the genus has been lying in MS. for nearly two years. So we will change the name. It is not of the least consequence.” This was under date of Oct, 1, 1888. This intention to change the name was never carried out and in “Oceanic Ichthyo- logy ” (p. 419) which has just been received, Steindachneria is still retained for the macrurid and reference made to “Three Cruises of the Blake.” The name Steindachneria being preoccupied for the cat fishes I would suggest the name Steindachnerella for the macrurid to carry out the idea of honoring the Custos of the Imperial Zoological Museum of Vienna.—C. H. EIGENMANN. Mutilations of the Oregon Redfish.—The sores, frayed-out fins, and other mutilations which have been noticed upon the Chinook salmon and redfish by evéry one who has ever seen these fishes upon their spawning-grounds have been regarded by all as being due chiefly, if not wholly, to the injuries incident to the long journey from the sea. Coming so these Idaho lakes from the sea requires a journey of more than 1000 miles, and it is, in large part, through swift and turbulent waters and up dangerous rapids, cascades, and waterfalls against whose ragged and jagged rocky walls and bed the fish would often be thrown by the seething currents. That they could make this long and perilous journey unscathed could scarcely be believed. In the shorter coastal streams of Oregon, Washington, British Colum- bia, and northward, the same mutilations have been observed and have usually, without sufficient reason, been attributed to the same cause. Until now it has, therefore, generally been held that the injuries are received by the fish while en route to the spawning-grounds. Our con- tinuous series of observations at Alturas Lake during the entire period 160 The American Naturalist. [Febrnary, -of the breeding season shows, however, that this is not the true explana- tion. Among the hundreds of redfish that we examined as they came up into Alturas Inlet from the lake not one possessed any sores, or had the fins frayed out in the least; every one was perfect in every way, 80 far as mutilations were concerned. Not only were all of those caught on the gill nets as they came up from the lake free from sores, but no sores were seen on any of the fish in the creek until some time after the spawning had begun. The first fish were seen July 24, but not until August 10 were any mutilated ones observed, and then only 3 out of 84 examined showed any considerable mutilations. In marked contrast with this perfect condition of the fish as they arrive upon their spawning ground is that observed toward the close of the spawning season when scarcely a fish can be found whose fins are not badly frayed and upon whose body are not one or more large sores. The manner in which the mutilations are really received was readily determined by watching the fish while spawning. The spawning-beds are usually in very shallow water, often only a few inches deep. These beds are of fine granite gravel and sand. There is more or less definite pairing off of the fishes, and each pair usually does all its spawning 0B a certain area, which may be called the nest. The gravel and sa of this area are moved about and piled up somewhat in heaps or rows as the fish scoop out shallow depressions in the bed; this scooping OY moving of the gravel is done as the fish swims upstream over the bed with a rapid quivering motion of the body; during this act the body 1$ always inclined to one side and the gravel is chiefly pushed in the other- -direction ; after swimming across the nest in this way, the fish circles : around downstream and returns to the bed to repeat the process again and again, keeping it up for several days. During all this time the male follows closely behind the female, sometimes quivering and plow- ing through the sand and gravel in the same way and thus receiving mutilations of the same character. Often the back of the fish is tur? against the gravel and becomes worn. On each spawning-bed are usu- ally several supernumerary males, and among them and the paired males there is much chasing about and some fighting which results in still further mutilations. It may, therefore, be positively stated that the sores and mutilations seen on the redfish at the Idaho spawning-grow are practically all received after the spawning season begins (B. ie Everman in U.S. Fish Commission Bull. for 1896, Art. 2.) On the Occurrence of the genus Reithrodontomys in Vir- ginia.—On December 6, 1896, I trapped an adult male Harvest 1897.] Zoology. 161 Mouse, Reithrodontomys lecontii (Audubon and Bachman) at Fort Myer, Virginia. The trap was set under a fence between cultivated fields and a strip of woodland. I believe this is the most northern point on the Atlantic coast at which a specimen of this genus has been taken; and I know of no published record of its occurrence in the State of Virginia or in the District of Columbia. This specimen is number 83,298 of the United States National Museum collection. — Lours Zereca MEARNS. Inheritance of the Monodactyly in the Pig.—The monodac- tyly, observed in the pig by Aristotle, has persisted to the present time. M. Vasilesen, Professor of Zoology in the Veterinary School at Buch- arest, has had the progeny of a male monodactyle pig under observa- tion for a number of years. He notes that of 54 descendants 39 are monodactyle and 13 bidactyle. M. Vasilesen concludes from these ob- servations that the monodactyly of the pig is a hereditary tetralogical phenomenon, susceptible of being transmitted from one generation to another, reproducing itself indefinitely. (Revue Scientif., Oct., 1896.) Preliminary Description of the Newfoundland Marten.— The marten has long been known as au inhabitant of the Island of Newfoundland, being given by Henry Reeks in 1870 (under the name Mustela americana) in his list of the Mammals of Newfoundland.’ © The Zoologist (London), 2d Series No. 54, pp. 2033-2049, March, 1870; No. 67, April, 1871, pp. 2540-2553. Notes on the Zoology of Newfoundland. By Wary Reeks. _ No. 54, March, 1870, p. 2087, reads as follows : “ American Sable, Mustela americana, Turton ; Pine Marten; Marten-Cat (New- foundland).—Still common in various parts of the island, but from the increasing, or, at any rate, present value of the furisannually becomingscarcer. It isa bold rapacious animal, and in its habits remind one much of the common polecat (M. putorius). One of the specimens I obtained entered the house of a settler and carried off a dead duck (Aas obscurus), but was subsequently shot in a tree near the spot, in fact, while returning for a second duck, having probably hid the other. Marten cats are easily caught by iron traps placed in “‘cat-houses,” or in ** dead-falls.’’ Without attempting to settle, or even discuss, the vexed question as to the identity of this species with the European, M. 2éel/ina, I may here state that very eg Augers can be placed. on Boos colors of the Martine, as a very appreciable d evenin specimens obtained in New- foundland and the greens the formièr being much hee throughout, but espe- cially about the head and ears. So perceptible is the distinction that a trader readily separates the Newfoundland skins from those obtained on the mainland.” 162 The American Naturalist. [February, Like most of the mammals of this island it is, however, very differ- ent from its mainland cousin, and as no possible connection can now exist between it and the continental form it must rank, a full species, as MUSTELA ATRATA SP. Nov.—Type from Bay St. George Newfound- land, No. 5752 9 adult, coll. of E. A. and O. Bangs. Collected by Ernest Doane Sept. 29th, 1896. Total length 548, tail vertebra 185, hind foot 89, ear from notch 43. General Characters.—Size about that of M. americana (probably somewhat larger); color very different, suggesting a dark colored mink, rather than a marten; skull slightly different: Color —Deep chocolate, becoming black on back, head, arms, legs,. rump and tail; a few white hairs scattered along back ; chest and under side of neck irregularly blotched with orange; a median line of orange on belly; ears black narrowly bordered all round with dull white; a patch of yellowish-white hairs in front of opening of ear. Cranial Characters.—Skull about the size or larger than that of M. americana ; rostrum narrow; audital bulle much larger and deeper than in M. americana and with a more marked “ bottle-nose” projec- tion; dentition rather weaker throughout, with greater spaces between premolar teeth, than that of M. americana. Size of the type skull, 9 “middle aged’, adult: Basilar length 69.2 ; zygomatic breadth 42; mastoid breadth 34.2; breadth across roots of canine teeth 14.2; greatest length of single half of mandible 49.6. Size—The type ? adult; total length 548, tail vertebre 185, hind foot 89, ear from notch 43. Of an adult 9 prolotype, (No. 5751 Bangs- coll.). Total length 559; tail vertebree 185, hind foot 86, ear from notch 41. Remarks,—The above description is based upon two beautiful skins- accompanied by skulls, both “ middle aged” adult females. Neither has the fur quite “ prime,” both being taken in September. In its full winter dress, this marten must be a superb creature. There is a series of eleven skulls of M. atrata in the collection of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, at Cambridge, Mass. collected in Newfoundland in 1865 by James M. Nelson. I have examined these — and find some of them to be old adults, but all are unsexed. They bear out the characters claimed for M. atrata—the large, peculiarly shaped audital bulls, and the weak dentition, and would seem to indicate that M. atrata is a larger animal than M. americana.—OvuTRAM BANGS. 1897.] Entomology. 163 ; Zoological News.—According to F. Neri,’ who has been study- ing the beaks of cephalopods, these structures are composed of fibrous cuticular lamin, which chemically are not chitinans but keratinous. The upper part is encrtisted with lime. The results of the Austrian deep sea expeditions of 1890-4 show, ac- - cording to Dr. R. Sturany,’ that the eastern portions of the Mediter- ranean is much poorer in deep sea shells than the western basin, and further, that the fauna is doubtless of Atlantic origin. ENTOMOLOGY. The American Spring-tail.—This very anomalous little insect (Lepidocyrtus americanus Marlatt) measuring scarcely more than one- tenth of an inch, silvery gray in color, with purple or violet markings, may be frequently observed in houses. In common with the silver fish, it belongs to the order of insects known as Aptera (wingless), from the fact of their having no vestige of wings throughout life. The simple structure of these insects, and particularly their resem- blance to the larval state of winged insects, has led to the belief that they are the primitive forms of insect life. That this is true is, however, y no means certain, and they may rather be degraded or debased ex- amples of some of the higher orders of insects. The species figured herewith is not infrequently found in dwellings in Washington, but is apparently undescribed, and, in fact, little is known of the American species. It is, however, closely allied to a European form (L. cervicalis), often found in cellars, and figured by Sir John Lubbock in his mono- graph on these insects. Another allied European species (Seira domes- tica) has been named from the fact of its being a frequenter of houses. These insects belong to the suborder Collembola, which (following Sharp) is distinguished from the other suborder of Aptera, Thysanura, by having but five body segments instead of ten, and possessing a very peculiar ventral tube on the first segment, and commonly also a term- inal spring, by means of which these creatures leap with great agility, and from*which they take their common name of “ spring-tails.” TAtti Soc. Tasc. Sci, Nat., x (1896), J. BR. M. S., p. 401. *S. B. K. Akad. Wiss. Wein., 1896. J. R. M. S., p. 400. | Edited by Clarence M. Weed, New Hampshire College, Durham, N. H. 12 164 The American Naturalist. [February, These insects, though very abundant, have been very little studied, and little is known of their life habits. They often multiply in extraor- dinary numbers, especially in moist situations, swarming on the surface of stagnant water or on wet soil. They seem to be very tolerant of cold, and we have interesting accounts of the occurrence of a species related to this one in the Arctic regions on melting snow fields . and on glaciers, where they are known as “snow fleas” or “snow worms.” Other interesting forms occur in caves, and in the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky they are notably abundant. In houses they may often be found on window sills, in bathrooms, and sometimes, under favorable situations, in very considerable numbers. Especially are they apt to occur where there are window plants or in small conserva- tories, but are not confined to these situations. Very little is known of their food habits, but they are supposed to subsist on refuse or chiefly decaying vegetable matter. The striking peculiarities of these insects are in the remarkable ventral tube and the strong saltatorial appendage of the extremity of the body. The first arises from the forward body segment, and seems to act in this species as a sort of a retainer for the leaping organ, OF spring proper. It is said to secrete a viscid fluid, which enables the insect to better adhere to smooth vertical surfaces. The so-called “catch,” or retainer proper, is shown in a small projection between the hind pair of legs and the spring, and grasps the latter near the middle. The springing organ is two-jointed, the last joint being bifurcate, and its terminals inclosing the ventral tube. These insects can not survive dryness, and, while they will not often occur in sufficient numbers to be particularly objectionable, the Te moval of the moist objects or surfaces on which they congregate and the maintenance of dry conditions will cause them to soon disappear.—C. L. Maruartrt in Bulletin, No. 4, U. S. Division of Entomology. Sphinx Caterpillar Surviving Ichneumon Attack.—Rev. T. A. Marshall records’ an interesting case of this kind. A caterpillar of Acherontia atropos had been ‘forced’ by artificial warmth to an early development of the moth. The latter was a perfect specimen ; in 1ts abdomen was found a large Ichneumonid larva. “ From the caterpillar point of view we have here only an instance of tenacity of life under trying circumstances. * * * In the normal course of things the death : of the Atropos larva after its change to a chrysalis, and the production of a living ichneumon, would inevitably have taken place sometime 2Ent. Monthly Mag. Dec., 1896. 1897.] Entomology. 165 next spring. But the development of the chrysalis having been artific- ally hastened, the parasite had no time to cause its death, and the ex- haustion of vital juices was not sufficient to prevent the final metamor- phosis. Hence the phenomenon of a half-grown parasite being found in the body of a perfect moth. “The eventual death of the moth from the action of the parasite is probable, but not quite certain. It would seem to depend upon two doubtful questions: (1) What is the natural duration of the life of an Atropos? and (2) Would the robust constitution of which proof has already been given, enable it to hold out till the parasite had escaped from its body? The single perforation of the cuticle necessary to per- mit the issue of the ichneumon might not be mortal in its effects. The fatal result in other cases is believed to depend partly upon the break- -ing up of the tracheal system by numerous perforations, and partly upon exhaustion of the vital forces. The moth in question would only be subject to the first of these injuries in a very mild degree ; and its great bulk and strength might enable it, as heretofore, to defy the second. It seems, therefore, not unreasonable to suppose that, if left to nature, it would ultimately have recovered.” A Viviparous Ephemerid.—M. Causard records’ the following interesting observations the Ephemerid Chlæopsis diptera Latr. ‘‘ This ‘Species is very common in houses at the end of summer and the com- mencement of autumn, when these insect attach themselves to the windows or the ceilings, and there rest immovable, their two wings turned back, and applied one against the other, the posterior part of the abdomen terminated by two long filaments, turned back upon the dorsal aspect. The same insect may be observed in the same place for several days. Having captured a large number of them, I have been able to keep them for more than three weeks before they laid their eggs. I have found it impossible to fix exactly the duration of their existence, because at the time of capture I did not know how long they had emerged from the nymph state. However, that may be, there are Ephemerz which have but little title to the name. This relatively long existence in the adult state is in accord with their processes of re- production. “ Desiring one day to study the circulation of the blood in one of these insects, in the living state, which I supposed to be sufficiently ‘transparent for the purpose, I took one of them and placed it between two plates of hollowed glass. The pressure of these plates caused a ~ *Comptes Rendus, CXXIII, 705; Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., v, I8, p. 481. p 166 The American Naturalist. [February, regarded the insect as dead and my observation a failure. Neverthe- less, on examination with the microscope, I observed that the extruded matter was formed of a large number of little ovoid bodies, which im- mediately began to move about and unroll themselves. Each of them was a little larva, which was very active and began to swim about. Were these Ephemerz viviparous? This was the question that I at once asked myself. Then I examined the contents of a large number of individuals, and I found eggs in every stage of development ; in some the segmentation was but slightly advanced, but a commencement of evolution was very distinct; in others, the extruded larvæ showed seg- mentation; the most advanced enclosed completely developed larvae, but still enclosed in the transparent membrane of the egg. I have since been able to observe the females emitting their larve freely with ` out any pressure, so that their viviparity is a proven fact. When the moment approaches that the insects seek the water, they allow them- selves to fall into it and float on the surface, with their wings extended, up to the moment at which the larve are extruded. During this opera- tion, which lasts for a very short time, the whole of the last three seg- ments of the abdomen are lifted upwards so as to form almost a right. angle with the rest of the body. The larve are expelled by a double orifice pierced between the seventh and the eighth abdominal rings; these two openings are only separated from one another by a very slight portion of tissue, and generally break into one another so as o become one after the deposition of the egg. There results a large slit which involves the whole of the lower half of the line of junction of these two rings. In this case the digestive tube is burst so that the nerves are detached behind the last nervous ganglion which occupies the seventh abdominal ring. These observations led me to study the ~ female genital apparatus, which ought to be constructed with a view to the internal development of the eggs. Almost the whole of the body of the female is occupied by two sacs attached, the one to the other, along the middle line; the vertical partition which separates them 18 traversed by numerous tracheæ. These sacs extend over the whole abdomen, with the exception of the last two segments, and reach as far as the head, occupying in the three thoracic rings almost the whole of the space left free by the muscles of the wings and legs. Beneath them is the digestive tube, reduced to a canal with a thin and delicate W and the nervous chain. These two sacs open on the outside, each by ® distinct orifice pierced in the membrane which joins the seventh ubdom- inal ring to the eighth, and, as already described, at the moment of the quantity of greyish matter to exude from the abdomen of the animal; I 1897.] : Entomology. 167 exit of the larvae these two openings run together to form one. To what part of genital apparatus of other insects does this double incubation sac correspond? I have not yet been able to settle this point, in as much as I have only had under observation insects in which the sacs were already filled with eggs in course of development, and in which the empty and shrivelled ovaries were with difficulty visible. In spite of the relatively long duration of their life, the Chleeopses takes no more food in the adult state than the other Ephemere. Their mouth is only armed with a few soft and incomplete parts. “The larve are elongated, very active, armed with feet terminated by a single hook. The head, roughly pentagonal in form, bears two long antennæ and five ocular spots of which one, odd, is situated between the bases of the antennz; the four others are arranged in two pairs, of which the posterior furnishes the reticulated eyes of the adult. The mouth is provided with a masticatory apparatus, which is well formed. The abdomen is formed of ten segments, of which the last bears two long filaments provided with a few stiff hairs. The length of the body is 0.7 millim., not including the caudal filaments, which are at least as long as the body. The cephalo thorax and the anterior part of the abdomen contain at birth brilliant globules, which disappear in a day Or two. During the first period of their existenee the larve have neither trachez nor tracheal branchise. Six days after their birth the larvee undergo a first change; their appearance changes but little, but on each of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th abdominal rings there appears a pair of short prominences, each as much developed as the others, the rudiments of the future tracheo-branchise. Three days later there is another change; the five prominences just mentioned become elongated, and a pair of them appear on the first abdominal ring, the trachex also become visible. After the third change, the five pairs of tracheo- branchiz are well formed and receive the trachez. Those of the first ring do not develop completely until the fourth change, and, finally, those of the seventh abdominal ring, apparent at the third change, are not complete till after the fifth. From that time the larva possesses all ats organs,” EMBRYOLOGY.’ The Corpus Luteum.—The fate of the Graafian follicle of the Mammal’s ovary is certainly very remarkable. The well known corpus ‘ Edited by E. A. Andrews, Baltimore, Md., to whom abstracts reviews and Preliminary notes may be sent. 168 The American Naturalist. [February,. luteum that results from the rupture of the follicle is generally thought to be a growth of connective tissue, for the most part. J. Sobotta,’ however, finds that in the mouse this structure is formed by the en- largement of the epithelial cells of the follicle, aided by growth of con- nective tissue. His results are obtained from the very large numberof sections used in his previous study of the fertilization and cleavage of the mouse’s egg (See AMERICAN Naturauist Aug. ’95) and from the thousands of specimens at his disposal he is able to write a complete history of the corpus luteum. It is interesting to note that in three cases in which the egg was abnormally retained in follicles that had ruptured as usual when ripe the usual corpora lutea were formed, though of course the egg had not been fertilized. This and other reasons lead the author to affirm that, in the mouse, no distinction can be drawn between corpora lutea vera and corpora lutea spuria, that is to say the yellow body is just the same whether the egg is fertilized or not. The chief results of this paper may be summarized as follows: In the ripe Graafian follicle of the mouse the connective tissue sheath is composed of a fibrous outer part and of an inner coat of large, rounded cells; the many-layered epithelium internal to the latter shows mitotic divisions ; at the centre is the usual liquid bathing the discus proliget- ous that envelopes the egg. Both the connective tissue and the epithe- - lial layers are much thinned away on the side next the body-cavity where the rupture is to take place. When the follicle bursts it happens only exceptionally that blood escapes into its central cavity. The ruptured follicle is at first just like the ripe one except for the loss of the egg, discus proligerous, and the chief part of the liquid. The cleft in its side is very quickly healed. over by the union of its epithelial edges. About an hour after the rupture of the follicle the cells of the inner connective tissue sheath begin to divide by mitosis and liquid 1$ secreted into the central cavity. Migratory corpuscles appear in the inner connective tissue sheath. In from five to seven hours the growth of this sheath gives rise to fine radiating partition that penetrate the epithelial layers. The inner sheath is used up in the growth of these partitions as they extend 10 through the epithelium to the central space; leucocytes are found all through the epithelial layers. After forty to fifty hours the liquid accumulated in the central space has been reabsorbed and its place taken by a small, gelatinous connec- ? Archiv. f. Mik. Anat. 47, April, 1896, pp. 261-306. 1897.) Embryology. 169 tive tissue mass; about this the epithelial cells are subdivided by a network formed from the radiating partitions and the leucocytes; the epithelial cells in the meshes of this network are much enlarged but not increased in number, division having ceased at the time of rupture. The yellow body is complete in from sixty to seventy-two hours. It is then much larger than the original Graafian follicle, as the epithelial cells are swollen to ten times their former size and are intertwined with the newly formed connective tissue bearing a rich network of capillaries. Later more or less fat is deposited in the epithelial cells and the body has a slightly yellow color, but here, as in some other mammals, the name is misleading. As far as the author's observations go the corpora lutea do not degenerate, in the mouse, but remain unchanged during the life of the animal and thus add much to the size of the ovary. Cleavage in Ovarian Eggs.—Professor J. Janosik’ finds in some follicles that atrophy in the rabbit and guinea-pig ovarian eggs may undergo a real cleavage, though of course there has been no fertiliza- tion (as far as known). Such ovarian eggs may form small cells very like polar bodies and lying near a true spindle which is in the position of a maturation spindle. This is more common in young than in old animals, There are cases of true cleavage with few to many nucleated cells and these cells may be of equal size or some large and some small. There are also cases of “ fragmentation ” where the isolated masses of proto- plasm contain no visible nucleus. In these cases of ovarian cleavage the membrana pellucida disappears as it does in the normal cleavage. Such eggs later atrophy with their follicles. PSYCHOLOGY: Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Associa- tion.—The Fifth Annnal Meeting of the American Psychological As- sociation was held at Boston and Cambridge, on December 29 and 30, 1896. The step taken a year ago of affiliating with the American Society of Naturalists proved so successful that this course has been adopted permanently by the Association. At the present meeting ® Archiv. f. Mik. Anat., 48, Nov. 7, 1896, pps. 169-181. ! Edited by H. C. Warren, Princeton University, Princeton, N. J. 170 Fhe American Naturalist. [February, about 35 members were in attendance, besides a large number of visitors who came to the various sessions. The proceedings as a whole were very interesting. The number of papers offered was too great, how- ever, for the time allotted to the sessions; as a consequence each speaker was limited to 15 minutes, involving in many cases a rather fragmentary presentation of the subject. This gave the meeting a somewhat unfinished and unsatisfactory character, for which the con- tent of the papers was in no wise responsible. The Association held two sessions for the presentation of general papers, on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, and a special session on Wednesday afternoon for the reading of the President’s Address and the transaction of business. Besides this many members attended the discussion on the Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics, before the American Society of Naturalists, where the psychologists’ standpoint was represented in the discussion by Prof. James. The lecture Tues- day evening by Mr. Alexander Agassiz on Deep-Sea Soundings, and the reception afterwards at Mr. Agassiz’s house, were largely attended by the psychologists, as was also the Annual Ptr of the Affiliated Societies at the Hotel Brunswick, Wednesday evenin The session of Tuesday morning, (December 29th). was held at the Harvard Medical School in Boston, and was devoted more especially to the experimental side of psychology. The proceedings opened with a paper on the “ Physiology of Sensation,” by Dr. E. A. Singer, and one on the “ Intensity of Sensation,” by Mr. J. E. Lough. Both speak- ers discussed the physical bases of sensation differences. According to Dr. Singer, the data which yield quality distinctions are physiologi- cal, and depend on functional differences of the end- -organs ; while the intensity data, on the other hand, are physical, depending directly on the intensity of the external stimulus. Mr. Lough discussed various theories of intensity, and took the position that the intensity character- istic depends on the greater or lesser prolongation of the stimulus. The maximum intensity effect of a particular stimulus is reached only by passing through a series of neural effects which are the maxima of other lesser stimuli. With a duration less than that which is required to produce this maximum, the effect is a lessened intensity. The speaker reported a series of experiments whose results substantiated this view. Two slits of different breadths were arranged one above the other in a pendulum, so as to admit light and cast two bright images on a reflector. These two images were of the same size and objective brightness ; when the pendulum swung, they appeared at the same in- stant, but one lasted twice as long as the other. It was found that up 1897.] Psychology. 171 to a certain time of exposure the broader slit gave an effect of about double the brightness of the other. This was taken as the time re- quired for the maximal effect in the larger slit. When the time of swing was further lengthened this difference in intensity diminished and finally disappeared. Mr. Lough drew a parallel between the intensity Series and the scale of muscular sensations, though he was inclined to regard the latter as more than a mere intensity series. Prof. G. A. Tawney reported some experiments on the effect of prac- tice upon the tactual double point threshold, and the so-called ‘ Vex- irfehler” Asa rule he found that any reduction of the threshold was accompanied by an increase in the number of Vexirfehler. His expe- riences with different subjects indicated their division into three distinct classes. In some subjects there was a large reduction of the threshold as a result of practice, with a corresponding increase of Vex- irfehler; this reduction of the threshold was not confined to the regions actually practiced upon nor to their symmetrical points, but there was found to be a sympathetic reduction all over the body. In other sub- jects there were few Vexirfehler and only slight reductions of the threshold from practice. In others many Vexirfehler occurred from the very beginning, so that it was difficult to obtain any reliable value for the threshold. Suggestion was found to play an important rôle in every instance, and the results varied greatly according to the degree in which the subject was instructed beforehand as to the purpose of the experiment; where any suggestion was carefully avoided no real reduction of the threshold occurred; some of the subjects to whom no intimation of the nature of the problem was given, failed to get any Vexirfehler at all. The whole phenomenon of threshold reduction and Vexirfehler thus seemed to require a psychological rather than a phy- siological explanation. Mr. A. L. Lewis, introduced by Prof. Witmer, read a paper on “Comparison of the Times of Simple Reactions and of Free Arm Movements in Different Classes of Persons.” His subjects were white men and women, Indians and negroes, both of the latter classes being males, The instrument used was the Hipp chronoscope, which was tested before and after every series, giving constant and variable errors of only 1¢ each. Reactions on sound showed the order, from the short- est time upward, to be Indians, white men, negroes, women ; the first two classes were between 100s and 110s, the last two were between 150s and 160s. For visual stimuli the white men gave a reaction time Somewhat shorter than the Indians; the time for free arm movemen 172 The American Naturalist. [February,. followed the latter order. In each case the time of the women was con- siderably longer than that of the white men and Indians. Prof. Cattell reported upon the work in progress at the Columbia. laboratory. He spoke of investigation on the nature of mental im-. agery. An object is named by the investigator, and the subject re-- ports the order in which the images from different senses are recalled ;. a passage is read, and the nature of the resulting memory images is in- vestigated in a similar manner. An examination of various poets- shows that some, (such as Swinburne), habitually avoid certain harsh sounds, while others, (such as Browning), pay little heed to this point ;: the former seem better adapted for loud reading, the latter for visual perusal. Prof. Cattell reported another study on the nature, duration,. etc., of after images, with special reference to the individual peculiari- ties of different subjects. The problems under investigation at Colum-- bia include also one on the relation of objective rhythm to the greatest. possible speed of voluntary rhythmic movements, one on color nomen- clature, and one on the relation between the duration and intensity of light stimulation. According to Prof. Cattell, the results in the last case thus far were not in agreement with those reported by Mr. Lough.. Prof. Witmer read a paper on the “ Organization of Practical Work. in Psychology.” He spoke of the beneficial results to be obtained from the correlation of psychology with medicine and teaching. Up to the present time the results of contemporary psychological investiga- tion have not been scientifically applied, in the instruction of either normal or defective children. Prof. Witmer recommended a number: of steps to be taken with a view to accomplishing this end: 1. A series of uniform psychological tests, determined at the outset and not altering constantly with changes of fashion, to be applied everywhere to school children of all grades, and to follow as far as possible the same child throughout its course. Another series, devised in the same way, to be applied similarly to the mentally defective. 2. A perma- nent exhibit of the results obtained from these tests, and of the meth- ods employed in making them, which should be accessible to teachers and others interested. 3. An experimental training school for the defective classes under psychological auspices. 4. A psychological clinic and dispensary, in charge of an ‘expert’ with thorough medical as well as psychological training, for children who without any marked mental deficiency theless backward under the ordinary methods of teaching; children would be brought here for consultation, and after examination the proper treatment or course of training would be rec- ommended. 1897.] Psychology. 173: Miss Mary E. Harmon reported on a series of psycho-physical meas- urements to which 100 normal school girls and 100 kindergarten pupils of both sexes were submitted. The usual questions of age, par- entage, etc., and anthropological measurements, were supplemented by tests of sound reaction, free arm movement time, ete. Among the kin- dergarten children, the girls were found to be much slower in the arm movement test than the boys, the average times being about 2150 and 1550 respectively. Prof. Wesley Mills reported on personal experiences under ether. He described the narrowing and intensification of consciousness prior to evanescence, and compared it with De Quincey’s similar experiences under the influence of opium. 7 Brother Chrysostom, of Manhattan College, spoke upon a “ Pre- liminary Study of Memory.” A set of 30 questions was distributed among various educational institutions ; a few have responded already, and these results were reported. The questions were minute and thorough-going ; several were devoted to different characteristics of the attention and its individual variations. One inquiry being as to the time of day in which the best work could be done, the answers were: found to be about evenly divided between the forenoon and late even- ing. Interesting discussion followed the separate papers, but unfortunately the program was so crowded at both this and the Wednesday sessions. that this important part of the proceedings had several times to be cut short. The meetings on Wednesday (December 30th) were held in the Pea- body Museum of Archzology at Cambridge. The morning session was. devoted largely to historical and theoretical topics. Prof. Armstrong reported on the growth of the study of philosophy in American col- leges in the past twenty-five years; he described the great progress everywhere since 1872 in the number of courses, hours and instructors in the department, the broadening and specialization of the courses, and the increase of special foundations and endowments. Two papers followed on the relation between mind and body. Prof. D. S. Miller summed up the evidence against the theory of psycho- physical parallelism, and spoke in favor of Bradley’s construction of the causal relation. Prof. C. S. Strong, speaking on the same topic, favored a form of the parallelistic theory which recognized the “ effi- cacy of consciousness”; it was a mistake, he argued, to believe that the parallelistic theory necessarily involved the reduction of conscious- ness to the rôle of an epiphenomenon. 174 The American Naturalist. [February, Prof. Creighton discussed the concept of the “ Transcendental Ego,” and was followed by Mr. F. C. S. Schiller, who examined the nature of “ Pessimism,” and Prof. James Seth, who discussed the “Standpoint and Method of Ethics.” Two papers devoted to logic were given in outline merely. Prof. J. G. Hibben exhibited and explained a set of diagrams by means of which the various forms of immediate inference were generalized and schematized. Prof. A. T. Ormond summed up his position with regard to the negative in logic. . The session closed with a report by Prof. Sanford on a new eye sphygmograph, which furnishes the best available method (apart from vivisection) of measuring the blood supply of the brain. After de- scribing the apparatus, he exhibited diagrams of records obtained by means of it before and after nervous excitation; these were compared with simultaneous records of the wrist pulse. The afternoon session was devoted to the Address of the out-going President, Prof. Fullerton. The subject of the address was “ The “ Knower’ in Psychology.” Opening with an historical review of the position taken by various thinkers regarding the agent or subject of knowledge, he proceeded to criticise in detail the theories held by Prof. Ladd and other members of the Association. After the address Prof. Ladd replied to the criticism of his own views. At the business meeting of the Association, Prof. J. Mark Baldwin, of Princeton, was elected President for the ensuing year, and Dr. Liv- ingston Farrand, of Columbia, was re-elected Secretary and Treasurer. Several new members were elected into the Association, and the two annual vacancies in the Council were filled. The committee appointed at the previous meeting (1895) to formulate a system*of uniform phy- sical and mental tests, submitted their report, which was not read in full owing to the lateness of the hour. The committee were unable to agree on a complete system of uniform tests; they recommended that for the present considerable latitude be given within certain broad lines, with a view to comparing various tests, so that the best may eventually be adopted.—H. C. W. PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. The American Society of Naturalists met December 29th, = the Harvard Medical School, Boston. The meeting of the affiliated Societies, was fully up to the standard of previous gatherings, both as a the amount of work accomplished and the attendance. The programs © 1897.] Proceedings of Scientific Societies. 175 the societies were full, the physiologists especially showing an important increase in the number of workers. Several young men presented maiden papers of merit to the morphologists ; while the merits of the opposed theories of psychic parallelism and interference in animal evolution were discussed by the psychologists among the topics before them. The discussion of the inheritance of acquired characters was made the subject of the special discussion by the naturalists, and, although the subject is not new, a large audience was present, the other societies, excepting the physiologists, adjourning to attend it. Profs. Minot and James, of Harvard University, took the negative, and Macfarlane and Cope, of Pennsylvania, the affirmative. It was generally regretted that more time had not been alloted to the discussion, so as to have en- abled others to take part in it. The evening dinner was closed by an interesting address from the President, Prof. Scott, of Princeton, an innovation which we hope will become the regular custom. The following is the program of proceedings: Reports of Com- mittees ; Election of New Members; Appointment of Special Com- mittees ; Discussion, subject: “ The Inheritance of Acquired Charac- teristics ;” “ Zoology,” Prof. C. S. Minot; “Botany,” Prof. J. M. Macfarlane; “ Paleontology,” Prof. E. D. Cope; “ Psychology,” Prof. Wm. James; Special Papers. Prof. ©. S. Minot opened the discussion on heredity, suggesting the wide interest in the solution of the problem of whether characters ac- quired during the life of the parent were transmitted to the offspring. It was well illustrated in the popular beliefs that correct habits of life or the opposite, in parents, had an important influence on the character of children, leaving out of the question the force of example. To many the incentive to right living was centered largely on the bearings of the matter on education of the young. The scientific data, however, on which to base a theory, was most meagre in amount and unsatisfactory in character. Much of the rea- soning had to be in assumptions, which were but sparsely indicated in the evidence. The characters generally of an individual were largely the result of many generations of development, and were the last term of a series, each part of which had a causal relation to the result. Several specific characters were taken up by the speaker, as the de- velopment of the facial nerve in the embryo, cases of false articulation forming in luxated joints, characters in the Papilio genus of butter- flies, and some other instances. It was urged as an observation that all normal parts, whether hard or colored or otherwise highly differenti- ated from the germ, seem to follow a predetermined plan in the develop- 176 The American Naturalist. [February, ment of the individual, and, in the history of a species, and have a tend- -ency to differentiate in series. The presence of series it was therefore, argued is no evidence of the transmission of acquired characters. An elaborate presentation of the two theories of the primal unit of life was entered into, detailing first the views of investigators who re- garded the start as a small, discrete, homogenous particle gifted with -considerable locomotive power, and thus capable of conveying impres- sions from the outside of the subject to the more remote precincts of the germ within. Opposed to these were theories to which the speaker ad- hered, which assumed the unit to be the cell, relatively large, of a various chemical constituency and with something of an organization. ‘The first of these two theories permitted the further step of assumption that acquired impressions could, by the greater facility in movement, reach the germ, while the second theory found the germ rather re- moved from outside impressions, and tending generally to perpetuating the type or the result of accretions from a long previous series of ex- -periences and impressions. Prof. Minot was.thus opposed to the idea -of transmission as defined in the question. Prof. J. M. McFarlane was in favor of the theory of transmission, ‘drawing his data from botanical studies in an exhaustive review of the vegetable kingdom. His arguments were directed mainly to examples of changes in genera and species from changes in environment, and a -lot of evidence was adduced having some relation to the transmission of acquired characters, but mainly to showing the prompt response in ‘mature to the influence of surroundings. Prof. Cope’s defence of the doctrine of the inheritance of acquired characters was selected from the evidence contained in his book, “ The Primary Factors of Organic Evolution.” He referred especially to the history of the moulding of the articulations of the vertebrate, and espe- cially the Mammalian skeletons, of which such complete series has been furnished by paleontology. The forms of these articulations he believed to be the result of their movements, for the reason that they could be formed artificially as the result of experiment, or in consequence of luxations. He believed that the resulting forms have been inherited, because they are found in the embryo, before the animal has had an opportunity of developing the structure for himself by interaction with the environment. He admitted the justice of Dr: Minot’s demand for an explanation of this phenomenon. He stated that the preformationists offered no explanation ; and, indeed, so far as he could see, none is possible from their point of view. The epigeuesisists could, on the contrary, appeal 4397.) Proceedings of Scientific Societies. 177 to the phenomena of memory as a plausible explanation. Stimuli from without and within the organism leave a record in the brain-cells, which give the form to consciousness when the latter invades them’ along the guiding lines of association. Why should not the germ plasma be capable of a similar record of stimuli, which is expressed in the recapitulatory growth of the embryo? He thought that the evi- dence pointed to such a process. These stimuli affected the soma and the germ plasma simultaneously, in accordance with the doctrine of Diplogenesis; but that the soma only records results in each tissue which are appropriate to the functions of the same, while the germ plasma and brain-cells may record them all. The certainty of record in both cases he supposed to depend on the frequency and strength of ‘the impression, as is known to be the case with the memory of the men- tal organism. Hence mutilations or single impressions were rarely re- corded, while those due to the constant and habitual movements are recorded, and furnish the physical basis of growth and of evolution of He further remarked that the belief that natural selection originates structure could not be entertained, as paleontological evidence shows that evolution has proceeded by very gradual additions and subtrac- tions of character, which required long periods to become of any value ‘in the struggle for existence—sometimes an entire geological period -being occupied in the elaboration of a character to structural usefulness. Finally, he referred to the physical mechanism of mental phenomena, -and stated thatsome psychologists require a completed machine in order for the performance of special mental function. The speaker called attention to the fact that it is highly probable that the fundamental ‘Sensations do not even require a nervous system for their expression. -Thus Protozoa appear to experience the sensations of hunger, tempera- ture and the muscular sense of resistance. Hence, it is as true of the -physical basis of mental as of other functions that the formation pro- duces the structure, while structure merely specializes or perfects func- ‘tion. Professor Wm. James followed from the psychologic point of view. -He said that the brain was evidently an organ capable of great varia- bility of function, and that variations in new directions were frequent. He regarded genius as a form of sporting, and that such sporta fre- “quently served as guides to the development of human society. He believed that education was of primary importance, and did nos find much evidence of the inheritance of characters acquired in this mer: He believed on the contrary that mental acquisitions are transmitted 178 The American Naturalist. [February, from generation to generation by education and by imitation, a process, which Prof. J. Mark Baldwin had termed “Social Heredity.” At 8.15 P. M. the Society attended at the Fogg Museum of Art, Harvard University, Cambridge, a lecture by Mr. Alexander Agassiz, on “ The History of Deep Sea Explorations ;” and at 9.30 P. M. attended a reception by Mr. Alexander Agassiz, at his residence on Quincy Street, Cambridge. On Wednesday, December 30th, 12 M., the Society attended at the Fogg Museum of Art, Harvard University, Cambridge, a lecture by Prof. E. B. Wilson, on “ Recent Developments of the Cell Theory; at 1.30 P. M. was served at the Faculty Rooms, University Hall, Cam- bridge, a luncheon, by invitation of the President and Fellows of Har- vard College. Two addresses were delivered in honor of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the arrival of Agassiz in Cambridge, by President. Elliott and Prof. Wm. James. At 3 P. M., Mr. Alexander Agassiz met. the Society in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, and described the Museum; and at 6.30 P. M., Hotel Brunswick, corner of Boylston and Clarendon Streets, Boston, a business session was held. At 7 P.M. the annual dinner of the Affiliated Societies took place at the Hotel Bruns- wick, at the close of which the societies listened to the address of the President, Prof. W. B. Scott. American Physiological Society.—Program: Tuesday, De- cember 29th, at the Harvard Medical School, General Business; Reading of Papers: W. T. Porter, “Studies in the Physiology of the Mammalian Heart:” T. Hough, “On the Duration of Cardiac Stand- still with Different Strengths of Vagus Stimulation ; ” R. Hunt, “ Some Experiments on the Relation of the Inhibitory to the Accelerator Nerves of the Heart ;” W. H. Howell,“ Exhibition of Plethysmographic Curves Obtained During Sleep, with Remarks;” H.P. Bowditch, “ The Rela- tion between Height, Weight and Age in Growing Children ;” ©: 8 Minot, “An Experiment on Telegony;” S. J. Meltzer, “On the Con- traction of the Stomach Produced by Direct Stimulation and by Stimu- lation of the Vagi with the Faradic Current; ” Fr. Pfaff, “An Experi- mental Investigation of Some of the Conditions Influencing the Secretion and Composition of Bile” (With Mr. A. Balch); G. Lusk, “ The Pro- duction of Sugar from Gelatine in Metabolism ;” W. T. Porter, “ De- monstration of a Method for the Isolation of the Mammalian Heart ; S. J. Meltzer,‘ Demonstration of the Reaction of the Stomach to Faradie Stimulation ;” G. T. Kemp, “ Demonstration of a Convenient Form of Apparatus to Avoid Explosions in Gas Analysis.” o 1897.] Proceedings of Scientific Societies. 179 Wednesday, December 20th, at Harvard University, Cambridge, General Business; Reading of Papers: G. C. Huber, “ The Structure of the Sympathetic Ganglia of Vertebrates, with Demonstration of Prepa- rations ;” G. O. Huber, “ Remarks on the Ending of Nerves in Muscle Tissue, with Demonstrations ;” W. Mills, “The Functional Develop- ment of the Cerebral Cortex in Different Groups of Animals;” R. H. Cunningham, “The Restoration of Coordinate Power After Nerve Crossing ;” R. H. Chittenden, “ The Proteolytic Action of Papain ;” C. F. Hodge,“ Experiments on the Physiological Influence of Alcohol ; ” G. T. Kemp, “ The Physiological Action of Nitrous Oxide;” S. J. Meltzer, “On Bactericidal Effects of Lymph from the Thoracic Duct” (with Dr. Charles Norris). G. W. Fitz, Demonstration of Apparatus : 1, A spring cylinder chronograph for spark records; 2, A lever system to illustrate the action of muscles in relation to joints; 3, A form of student’s myograph ; 4, A modification of the location reaction appara- tus. C. F. Hodge (for C. C. Stewart), Demonstration of preparations of the nerve cell under acute alcoholic poisoning. General Business. The American Morphological Society.—Boston, December 29, 1896.—The following papers were read: Arnold Graf, “On the Individuality of the Cell” Maintained the individuality of the cell pointing out the existence of organs in it. A. D. Mead, “ On the Cen- trosomes of Cheetopterus.” Pointed out the existence of primary and secondary centrosomes in the unfertilized egg, the latter arising from the reticulum of the cytoplasm. These form the centers of spindles, and these spindles divide. History of the egg centrosome during ma- turation traced, and at the close of the formation of the second polar globule it occupied a position in center of chromosomes. Author was not certain of the origin of the male centrosome. F. R. Lillie, “ Ori- gin of the Center of the First Cleavage Spindle in Unio complauatus. This form is unlike Myzostoma in that it has male and female asters; but the centrosome of segmentation, like that of Myzostoma, arises from the female. E. B. Wilson, “Centrosome and Middle Piece in the Fertilization of the Egg.” In Toxopneustes the centrosome arises not from the middle piece, but from a point between this and the head of the spermatozoan. H. E. Crampton, Jr., “ Observations on the Fertilization in Gasteropods.” Largely a confirmation of a paper by Mead. Miss Byrnes, “ Maturation and Fertilization of Limax.” C. S. Minot, “A New Microtome; New Laboratory Methods.” Method of sharpening microtome knives—exhibited serial sections Qu thick cut with the new microtome and with knives sharpened with adamantine by 13 LOG. The American Naturalist. [February, a laboratory boy, He advised filtering of all waste paraffine in the labor- atory. W. Patten, “Preservation of Cartilage, etc., in a Dry Condition.” By impregnetion with paraffine as if for section work. C.B. Davenport, “The Role of Water in Growth.” . Careful weighing of frog embryos shows that in early stages increase in weight is almost entirely due to absorption of water. J.P. McMurrich, “Structure and Function of the Hind Gut of Isopods.” This region is lined with solid chitinous intima; does not increase in number of cells; does not absorb food. Dr. Conk- in contradicted this, claiming that the intima is traversed by fine canal- iculi, that food-is absorbed by this region, and that its cells divide in the length of the animal by amitosis. December 30, 1896.—H. C. Bumpus, “ The Result of the Suspension of Natural Selection as Illustrated by the Introduced English Sparrow.” Showed by comparison of 1600 eggs that this bird is more variable in the United States than in England. G. W. Field, “ The Plankton of Brackish Water.” A. E. Verrill, “ Nocturnal Protective Colors of Ami- mals.” On diurnal changes in colors of fishes as related to natural selection. Margaret Lewis, “ Epidermal Sense-Organs in Certain Poly- chaetes.” Structure and distribution of these in some maldanids. A. P. Henchman, “ Eyes of Limax maximus.” Details of structure and existence of primary and accessory visual organs. A. Schaper, “ Earliest Differentiation of the Central Nervous System of Vertebrates.” A his- tory of the epithelial sustentation, glia and nerve cells in the spinal cord; and a parallel between ontogeny and the conditions found in amphroxus, lamprey, selachian, etc. W. Patten, “A Basis for a Theory of Color Perception.” Based upon the wave lengths and the conical shape of the end-organs. N. P. Harrington, “A New Species of Ento- concha and the Systematic Position of the Genus.” A. E. Verrill, “A Colossal Cephalopod from Florida.” An octopus with body 18 feet long, 5 feet in diameter ; estimated weight of this part, 5 tons. Part of one — tentacle was found 34 feet long and 10 inches in diameter at the place where it was broken of. Its length in life is estimated between 70 and 90 feet. G. Lefevre, “ Budding in Clavellinide.” W. Patten, “ Visual Centers of Vertebrates and Arthropods.” An attempt to homologise these regions in the two groups. M. Bancroft, “ Notes on Chelyosoma.” J. S. Kingsley, “Amphiuma and the Caecilians.” Claimed that these two forms are but remotely related to each other. F. C. Waite, “ Bra- chial and Lumbo-Sacral Plexi in Necturus.” The evidence presented by these structures upon vertebral intercalation and on the shifting of the pelvis. 1897.] Proceedings of Scientific Societies. -181 The Society elected the following officers for the coming year: Presi- dent, C. S. Minot; Vice-President, S. I. Smith ; Secretary-Treasurer, G. H. Parker; Executive Committee, J. S. Kingsley, Bashford Dean. Many papers were left unread on account of lack of time. Probably, in the future, papers will be admitted only from actual members ; they will be limited to fifteen minutes; and the authors will be requested to omit all historical reviews and details of observations, and to confine themselves to the broader conclusions and generalizations. Boston Society of Natural History.—January 6, 1897.—The following papers were presented ; Mr. A. W. Grabau, “ The Sand Plains of Truro, Wellfleet and Eastham ;” Prof. W. M. Davis,“A Geographical Classification of Coastal plains.” —SamurL HENSHAW, Secretary. January 20.—The following paper was read: Prof. W. O. Crosby, “The great fault and accompanying sandstone dikes of Ute Pass, Colorado.”—Samurt HENSHAW, Secretary. New York Academy of Science, Biological Section.—De- cember 14, 1896, Prof. J. G. Curtis, Chairman, in the Chair. Dr. Ar- nold Graf made a preliminary report on “Some New Fixing Fluids ;” Mr. J. A. McGregor read a paper entitled “An Embryo of Orypto- branchus.” The embryo described is about 16 millimetres long, and is the first to be recorded of this speeies. Prominent among its external features are the excessive amount w yolk, the marked ventral flexure in the cervical region, and the very early and almost simultaneous appearance of the two pairs of limbs. The dorsal surface is pigmented, the pigment cells being arranged in transverse bands, one band over each metamere of the body. ; Lateral line sense-organs can be distinguished. Among the most striking in- ternal characters may be mentioned the dorso-ventral flattening of the notochord, the late appearance of entoderm and alimentary organs gen- erally—due doubtless to the great mass of the yolk. The primordial skull is unusually well-developed. The auditory vesicle has an endo- lymphatic duct ending blindly immediately under the skin on the top of the head. Along the sides of the body a system of organs occur which are probably homologous with the embryonic sense-organs de- scribed by Beard in the sharks. aay Dr. J. L. Wortman spoke of the “ Ganodonta,” a new and primi- tive suborder of the Edentata from the Eocene of North America. One section or family of the suborder, viz., the Stylinodontidee, 1s COM- posed of Hemigamus, Psittacotherium, Ectoganus and Stylinodon, and 182 The American Naturalist. [February, forms a closely connected and consecutive phylum, reaching from the base of the Puerco to the Bridger formation, and leading directly to the Gravigrada or ground sloths. A second family, viz., the Conoryctide, composed of Conoryctes and Onychodectes may be regarded as ancestral to the Armadillos. The character and origin of the Edentate fauna of South America was discussed at length, and the conclusion reached that its original home was in North America. It was further held that there was a migration to the southward before the close of the Eocene, and that there must have then been an early land connection between the two continents.—C. L. BRISTOL, Secretary. University of Pennsylvania Biological Club.—Monday, Jan- uary 4th, Program. Demonstrations: “ Descriptive Demonstration of the Life-History of Sacculina, H. Heath. Reviews: “ Zoological,” Drs. Moore and Calvert ; “Chemical,” Dr. Mary E. Pennington; “ Patho- logical,” Dr. Ferree Witmer; “ Botanical,’ Dr. Macfarland, Mrs. Wilson. (Time limit for each review, five minutes.) Original Com- munication, by Dr. Edw. D. Cope, “ The Embryonic Appendages and the Evolution of Mammalia.”—H. C. PORTER, Secretary. January 18.—Program Demonstration, Cell changes in Spirogyra grown under color-screens, Dr. Mary E. Pennington: Review.—Zoolog- ical: Dr. P. Calvert, Chemical; Dr. Mary E. Pennington, Botanical ; Dr. J. Harshberger, Original Communications.—Account of the Boston meeting of the Society of American Naturalist and Affiliated Societies. Profs. Macfarlane, Conklin, Witmer, and Cope—H. C. PORTER, Secretary. The Biological Society of Washington.—January 2, 1897.— The following communications were made: “ Brief Informal Notes and Exhibition of Specimens,” (All the members are cordially invited to take part); E. W. Nelson, “ New Birds from Mexico ;” F. A. Lucas, “On the Natural Mortality Among Fur Seals; ” C. Hart Merriam, “ On the Pribilof Island Hair Seal;” W. H. Dall, “ Notes on the Mol- luscan Fauna of the Pribilof Islands.” —FreDERICK A. Lucas, Seere- tary. ; January 16.—The following communications were made: David White, “ A New Lycopodineous Cone from the Coal Measures of Mis. souri;”’ David White, “ Unity or Plurality of Type Specimens 10 Paleontology ;” Edward L. Greene, “ Development of the Idea of a Genus;” M. A. Carleton, “ Ontogenetic Separation of Puccinia gramms dvene from P. graminis tritici.” —FREDERIC A. Lucas, Secretary. 1897.] Proceedings of Scientific Societies. 183 Cincinnati Society of Natural History.—At the monthly meet- ing, January 5, 1897, the following communications were made: “ On the Pulsation of the Molluscan Heart,” by Frank C. Baker, of Chicago ; “Catalogue of the Odonata of Ohio—Part III,” by D. L. Kellicott, of Columbus, O. ; “An Odonate Nymph from a Thermal Spring,” by the same author. (All three papers will be published inthe “ Journal” of the Society —Josua LINDAHL. The Academy of Science of St. Louis.—At the meeting of the Academy of Science of St. Louis, on the evening of December 21, 1896, Mr. H.von Schrenk made some remarks on the parasitism of lichens, illus- trated especially by the long hanging forms of Usnea barbata, common on Juniperus, etc., on Long Island, N. Y. It was shown that these lichens do not penetrate below the outer periderm of the host, and consequently are not to be regarded as true parasites, but that they frequently cause the death of the latter by suffocation. As Schimper has noted for the long moss of the South, Tillandsia usneoides, the plant is capable of _ dissemination by wind and birds, and of growing in new stations with- out attachment. Officers for 1897 were nominated. January 4, 1897, Dr. Amand Ravold gave a microscopic demonstra- tion of Widal’s test for typhoid fever, demonstrating that after the dis- ease has existed for four days or more the blood of typhoid patients, probably because of some contained antitoxine, possesses the power of inhibiting the motion of typhoid bacilli from a pure culture introduced into it within a period of one hour or less, whereas in normal blood similar bacilli retain their power of locomotion for an indefinite length of time. It was stated that typhoid blood possessed this property even after having been dried for a period of four weeks or more, so that a few drops obtained from a person suspected of having the disease may be sent to suitable places for applying the test, thus rendering compara- tively easy the early diagnosis of a disease, which, in its early stages, presents many clinical difficulties. : Professor F. E. Nipher gave preliminary results of partially com- pleted experiments, made through the courtesy of the Burlington and Illinois Central Railroads, to determine the frictional effect of trains of cars on the air near them. His apparatus consists of a cup collector supported on a bar capable of sliding in guides on a clamp attached to the window-sill of the car. The bar is thrust out to varying distances up to 30 inches. The mouth of the collector is turned in the direction of motion of the train. The pressure due to the motion is conveyed through a rubber tube attached to the rear of the collector, and passing 184 The American Naturalist. [February, lengthwise through the car to a water monometer. The monometer has a tube with a rise of 4 or 5 in 400, and is provided with a pivotal mount- ing and a level. The pressure near the train is comparatively small, and increases as the collector is thrust further out. It approaches a limit corresponding to the train velocity at the instant. Professor Nipher finds the relation between the limiting pressure and velocity to agree exactly with the formula P= vy’, where v is the train velocity in centimeters per second, P is the pressure in dynes to the square centimeter, and S is the density of air in C. G. units at the temperature and pressure of the observations. He finds the pressure a maximum when the axis of the collector is parallel to the direction of motion with the mouth to the wind. Turn- ing the collector until the axis makes an angle of about 80° with this position, the pressure reduces to zero. At greater angles the pressure becomes less than atmospheric pressure by an amount which reaches & maximum at the angle of 90°, and passes through a minimum at an angle of 80°, when the collector is in a trailing position. The sum of — the coefficients for the two positions of maximum compression and mini- mum exhaust is almost exactly the same as Langley obtained with a pressure board when exposed normally to the wind. The result shows that a large amount of air is dragged along with the train, the motion being communicated to air many feet away. This air is a source of danger to one standing too near the train when at full speed. One is likely to be toppled over, and the blow of the air com- - municates a motion of rotation, which may cause one to roll under the train if the nature of the ground does not prevent such a result. It was remarked, however, that where trains have a right to run at any speed: no prudent person would stand so near to a train as is necessary in order to be in danger from this source. The following officers were declared elected for the year 1897 : Presi- dent, M. L. Gray; First Vice-President, E. A. Englar; Second Vice- President, Charles R. Sanger ; Recording Secretary, William Trealease ; Corresponding Secretary, F. C. Runge; Treasurer, Enno Sander ; Li- brarian, G. Hambach ; Curators, Julius Hurter, J. H. Kinealy, E. Evers; Directors, M. H. Post, Joseph Grindon. One person was elected to active membership—Wii1am TREA- LEASE, Recording Secretary. Nebraska Academy of Sciences.—The Seventh Annual Meet- ing was held at Lincoln, December 29, 1896, with the following pt gram: 1897.] Proceedings of Scientific Societies. 185 Presidential Address by Prof. E. H. Barbour on “ Academies of Sciences, their Economic and Educational Value,” with suggestions for the improvement of our Academy ; “ A New Plankton Pump” for collecting aquatic organisms from any desired depth, H. B. Ward and Charles Fordyce ; “ Continued Biological Investigations,” H. B. Ward ; “ Progress in the Study of the Fauna of the State ” showing the rich- ness of our fauna and how little it is known, Lawrence Brunner ; “ Some Methods of Collecting, Preserving and Mounting Fossils,” Carrie A. Barbour ; “ Nomenclature of Nebraska Trees” with the history of par- ticular names, Charles E. Bessey ; “ Reflections on the Genus Ribes” importance of recognizing the validity of species created by the gar- dener, F. W. Card; “ Chalcedony-lime Nuts of the Genus Hickora from the Bad Lands of Nebraska,” E. H. Barbour; ‘Comparison be- tween Nebraska Diatomaceous Earth and that from Neighboring States,” C. J. Elmore ; “ What is Mathematics ” and how it correlates other sciences, E. W. Davis; “ A Family of Quartic Surfaces,” the sum of the distances of whose locus from two given surfaces is constant, Robert E. Moritz; “ A Form of Weir Notch,” giving a flow of water varying directly as the head, instead of following the usual more com- plicated law, O. V. P. Stout; “An Observation on Annual Rings in Tree Growth” when complete defoliation did not induce the growth of a second ring, F. W. Card ; “Internal Temperature of Trees” rising as high as 119° at a depth of half an inch in a trunk exposed to sun- shine, R. A. Emerson. The remaining papers, owing to the lateness of the hour were read by title only, as follows: “Notice of Two Import- ant Books on Systematic Botany,” Charles E. Bessey ; “ The Barites of Eastern Nebraska and the Bad Lands,” Erwin H. Barbour; “ Some Data as to Wind Distribution of Seeds,” Ed. M. Hussong ; “ Parasites of Nebraska Dogs,” Henry B. Ward ; “ Discovery of the First Meteor- ite in Nebraska,” Erwin H. Barbour; “ Notes on Phyllopod Crusta- cea,” H. A. Lafler and A. S. Pearse. The following officers were elected: President, Dr. A. S. Von Mans- felde ; Vice-President, Dr. E. H. Barbour; Secretary and Treasurer, Prof. G. D. Swezey ; Custodian, Prof. Lawrence Bruner; Directors, Dr. H. B. Ward, Prof. H. B. Duncanson, Mr. C. J. Elmore and Dr. H. Hapeman. The next Annual Meeting will be held on the day following Thanks- giving. The volume of Proceedings for 1894-1895 has just been issued, price 40 cents—G. D. Swezey, Secretary. The Botanical Seminar of the University of Nebraska.— December 5, 1896.—The following papers were presented : Mycolog- 186 The American Naturalist. [February, ical Statistics of Nebraska, Mr. Roscoe Pound ; The Comparative Anatomy of the Pistil in Apocarpous Families, Mr. Ernst Bessey: Phytogeographical Notes from Colorado, Mr. C. L. Shear. December 26th—The Polyphylesis of the Lichens, Mr. F. E. Clements; The Phytogeography of Nebraska, Mr. Roscoe Pound: The Flora of Rob- erts County, South Dakota, Prof. D. A. Saunders; Washington and its Botanists, Mr. A. F. Woods. Botanical Seminar of the City of Washington, D. C.— December 12, 1896.—The following papers were presented: Short Notices of Current Literature; Synopsis of the Genus Cheetochloa, J. G. Smith ; The Origin and Development of Sexuality and Alternation of Generations, Considered from the Modern Cytological Standpoint, W. T. Swingle; Some Cases of Polyembryony, A. J. Pieters; Manu- facture of Cereal Foods, Mr. A. Carleton. Torrey Botanical Club.—At the meeting of Tuesday evening, December 8, 1896, thirty persons were present and one new active and seven corresponding members were elected. The death of Mr. Wm. H. Rudkin, one of the oldest members of the club, was announced by Dr. Britton, and a committee was appointed to take suitable action. It was resolved that a complete list of the corresponding members should be printed in the December number of the Bulletin. A contribution by Dr. T. F. Allen, entitled “ Descriptions of New Species of Nitella from North America and Japan,” was read by title by Dr. Britton in the absence of the author. Mrs. Elizabeth G. Britton presented a ‘Contribution to the Bryology of Bolivia.” It reviewed the more im- portant collections of Bolivian mosses, the treatment which they had received and the present work in progress on this subject, and enumer- ated the bryological collections made by Dr. Rusby in Bolivia in the years 1885 and 1886. This collection contained 96 species, in 39 gen- era, 42 of the species being hitherto undescribed. Dr. H. H. Rusby spoke of “ Botany at the Pan-American Medical Congress held in the City of Mexico, November, 1896.” This paper contained brief refer- ences to the character >f the flora observed on the journey to Mexico, an account of the scientific progress in the city, especially pertaining to applied botany and referred to the botanical work organized by the Pan-American Medical Congress. It was supplemented by remarks upon the same subject by Mrs. Britton, who also attended the Congress. A number of important publications by the Instituto Medico Nacional were exhibited. Dr. N. L. Britton described a new species of Gera nium hitherto confounded with G. Carolinianum. The papers by Dr. — 1897.] Proceedings of Scientific Societies. 187 Allen and Dr. and Mrs. Britton will be published in the Budletin, that by Dr. Rusby in the Druggists’ Cireular. On motion the Club ad- journed to meet on the second Tuesday in January. H. H. Russy, Ree. Secretary. Chicago Academy of Sciences.—A regular meeting of the Academy of Sciences was held Tuesday evening, December 22, 1890. Prof. Willis L. Moore was elected a corresponding member. Mr. Frank M. Woodruff, Ornithologist of the Academy, read a paper on “ Recent Occurrences of Rare Birds in Chicago.” The speaker remarked that he had been collecting data and speci- mens during the past year for the Ornithological Report of the Geo- logical and Natural History Survey, and had been fortunate enough while engaged in this work to run across a number of rare species. The most favorable time for collecting these rarities is when Lake Michigan is almost frozen over, or during the months of January and February, after the wind has changed from an easterly direction and is blowing from the west. The east wind breaks up the ice and the west wind drives the broken floes away from the shore, leaving at times a long stretch of clear water, with here and there a small patch of ice; in this open water the ducks and gulls gather by thousands to feed upon dead fish and sewerage, and they may then be collected very readily. Many of the birds gathering here at this time are inhabitants of Alaska and Northern British America. The rarest bird taken was a specimen of an immature male Kittiwake Gull (Rissa tridactyla) which was shot by Mr. Wagner on the 9th of December near Lincoln Park. This is the first record of a specimen of this bird being shot in Illinois. Barrows Golden-eye ( Glaucinetta islandica) was seen recently in large flocks, and two specimens were shot, one of which got away, but the other was captured and is now in the Academy’s collection. This species is rare, and there are but few records of its capture. The Old Squaw (Olaugula hiemalis) is seen commonly about Chicago, but is seldom taken. Mr. Woodruff men- tioned the following additional more or less rare species : White-winged Scoter (Oidemia deglandi) ; Velvet Scoter (O. fusca, at Meredosia) ; Robin Snipe or Knot (Tringa canutus); Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Tryngites subruficollis) ; Baird’s Sandpiper (Tringa bairdii) ; Piping Plover (Aigialitis meloda) ; Black-bellied Plover (Charadrius squata- rola); Stilt Sandpiper (Micropalama himantopus); Willet (Symp hemia semipalmata) ; Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) ; Harlan’s Hawk (Buteo borealis harlani) and American Goshawk ( Accipiter atricapillus). The 188 The American Naturalist. [February,. Little Yellow Rail (Porzana noveboracensis) was mentioned, not as be- ing rare, but as seldom collected, probably on account of its small size and skulking disposition, The paper was illustrated by specimens of the species spoken of be- longing to the Academy and Mr. Woodruff. FRANK Č. BAKER, Secretary.. SCIENTIFIC NEWS. It will be of interest to Botanists and Zoologists to learn that a Bio- logical Survey of Alabama has been organized and put into operation- The Survey will be carried on under the auspices of the Alabama Poly- technic Institute, and will be named by the specialists engaged at that. institution in the various lines of biological investigation. It will have for its object the study in field and laboratory of all plants and animals occurring in the state and of the various conditions effecting them. The work will be done systematically and thoroughly and all results published. In a region so interesting and little worked as this portion of the Southern United States, careful and extended research will be sure to yield results of the greatest value. Large quantities of material in all groups of plants and animals (especially insects) will be collected and properly prepared. In connection with the Survey there has been founded an Exchange Bureau, from which will be distributed all dupli- cate material. Anyone desiring to correspond relative to specimens, literature, or work of Survey, should address The Alabama Biological Survey, Auburn, Alabama. The New Monthly Open Court—With January, 1897, the Chicago Open Court celebrates the decennial anniversary of its nativity and more consonantly with the solid character of its contents now appears in the form of a monthly instead of a weekly. Undoubtedly this change will gain more than ever the attention of thoughtful people for The Open Court, which is devoted to the high ideal of purifying religion by the methods employed in science,—an aim which it has always reverently but fearlessly pursued. In the ten years of its existence The Open Court has gained the hearty co-operation of a majority of the world’s most eminent scientists and thinkers, both orthodox and unorthodox. The subscription-pricè 1897.] Scientific News. 189 to The Open Court being reduced to an absolute minimum, its work has been rendered possible only by the large private endowments of Mr. E. C. Hegeler of La Salle, whose contributions to its support have exceeded its net income by ninety-six per cent. In the present opening number besides the Salutatory of the editor expounding the purpose of The Open Court, is an extremely significant controversy on Buddhism and Christianity between the Right Rev. Shaku Soyen, delegate of Japan to the Chicago Parliament of Religions, the Rev. Dr. John Henry Barrows, Chairman of the Parliament, and the Rev. F. F. Ellinwood, a prominent Presbyterian clergyman of New York,—a literary symposium realising the idea of a Parliament of Religions extension. A powerful sermon on “Trade and Usury” by Martin Luther, skilfully translated by Professor Carruth, a valiant defence of the claims of Science in Theology by Dr. Cornill, Professor of Old Testament history in Kénigsberg, Germany, Notes and Reviews of important books complete the contents. With the promise of the first number and its old reputation, The Open Court is assured of in- creased and abiding success. (Annual subscription, $1.00: The Open Court Publishing Co., Chicago.) Mr. Herbert Spencer—Mr. F. H. Collins, of Edgbaston, forwards an address of congratulation to Mr. Herbert Spencer upon the completion of his “System of Synthetic Philosophy,” signed by more than 80 noblemen and gentlemen eminent in public life, in literature, and in various branches of learning and science. The signatories re- quest Mr. Spencer to permit them to employ some eminent artist to take his portrait, with a view to its being deposited in one of our na- tional collections. Mr. Spencer, in a letter to Sir Joseph Hooker, complies with the request thus made, explaining the reasons which for- merly led him to refuse a similar proposal. Mr. Herkomer, R. A., has undertaken to paint the portrait. ADVERTISEMENTS. t For Sale Fossil Leaves, Dakota E 6 F c al Q Group Cretaceous. 3 sets of 50, 30, and 20 species and A G ] varieties, at $15.00, $10.00 and $5.00 omp ete Set of each. Also a good set of 20 for $2.50. The American Nat- NO EXCHANGE. list— BOUND WRITE FOR LISTS. uralist— "Charles H. Sternberg, The Edwards & Docker Go. Timna 518 Minor St., FA A’ REDUCED he aa KS. PHILADELPHIA. ticing physician Wy 30. year iy ok are ng, wrink bi confidentially. For particulars DR. SNYDER MeVieker’s Theater, ‘CHICAGO, Ley } Or 907 Broadway, NEW YORK CITY, OF INTEREST TO ALL STUDENTS AND LOVERS OF NATURE. THE OBSERVER DEVOTED TO All Departments of Nature Studies. 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Pp. 460; Easel 125 ; price, cloth, gilt top, $2.00 “The Best Modern Handbook of Evolution.” The Na tion.—Part II: Post-Darwinian Questions: Heredity and Utility. With portrait of the Author. Edited by Prof. C. Lloyd Morgan. Pp. 338 ; price, cloth, gilt ped we 50. Together with art I, ‘‘ The Darwinian Theory,’’ for $3.0 AN PAON OF WEISMANNISM. i i late George John Romanes, M. A. -D.. F. R. S. With a portrait of Weismann and a peas of Scientific Terms. Thoroughly indexed. Pp. 236; cloth, $1.00; paper, 85 cents. ‘In ‘An Examination of Weis- mann’ we have the best eitek of the subject in our language.” —The Outlook. Send for copies of a SRN COURT n ot and kindly tion this advertisem “The Open Court Publishing Co., 324 Dearborn St., Chicago, Ill. AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN ORIENTAL JOURNAL PUBLISHED AT 175 WABASH AVENUE, CHICAGO, ILL. Edited by STEPHEN D. PEET, Good Hope, Il. Bi-Monthly. Price, $4.00 per Year. ASSOCIATE EDITORS nd y WM. H. HOLMES, les Jil.—AMERICAN ARCHMOLOGY. REV. WM. C. WINSLOW, D. D. LL. D, Boston—EGY OF. T. .G. L- D., ne A. S. GATSCHRT, Washington, D. C-—INDIAN pisn H. C. MERCER, Philadelphia—CavE HUNTING AND PALEOLITHICS. DR. J. H. MCCORMICK, Washington, D. C.— y. These gentlemen will fu rnish notes, from month to month, and so will keep our readers ae as to all that is transpring in the line of Archzo ches throughout the world. he following are the names of ar ae EI Seg ibutors: itn Alice C. Fletcher, Rev. W., M.B champ, P F. Chamberlain, Dr. William Wa llace Tooker, Henry W. Haynes, T. H. Lewi