AMERICAN NATURALIST, AN ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE OF NAITURAL HIisIORY: EDITED BY A. S. PACKARD, Jr. anb F. W. PUTNAM. R. H. WARD, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, DEPARTMENT OF MICROSCOPY. VOLUME VII, SALEM, MASS. PEABODY ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 1873. MISagouURi BOTANICAL GARDEN LIBRARY CONTENTS OF VOLUME VII. NOTES ON THE RIGHT AND SPERM WHALES. By Prof. N. S. ES Our Poisonous PLants. By W. W. Bailey. Illustrated, . À GLIMPSE AT COLORADO AND ITS Einna By C.E. Aiken, ‘ Harvest Mires. By Prof. C. V. Riley. 1 lustrated, ON THE GENETIC RELATIONS OF THE CETACEANS AND THE Mevicos INVOLVED IN Discovery. By Theodore Gill, M. D., COLORS OF VEGETATION. By Prof. D. S. Jordan ON THE LIMITS OF THE CLASS OF FisHES. By Theodore Gill, M. D h SANTI E s š NOTES ON THE HABITS OF deaa Cuiweisae ‘By Chartes c. Abbott, M. D., ‘ ; 3 h ‘ THE RATTLE OF THE Mt ocr een axe. ‘By Prof. Samuel Aughey, COLOSSAL CUTTLEFISHES. By A. S. Packard, Jr. Takiya ny ON THE POTTERY OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS. y J. W. Fost ie LL.D. Illustrated, . . 7 è CONTROLLING SEX IN Bovrenettin. “By sat Mary Treat, ; i THE FLYING SQUIRREL. By Prof. G. H. Per INDIAN NETSINKERS AND HAMMERSTONES. úa ees tik Tive trated, ; } x y 2 h THE FossıL MAMMALS OF THE ORDER pisoar T Prof. O. C. Marsh. With two plates, NOTES ON THE VEGETATION OF THE Towa. Wanasn Yars. By Robert Ridgwa THE oo MaMntats OF THE Geni arrie. Br “Prof. E. D. Cope, A VIVIPAROUS it 3y her. Beuna Pick wood, “Ph. D. titer. rate THE Paster Toe OF y Soorm loan, By Robert ieee OCCURRENCE OF IMPLEMENTS IN THE RIVER DRIFT AT TRENTON, New Jersey. By Charles C. greene M.D. Illustrated, ; COMPARISON UF THE GLACIAL PHENOMENA OF NEW ENGLAND WITH THOSE OF EURoPE. By A. S. Packard, Jr. THE COTTON CATERPILLAR. By Lewis A. Dià, Hui, 7 On THE GENUS TINOCERAS AND ITS ALLIES. y Prof. ; Marsh, THE WINTER STATE OF OUR DUCKWEEDS. = Prof. T. D. Biscoe. Illustrated, THE Ios OF p E ON THE Peden OF Prants. By T. Buchanan White, M. D., RELICS OF A oo OF THE STONE ka By Chattes c. va M. D, = i . ; A ~ "iii) lv ; CONTENTS OF VOLUME VII. THE GEYSERS OF MONTANA. Illustrated. : : 3 i On SOME OF PROFESSOR Marsn’s Cironke. By E. D. Cope. With two plates, NEw PLANTS OF Nak POREN AND THE RIGOS Becomes: By Sereno Watson Í ON THE ee ae OF E Proressor Comes RE Ponin i, By Tear Ga 0. Me h, i ; ; i ; TINOCERAS AND ITS yr By Prof. O. C. Marsh, ; 5 5 SOME UNITED STATES BIRDS, NEW TO SCIENCE, AND OTHER THINGS ORNITHOLOGICAL. By Dr. Elliot Coues, U.S.A. dilustrated, THE meget ea AND CORRELATION OF VITAL Force. By J. T Rothrock, M. D., š g 3 i : THE Bins Frane OF New Ukata ‘tei PIGEON Hawk. By William Wood, M. D., On a SECOND EDITION OF THE Grotocrcar Map OF THE Wobky’ By Jules Marcou THE PRAIRIE Wor ox Covor: Cana os ae Dr. Elliott Coues, U. S. A THE IRREGULAR Micnarrons OF title By T. Martin EE , DISCOVERY OF AN OCTOPUS INHABITING THE COAST OF New EnG- LAND. By Prof. A. E. ara Iilustrated, ` THE HOMOLOGIES OF PEDICELLARIÆ. By Aihe Adii: ll- strated, PHYLLOTAXIS OF Conis bý Prof. w. J. ‘Beal, x i { 2 ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF CALIFORNIAN MOTHS. By A. S. Packard, r ON THE E OF Antoa IN oy ee Bocroer. By The- odore Gill, M. D., Ph. SENSITIVE STAMENS IN PORTULACA. By Prof. fC. E. Bendeki y . M A., Tue FLORA or Tar DISMAL SWAMP. By Prof. J. W. Chickering, ie reece AND BENEFICIAL INSECTS. 2i A. S. Packard, Jr. Zllus- tratei THE ease Perki EN THE Caton AND Geidiaviioas Distr BUTION OF BIRDS. By Robert Ridgway, SCIENCE IN AMERICA AND MODERN Miric OF Borei. By Dr. J. Lawrence Smith, On Some NEw Forms or pene ‘he By Hohe. Hogwr. _ ON THE OVIPOSITOR OF THE Yucca Moru. By Prof. Chas. V V. Riley, THE Aae AND GROWTH OF DOMESTICATED ANIMALS. B Prof. Louis Agassiz. Nlustrated, o n aed CRYSTALS AND GREEN cisco Gx EISSES OF THE -SILURIAN AGE. By Prof. J. D. Dana, Í ics on Buro AMERICANUS. By Rey. Dr. Thomas Hill, _ On SECTION AVICULARIA OF THE GENUS POLYGONUM. a Sirahe Watson n, ono CONTENTS OF VOLUME VII. N THE STRUCTURE OF THE SCALES OF LEPISMA SACCHARINA. ByG. W. Morehouse, x 4 666 THE NORTH Aso Godiva By Day id Scott, : 669 FARTHER OBSERVATIONS ON THE ae ginrir OF sain WITH NOTES ON ITs AFFINITIES. 473 30, 31. Netsinkers, 4). ee os 140 : Pin k Louse, Male, 473 32. Hammerstone, i 141 ). Fos te ark Tons, Female, 474 33. Embryo of Polynema, . ž 176 2 ickory Scolytus, - 474 34. Viviparous Fly and Pupa- 194 -123. Hem plenca Maia, o < coi 475 rium, . = 194 | 124-127. Hyperchiria Io, - + 4 416, KiF 35. Larva of Flesh Fl y ; 195 130. Yucca Moth, . 77 36-38. "o TOPERA of New 137 ape — . . B02, 03 i, eee . 206-208 beetle, ENEN 530 39. Boll Worm a ieee 204 ), 140. Goldemith B ee tle, « . 530, 531 40. Cotton Caterpillar, Pe Gas 204 Gru b of Bean Weevil, Pee 537 4l. Onion Et 241 73. Š Mat sg ie year locust, „o < 040, 54L 42. Parasite of Cabbage Cater- pruinosa. pupa, . - 542 Pilar, ; ` 241 5 ficada rimo sa, pupa, o SS} 43. 'achina Lary: $ : 242 . | Brachys lary eae 543 44. Cabbage Web Moth,. . . 242 |147. Metonius ei a 45, Radish Weevil, . . 242 , 149. Languria, . . - Hu 545 47. Garden Weevil, : > . 243 ), Dacne, larva and pupa, . 545 48. Raspberry E L 243 Lady-bird, larva, . . . 7. 546 49. Chestnut Weevil, me 243 i: Sai - ne mi ieee 547 50. AIGHINGE, ooo ae 243 ring tap, eens 637 52. Chestnut Borer, . . 6. . 243 "157. Ovarian egg of Dog,. . . 650 52. i OTEK = fai 243 | 1 Says es Rabbit, me 651 53-56. Anatomy of Winter Bud of t hum weed, =- > <. . 258-267 male, N A 651 57. Mud Hot Spring ; 280 | 162-169. Egg of Pola 4 Obl, Ga 58. Beehive Hot Spring, . . 281 Saga Growin blenny, SSE i Saati 655 59,60. Grand Geyser, . . + «282, 283} 1 caly bry 698 61. Emerg cot te Hot Spring, Pe 284 178. ve Této : 727 62. iant Geyser, : ‘ 285 | 176. Basaltic Gonunns, Yellow: ! 63. ‘ola Faithful” “Geyser, =. 26 . stone, 730 64. ne e of E 1177. Index and Pilot ‘Peaks, | 3 731 = 287 | 178. Extinct Geyser, peT 65. Head of Brown Thrush 327 stone, Í 732 66. — Headof Cnam Mock- "a = Gernas of Madison, r T734 32 X rerardia rforated Db 67. pik d Crissal Mocking- lin aen r y 740 i problatas “Americani i 741 6s. Head of | Gurvedbiled us, T EEB AMERICAN NATURALIST. Vol. VII.— JANUARY, 1873.—No. 1. ~CEZEMLS)OD2-> NOTES ON THE RIGHT AND SPERM WHALES. BY PROF. N. S. SHALER. Tue following notes on the habits of the right whale were taken down in a conversation with Captain John Pease of Edgartown, an old whaler, whose powers of observation as well as of accurate and clear statement I have rarely known equalled. As far as possible these statements have been collated with those of other experienced, whalers. All of the south latitude right whales are without calves up to July Ist; the females are found in the bays about this time. The calves all come at once, it being but two or three days be- tween the bearing of the first and last calves. None are found with the herd up to the 1st of July and every female has her calf by the 3d or 4th of the month. The right and humpback whales are very fond of their young, taking no care of themselves in their efforts to save it; the sperm whales, on the other hand, are quite without affection as far as can be determined by their behavior. . Sperm whales have leaders of the herd which they follow wie ae certain obstinacy; these leaders seem to give the alarm to the others. No such subordination can be observed among right whales. Sperm whales, as is well known, have the males very _ : o ~ mach larger than the females, while the reverse is the ease among oe _ the right whales. This is interesting in connection with the fact that the male sperm whales struggle soma together, while the re. 2 NOTES ON THE RIGHT AND SPERM WHALES. males of the right whales seem to have no conflicts with each other, Captain Pease had seen males struggling with each other and often found their bodies scarred with the imprints of the rival’s teeth; the scars showing their origin very distinctly by their form —the distance apart of the wounds answering to the intervals of the teeth. The great superiority in the size of the males among the sperm whales is just what would be expected in a species where the males struggled in the combats of rivals. The gain in size under the influence of these conflicts of the males is generally limited in land animals within pretty narrow bounds. There are probably no land animals where the male is double the weight of the female, yet the male sperm whale would seem to excel the female by more than this proportion. This extreme development of the males occurs also among the Otarid as well as among many groups of fishes, so it would seem as if there was some reason why the influences tending to limit size were less active in the sea than on the land. The reason for the greater freedom to acquire size in the sea is undoubtedly to be found in the less weight of bodies in that element, the effect of which is shown as well in the structures of man as in the structures of nature; the ship exceeds all vehicles for land transportation for the same reason and in something like the same proportion that marine animals, when size is the advantage, exceed terrestrial forms. The conflicts between the males of sperm whales lead to great Pee ge to the lower jaw; the evidence goes to show that at least : two per cent. are crooked more or less, and one in several hundred : shane gate Asie eC a are two go in ch ‘other with ‘eos a strike in e nust ; Jead to the most - NOTES ON THE RIGHT AND SPERM WHALES. 3 Captain Pease has several times seen the killer attack right and humpback whales; they strike for the tongue if possible. They often jump many feet from the water and fall upon him. Many individuals, fifty or more, join in this attack. They tear out large pieces from the blubber, food being evidently the object of their at- tack. Their great activity makes the whale helpless against them, though he will struggle furiously before overborne. They sometimes drag down the whale after it has been killed by the whalemen. The Captain was quite sure that the chief article of food of the sperm whale is squid, as they vomit large quantities of them in their death agonies; he thinks that the whales take them by swimming with the mouth so wide open that the lower jaw stands at nearly right angles to the upper. Squid, he thinks, will grasp at the jaw as the whale passes among them and are cut in frag- ments by the sudden closure of the jaws. He says that the jaw is closed with prodigious force and suddenness so that when out of water the noise can be heard for two or three miles, and is even noticeable under water. He stoutly maintains that he has seen fragments of squid, where the whales had cut them in two, exposing the cavity of the body, which was as large over as the head of a forty gallon cask. In one case he saw the head of a squid which he believes to.have been as large as a sugar hogshead. The Captain is convinced that the right whale has a trace of hair within the skin. He says that when the skin is fresh, if it be scraped with a knife so as to remove the superficial parts, there will then be seen a trace of hair in the inner section. This point is worthy of attention from those naturalists who have opportuni- ties for such work. It is evident that if the whale is the descend- ant of some land mammal form it would be likely to preserve a trace of the hairy covering. In this connection it is interesting _ 2 to note that, in the museum at Nantucket, there is a tooth of a ue sperm whale with two fangs after the fashion of an ordinary mammalian canine. The specimen was taken many years ago, but with it is the statement that the other teeth of the whale — = were of the same fashion. This clearly looks like a revension: n some higher mammalian form of dentition. = ee ey Captain Pease thinks that right whales attain very y Geit = adult size in three years, there sE about three distinct sizes _ found at one time in the sea. . He thinks, however, that they. Li evetone bine es ao": longer, the u 4 OUR POISONOUS PLANTS. size depending a good deal upon the haunt of the whale; some regions having larger specimens than others. If the whales are descendants of our marine carnivora we should expect them to preserve something like the same growth rates, for this feature seems to be tolerably permanent in any group of related animals. The rate of growth, deducible from the observations of the prac- tical students of the whale, coincides pretty closely with what we should be inclined to expect on the supposition that the cetacea were descended from some ancestor like the marine carnivora. The great decline of the whale fishery in all countries seems likely to deprive us of the ill-used opportunities, which naturalists have long had, of making themselves acquainted with the habits of the greatest of the mammals. There are many questions which should be discussed and settled before the class of clear headed and observant whalemen has passed away; else we may remain for centuries without a competent knowledge of the ways of this, the greatest living monument of animal life. OUR POISONOUS PLANTS. BY W. W. BAILEY. pre ania _ Tue poisonous plants of our northern woods are not so numer- . ous but that they may siis be learned. Of them certain members 3 Anacardiaceæ) have the most evil reputa- nded with the beautiful Cormua florida, which unfortu- ng , iliar name. This tree is’ perfectly fonocent and i is so highly ornamental that it would be a shame if | simple ignorance it should ever be cut down. _ s rieties of Rhus toxicodendron, distinguished — ; a atet When these are cut-lobed, the dent iron (Fig. 1); when entire, it bears the name S me authors have considered them distinct spe- o condition of the system rendering those sus tib have no cause to fear. I have myself often squeeze OUR POISONOUS PLANTS. 5 little resemblance. They may, however, be always distinguished from that graceful plant by the three leaflets on a stem, and by the mossy aggregation of roots by which they adhere to trees and rocks. The Virginian creeper, onthe contrary, has:/ive leaflets and is furnished with tendrils which expand into sucker-like disks to - assist the plant in climbing. It turns a vivid crimson in autumn, and as it is seen climbing some evergreen or trailing over a stone wall is one of the chief ornaments of that season. The poison- ivy also colors beautifully, but I think much sooner, and the tints are different, bright yellow, orange, or mahogany. Many persons have been induced, by their own ignorance or the superficial knowl- edge of their friends, to avoid or even destroy the harmless wood- bine, or else have suffered by a too free handling of its mischievous neighbor. I say neighbor, as the two are often found near together and are similar in their habits of growth. The poison- ivy is very common, and may even be seen embracing the fences or wrapping large trees with its snaky branches. It is said some- times to invest trees so closely as to cause their death. How- ever that may be, I have seen its foliage entirely replace that of some lofty elm, now dead, and dependent alone for its beauty upon the plant the growth of which it had assisted. = A more dangerous plant, yet one of the most beautiful trees as which we meet in swamps, is the poison-dogwood (Rhus venenata Fig. 3). It has from sever to thirteen leaflets on a common stalk, an odd one terminating the series. Its autumn coloring is magnifi- cent, passing from green through a bright yellow, to crimson and scarlet, the midrib remaining in each case an intensered. Thoreau says, somewhere, that the plant appears to “ blush for its sins.” With its smooth gray bark and pinnate foliage it is conspicuous always, and when once known is easily remembered, but the desired information is often the result of a sad experience. Painful swellings, inflammation, and intense itchings are to many the result of contact with it, or even with the less noxious Rhus toxieodendron. Some persons are even affected. by p f near, while others may handle it with absolute impunity. a is said, however, that even the chosen few are not always x empt from its influence, a profuse perspiration or some unusual — aptible who usually 2d the leave a eti never avoid Pe tree when it ‘lies in OUR POISONOUS PLANTS. Fig. I. OUR POISONOUS PLANTS. 7 Fig. 2. 8 OUR POISONOUS PLANTS. and I have as yet experienced no consequent suffering. The pois- onous property of these plants appears to reside in the resinous juice, and may be removed by boiling and evaporation. Upon exposure to the air the juice blackens and forms an indelible ink. The ‘Ranunculacew, or crowfoot family, form a very suspicious order of plants; those which are not absolutely poisonous having generally an acrid or bitter juice. Ranunculus acris is especially caustic, and when fresh is avoided by cattle. Drying appears to Fig. 3. f Poison Dogwood (Rhus venenata). — remove the poison. This is the tallest of our buttercups, with leaves “* three divided ; the divisions all sessile and three cleft or ted, their segments cut into lanceolate or linear crowded lobes.” en taken epr, some of the buttercups will produce dan- this is an accident not very liable to happen, stering tendency would cause them to be — | swallowing. a haye occurred when persons have atari root a n SoN in "n TRET ee OUR POISONOUS PLANTS. 9 leaves served to distinguish it, thinking it to be horseradish. It is an introduced plant and will only be met with in cultivation, or in old gardens or waste places, and it is so generally known to all, that I will not delay to describe it. I will mention, however, a peculiar tingling sensation which it produces when applied to the tongue, an effect of some duration. The anemones, the larkspurs (Delphinium), and the bane-berries (Acta) all contain in greater or less degree an active principle which becomes dissipated upon drying as in the case of the buttercups. Even the pretty roots of the common gold-thread (Coptis trifolia) are intensely bitter, and are sometimes used as a cure for children afflicted with diseases of the mouth. As a rule it is well to be cautious in our treat- ment of any plant the characters of which indicate that it belongs to the Ranunculacee. : i The parsley family ( Umbelliferæ) may be recognized by the small, generally white or yellow flowers, disposed in spreading umbels, with mostly compound leaves, often very delicately dis- sected, as in the common carrot (Daucus carota). The flowers and leaves of this plant, or of the parsnip or parsley, will serve as types of the whole order, to which belong many of our most noxious plants as well as wholesome vegetables. The species, owing to their similarity and the minuteness of the inflorescence, are difficult to distinguish and in consequence it can not be certainly affirmed how many are injurious. They are determined mostly from the seeds and flowers. This, like the last, is a suspicious order, the more so, perhaps, from the fact of its containing certain edible members, for which their noxious relatives may be mistaken. Accidents are therefore of quite frequent occurrence, especially among children. Our na- tive water-hemlock (Cicuta maculata, Fig. 4) is very poisonous. It is said that “a drachm of the fresh root has killed a boy in an hour and a half!” The plant is far too common for safety, and is found in swamps and wet places, even within the limits of our cities. st. is a tall, rank herb, the smooth stems streaked with purple, the _ flowers white, and the veins of the compound leaves terminating a in the notches. Still more to be avoided is the introduce ® lock (Conium maculatum) which has a very similar habit see s ‘smell, is supposed to be the poison byw which the ancients bes ated Sep it has smooth, spotted” tenis; — an offensive i . itis 10 OUR POISONOUS PLANTS. their troublesome politicians, and if this were not a serious article I might perhaps grow facetious, and suggest its use at the present time. It is now employed to some extent in medicine. Its name “ hemlock ” is an unfortunate one, as it is shared with that most elegant spruce, the Abies Canadensis, and I have known nervous people to avoid the latter for the sins of its fearful namesake. It Fig. 4. OUR POISONOUS PLANTS. +] (Solanum melongena), the tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum), the strawberry tomato (Physalis), are well known esculent vegetables ; but even with these, certain portions of the plant are often poison- ous or narcotic, as in the case of the potato, where the berries and leaves are injurious. I once saw a boy in New Brunswick eating the large green potato berries, but to my mild remonstrance he replied that he had often done so before without any resulting trouble. It would therefore appear that if actually dangerous, the fruit may not be so to all constitutions. It is doubtful whether the br ight red berries of the bitter-sweet (Solanum duleamara) are in any degree injurious, but so long as their innocence is not established, it is just as well to treat them with caution. The common nightshade (Solanum nigrum), often found about houses, is more cer tainly dangerous. Young children, unless prevented, are almost sure to eat the berries of the bitter- sweet, attracted by their brilliant and luscious appearance. The bright blue, showy flowers bear a striking resemblance to those of potato. The thorn-apple (Datura str amonium) always found growing in waste places may be known by its morning-glory-like flowers, white, shaded with violet, its large, spiny seed pods, and its most offensive odor. As with the potato, the bitter-sweet, and other members of the genus Solanum, the leaves are always found perforated by insects. The seeds are said to have been used by the Delphic priests to excite their mad ravings, which the Greeks understood as prophecies. In the order Liliaceæ, we have the American white hellebore (Veratrum viride), the root of which is a deadly poison. The plant is known familiarly as Indian poke, and has coarse fibrous roots, and elegantly plaited leaves, which in early spring may be seen by the banks of streams, generally in company with the skunk-cabbage, from which, however, it is easily distinguishable. The latter throws up its curiously painted, shell-like spathe in . early April or even in March, the flower preceding te mo o while the hellebore blooms in the summer, and has a ght spike of greenish flowers, in no respect resembling those of its neighbor. The active principle contained, is the alkaloid veratria, used to some extent in medicine. The jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisema triphyllum) i is found i in similar - localities and, although not strictly a poison, its root is very acrid and miae as the children with the rae pepenatty | wr inves- 12 OUR POISONOUS PLANTS. tigation have discovered to their cost. The disgusting odor of the skunk-cabbage (Symplocarpus fætidus) must always preclude similar experiments. Both of these plants belong to the order Araceæ, of which the sweet flag (Acorus calamus) is also a member. Certain of the fig-worts (Scrophulariacee) are narcotic poisons, but I know of none which need any special mention. The dog- banes (Apocynacee) belong to a poisonous family of which it is well to be careful, although, so far as I am aware, our two pretty species need not be avoided. They have a milky acrid juice, as do the Euphorbias to which the same remarks apply. In the ( Urticacece) we have the hemp (Cannabis sativa) which, in the east, yields the well known drug called hasheesh. In our climate, I believe this poison is not developed. The nettles belong to the same family but it is unnecessary to point out the eminent pro- priety of handling these with gloves, as some of them are provided with stinging hairs. According to Scott, they are when young used as greens in Scotland and cultivated for that purpose. (Rob Roy, Chap. 8). The Indian tobacco so much used by quacks, is Lobelia inflata, a common little plant in open fields, with light blue flowers and inflated pods. The blossoms are very much smaller than those of the cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), but of the same general appearance. All the lobelias are poisonous, and are much too oe recklessly employed by those who have little knowledge of their a power. It is said by Darlington that the quacks give the name of high- helia to the cardinal flower to distinguish it from low-belia. his gives some idea of the amount of their learning. _ There are some others of our native plants which possess an is send: juice, but I think I have now mentioned all that should be : Taoa, with the exception of certain fungi with which I am not f Among the grasses, there is but one, the darnel (Lolium : aali. that has the reputation of being noxious, and late said to poison cattle, but the assertion has not been proved. investigations appear to throw much doubt upon previous state- ments in regard to it. The Kalmia latifolia in Ericaceæ has mering the plants now mentioned, we find three that are to touch, Rhus venenata, Rhus toxicodendron and the ow ‘The. following are narcotic irritants, Veratrum, i ss OE = The re a COLORADO BIRDS. ; 13 cups are acrid and caustic, as are the Aracew, while Coptis is simply bitter. I have been able to offer but a sketch of our poisonous plants, and may have omitted to mention a few. Ihave been surprised in studying them to find how little appears to have been written about them except as regards their medicinal effects, and how this little is distributed in many different books. I cannot close this article without a renewed warning against the reckless use of herbs whose effects may be deleterious or even fatal. A GLIMPSE AT COLORADO AND ITS BIRDS. BY C. E. AIKEN. Earvy this morning, the 17th of October, as I was riding past Beaver Creek, a large and beautiful mountain stream that flows through portions of El Paso, Fremont and Puebla Counties, my attention was attracted by a great twittering among the feathered tribe in an enclosure on the creek bottom. As there seemed to be an unusually large congregation of species for this season of the year, I dismounted from my pony, and leaning upon the cotton- wood rail-fence, I watched the birds for nearly an hour, noting the different varieties, and observing the actions of each. Immediately in front of me was a low, dense, wild-plum thicket, overrun and interwoven with hop-vines, but at this season nearly stripped of its leaves; and it seemed this morning as though each fallen leaf had been replaced with a little feathered songster. At least a dozen species were represented; but the white-crowned sparrows were by far the most numerous, and the singing or twit- tering of these it was, that first drew my attention. Beyond this thicket, a thrifty growth of cottonwood extended. os along the banks of the creek from right to left, from the midst. of which the songs of numerous robins, and of one or two other ie birds, rang out as clear and joyous as in early springtime. Many : of the trees had their trunks encased in wild grape c or hop-vines, and most of them were bare of leaves; but occasionally a tree = clothed in a bright yellow foliage relieved the monotony and beau- 2 tified the eview. A high, pan barren ridge that formed the ae ie 14 COLORADO BIRDS. wall of the creek cañon extended across the background. At my right hand was a small stubble-field in the midst of the tangled brush, and a little to the left a clump of scrubby oaks. Several small trees scattered through the foreground, with here and there a clump of differently tinted red, green or yellow bushes, completed the landscape. Imagine now the whole enlivened with birds and you have the entire picture. On account of their bright plumage and boisterous actions, Woodhouse’s jay and the magpie were most prominent; particu- larly the former, of which there were about a dozen individuals that kept flying in and out among the bushes before me. Occa- sionally one would fly up on to the limb of a tree, where it would pause but a moment to swallow the morsel of food it had brought, or to look about it, and then off it went with a wild, chattering note. ‘The low oak bushes that are so abundant in the foothills are the chosen haunts of these birds, and they are never found at any great distance from them. A magpie in the cottonwood grove, espying me, came over directly to satisfy his curiosity, which, by the way, is a prominent feature in his character. He alighted on the top of a fence-stake within ten feet of me, and giving his beautiful, long, glossy tail a jerk, and ducking his head impertinently, he uttered a harsh, bold note of inquiry; but when I turned my head to obtain a better view of him, he was off in an instant. Another noticeable bird was the arctic finch (Pipilo arcticus). ‘These were to be seen everywhere, among the bushes, on the = ground, or flying from one thicket to another and, from their abun- dance, form one of the charac teristic birds of this section. At She season they are very quiet, and usually keep themselves con- _ cealed in the brush; but during the early part of the season, the d himself. Becoming shortly aware of my presence, he- l K TRETA > feathers of his crown into a crest, and little head first one way and then- nii, = = 2 COLORADO BIRDS. 15 veyed me from head to foot ; then, as though satisfied that all was not right, he hopped cautiously to the next clump of bushes, and then flying close along the ground, disappeared in the thicket. A dove, that alighted near me, stretched up its neck, looked timidly at me an instant, and then flew away, and a Townsend’s flycatcher that came down from the cedar-clad ridge behind me to quench its thirst, lingered about for a few moments and then, becoming frightened at some invisible thing, hastened back to its secluded retreat. A red-shafted flicker rapped industriously for awhile, on an old dead cottonwood, and then left for more produc- tive fields. Hearing the low whistle of the cedar bird above me, I looked up and saw several of them flying over. These were the first I had seen for nearly a year. In response to my call a flock of Arkansas finches (Chrysomitris psaltria), that were flying past, settled among the topmost twigs of the thicket, and silently eyed several purple and house finches that occupied similar positions about them. These little beauties are the last to greet us in summer, and among the last to leave in autumn, which is quite unusual in our summer visitors; those coming last being generally the first to leave and vice versa. They did not become common here this season until the first of July, yet I noticed them last fall as late as the fifth of November. The males still wear their sum- mer plumage, and appear at a short distance as bright as when they first arrived from the South. From the cottonwood grove, I recognized the familiar notes of the song sparrow, and soon one of these appeared in the edge of the thicket near me, with a Lincoln’s finch for a neighbor. A flock of tree sparrows just from the North, and a solitary chipping spar- row that had lingered a few days behind the rest of his tribe, were also among the occupants of the thicket. The Oregon snowbird too, and the more recently described Junco annectens, were each : represented there by a single individual ; and once I thought I saw _ -a chat among its branches, but as I have not observed any of these = birds for a month, I was probably mistaken. Then a flock of six or eight bluebirds (Sialia arctica), probably an old pair with their young, passed on their way southward, and three or four Brewer's __ blackbirds that seemed to have no destination i particular made a short halt near by. Then a flock of thirty or forty noisy, cawing, _ Maximillian’s jays settled down on the stubble-field where they _ remained until one of their number, seeing me, gave a caw, when 16 HARVEST MITES. with a great racket they all rose together like a flock of blackbirds and returned to their haunts among the cedars far up the canon. For some time a pair of mallard ducks had been circling about as though looking for a place to alight, and finally they selected a bend in the creek just in front of me. Above the ridge beyond the creek, a turkey buzzard was floating listlessly in the morning sun, apparently without the least exertion on his part. I watched him carefully for several moments as he circled about, but could not detect the slightest motion in his wings. One other bird I saw here to which is attached a good deal of interest, the white-necked crow (Corvus cryptoleucus). I have found these birds common along the base of the Rocky Mountains, from Cheyenne at the north, to Trinidad at the south; and from the Snowy Range, to a point thirty miles out on the plain, yet Mr. Ridgway writes me that these birds “are entirely out of their previously known range.” I strongly suspect that this bird has been mistaken by naturalists, who have ornithologized in this sec- tion, for the common American raven (Corvus carnivorus), since it seems to me impossible that any one should remain here any length of time without seeing it; still the Western bluebird (Sia- lia Mexicana), and several other birds which are equally abundant here, are in the same predicament. The raven is said to be com- mon in Colorado, but during a year spent in collecting in different parts of the territory, I have seen but a single pair! HARVEST MITES. _ BY PROF. C. V. RILEY. Ty the “American Entomologist” (vol. 1, no. 5) an account was _ given of the eight true insects, and of some other ringed ania? _ or articulates, known to be parasitic on man. The insects are the head-louse (Pediculus humanus Linn.), the body-louse (Pedi- : cervicalis Linn.), the crab-louse (Pediculus pubis Linn.), human bot-fly (Gstrus hominis Gmelin), the common flea ulex irritans Linn.), the chigoe (Pulex penetrans Linn.), the common bed-bog maoa lectularia Linn.) and the r m C). _IIARVEST MITES. : 17 The only mite that is known to attack man, and whose appear ance is at all familiar, is the itch mite (Acarus scabiei Linn.). We have, however, in the southwestern States, two other mites which cause great annoyance from harvest time-till into October, to people who frequent the rank herbage and grass in our forest openings or along our rivers. Both of them are six-legged, reddish, microscopic specks, and both are popularly termed jiggers; but as this term is universally applied to the more dangerous Pulex penetrans (a true flea occurring in Central Amer- ica but not in the United States), and as a European mite (Leptus autumnalis), having similar habits to ours, is there popularly called “ harvest bug,” we may apply to our species the term “harvest mites.” Before we can talk intelligently and definitely of anything that moves or has a being upon our earth, it must receive some scien- tific appellation. According to my friend, A. S. Packard, Jr., and from our present knowledge of the transformation of mites, we may very plausibly conclude that these six-legged forms are but the young of -some eight-legged form such as Trombidium, to which belongs our common “ red spider.” Now it is contrary to all scientific usage to name and describe a species from its imma- ture characters; but the older authors not only described these six-legged mites as perfect animals, but referred the different forms to different genera. Therefore, as it is important that such com- mon and annoying pests should have a “ local habitation and a name,” and as they are so far only known in the six-legged state, I shall provisionally, and for the sake of convenience, name them. Should any future arachnologist learn the true life history of either, he may, of course, recognize or reject these names as he sees fit. The American Harvest mite* (Leptus Americanus? n. sp. Fig. 5 a). — This species is barely visible with the naked eye, moves readily and is found more frequently upon children than upon adults. It lives mostly on the scatp and under the arm-pits, but is sometimes found on the other parts of the body. It does not bury itself in the flesh, but simply insinuates the anterior part of its body just under the skin, thereby causing interse irritation, followed by a little red pimple. As with our common ticks, the * Color brick-red, slender, ovate, the narrow, anterior end bifid, and furnished with stiff, converging sete. Six-legged; legs long. tl front pair blunt and slightly thickened M “e wern they are incurved and thickly armed with SE bahe: he sai rather fureate claw. Average length -008 2 AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VII. 18 HARVEST MITES. irritation lasts only while the animal is securing itself, and its presence would afterwards scarcely be noticed but for the pimple which results. The Irritating Harvest mite* (Leptus irritans, n. sp. Fig. 5b). This is the more troublesome and, perhaps, better known of the two, causing intense irritation and swelling on all parts of the ‘body, but more especially on the legs and around the ankles. Woe betide the person who, after bathing in the Mississippi any- where in this latitude, is lured to some green dressing-spot of weeds or grass! He may, for the time, consider himself fortunate in getting rid of mud and dirt, but he will afterwards find to his sorrow that he got hold of something far more tenacious, in these microscopic harvest mites. If he has obtained a good supply of Fig. 5a. Fig. 5b. Harvest Mites, them, he will, in a few hours, begin to suffer from severe itching, and for the next two or three days he will be likely to scratch until his limbs are _ With the o ri and the elbowed maxilla, which act ‘Vike arms, this mite is able to bury itself completely in the flesh, thereby causing a red swelling with a pale pustulous centre contain- -~ ing watery matter. If, in scratching, the person affected is fortu- nate enough to remove the mite before it enters, the part soon heals. Byt otherwise the irrjtation lasts for two, three or four am the pustulous centre reappearing as often as it is broken. Calo ko Ee eee e THE GENETIC RELATIONS OF THE CETACEANS. 19 The animal itself, on account of its minute size, is seldom seen; and the uninitiated, when first troubled with it, are often alarmed at the symptoms and at a loss to account for them. For- tunately, these little plagues never attach to persons in such im- mense numbers as do sometimes young or so-called ‘‘seed” ticks; but I have known cases where, with irritation and consequent scratching, the flesh had the appearance of being covered with ulcers; and in some localities, where these pests most abound, sulphur is often sprinkled, during “ jigger ” season, in foot-gear as a protection. Sulphur-ointment is the best remedy against the effects of either of these mites, though when that cannot be obtained; a water, and salt water will partially allay the irritation. The normal food of either must, apparently, consist of the juices of plants, and the love of blood proves ruinous to those individuals who get a chance to indulge it.. For unlike the true chigoe the female of which deposits eggs in the wound she makes, these harvest bugs have no object of the kind, and, when not killed at the hands of those they torment, they soon die — victims to their sanguinary appetite. ON THE GENETIC RELATIONS OF THE CETACEANS AND THE METHODS INVOLVED IN DISCOVERY. BY THEODORE GILL, M.D., PH.D. In a “Synopsis of the Primary Subdivisions of the Cetaceans,” published in 1871,* I ventured some remarks on the apparent ge- netic relations of the Cetaceans, and observed that ** between the Carnivores and the Cetaceans of the present age, the gap does indeed appear to be very great, but it is bridged over, to a very considerable extent, by the Zeuglodonts of the Tertiary epoch, . . .,- and from the Zeuglodont stem have probably descended, in different directions, the toothed and whalebone whales; while the — former, in some features, such as the general form of the skull, the teeth, etc., appear to deviate less from ordinary mammals ; the latter, in other se ese but especially in the development of — a D >P Ji d Coi ications Essex Inst. L vi, pp- 121-126. 20 THE GENETIC RELATIONS OF THE ‘CETACEANS. the olfactory organ and of the nasal bones, depart less than they from the typical forms. It would therefore seem probable that the Denticete (Toothed whales) have become differentiated, as now recognized, little or not at all in advance of the Mysticete (Whale- bone whales), or in other words that the latter are not offshoots from the former, but both from one original stock.” Dr. Brandt of St. Petersburg, to whom we are indebted for so many valuable memoirs in various departments of zoology, in a recent memoir on the classification of the Baleenoidea* (or Mysti- cete), has misunderstood the tenor of these remarks, and supposing that I meant that the Balenoids (or Mysticete) and Delphinoids (or Denticete) were differentiated and developed from the Zeuglo- donts in the Tertiary epoch, has expressed his dissent therefrom. Such an interpretation illustrates the difficulty of expression so that there shall be no ambiguity. In view of my real sentiments, the interpretation in question struck me with astonishment on the first perusal, and at the same time appealed to my sense of the ludicrous. In season and perhaps out of season, in arguments with friends, and in public discourses, I have insisted upon the inadequacy of the paleontological record, and the absolute neces- sity, in view of our knowledge of the radical differences between the various types of animals, of extending the phylum of the various existing stocks into a most remote but necessarily indefi- nite past. Ihave even incurred the censure of geologists for in- sisting that the mammals, for example, must have been developed in a far earlier epoch than we have palxontological evidence of, and that even the palzozoic might not be too recent for their birth. The absurdity of the idea, that the specialized Denticetes and Mys- ticetes of the Tertiary epoch could have originated in that epoch and from tertiary Zeuglodonts, is such that it never occurred to me that it could be entertained by any scientific evolutionist, much less attributed tome. The remark that the gap between the Ferme and Cete is bridged over by the Zeuglodonts of the Tertiary epoch, and that from the Zeuglodont stem have descended the recent whales, certainly does not legitimately convey that idea, although, after consideration of the passage, I must confess that one unac- quainted with any of my other oe TE not be entirely in- 2 "* BRANDT (Jobann Friedrich). Uel Cl ; a ae patton! mit Beriicksichtigung ea e aa pt en derselbe -i = 8 Lang ~ hy Ei = a a si z ~ i 3 a = oe = g a a = B E = 8 ? B E E F g pa 8 E ao S S ! 3 ri u 0 s- & ao 8 z= 7 B = = er Mysticete (!) nennt, ete.-- age Mel. biol., viii, 317. 28 THE GENETIC RELATIONS OF THE CETACEANS. I shall only add that I have no intense convig¢tions of the cor- rectness of this representation, and regard it as simply provis- ional and subject to the modifications which the accumulating testimony now being so rapidly wrested from the living and the dead may necessitate. I do believe, however, that it is not in opposition to the data which have up to the present time been collected and tabulated. The advantages of such tables, in bring- ing into synoptical form and impressing upon the mind the vari- ous degrees of relationship and subordination of the respective subdivisions of a group, appear to me to be equally obvious (although not equally pregnant with meaning), whether we are evolutionists or patternists. Remarks on Dr. Brandts classification.— A few words on no- menclature and on the subfamilies of Mysticetes may be advis- able. Dr. Brandt* implies censures, by an exclamation mark (!), on the name Mysticete, and the inference conveyed thereby, and by his language, would be that I was responsible for the introduction of the name. As to the name itself, I perfectly agree with Dr. Brandt that it is objectionable and I hesitated sometime before adopting it. It was, however, the first introduced (by Gray, in 8647) and for that reason and that alone, I have employed it. It seems strange that Dr. Brandt skould have been ignorant of this previous introduction, as he has referred to Gray’s works in his memoir. I adopt very many names that are objectionable to me, recognizing as I do the inexorable demands of priority,{ nor consider it necessary to protest against every inapt or un- grammatical name thus adopted, ‘or found in the works of others, SER = example, as Kyphobalena and others adopted .by Dr. As to the subfamilies, Dr. Brandt has suppressed those admitted by myself and others aam the Balænopterids adding, however, * Eine dritte, neueste, von Th ai Pa eT Pare UN air A eats ’ Teat Proc. Zool. Soc. 1864, p. 198. It is tr è that Brisson had before called the cea edentula, and ac Pelican PRT but neither of those names Ceta fuitited th the requisites of nomene Lest I may be here, e aaia I add that I simply recognize the rule of priority because of the ad ntage afforded as a basis for uniform rmity of nomenclature, — am em influenced in n the slightest degree by any considerations of “ honor ” = nomenclato! ETET oikoa ck 1 ee Agee a ir rama as = SS E E a ENEE EASA T ae a a Ti D E ee mane Ny ao Se aac ge kn Saar Raita) ES REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. : 29 two for extinct types, Cetotheriine and Cetotheriopsine. But while suppressing the subfamilies, he has retained the characters, the want of which induced me to frame one of them, in the diagnosis of the family itself. Im other words, the subfamily Agaphe- linæ was named for forms of Balenopterids. distinguished by the absence of pectoral folds and of a dorsal fin, yet Dr. Brandt, while suppressing it as unworthy of subfamily distinction, con- siders the development of such folds and of a dorsal fin as family characters.* The development or not of the folds and fin is certainly not of family value and should therefore be eliminated from the definition of the family, as it misleads both as to the prevalence of the characters and their value, and at the same time diverts the identifier from the path. Whether the characters are of subfamily value is another question, and one which need not be discussed here. In conclusion, it appears that I share the opinions of Dr. Brandt on most of the questions discussed, and I am happy to find that I can enroll myself under the banner of so able a leader; and I decidedly protest against being held responsible for views which I am as willing to oppose as he. As to the other points in which we appear to differ, I am fain to believe that it is due to the use of language more comprehensive than was meant by Dr. Brandt, and with the disposition to exercise that allowance for ambiguity which I would wish to have practised in respect to myself, prefer to surmise his real views from the general tenor of his works and thought, than to accept his exact phraseology. REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. ÅRCHÆOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS IN AMERICA.—The recent reportt by Prof. J. Wyman on the specimens received by the Peabody Museum in Cambridge is a most instructive document, as it not _ only gives a list of the additions made to the Museum during the year but also contains much interesting information relating to *Pectus et abdomen sulcis longitudinalibus exarata. Pinna dorsalis perfecta vel tuberculo repræsentata. — Brandt, Mel. l. Biol. viii, 326; see also p- 321 t Fifth Annual Report of the Trustees of the Peabody Museum of American. ipea ogy and Ethnology. Presented to the President and F 15, 1872. 8vo pamphlet, pp. 35.. Boston, 1 30 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. the specimens received; combining many notes by the eminent curator of the museum, suggested while comparing and arranging the immense collection which has been gathered by the careful management of Prof. Wyman and the other trustees of the museum. When the building fund shall have accumulated to an amount sufficient to enable the trustees to erect a proper building in which to exhibit the treasures in their charge, there will be opened a museum of archeology and ethnology that will have but few rivals in size and excellence. The foresight exhibited by the trustees, in obtaining the large and valuable foreign collections as they have been offered for sale, has secured the means of direct comparison of the relics of the prehistoric races of the old world with those of the new. Prof. Wyman remarks, when speaking of the Clement collection, the balance of which was received during the past year: with the analogous ones of the new world. In view of the fact that there exists a large demand for archeological objects in the principal museums of Europe, that the Danish government pro- hibits the exportation of such, that the ancient dwelling places on the Swiss and Italian lakes, as also the caves and rock shelters of France, have been largely explored, and many of them exhausted, it is hardly probable that opportunities for obtaining collections, such as those above referred to, will be again offered to us.” In regard to the collections from America the trustees haye been equally active and have received muny valuable additions, espe- cially from the labors of Rey. E. O. Dunning in East Tennessee, and those of the curator himself in Florida, beside the direct dona- ~ tion of many specimens from various parts of the country, includ- __ ing over eight hundred specimens from New Jersey presented by _ Dr. C. C. Abbott, who has also done so much for the archeological _ department of the Academy at Salem. : ~ Tn his remarks on the Clement collection, Prof. Wyman makes ~ many allusions to the similarity of the specimens with those from i 3 4 4 4 À l 4 ara zt 5 eae E RE Ee GTE eae alana x ER 3 S 4 3 = 5 ai RE a n 3 ee er 7: E A A GALAR E PSIA ene 2s Us E E A V E EE A ee ie Cece ire AE TN Eea ne N RE EE 5 oh Sg EE E AI SENE AE SDRE ES AA E AR i REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. ði this country, and when mentioning the great numbers of antlers of deer and the implements made from them, states : “It is worthy of notice that in this collection a large part of all the antlers in which the base remains, were not such as came from animals killed in the chase, but such as had been dropped at the period when they were annually shed, as appears from the peculiar surface of the bone on the line of separation due to lena! gai: The horns of the deer seem to have been as great a mine of ma- terial to the lake dwellers for the ME of useful articles, as flint to the ancient penpan: of Denmark, stone to the North American Indians, or bone to the paa and the natives of the northwest coast of AUU Ca.” To Show that similar results are attained generally by aihir means, we quote a few lines on the drilled stones from the Clement collection : “The method of giltig is well illustrated in a variety of in- stances, some showing the action of a solid, and others of a hollow rotary drill. Some “of the last we re not finished, bút broken perhaps in the act of making, and the place from which the core was detached is quite obvious. A few of the cores are preserved. We thus have, as Mr. Rau has pointed out, processes of drilling parallel to those used by the Indians of this continent, g We may add that in the Academy collection there is a speci- men received from New York, which shows the core about a quar- ter of an inch high standing up from the bottom of a hole that had evidently been drilled for two or three inches by a hollow drill before the specimen had from some cause been broken. The letter of Mr. Dunning relating to his explorations in Ten- nessee and the account given by Prof. Wyman of the specimens collected are of great interest to the students of American archæ- ology, and correspond in several respects with the account given by Dr. Jones in a former number of this journal. Among the most ` interesting relics found in the Tennessee mounds were a number of carved shells which Prof. Wyman describes in his report, of which we hope to be able to give figures in a future num As an instance of the acute examination which the eee gives to the specimens that come under his charge, we quote the following remarks on pottery ornamentation : “ A large proportion of all the vessels as well as fragments in one way or another marked with the impressions of twisted cords. Similar markings have been observed on pottery from very , distant T of the United States, and have — observed on oe 32 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. ; earthen vessels of the prehistoric period of the old world. We have specimens from Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Illinois Ohio, Tennessee and Florida. It is an interesting fact th at, while every trace of the cords and woven textures made by the mound- builders has perished, we have impressions or casts of the first left with sufficient distinctness on their earthen vessels to determine the style of twisting and the sree of strands, and of the second to ascertain, in some cases, at least, the manner in which the cords were interwoven. By means described further on, the exact struc- ture of the impressing surface has been reproduced. The explana- tion usually given of these markings is that the vessels have been moulded in a net, which was used to support the soft clay while the process of manufacture was going on. That vessels, especially larger Ones, were moulded in baskets, and these destroyed im the burning, there is an abundance of evidence, as set forth in Mr. Rau’s interesting paper on the pottery making of the North Amer- ican Indians in the Smithsonian Report for 1866. This is a point about which there is scarcely any liability to error. But there is a great difference between moulding a vase in a firm and steady structure like a basket, and a yielding, fiexible one, like a net. None of the specimens we have t s far received show that a net, if by net is understood a str ten ad of meshes made by n of a knot is to be found anywhere. It would have been if a any existed, as we have shown experimentally. The impressions are, in all cases, either of a woven texture or else of cords neither knot- d nor woven but probably wound about some body, and in this form used asa stamp. By making casts of the surface of the cord- marked vessels with gutta percha, we have reproduced the original details of the impressing surface, which show very clearly the above differences. The textures are of two kinds, one with and the other without open meshes. The first are formed by a series of parallel cords or warps, intersected by a second series of par- al lel RAA crossing the first at right angles, but including one of in every twist of its strands. The laborious process was therefore required of passing the two strands of which the second rd is made above and below the first cord, and then twisting them before passing to the next. The texture with closed meshes is handsomely woven, and in one instance of threads not exceeding = a of an inch in diameter. Unfortunately, none of the sels bearing markings of a woven texture are entire, so that it is ie inipossibla to ascertain whether the impressions are distributed in a uniform manner over the whole surface. It seems incredible make the necessary quantity of well aiie cord or thread, and -weave it into shape for the mere purpose of serving as a mould, which must be destroyed in the making of a angie copy. It = ; h bodies mo OTT un that the vessels are all made wi REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 33 less bulging or spherical, and that in consequence, if formed in a mould, this must either be made in sections ¢ apable of being sepa- rated, or else it must be destroyed either by cutting or, as is more commonly supposed, by pgs ind before the copy could be removed. There appear to be no of sections, and the katsoin show no signs of a ati: digt to removal. Possibly the ves- sels thus ornamented were intended only as napy Sa pie as for religious ceremonies or the use of chie made i very large numbers, and so an unusual Baat of eee might be accounted for. The second form of cord marked Uae Sos is more common, and is very easily understood. The cord arranged for the most part parallel to each other, sts nein con- nected either by weaving or knotting. We have reproduced such against the surface of the clay, stamping only a limited surface at „one time. In order to cover the whole surface in this way it would be a matter of necessity that adjoining impressions would interfere with each other more or less, which they actually do on the surface of the vessel, one set eee a another. Such impres- sions must therefore be regarded as finishing touches after the vessel was formed rather task as desi “of a mould in which the were supposed to be made. This view is sustained by the fact that they often extend on to the handles, which are never added until the body of the vase is completed, and also by the fact that some of the impressions are but faintly made, as if the clay had already become somew gae hardened before the cords were applied. In one case the impressions were such as would be made by a ball of loosely wound pata rolled over the surface. We are unable to say whether such markings had more than an ornamental signifi- cation, but it is worthy of notice that = were so largely used in widely different parts of the country. We similar markings on a vase in the Museum at Berlin, marked as ey its origin unbekannt, unknown, in which the cord marks were arranged in a few hori- zontal circles and vertical lines, obviously taking the place of the ornamental lines usually traced with a pointed instrument. Sir John Lubbock mentions the existence of vases from ancient mounds in Scotland, ornamented with impressions from twisted thongs, and further states that in the stone age ‘the most elegant ornaments of their vases are impressions of ey finger nail, or of a cord wound round the soft clay.’ Smith. Rep., 1862 ae 320. In view of these facts the question arises whether the impressions of the finer woven fabrics may not have been also merely ornamental markings added after the vase was completed, and not impressions of a mould in which they were formed.” In recording the collection made by Nr Dunning from the burial caves in Tennessee, first noticed by Dr. Jones in the Natu- ralist, Prof. Wyman says : AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VIIL 3 34 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. « A second cave is situated near the mouth of the Big Pidgeon River, not far from Newport, in Cocke County. As described by Mr. Dunning, ‘it is about eighty feet above the water, and reached only by a steep rocky path called Devil’s Gap. The tomb was found about two feet below the floor of the cave, covered with an artificial layer of clay about six inches in thickness, by which the joinings of the stone were completely closed. It was five feet long, two high and three and a half broad, and built of unhewn stones, fragments of the outcropping limestone ridge near by. The body was placed in a crouching position. Char coal and ashes were p ent, indicating that fire had been kindled near the tomb. The only relics found buried with the skeleton were about five pounds of disks made from some large marine shell from an inch to an inch and a half in diameter, and perforated in the middle.’ The skeleton found in this stone tomb, as appears from the imperfect ossifica- tion of the bones, was that of an individual not quite adult, having. a height of nearly six feet, but with bones of rather slender make. e tibi are somewhat flattened, and the fore arms are much Pawened, in proportion to the upper arm, the radius being 0°81 and the ulna 0°87 of the length of the humerus. The cranium was not quite perfect, but sufficiently so to determine its principal pro- portions. The most marked feature, and this is very striking, is the extreme artificial flattening of the occiput, and the consequent increase of the diameter of the head from side to side, so that the breadth somewhat exceeded the length, a degree of distortion not often met with even in the extreme cases among the Peruvians. In many of the North American Indian tribes a comparatively slight amount of distortion is often met with, but among a few it was carried to an extreme condition, as in the Natchez, as recorded by Adair and Bartram, and more recently by Morton ; among the Choctaws and Waxsaws, 36 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. in this country, numbering over two hundred specimens, and comprising the entire suites of the Smithsonian Institution, Museum of Comparative Zoology, and Mr. Lawrence’s collection, and an examination of the types in the collections of the Boston Society of Natural History and the Academy of Natural Sciences 7 of Philadelphia, together with numerous specimens from other sources. In this paper Dr. Coues has adopted the ‘‘ synthetic” method of investigation instead of the ‘‘ analytic” which, up to the present time, has been so generally followed, especially by American ornithologists. It is hence a paper of unusual interest as fairly initiating a ‘‘ new departure” in American ornithology. Dr. Coues here takes the ‘ arbitrary ” but apparently justifiable basis of predicating ‘*‘ species ’} upon specimens presenting any definite, constant, tangible characters whatsoever, that do not, so far as it appears, grade into the characters of other species ;” of a predicating ‘‘‘ varieties’ upon specimens presenting indefinite and 4 inconstant yet tangible characters that are seen to grade into the characters of other specimens ;” of predicating ‘“‘ ‘synonymes’ a upon specimens presenting indefinite, inconstant, and intangible characters, due to individual peculiarities, or to age, sex, season or locality ; as well as upon specimens presenting no special char- acters at all.” His investigation of the genus has led him to the belief “ that there are only four forms (sic) of Myiarchus that do not intergrade, and that are differentiated from a common original stock to such degree, or in such manner, that we cannot account for their respective peculiarities according to highly probable laws . of geographical variation depending upon differences in food, climate, etc.” He finds that the specimens examined by him “ rep- ~ resent nine species, two of which present each three tangible varie- ties.” These results are somewhat different from those reached by other investigators of the group, and in allusion thereto be observes: ‘though in the following pages I may appear to — have ‘ unnecessarily,’ if not unwarrantably, reduced the number of =~ species, yet I am persuaded that no unprejudiced ornithologist could have reached different conclusions upon study of the same | material. It may be well to remember that two hundred speci- E Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool.. IIL p. 197. July. 1872 -~ {Compa Omp ? p ı July, 1€ REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 37 specimens instead of two hundred, I should not be able to estab- lish as many species as are here allowed.” The species’ and varieties recognized are the following: 1., Myiarchus validus, known only from Jamaica. 2. M. crinitus, with three localized varieties, viz., crinitus, which ranges through- out the eastern portion of the United States and retires to Central America to winter; irritans (including Mezicanus and Yucata- nensis Lawr.), inhabiting Central and South America to Paraguay and distinguished with difficulty from var. crinitus; Cooperi (Tyrannula Mexicanus Kaup) confined chiefly to southern and southwestern Mexico. 3. M. cinerascens (Mezxicanus Baird), “ one of the better marked species of this difficult group” inhabiting southwestern United States and Mexico. 4. M. tyrannulus (feros, Swainsonii, Panamensis, etc. auct.) a homogeneous type, ranging over Central America and southwest to southern Brazil. 5. M. pheacephalus of Ecuador, suspected to be a local race of the preceding. 6. M. Lawrencei of Mexico and Central America. 7. M. nigriceps, of Central and northern South America; though a tangible species, regarded as ‘“‘ simply a geographical representa- tive of M. Lawrencé.” 8. M. stolidus, a flexible species, with three insular varieties or local races: viz., stolidus, Jamaica, St. Domingo and Hayti; Phebe, Cuba and Bahamas; Antillarum, Porto Rico and Tobago, the. Porto Rican form being very strongly marked. 9. M. tristis, Jamaica. Not only have all these ‘‘ varie- ties ” ranked hitherto as species, but others reduced in this paper to synonymes have currently held similar rank. Preliminary to a revision of the species, the leading features of the genus are clearly sketched, as distinguishing it among allied genera. It proves to be a not sharply defined group, “ the genus so called ” resting ‘upon no structural characters, while its syno- nymes are among the vagaries of ornithology.” A few species usually relegated to other genera are shown properly to belong © here, and the genus as thus defined is susceptible of a tol- erably definite diagnosis. Before proceeding to an analysis of the species our author discusses other general matters relating to the subject, especially individual and geographical variation, and announces several propositions to which he invites serious consid- eration. The importance of some of these will warrant their repetition here as being an exposition of important facts and principles at present engaging the attention of ornithologists, and capable of wide application. 38 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. ‘t The normal inherent ae in size, of the whole bird and its members, is at least twelve per c ene ae the mean. (This is independent of all p a circumstances. )” . “ Size varies in direct ratio with the latitude of the breeding season. ‘* Size of peripheral parts, as compared with total size, varies in inverse ratio with the latitude of the breeding-place. (Cf. Allen, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. I, p. 229).” Intensity of coloration varies in direct ratio with the tempera- ture and humidity of the pheno 8 fe Moisture, however, intensifies color more than heat; aridity tones down color more than cold. Birds from hot dry aa ie therefore, are paler, ceteris paribus, than birds pen wet places of the same or even lower temperature. (Cf. Allen, op. cit., p. 239).” “ Variation, unconnected with age, sex or season, is in inverse ratio with the migration or changeable geographical distribution of individuals.” Other propositions are announced relating to variations depend- ent upon age and sex in the group especially under consideration. They all appear to have been strictly followed, and the conclusions thus reached seem to be in the main thoroughly tenable. The propositions relating to geographical variatign, though as yet far from being generally accepted, we are convinced are well founded, as the more thoroughly they are tested the more fully are they con- firmed.— J. A. A. MONOGRAPH OF THE SpHENISCcID&.*—In this important memoir of forty-two pages we have one of the most valuable contributions to the literature of the Spheniscide that has yet appeared. It opens with a critical historical synopsis of all preceding papers treating of the group, from Linnzus down to the present year, in ~ onymy and the gradual accumulation of our present knowledge the family. From the two species known in 1766 to Linneeus, the number had increased in 1781 to eight valid species, four of te which were then made known for the first time by Forster in his _ valuable history of the group. The next valid new species was de- _ scribed by Brandt in 1837, “the first for half a century.” Later the he of valid species was increased to twelve, the number a recognized by Schlegel in 1867, and by our present author. a observes ; “ As far as the determination of the species is concerned, m e EA wia 8 woodcuts. coopt eee ee S ee ee S eee a which are briefly yet lucidly traced the principal changes of syn- 2 Respecting Schlevel’s judicious revision of the group Dr. Coues - ORE S ie & Melina ce vid the Spheniscide. By Dr. sd Soi eit Proc: REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 39 our own studies bear out Dr. Schlegel’s in every single instance ; indeed, it seems to us impossible to reach any other conclusion, when any considerable and sufficient amonnt of material is ex- amined. The present article of ours is so completely an en- dorsement of Dr. Schlegel’s, that the only points of difference are one or two unimportant synonymical determinations among the crested species which, after all, will probably remain matters of opinion.” The materials on which Dr. Coues’ memoir is based are the collections of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, (now for the first time elaborated), and of the Smithsonian In- stitution. Both are rich in representatives of this group, with which have been also collated the specimens in the Museum of the Boston Society of Natural History. Part II is devoted to a discussion of “certain points of cranial structure bearing upon the determination of the genera.” luding to the diver- sity of opinions among authors in respect to the number of genus of each species — Dr. Coues states that ‘‘ to fix the question of genera with reasonable certitude” was one of the objects of his present investigation. An examination of the skulls at his command (but representing only a part of the species) showed “three positively different patterns.” Each pattern, while marked by peculiarities of its own, possesses characters shared also by one of the others, and it is on the combination of these features that the genera are established. Whilst our author thinks it * probable that no more than three genera will be finally determin- able, namely, Aptenodytes, Eudyptes and Spheniscus,” he provis- ionally admits a fourth, Pygocelis. “ These genera are exactly those of Prof. Hyatt,” and “ correspond very nearly with the sections Dr. Schlegel has indicated.” In this connection the chie osteological peculiarities of Aptenodytes ** Pennantii” are described, with more especial reference, however, to the membral segments. “ The tarso-metatarsus,” Dr. C. remarks, is the most remarkable bone of the skeleton in several respects, and the one more partic- ularly diagnostic of the family ; penguins afford m z only instance, among recent birds, of width crosswise being decidedly greater than thickness antero-posteriorly, and more than iai the length ; and the only case of persistence throughout life of fenes- træ aee the eae of the bones o three me 40 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. distinct metatarsals.” These membral and cranial features are illustrated by several figures drawn by Prof. Morse. Part III treats briefly of the geographical distribution of the species. The penguins are not only confined to the southern hemisphere, but range northward only to latitudes 10° south on the Pacific coast of South America and to 8° south on the Atlantic coast of the same continent; on the African coast only to 25° south and occur only much further to the southward on the coast of Australia. The Falkland Islands appear to be the geograph- ical centre of the family, where no less than half the species occur. They range southward, however, as far towards the pole as voyagers have yet penetrated. The species have usually a wide range, several of them being circumpolar; of none does the exact range of periodical movements or migrations appear to be known. In general they assemble in immense numbers at their breeding stations where they commonly remain for but a short portion of the year. Part IV gives a list of the species, with their synonymy, and Latin diagnoses. The specimens examined are enumerated, and generally each is described more or less in detail, with special reference to an elucidation of the various stages of plumage each species presents. As we have already indicated, only twelve Species are recognized, as follows :— Aptenodytes Patagonica, A. longirostris, Pygocelis teniata, P. adelie, P. antarctica, P. antipodes, Eudyptes catarractes, E. chrysocome, E. chrysolopha, E. diademata, Spheniscus minor, S. demersus, S. demersus var. Magellanicus. This elaborate memoir constitutes a valuable supplement to Prof. _ Hyatť’s recent catalogues of the Spheniscidæ,* and must form for many years a standard work of reference for the group. Besides elucidating the complicated generic and specific synonymy of the family, it is a valuable contribution to our knowledge of the oste- _ ology of the penguins, and to their geographical distribution and _ changes of plumage during the period of adolescence.—J. A. A. Dusors’ Conspecrus.t— Lists of European birds seem destined to occur at frequent irregular intervals, and perhaps we cannot have too many of them, at any rate so long as they continue to agitate the subject by their notable mutual disagreements, and thus serve 4 See ‘Amer. Nat. Vol. VI, pp. 472, 545 s onspectus systematicus et geographicns Avium Europæarum; auctore ALPH, UBOIS, etc., ete., Bruxelles, 1870. (8vo. pp. 35.) =- REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 41 to keep us alive to the requirements of the case. While we per- sonally have not the particular information required for nicety of criticism in such an instance as the present, we may, nevertheless, indicate the general features of the paper. The author has limited his field to ‘ Europe,” politically speaking, as is customary indeed, but as is not, in our judgment, either necessary or desirable. As naturalists, we should consider the distribution of our objects of study with reference rather to natural faunal areas, at least when the species of more than a single locality are to be collated. We trust that the compiler of the next “ European” catalogue will take this into consideration. Prof. Dubois catalogues five hun- dred and seventy-five species in gross, under two hundred and fifty-three genera of fifty families, this enumeration being exclusive of numerous “ varieties,” but inclusive of the “ stragglers” (for- tuito occurrentes). There are, we find, about one hundred and sixty-five of the latter, leaving four hundred and ten species net. Comparing this with a rather recent list * of very excellent author- ity, the discrepancy is notably slight, Prof. Blasius giving four hundred and twenty regular inhabitants, one hundred and three casuals and fifty-five varieties. The totals of the two lists (five hundred and seventy-five and five hundred and seventy-eight) are surprisingly close, but it should be remembered that this apparent agreement is largely brought about by accidental counterbalancing of numerous individual discrepancies; and furthermore, if Dr. Dubois had, like Prof. Blasius, numbered the geographical and other varieties he admits, the result would have been very different. On the whole, we cannot consider that European ornithologists have as yet reached unanimity in the cases of more than two-thirds of the species that occur within their limits. Whether the present list is more or less reliable than some of its predecessors, we must leave to the judgment of those who are better informed than ourselves ; but there is no doubt of its very general acceptability. Much may be said in general terms, in favor of the classifica- ee tion of this brochure, although we cannot endorse i throughout. : We protest, as other writers have, against the ‘ one association which places swallows alongside swifts isk -goatsuck- : ers ; we see no grounds for the uniting of American Tireonide with- the old world a heroes seam nor the propriety of — the nine- tBlasius; Newton’s ed. of 1862. » 42 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. primaried American Sylvicolide under Sylviide.* We have little faith in the desirableness of associating the cuckoos with the woodpeckers in a group Zygodactyle, greatly preferring Huxley’s definition of the Coceygomorphs. In the matter of nomencla- ture we are not at one with the author, who goes back for his names to Ray, Gesner, Willoughby and Aldrovandi, to say nothing of the comparatively late Brisson and Moehring; but this is simply a matter of individual preference. Whatever “rules” may be made, they are only binding at our option — paraphrasing an old saying: inter synonyma silent leges.* [We take this occasion to request ornithologists to favor the Natvrauist with a copy of any paper they may hereafter publish ; intending to devote reasonable space to the respectful considera- tion, at the hands of our ornithological co-laborers, of such publi- cations.— Eps. ] New Encrianp OrnitnoLocy.— Mr. Maynard contributes a very acceptable and creditable paper, t increasing our knowledge of the summer northern distribution and breeding habits of many spe- eies of which comparatively little was before known; and gives good descriptions of various nests and eggs. The information respecting most of the land birds observed is quite full and appar- ently perfectly reliable. The species given number one hundred and sixty-four, which is probably about five-sixths of the whole avi-fauna of the regions explored. As the author confines himself to his own personal observations and those of a few gentlemen who have worked in the same or contiguous localities, the paper is ers. free from misstatements of fact, although some of the gener: izations seem to us somewhat overdrawn if not altogether hasty. We are unable to agree with Mr. Maynard respecting cer- ~ an fyeatthers which he discusses at length. He evidently labors under a misapprehension (shared, we understand, by other New England ornithologists) regarding Empidonax Acadicus. This bird, which appears to be hardly known in New England, is per- . ” *Respecting this family we are informed by Dr. Coues that he considers it inade- quately distinguished from Turdide, devise the annectant vice: of the tw a sec and that - current Turdine, Sazicoline, R Reguline, Mi , Sylvii- , æ, Pycnonoline. m ( Sylvia, Erythacus, Accentor, Calamoherpe Paptlopuslcstiy Soati form dhe family, 1 > to be further enlarged to o accommodate the Troglodytide and Mota- ie of he Birds Aes Coos Co., N. H. and Oxford Co., Me., with annotations breeding ha igrations, etc. By C. J. Mayn REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 43 fectly distinct from Traillii ‘and minimus, between which Mr. aynard misconceives it to stand. As an example of the faulty reasoning with which we must charge the author, we may cite the case he presents of E. minimus. Finding a certain amount of variation in the proportions of the quills, he assumes that the wing-formula is entirely unreliable ; which is not the case. If, for example, he had said of E. minimus “ second, third and fourth quills subequal and longest, fifth little shorter, first and sixth sub- equal and shortest,” he would have laid down a formula by which the species is always distinguishable from Acadicus* (not from Traillii, however). Reverting to a matter of more consequence, we should note that in the localities visited by Mr. Maynard * the Alleghanian and Canadian faunæ meet. . . Starting on the north- eastern coast of Maine, near Mt. Desert, the dividing line of these faunz proceeds in a southwesterly direction along the southern margin of the mountain range which stretches across the state to the White Mountains. Here it declines to the south, reaching even to Rye Beach. Then once more proceeds northwest along the western borders of the mountain range into Vermont. . . So abruptly is the line defined in many places by the range of moun- tains, that some birds which occur in abundance on one side are found only as stragglers, or not at all on the other.” For the numerous typographical errors which deface the paper we understand that the author cannot be held responsible, since he had no opportunity of revising the proofs. The paper itself is such a forcible commentary upon the inexcusably faulty practice, by far too common, and quite needlessly so, of printing scientific matter without author’s revise, that we refrain from the sermon which nevertheless we are strongly inclined to preach on this occasion. — E. Annats or Bee Cutture.+ — This annual contains several essays of great interest and value to bee keepers; they are all good, and some of sterling value, and apparently above the ave- ae rage of articles appearing in the ordinary bee journals. ce *The formula of Acadicus is: second and third quills subequal and longest, fourth little if any shorter, first and fifth subequal aad much shorter, sixth much shorter still. tA s of Bee Culture for 1872. A Bee Keeper’s Year Book. D. L. Adair, editor. With mapi ii from the best American Apiarians and Naturalists. Louisville, Ky., 1872. 8vo, pp. 64. ; 44 BOTANY. pearance encourages us in the hope that bee keeping will be con- ducted on a more scientific basis than ever before in this country. UNDERGROUND Treasures; How anb Wurre To Finp THeEm.* The design of this little book is to make every farmer and land- owner his own mining engineer, and when his knowledge is ex- hausted to induce him to go to some professional mining engineer for advice. Perhaps the recent diamond swindle demonstrates the need of just such a guide as this. The plan seems well carried out, the descriptions of minerals, ores and gems being terse and clear, and the hints as to how to find them are practical. After describing the eighty minerals which out of two hundred and forty-four found within the United States are of practical use, the author gives chapters on “ Prospecting for Diamonds, Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead and Iron,” ‘‘ Mineral Springs,” “ Artificial Jewelry—How Made and How Detected,” ‘Discovery of Gold in California,” and a concluding one on the “Discovery of Silver in Nevada.” * BOTANY. Past VEGETATION OF THE GLoBEe.—Nine years after the publica- tion of Brongniart’s “ Tableau” Dr. Paterson discovered, in a bitu- minous shale near Edinburgh, Pothocites Grantoni, which has been generally accepted ever since as a monocotyledonous flowering plant. Itcan therefore no longer be asserted that in the Paleozoic period the higher Phanerogams were absent. Nor can it be even said that, amongst Phanerogams, Pothocites belongs to a very a Pame type. The condensation of its inflorescence and the reduced structure of its flowers imply, on any hypothesis of evolu- tion, the previous existence of flowering plants which had under- gone less differentiation. Indeed, for anything that can be _ positively said to the contrary, there may have been during the ( l _ Carboniferous epoch a phanerogamic covering to the earth hardly less complicated than there is now. Our knowledge of the vegetation of that time is confined to the forests of arborescent l Jryptogams fringing the deltas of great rivers. Stems of conifer- ous trees were occasionally floated down from the higher ground ; the plants that grew with them we know nothing. Underground Treasures: How and Where to Find Them. A Key for the Ready Essmtastia or all the Useful a= within the United a By Prof. James | Orton, Ilustrated. Hartford, Conn. on, Dustin & Co. 1872. 12mo, pp. 137. BOTANY. 45 Still less can it be said of the Mesozoic period that its fossil remains convey any adequate notion of the contemporary facies of the vegetation. The cones and driftwood that occur in rocks of marine formation of this age would have been little injured by immersion in water in which the flowers and foliage of less rigid plants would speedily have decomposed beyond recognition. Such guesses as we can make about the actual vegetation of Mesozoic land surfaces stand in the same relation to the reality as do those which a traveller would make in approaching a new country from the ocean, and in collecting the vegetable waifs and strays borne out to sea by currents, to the estimate which he afterwards forms when he botanizes at leisure on the land itself. It is, however, only fair to admit that if arborescent Dicotyledons existed to any large extent anterior to the chalk, it is hardly expli- cable that we have as yet no evidence from driftwood that this was the fact, except Mr. Sorby’s notice of some non-gyimnosper- mous wood from the Lias near Bristol,* which appears to have been overlooked. In the “ dirt-bed” of the Upper Oolite we have a true land surface, but the ligneous plants of this were undoubtedly gymnospermous. It is far from improbable however that, at any rate, herbaceous Dicotyledons had made their appear- ance in the Mesozoic period. Monocotyledons, as already pointed out, are certainly known to date from a time still earlier, and in the herbaceous condition Dicotyledons are less different from Monocotyledons than when they become woody. Several facts seem to prove that existing trees are more modern than herba- ceous plants belonging to the same groups. They have, for example, more confined ranges, and often represent on oceanic islands, apparently because the exaltation of their stature has had less to struggle against, orders which elsewhere comprise only herbaceous plants. Probably in every group the arborescent habit has been a subsequent development. — W. T. THISELTON 2 in The Academy. SEEDS as ProsectiLes. — Editors of Naturalist: Allow me the © favor to correct the phraseology I, by some unaccountable slip of the tongue, employed in referring to the Hamamelis seed. Itis the çontracting of the horny endocarp not the horny “albumen,” which projects the seeds.—Tuomas MEEHAN. > Bret . 12 Pipu ti n ol oF 7 EF 46 BOTANY. How tHe Burrato Grass Disappears.—Prof. Mudge in an inte- resting letter in the “Kansas Farmer” on northwestern Kansas, gives some interesting facts as to the gradual disappearance of the buffalo grass and the incoming of other grasses before the advent of civilized men. He says: “The steadiness and regularity of this change is interestin Seventeen years ago the buffalo grass covered the hills and ae ries natal Manhattan, but it has been gone many years. Six ago, when we first visited.the forks of the Sire we hound it ev ‘ery where except close to the river bank. Two years later, the blue stems had possession of half the bottom. Now the buffalo grass has entirely left the latter ground, and is fast vanishing from the high prairie. In November, 1866, we visited Smith and Phillips counties, then unsettled, ae found butialo grass in full possession, but this summer it had disappeared to the extent of one-half in the bottoms, and the tall grasses had become intermingled with it. On the high lands the change had already begun, but to a limited extent. On the Prairie Dog and at the upper portions of the Middle Fork, we found the “change just commencing. In crossing from Cedarville to Bull City in Osborne county, we ‘noticed that the buffalo grass had left the divide to the extent of one-third, and the coarser grasses above named had taken its place. We thus record a few of these changes, that others may notice the regularity and rapidity of the disappearance of the buffalo grass.” Hepaticen Cupenses WricutiaNe£. — Under tickets with this heading Mr. Charles Wright has distributed a few sets (varying from two hundred to one hundred and fifty species) of Hepatice collected by him in Cuba several years ago. They have in the _ meantime been studied by Gottsche of Altona, who is the prin- cipal authority in Hepatic mosses, and are named by him. The - authentic names are given upon the tickets. The sets are to be disposed of, at ten dollars the hundred specimens, upon applica- _ tion to Mr. Wright, at the Herbarium of Harvard University. A Grasp Hersarium. — The herbarium of Columbia college, New York, is to have added to it the immense collection of Dr. Meissner, the distinguished Professor of the University of Basle. ‘This herbarium contains 63,000 species, and is purchased for the college through the liberality of J. J. Crooke, Esq., a wealthy S scientist. The present herbarium of the college is the Ate one of Dr. John TE and is ry rich in ZOOLOGY. 47 typical specimens. With the proposed addition it is said that it will be the largest herbarium in the country. ZOOLOGY. CEMIOSTOMA AGAIN—In my note ante, p. 489, I have stated that in the “ Transactions of the London Entomological Society” Ser. 2, vol. 5, pp. 21 and 27, and in Ser. 3, vol. 2, p. 101, certainly two, and if my memory serves me aright three, species of Cemiostoma have been described from India. These references were evidently made from memory. It seems from Mr. Mann’s note ante, p. 606, that but two species are mentioned on the pages referred to and those two are from England, not from India. Nevertheless, I am still convinced that my memory is not utterly at fault, and that species of Cemiostoma have been discovered in India, and when the opportunity again offers I will look them up. Many months had elapsed after I saw the ‘* Trans. Lond. Ent. Soc.” before my note on p. 489 was written, and probably I have confounded in my mind the above references with some other. Eastern natural- ists surrounded by fine collections, libraries and every facility for study can scarcely appreciate the difficulties with which their less favored western brethren have to contend ; and Mr. Mann no doubt learned whilst in Brazil that want of the means of reference to what others have done is a very different thing from ‘negli- nce.” Cemiostoma, Phyllocnistis, many species of Lithocolletis and a few other genera of Tineina have a spot in the apical part of the wing which I have therefore called ‘the apical spot.” In Phyilocnistis and in Lithocolletis this spot is always at the apex: but in Cemio- stoma it is always at the inner angle. So characteristic of each of these genera is the position of the spot in it, that when the name of the genus is given and its spot is mentioned, the student who is familiar with the genus knows at once where the spot is- located ; just as Mr. Mann knew at once from my description the location of the spot in C. albella, although he had never seen the species and although I called it, for brevity, and not through negligence, “the apical spot” instead of ‘‘ the spot located at the eo inner angle.” But if the phrase “ apical spot” might have been — misleading had it stood alone, it could not have been so in the : description of C. albella, because it is esse ie with eos EE 48 ZOOLOGY. ment that “behind it at the base of the cilia is a fuscous streak’ showing that the “ apical spot” was not at the extreme apex. C. susinella, C. coffeella and C. albella are evidently very nearly allied, if they are not in fact different names for the same species. All of Mr. Mann’s figures in his last plate will answer for some specimen of albella, especially the figure of the cocoon. The mode of pupation is the same, and I have been able to detect no differences in the larvæ. C. albella and C. susinella mine the leaves of poplars, and albella also mines those of willows ; whether susinella does is not ascertained. The identity of the food plant, and the close similarity of the insects, raise a strong presumption that they are the same species. But albella has the tuft on the vertex as distinct as it is in cofella, whilst Mr. Stainton says that C. scitella was (when he wrote) the only European species which kas such a tuft, and if so, then susinella must be distinct from both albella and coffeella. But Mr. Stainton’s note upon susinella is very brief and he does not pretend to give an accurate or detailed description of it. Besides, it has not yet been found in England, and Mr. Stainton’s specimens must have come from Europe, and therefore may be a little worn, and the tuft is very easily obliterated. Mr. Stainton’s brief note, then, scarcely affords sufficient data for a comparison with other species. He says that susinella has two fuscous streaks pointing upwards in the cilia, represented, as I infer, by the last two streaks in Mr. Mann’s figure ; and susinella and coffeella therefore do not differ in this ~ respect; but in albella the first of these last two streaks, that ao immediately behind the ‘‘ apical spot,” is only fuscous at the costa and the remainder of it is pale golden. The outer fuscous stalk is - in albella by the fuscous spot at the apex, and with the 4 cilia expanded as in flight this spot would become a streak. In _ coffeella the spot is partly surrounded (on the sides towards the _ base and towards the costa) with pale golden. Mr. Stainton does not mention this golden margin, but he says that the first (golden) costal streak is continued to the anal angle (where the spot is), _and if so, it must partly surround the spot. Mr. Mann represents confluent with its golden margin. My description of albella was drawn up from four specimens in which I failed to detect the ence of the golden margin around the spot thus differing from j ee e wher the paaa costal streaks did not attain the tr Sh a ia ea i ag Pe h RRN pies eae in ath Sac: Goel the two golden costal streaks as not attaining the spot, and not GEOLOGY. 49 spot thus agreeing with coffella and differing from susinella. Since the description of albella was written I have obtained many specimens and find a greater range of variation than I then supposed to exist. In some specimens the golden margin around the spot is only visible in some lights, in others it is distinct and wide, so as to be confluent with both golden costal streaks, and I have a specimen in which this is the case as to one wing, whilst on the other both streaks are entirely distinct from the golden margin of the spot. If the same range of variation exists in coffeella and susinella I do not see how they can be regarded as distinct species, nor wherein they differ from albella except that in albella the ciliary streak is golden, except on the costa where it is fuscous, whilst in the other two species it is said to be entirely fuscous. Possibly, however, they may differ as to the spot itself. For Mr. Stainton says that in swsinella the spot is black with a violet ocellus, whilst” in albella, although the color varies with every change of the light, I would not call the central part of the spot an ocellus at all, nor its color violet; but would rather consider the spot as brilliant silvery, or silvery-gray, metallic, margined distinctly with black before and behind, and but faintly or not at all above and beneath. I doubt, however, the specific difference of the specimens, and if they are distinct the difference can probably only be a by a comparison of a large series of specimens of each.— V. T. GEOLOGY. PROBOSCIDIANS OF THE AMERICAN Eocene. Correcrion.— Having for the first time obtained a view of the premaxillary and maxillary bones of the EHobasileus cornutus, I find that the tusk which I have called an incisor is a canine.— E. D. Corr. RETURN OF THE YALE CoLLEGE Expepirion.—Professor Marsh and party returned on the 7th of December from the Rocky Moun- : tains, where they have spent the last two months in geological researches. They bring back a large number of vertebrate fossils ae from .the Cretaceous and Tertiary formations of the West, in- cluding many new and interesting mammals, birds and reptiles. Among the treasures secured during the present trip was a nearly entire skeleton of Hesperornis regalis Marsh, the gigantic diving- As 2 AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VII. bird of the Cretaceous; a second metas of pantie 47. celer fe : : 50 GEOLOGY. Marsh), and numerous remains of Pterodactyls. The new fossils will soon be described by Professor Marsh. Norice or A New and REMARKABLE Fossi Brrp.— One of the most interesting of recent discoveries in paleontology is the skel- eton of a fossil bird, found, during the past summer in the upper Cretaceous shale of Kansas, by Prof. B. F. Mudge, who has kindly sent the specimen to me for examination. The remains indicate an aquatic bird, about as large as a pigeon, and differing widely from all known birds, in having biconcave vertebre. The cervical, dorsal and caudal vertebrae, preserved, all show this character, the ends of the centra resembling those in Plesiosaurus. The rest of the skeleton presents no marked deviation from the ordi- _ nary avian type. The wings were large in proportion to the pos- terior extremities. The humerus is 58°6™™ in length, with the radial crest strongly developed. The femur is small, and has the proximal end compressed transversely. The tibia is slender, and 44:5™™ long. Its distal end is incurved, as in swimming birds, but has no supratendinal bridge. This species may be called Jchthy- ornis dispar. A more complete déscription will appear in an early number of this Journal.—O. C. Marsun, American Journal of Sci- ence and Arts. KNOWLEDGE OF PETROLEUM IN PENNSYLVANIA IN 1771.—On page 638 of the October number of the Naruratist is a notice of the fact that petroleum was known to exist in Pennsylvania in the last century, and the date given was about 1789. I have in my “* Kalm’s Travels in North America” in which is a map s vpibiished according to act of Parliament, March 7, 1771,” upon which I find marked “petroleum” on the Alleghany River about eight miles above the mouth of French Creek. The locality is marked with a little cross (+) on the east bank of the river, which would put it very nearly opposite to the mouth of Oil Creek as now known. I also find on the same map, in what is now Ohio, in the vicinity of the present location of New Philadelphia in Tusca- = rawas County, “Coals and whetstones:” and on the Hocking River near the southern portion of the state is found the word “coals.” ~ Kalm makes no mention of either coals or petroleum in these -~ localities; in fact, he did not himself travel so far to the west, but = fact of these names being on a map published in 1771 shows GEOLOGY. 51 that they must have been known for a considerable time prior to that date. — C. E. Brssry. On AN EOCENE GENUS ALLIED TO THE Lemurs. — Professor Cope recently read a paper before the American Philosophical Society on an extinct mammal from Wyoming which he called Anapto- . morphus œmulus. The number of teeth in the lower jaw is pre- cisely the same as in man and the higher apes, but their structure is nearer that of certain Lemurs at present existing in Madagascar and East Africa. This resemblance is closer than has yet been discovered to exist in any fossil genus, but is somewhat dimin- ished by the separation by suture of the two halves of the lower jaw. The animal was as large as a squirrel. Fosst. Monkxeys.— Dr. Forsyth Major has just published in Italy an account of certain fossil Simian remains which have lately been for the first time discovered in Italy, and which he refers to aspecies closely allied to the Barbary ape, Macacus inuus, still found at Gibraltar. To this account the writer appends a history of all fossil Quadrumana at present known. Of these, seven species belong to Pliocene and Quaternary, ten to Miocene, and three to Eocene strata. No fossil Lemuride have yet been discovered; the fossils as yet found in S. America belonging to the Platyrrhini, still peculiar to the Neotropical region. All the rest belong to the Catarrhini, and some to the anthropomor- phous genera; these have all been found in the old world, but while some occurred in India, others inhabited France, Germany, Greece and England.—A. W. B. On Some or PROFESSOR Copr’s Recent INVESTIGATIONS. — In the Narurauist for November last (p. 669), Prof. E. D. Cope has a paper on the “ Coal Beds of Wyoming,” in which he claims to have made the discovery that these strata are of Cretaceous age. This, however, was already known to every one familiar with the geology of that region. The existence of Cretaceous coal in various parts of the Green River basin had previously been es- — tablished by Mr. Meek, Messrs. King and Emmons, and myself, although Professor Cope makes no reference to our researches. Any one wishing to consult the recent literature on this subject will find it cited in the ‘* American Journal of Science” for De- cember 1872, page 489. 52 MICROSCOPY. In the December Naturauist (page 773), there is another paper by Prof. Cope on the ‘ Proboscidians of the American Eocene.” The discoveries here claimed rest on an equally unsatisfactory basis. The species mentioned had apparently all or nearly all been previously described by Dr. Leidy and myself, the type spe- cies, Tinoceras anceps Marsh, dating back to June, 1871. Some of the characters given by Prof. Cope, e.g., the large upper incisors and absence of canines, do not, indeed, apply to the species I have described ; but I feel quite sure that Prof. Cope’s haste has unfor- tunately led him to mistake canines for incisors. On several other points, especially the position of the horns and structure of the skull, I believe Prof. Cope to be equally wrong. The animals described evidently belong to the order which I have called Dino- cerea (Amer. Journ. Sci., Oct. 1872, p. 344). Their true charac- ters and affinities, I propose soon to discuss fully elsewhere. — O. C. Marsa. DISCOVERY OF EXTINCT MAMMALS IN THE VICTORIA Caves, SET- TLE, YORKSHIRE. — This famous bone-cave has hitherto produced only remains of different ages from the Neolithic period to the present. Recent excavations have yielded, however, at the depth of about twenty feet, bones of the elephant, rhinoceros, hyena, a crushed canine of a much larger carnivore, etc. The elephant’s teeth found belong to a young individual, and the number of gnawed bones and other indications, that the cave had been a den of some larger carnivores, render it probable that the elephant was dragged into it by them. — A. W. B. MICROSCOPY. ‘ Microscopy at THE Vensa Exposition.—The Exposition of = the Industry of all nations to be held in Vienna this year, will afford microscopists a rare opportunity to exhibit to the world the results of their ingenuity in contrivance, or of their skill in con- ‘and President F. A. P. Barnard is chairman of the Advisory Com- — mittee on Group XIV, in which are included optical instruments. — = Persons desirous of contributing to the exhibition of American art on this occasion are requested to communicate immediately — ny of the following persons who are the microscopical — MICROSCOPY. 58 members of the committee ; Profs. R. H. Ward, M.D. of Troy, New York, H. L. Smith of Hobart College, Messrs R. B. Tolles of Boston, Mass., W. S. Sullivant of Columbus, Ohio, J. B. Rich of pe York City, William Wales of Fort Lee, New Jersey, Charles A. Spencer of Canastota, New York, Joseph Zentmayer of o ign, Pennsylvania, and J. Grunow of New York City. A New Accessory SraceE. — Messrs. James W. Queen & Co., of Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, and Broadway, New York, have contrived a stage which can be used with any microscope and which will commend itself to many microscopists as a very useful acces- sory. It consists of a brass stage-plate, perforated in the centre for the transmission of light and bearing, at one end, four pillars which support, at the height of about an inch, a second plate. To the under side of this second plate the object-slide is attached by Fig. 6. means of slight springs which allow it to be easily misplaced. It is evident that this contrivance admits of any degree of obliquity , of illumination without regard to the construction of the stand on which it is used; and the slight awkwardness of adapting an ach- romatic condenser to this apparatus is nearly negatived by the fact that most microscopists prefer to obtain extremely oblique illumination either by a prism, or directly (unmodified) from the source of light, for both of which this arrangement is especially available. The comparative safety of the thin glass cover over the object will also be appreciated by the many persons who have seen a rare or costly object, such as the Type Plate, or Nobert’s Lines, ruined by an incautious touch of a high power objective. Magniryinc Power or Ossectives. To the Editors of the American Naturatist. Dear Sims:— With great interest and pleasure I have followed the preliminary movements to establish a _ : 54 MICROSCOPY. uniform nomenclature of the value of achromatic objectives for the microscope, to which the foremost microscopists of our coun- try and abroad have advanced their contributions. The problem is a complicated one, and the following will by no Fig. 7. E A means diminish the practical difficulties, but will only add one more which has not been brought into consideration, Undue importance is given to the optical centre of a lens, or combination of lenses, by the different writers upon the subject, Fig. 8. while the great importance of the conjugate centres of a lens has been entirely neg- lected. The conjugate foci of a lens or combination of lenses, are in no way depend- ent on its optical centre, but - entirely on the conjugate cen- tres. The single plano-con- — vex lens makes an exception : for in this the optical centre and the conjugate centres fall together, where the opti- cal axis meets the curved surface. i If we take, for instance, a double convex lens of equal radii, = Fig. ' 7, its tape centre is O, and consequently the rays A’ and A, | in ns at such angles as to pass through the optical Senin : emerge at E’ and E, parallel with the first directions. 1P mow the rays A At and A are y eaol towards the optical axis MICROSCOPY. 55 of the lens, they meet at a point, C’, the centre of admission. If the rays E’ and E are prolonged, they will meet at C, the centre of emission. Therefore the conjugate foci do not meet at the optical centre O, but are to be measured from C’ to the object, and from C to the image; and the sum of the conjugate foci is not equal to the distance between object and image, but in this case the dis- tance between C and C’ must be deducted. In combinations of lenses it is precisely the same. It is almost impossible to analyze such a complicated system as a modern microscopical objective, and to fix the position of the optical centre or the conjugate centres, although all combinations possess these remarkable centres. But let us take a simple combination of two plano-convex lenses placed symmetrically, in which it is not difficult to determine all that we need. In such a combination, Fig. 8, the rays A and A’ pass through the optical centre O, and emerge to E and E’, parallel with their original directions. Now if we prolong A and A’, they will meet at C’, the centre of admis- sion; and E and E’ prolonged will meet at C, the centre of emission. To find for this combination the relation of conjugate foci, or the relation between the size of object and image, we have to compare the triangle ECE’, with the triangle A’C’A. In this case the sum of the conjugate foci is equal to the distance of object and image, plus the distance from C’ to C. In combina- tions this will generally be the case. — JOSEPH ZENTMAYER, Phila- delphia, Sept. 25th, 1872. AmputrLevra Perivcrpa By Moontieur. — Many microscopists have had the curiosity to use the beautiful white light of the full moon as a source of microscopical illumination, but probably few have tried it upon the more difficult objects. Prof. T. D. Biscoe, led on by the clear sharp view given by it of easier objects, tested it upon the last diatom of the Test Plate, using a Hartnack objec- tive No. 10, and resolved the “test” at first trial. Tur Stupy or Licuens.—The explanation of the peculiar double nature of the lichens has lately become the subject of much dis- cussion. It has been long recognized that in the tissue of lichens, are to be found two quite distinct classes of elements. By one class the lichens are allied with the fungi, by the other with the . The great body of a lichen is made up of a structure exactly identical with certain fungi, wliile scattered through the 56 MICROSCOPY. substance are green granules or cells called gonidia; these bear a strong resemblance to certain kinds of alge. The same double nature of the lichens is evinced in their fructi- fication, even more strikingly than in the simple vegetative system. The complete identity of fruit (apothecia and spermagona) pro- duced by hyphen threads of lichens with fruit of the division Ascomycete of the fungi has been well known, and has even led to the classification of this division of fungi with the lichens (by Schleiden in 1842). But what astonishment was created when, in 1867, Famentzin and Baranetzky showed that the gonidia also, in favorable circumstances, produced fruit identical with the zoo- spores of algæ. The question presses home more and more, whether the lichen is a single individual whose development follows these two diver- gent paths, or whether two distinct individuals out of different natural classes have combined together to live a united life. On the former supposition, the complete agreement of the goni- dia of lichens with certain alge, and the fact that gonidia freed from the lichen threads in which they lie embedded possess the power of independent life and development (in which state they cannot be distinguished from algz): these two considerations have led to the almost inevitable conclusion that numerous genera of algee (as supposed) are undeveloped or, it may be, abnormal states of lichens. Famentzin and Baranetzky have lately adopted this theory. On the other hand, De Bary (1866) has pointed out the possibility that in the case of the ‘‘jelly-lichens” (Gallert- ~ flechten) the gonidia may be real alge which have assumed the ae mea of lichens because parasitic fungi (of the family Ascom- os > æ) have united themselves with them. _ Since 1867 Schwendener has extended this theory over the - ihote class of lichens. According to him lichens consist of n algæ spun over, and swallowed up, as it were, in the meshes of the mycelia of certain fungi. ‘There seemed one thing only needed to establish this theory, namely, to succeed in raising lichens by sowing the spores of fungi on gonidian-like alge. This experi- ment has been successfully carried through in the case of a given species of the genus Collema, by Dr. Beess in 1871. Although this would seem to close the case, yet the new view , accepted by the most experienced lichenologists, They heads of the cage nature of the lichen, saying that the MICROSCOPY. r resemblance of gonidia to algæ does not prove identity, that they have microscopically demonstrated the genetic connection of the gonidia with the hyphen threads of that lichen, and that Tulasne has raised lichens from lichen spores, without the presence of any algæ; hence the Berlin Academy has announced the following Prize-question: ‘* The proving of Schwendener’s view of the double nature of the lichen,” by means of original investigations. And they recommend the study of the following points. lst. An exact study of the numerous one-celled forms of alge which so closely resemble the gonidia of lichens. These are now classed in the genera Pleurococcus, Cystococcus, Glococystis, etc. 2nd. Continuous investigation on the gonidia contained in the thallus of lichens, especially with regard to their development after being freed from the lichen thallus for the purpose of ascer- taining with more certainty the different types of alge that ap- pear. The question whether among the great number of green gonidia, inhabiting lichens, there may not be more numerous types than has been supposed, taken in connection with the investiga- tions suggested above on the free living forms of alge ought be kept clearly in mind. The case of the occurrence of different forms of gonidia in one and the same lichen deserves special attention . The carrying on of repeated ‘“culture-from-spore” experi- ments with lichens from different families with and without the presence of the algæ that are supposed to be the nourishing plants. This should be especially done with lichens containing chloro- phyl-green gonidia. The work may be presented in German, Latin, French, English or Italian. Important points of investigation must be illustrated by tam and the presentation of preparations (microscopic) is _ advisa The Pee for sending in the papers is fixed at the first of March, 1875. Real names are to be sent in sealed envelopes. The m is one hundred ducats.— T. D. B. Misnamine OpsJECTIVES.—[Mr. Wenham has made public the following brief reply to Mr. Stodders communication on this subject in the August number of the Naturauist. This contro- versy, having already called sufficient attention to the points at issue, would be fruitless if still farther prolonged.] I should — 58 MICROSCOPY. not have taken time to notice the long comment on my short letter, appearing on page 234 of the “ Monthly Microscopical Journal” for May, 1872, but for the remark that my letter was written with “evident loss of temper!” Quite the reverse; it was penned in a spirit of “ chaff,” and Mr. Bicknell, in his brief note in reply, seems to have caught the vein; at which no one, perhaps, laughed more heartily than myself. On the other hand, it has drawn C. S. out of his shell, with horns erect, in his proper name or color. I have nothing further to say on the question, which leads to no scientific discovery, and is one to be settled between the makers of object-glasses and purchasers, who are now sufficiently warned. No particular reform can be anticipated by pages of controversy having for its very basis such full scope for personalities, of which this and the above may be taken as a sample. The tone is becoming silly and tiresome; and having contributed my share, I must drop the subject with the remark that no one would be more willing to induce the makers to adopt a nomenclature having a definite reference to actual magnifying power than myself, could I see the possibility of doing so. Nu- merals such as those adopted by the Continental makers would per- haps partly meet the difficulty ; but I believe that no English opti- cian would consent to name his glasses this way.—F. H. WENHAM. New York Uncrnut2.— Mr. Charles H. Peck has communi- cated to the Albany Institute a synopsis of the New York (State) Uncinulz, described seven species as occurring in the state in : addition to two described by Dr. E. C. Howe. Only three species 3 are credited to Great Britain, whose mycology has been well inves- tigated. Our species are systematized as follows. See: to the wien thirty or more. gia tl 8 U. circinata aata i ith s six spores POTTE T ee cone U. parvula. rac with four ere, EOE EAE U. adunca. a U. macrospora Appendages less than thirty. U. fle ruosa ppendages p Appendages hi . not fiexuous, Tr 7. Clin f A iA 1 q EP amp pel op sae 8 a Dé sible on species are U. Americana (U. spiralis B. & C.) figured — not described by Berkeley, which is near U. ampelopsidis but h pendages few, longer and colored ; and U. luculenta which is NOTES. 59 much like adunca, but has fewer and longer appendages and some- times sporangia with five or six spores. STAINING VEGETABLE Tissues. — L. Erckmann explains, in the « Journal of the Franklin Institute,” that the staining of plant sections with a weak solution of aniline red, and then washing out with water the color from all the non-nitrogenous parts, is not only useful for purposes of general study, but is especially applic- able in the preparation of specimens for photographic use. NOTES. A semiannual session of the National Academy of Science was held at Cambridge, November 21st, 22d, 23d, in the lecture room of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, where Professor Agassiz welcomed the members, and gave an account of the rise and pres- ent condition of the museum. Of the twenty-eight papers read there were presented thirteen relating to geology and zoology, with the following titles :— The Organization of the Museum of Comp. Zoology in Cambridge, by L. Acaso. ay three different Modes of Tee yori apard s by L. AGASSIZ e Development of Actiniæ, by A at glacial pene of the sake es compared with those of the SIZ. Affinities of aiin and Worms, by A. AGASSIZ. Notice of Tuvestigations making in — rnia on the Reliability of the Barometer as y J. D. WHITNEY. Pedicellariz of Ec nares by A. Fuma Results ap recent Dredgings on the coast of New England, ed: m si VERRILL. Embryological Fragments concerning the Volutidæ, by L. A On the specific fpern of some Animals along the Lunii ae Pacific shores of America, Ae oe The pul pra +h eal Lm i Į i 24h, AMA another, 3 24%, St ae of other Pacis, by Da SSIZ On the changes Selachians papot with age, by L. AGASSIZ. Critical remarks about scientific views entertained upon theoretical grounds, by TR of the ei of the topographical work of the Geological Survey of Cali- __ : fornia, by J. D. WHITN ae Professor Agassiz read a paper on “ Three Different Modes of Teething among Selachians.” He said that in former years he had paid considerable attention to the peculiarities of teeth among the Selachians, but the progress of zoology and paleontology made the present materials on hand quite insufficient. It was not known _ what changes took place with age. So he had determined upon ~ 60 NOTES. the voyage of the Hassler to make the collection of Selachians a principal object. He had been richly rewarded for his efforts. Since his return he had made careful examination of the collec- tion, comprising sometimes two hundred specimens of one species. The result of this examination was that while in their adult condi- tion the Selachians present characters which are very constant among specimens of the same age, there are such changes among them that even genera have been founded on the difference of age. Professor Agassiz then illustrated from abundant specimens and upon the blackboard the variations of dentition in Selachians of different ages from the embryo to the adult. In concluding he alluded to the relation which the facts of variation he had pre- sented might falsely be supposed to sustain to the development theory. The conditions which occupied a certain place in the series to be derived one from another should be consecutive in time. This was not the case. It was the endless series of anachronisms which were being made by the supporters of the transmutation doctrine which had kept him aloof from all such interpretations of Nature. When it should appear that these different features fall in time as they may appear to fall in their connection by similarity, then there would be some ground for the inference of a gradual change. Geologists ought to be as careful in their generalization as were physicists. He thought that there was too much loose twaddle and argument and debating-club demonstration in our Natural History. He had been told recently by one who occupies a very high posi- tion in science that “ unless you deduce one being from another you are not following a legitimate scientific course.” It should first be proved geologically that there is such a genealogical con- ~ nection. The facts show, indeed, something that should not be overlooked, viz.: that there is thought in nature, and until it is proved that thoughts are derived one from another, he would not admit that the similarity of two objects proves their derivation one from the other. _ Mr. Alexander Agassiz made a communication on the “ Develop- ment of the Actiniz.” The second day’s session opened with an account of the glacial phenomena of the southern hemisphere compared with those of the north, by Prof. Agassiz. Any one who had been familiar with the glacial phenomena as exhibited in the northern hemisphere, th in Europe and the United States, and who would have ac- Sapa ees SES cay Thee Oe 4 NOTES. 61 cepted, even with considerable limitation the geperal conclusions he had presented concerning the glacial period, might have foretold, said Prof. Agassiz, that the southern hemisphere would present the counterpart of all these phenomena. And yet he supposed that many of his friends thought he was over-sanguine when, in a letter to the Superintendent of the Coast Survey, he had told what he expected to find, in this matter, during the Hassler Expedition. The hesitation which was prevalent concerning these generaliza- tions arose from the view which many entertained of the true cause of the phenomena. Many thought that the greater extension of gla- ciers in the Alps and most parts of Europe was to be ascribed to the former existence of large sheets of water in the north of Africa, : from the evaporation of which great amounts of snowy deposition could be formed upon the Alps, and thus enlarge the glaciers. But he would ask those who entertained this view how a sheet of water in Africa could have made great sheets of ice upon the continent of North America? There had been a disposition more or less outspoken among geologists to view the phenomena of the greater extension of glaciers in a former period as the result of local glaciers. He believed he was the only one among investiga- tors of that subject who had urged a distinction between local gla- cial phenomena and the general glaciation of our continents. It was because he was familiar with the distinction between these two sets of facts that he had always held, from the very beginning of his investigations, that there was a time when our earth presented climatic conditions so totally different from those now obtaining, that the northern hemisphere was covered by an extensive sheet of ice, and that the phenomena to be ascribed to the agency of that sea of ice moving from north southward were those uniform glacial appearances which we find over continental expanses, ee: traces of which we find even in high elevations. He ha convinced that whoever should explore the southern netted on an extensive scale would find the evidence from extensive gla- ciation on the southern hemisphere as well as on the northern, but — that the trend of the southern ice sheet and the transportation of — bowlders would be reversed. Instead of moving from the north southward as in the northern hemisphere, the movement should be — from the south northward, and the accumulations of loose-mate- _ rials in southern moraines should present an arch curving north- ward. He could say that he had seen in the southern hemi- 62 NOTES. sphere all that he had expected to find. The occurrence of these phenomena on a large scale in the southern hemisphere tended at once to establish the fact that the glacial phenomena were cosmic phenomena, and were not owing to local geological occurrences. He contended that the ability to recognize glacial phenomena de- pended in a great measure upon thorough familiarity with it, there were so many elements to be taken into account. Yet the track of the glacier could be detected as certainly as the hunter detects the track of his game. Causes of deception in interpreting the glacial phenomena were pointed out in detail. He showed the distinction between local glacial phenomena and phenomena belonging to general glaciation. The evidence obtained from erratic bowlders was examined and apparent contradictions explained. In some of the New England regions he had traced the tracks of bowlders for seventy miles in unbroken continuity. In the southern hemi- sphere he had traced them over a much longer distance. He would make a statement which he expected would not be accepted for many years; it was that all our mountains below eleven thousand feet had all been scored over by the great sea of ice ; that the whole range of the Rocky Mountains had been under ice, with only a few prominent peaks, perhaps rising above the fields of ice. He thought that the great ice sheet could not have been less than ten or twelve thousand feet thick and might have been thicker.’ In the Andes he had become acquainted with signs of glacial action twelve thousand feet above the sea. Prof. J. D. Whitney, State Geologist of California, read a paper on ‘* Notice of Investigations making in California on the relia- = bility of the barometer as a hypsometric instrument.” His remarks were MEES by charts and tables. _ Prof. Agassiz and Prof. Hilgard followed in remarks commend- ihe the geological survey of California as a work of great national importance, and hoping that the Academy would use its influence _ to prevent its interruption. Prof. A. E. Verrill gave an interesting account of results of least three hundred and fifty species to the fauna. Among the _polypes prior to this investigation there were known but twelve : species. They had added seven species. They had added thirty- “ee Apoie t to the forty-eight Acalephs ; ten species to the Echin- NOTES. 63 oderms,; ninety-five to the mollusks, one hundred and twenty-five to the worms and ninety to the crustacea. Additions to the Echin- oderms and others were mentioned. The second day’s session was concluded by remarks by Prof. Agassiz about ‘Scientific Views entertained upon Theoretical Grounds.” Prof. Agassiz’ remarks were a protest against hastily adopting scientific theories unsupported by sufficient matter-of-fact evidence. He felt more and more the danger of stretching infer- ences from a few observations. The manner in which the evolu- tion theory in zoology is treated would lead those who are not zoologists to suppose that observations have been made by which it can be inferred that there is in nature such a thing as a gradual change among organized beings, and that the transformation has actually been traced. But there is no such record, and it is shift- ing the grounds from one field of observation to another to make such statements. When the assertions go so far as to exclude from the domain of science those who will net be dragged into the mire, he thought it time to protest. On the concluding day of the session Mr. Alex. Agassiz spoke on the Affinities of Echinoderms and Worms, and Prof. Agassiz on thé Reproductive Organs of the Selachians compared with one another and with those of the Vertebrates. Ar a meeting of the Indianapolis Academy of Science, Prof. E. T. Cox exhibited a meteorite about four pounds in weight, found by Dr. Seville, in 1870, in the plastic clay under a bed of peat in Howard County, Indiana, about seven miles east of Kokomo. Mr. G. R. Crotcn is engaged in preparing a checklist of the Coleoptera of North America to facilitate exchanges and records of faunas. It will make a pamphlet of about 70 pages, to cost 50 cents, and will be published by the Naturalists’ Agency. Sub- scriptions are requested that the size of the edition may be at once determined on. Grorce CatTiin the well known Indian painter and student of Indian character and customs, died at Jersey City, on December 23d, in the seventy-sixth year of his age. A reprint of the late Dr. Clemens’ papers ‘On the Tineina of North America,” with notes by the editor, H. T. Stainton, Esq., has just been published by Van Voorst, London. 64 ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. BOOKS RECEIVED. Mr. Epwarp Wuymper has arrived at Copenhagen from his second exploration of W. Greenland. He brings with him rich collections of curiosities, and some singular specimens of fossil wood. Proressor AGassiz has recently been elected a foreign associate of the French Institute (Academy of Sciences). It may be re- membered that the number of foreign associates of the Academy of Sciences is limited to eight. We are glad to learn that Mr. Charles Stodder has saved from the conflagration of November 9th, all his valuable stock of Tolles’s telescopes, microscopes, and microscopic objectives. Work in the shop will go on, and all orders filled as usual. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. - M., Penn.—The glass paraboloid, “ Wenham’s Parabola,” has seen rominently rought forward as a means of ia illumination with high powers, by Chevalier Husttens d de Cerbecq, of Brussels. As thus praf t gives excellent definition with a well co ted lens, but es com npletely with a poorly corrected one.— I. W. would probable be undesirable to have all Aoin es mounted brasswork of exactly the same length measured from the focal paw of the objective to the top of the mountin e convenience attained in Working with the straight form a double-nose piece sai not compensate for the ¢ disadvantage of wearing the rack tah entirely at oep point. A general Peep pndas of length of compound body, how- ever, is greatly to be desired.—R. H. W. HW By Diak —l. big best microscopical definition attainable at present is by means or‘ immersi ion” Jens 2. “they 4 are poor as durable as dry lenses, since both will las st, with “frequent b "but careful use, until rendered obsolete by the improve > The Peb re li a other objectives to injury by enkar d temper aue ete. 4. Several first-class makers have n eed Tor many year 1 immersion eng a can be $ eseanity irk nsferred, y 8 screw-collar ‘adjustment, to Hina oo objectives. Thus t e owner = haa a choles of erie, wi g disadvantage.— R. H. W. sanstalt. Nos. 1-6, en No.1. yia Aniu. 1872. sae ee 1370-71, Pe °is72. i e 68. si al iste, ‘4to. fzun; i weg se der’ Wissenschaften, Math. Naturw, Classe. Bd.lxiv. Abth. eft 1-v. ro a ‘Hert i- Wien. schriften der K. Ak sbidonde ar Wissenschaften, Math. Naturw. Classe. Ba, 31. Wien, e py aa E siinnd na sherichte der Naturwissensch. Gesellschaft Isis in Dresden, 7 1872.. Jan.- Mareb. 1, 1872, ~ Memoires de la Societe Royale des enra ay du Rigs g 1866-71, L PPRA E and Historical rebec, Prats tee aioe “ayo, of the the Boston aa pamit History, ol, 14, pages si ue 8vo. 1872, : pea ara p rira oN ‘atural History. Vol. 2, 2, part 2, No.3; part 2, No.1; and 3 of the gree of Natural PNS of Philadelphia. Part 2. May and Sept., the Origin of Species, By B. G. Ferris. 12mo, pp. 69. New Haven, Chat- i “Red He matite Ore of Bedford Co., Pen sh Kimball, 8v 5 -T Pee Te of i, Cisilairiachtes. dation. By J.P. Pki imballi. 8vo, pp. age de wa 14572. ‘lodge ogee eg ae iy dt P. Kimball, ‘sv. aeni ee T Petites, Housel pia ete giguer. Paris, p Faris. No. PRs — ae H AMERICAN NATURALIST. Vol. VII.—FEBRUARY, 1873.—No. 2. CSR OEDOD I> COLORS OF VEGETATION.* BY PROF. D. S., JORDAN. oe Tue coloration of plants is due to the presence in the cells of minute globules, which are usually green in the herbaceous parts, the leaves, sepals, etc., and of various hues in the flowers and fruits. The normal color of foliage is green, but it may be of almost every conceivable shade and degree of intensity. It may be of a yellowish-green as in the parsnip, or of a blue-green as in the sweet pea. It may be pale and shining as in the orchis, or dark and shining as in the laurel.. It may be intense and vivid as in the young leaves of the horse-chestnut, or of a neutral Portage sandstone color as in the Cassandra or leather leaf. The causes of these differences are partly chemical and partly physical: the chemical causes producing the different shades of color, the physical the differences in brightness and intensity. First, as to the chemical differences. The French chemist Frémy finds’ that chlorophyl or leaf green is composed of two distinct substances: the one of a bright blue color which he calls phyllocyanin; the one of a yellow color known as phylloz- anthin. The unequal proportions of these two ingredients which are simply mixed in the leaf cells would account for the absolute — differences in color. Thus in the bluish-green leaves of the pea * Read before the Cornell University Natural History Society. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by the PEABODY ACADEMY OF SCIENCE, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Taupo AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VII. 5 (65) 66 COLORS OF VEGETATION. family the blue substance should be found to predominate, and in the yellowish-green leaves of the hickories the yellow substance should be in the ascendant. Indeed it has been found that, in the outer leaves of the cabbage, the phyllocyanin or blue substance exists in much greater proportion than in the inner leaves which have been deprived of sunlight. Now as to the physical causes producing differences of inten- sity. In the dark shining leaves such as those of the laurel, prince’s pine, partridge berry, etc., the depth of color is due to the closeness with which the cells are packed together. Each cell contains a globule of chlorophyl, and it is evident that, other things being equal, the smaller the cells and the more compact their arrangement, the darker will be the color of the leaf. And as to the differences in vividness of color. In the young leaves of the horse-chestnut, the cuticle is very thin and the cellu- ar substance of the leaf is very transparent; hence the green of the globules of chlorophyl shows brightly through. On the con- trary, in the Cassandra or leather leaf, the cellular tissue is of a thick husk-like texture and the leaves are of necessity dull colored. The blue coloring substance in leaves is much less stable than the yellow. It rapidly decomposes or is transformed in the absence of sunlight. You have all noticed what a yellow hve the foliage of trees wears in wet and cloudy springs, and even in summer, a week or two of sunless weather will often make a perceptible differenge in the color of the woods. Always the lower and inmost leaves of a tree are paler than the rest and of a yellowish hue, like the complexion of boys “brought up in the house.” Cold weather bleaches chlorophyl and vegetable coloring matters generally. The further north we go the more liable do we find plants to albinism or loss of color. Flowers of Arctic or mountainous regions are always paler and more delicate in hue than those of warm countries and they are far more subject to white varieties. Linnzus’ says that ‘‘ there is not a single blue or red flower in Lapland that has not its white varieties.” The yel- low coloring matter is much less easily affected by absence of light and other causes and yellow flowers rarely exhibit any striking ce eae in hue. Many plants are entirely destitute of chloro- : are parasites, and as they depend for their nutrition - si m already elaborated by the supporting plant they have eles: me ernst The cells may be filled with orange-purple COLORS OF VEGETATION. 67 or tawny coloring substances or they may be empty, leaving a white plant, like the Monotropa and mushroom. Lichens and fungi growing on living or decaying organisms have also no need of chlorophyl; hence in the economy of nature they are unpro- vided with it. They often exhibit bright tints due to the presence of various coloring matters whose character is not well under- stood. Recent experimenters have succeeded in isolating some ‘forty different coloring substances in a species of mushroom. Some fungi are luminous like the glow-worm. I do not know the theory of this. That peculiar luminosity of rotten wood, often supposed to be “ phosphorescence” and known by woodsmen as “ fox fire,” is due to the presence of a species of fungus. Much has been written about autumn coloration, but the subject has been treated from an esthetic rather than from a scientific standpoint. We are more interested in “the rosy cheek than we are to know what particular diet the maiden fed on.” However, in a general way, we say that the bright colors of leaves in the fall are caused by the oxidation of the chlorophyl. This is really a process of ripening. A brilliant autumn leaf is not dead but mature. ‘* Flowers are but colored leaves, fruits are but ripe ones. The edible part of most fruits is the parenchyma or fleshy tissue of the leaf of which they are composed.” The ripening of a maple leaf and a red astrachan apple is precisely the same process. In both cases it is an absorption of oxygen and a change of the blue substance of the chlorophyl to red. The yellow substance is not easily acted upon, hence the prevailing color of autumn foliage is scarlet, which is a mixture of yellow and red. M. Chatin has a different theory as to the production of scarlet leaves. He claims that the entire mass of chlorophyl is oxidized first to yellow and then to red, and that red leaves contain yellow chloropbyl in the inner cells which has not yet been oxidized. He thinks that yellow leaves in autumn are those in which the process has been arrested at the yellow stage before they arrive at red- — ness. But the leaves of the oaks become crimson without passing through any intermediate stages of yellow or scarlet. This theory also appears improbable in the case of the hickory, aspen, ete., whose bright yellow autumn foliage shows no tinge of red. Be- sides such a change as he imagines would be inconsistent with the theory of the compound nature of chlorophyl. 7 It seems to be pretty well established by the experiments of 68 COLORS OF VEGETATION. M. Cloez and others on the different varieties of hyacinth and bachelor’s button (Centaurea cyanus), that oxygenation or acid- ification changes vegetable blues to red, and that the two colors are chemically identical and chemically distinct from the yellow. In ordinary leaves, we find the blue and yellow substances nearly in equilibrium, but in the colored parts of the flower, one or the other predominates. Thus flowers are naturally divided by their colors into two great classes, according to whether the cyanic or xanthic principle is in the ascendant. Desvaux, one of the most painstaking of observers, has studied for ten years the gradations of color in the twelve hundred varieties which have been produced of the kidney bean. He divides the colors of flowers into two series. lst. The cyanic series, those having blue for their type and capable of varying to red or white, but never to yellow. 2d. The xanthic series, those having yellow for their type and capable of varying to orange or white, never to blue. Both series commence in green, which is blue and yellow, and end in white which is the absence of all color. Thus the tulip was originally yellow. All of its varieties belong to the xanthic series. So with the dahlia and zinnia. There never was a blue tulip, primrose or dahlia. The geraniums, phloxes, verbenas, etc., vary throughout the cyanic series, and a Te geranium or phlox is unknown. Different species of the same genus sometimes basi to dif- ferent series, as is the case with the roses and violets. Rarely - different parts of the same flower belong to different series as in the convolvuli and forget-me-nots. Though the rules of color are - liable to many exceptions, yet it seems to me that Linnzeus’ great maxim ‘* Nimium ne crede colori,” ‘* Put not your trust in colors,” is too absolute. For example, the hue of a single petal of Solana- cez stamps at once the order. “The science of Vegetable Chromatology,” ohecevas M. Gué- rin, “is yet in its infancy; and it is impossible to establish any _ rules to which there are not many exceptions.” Ee All theories yet advanced, however ingenious they may be, are liable to objections of such great weight that none can be admitted as absolutely true. For example, let us take the theory of Mac- oe quart, that ‘‘ color results from the decomposition of carbonic acid and the — of oxygen, and that its intensity is propor- — COLORS OF VEGETATION. 69 tional to the amount of luminous fluid—light, which is present.” This decomposition can take place only in the presence of sun- light and chlorophyl, but there are many parts of plants in which chlorophyl is entirely wanting and which develop in the absence of light, yet which nevertheless are brightly colored. Roots and tubers are often of brilliant hues, as in the carrot and gold-thread. So also the inner wood of a tree, as in the magnolia and rosewood. These colors are formed in the presence neither of sunlight nor chlorophyl, so there must exist other causes of coloration than that allowed in the theory of Macquart. Again, although submarine vegetation is usually of a dull green or brown, we find many seaweeds which are brilliantly tinted, although they receive but a very feeble light. Although chemical analysis throws some light on the laws of vegetable chromatol- ogy, yet the color ofghe flowers cannot in general -be taken as any index of the medfal properties of plants, for we may find the same colors at once in the most poisonous herbs, as fox glove and belladonna, and in the most innocent, as the aia and violets. The flowers of many plants are subject to changes in color. The closed gentian, for example, changes from a deep indigo-blue to a reddish-purple. The white Trillium becomes of a delicate rose color just before it withers. The ray flowers of Xeranthemum are straw color when they first expand becoming, at last, of a bright crimson. A more striking example is the Gladiolus versicolor which is brown when it opens in the morning, changes to a clear blue in the noonday sunshine and returns to brown again at night to go through the same variations the next day. Black as a color exists in vegetation only in the roots, seeds and a few fruits. It does not occur in the flowers. All the ap- proaches to it, as in the case of the dark spot on the corolla of the coffee bean, are simply an intense violet. There are no flowers of a pure white. The famous flower painter Redouté, observed long ago that in flowers which appeared white, there is always a — faint tinge of rose color, yellow or blue. When a white petal is viewed by transmitted light we see various shades produced by some coloring matter present in the cells in a state of extreme dilution. White frequently with a tinge of pink is the most com- mon color in spring flowers and in flowers of Arctic regions. Red is the hue of summer flowers and of acid fruits; bright red is rarely _ 70 COLORS OF VEGETATION. seen in early spring flowers and in the autumn it also disappears. But in June and July, the flowering time of the roses, laurels and azaleas, it is one of the most abundant colors. Yellow is more properly an autumnal color, and it often characterizes large groups, as the golden rods, sunflowers and buttercups. Blue is a summer color, but it runs throughout the year from the hepaticas of the hue of the March sky above them, to the fringed gentians and asters of the November woods. Numerically, yellow flowers are far the most abundant: next comes white, then red and blue. Red is very often the hue of the stems of plants especially in late summer and autumn. This is common among the grasses, some of which brighten into a purple mist as intense in color when seen at a little distance, as the most” brilliant patches of laurel or meadow beauty. “ In most plants,” says Thoreau, ‘the copella or calyx is the part which attains the highest color and is the most attractive; in many it is the seed vessel or fruit, in others still it is the very culm itself which is the blooming part.” In conclusion we come to the question, what is the use of the colors of vegetation? In a strictly utilitarian point of view they seem unimportant. There are some plants, chiefly orchids, which require the aid of insects to secure fertilization and which attract them by their bright colors, but these plants are very few and most flowers could accomplish their destined purpose just as well were they clad in the drab of the veriest Quaker. The flowering time is the nuptial season, the honeymoon of the plant, and it is the nature of flower and beast, of bird and man to * spruce up,” to put on his brightest colors at pairing time. The science of Vegetable Chromatology is one in which much is seen and little is known. We can all sce with our own eyes that _ plants are variously colored: that even Solomon in all his glory -= was not arrayed like one of our meadow lilies; ; bat when we get beyond our eyes and ask why this is so, we find ourselves at a loss; $ we cannot answer. We only know that the Lord doeth as pleaseth = with the flowers in his garden. PUA ase Se Pare ee toe ead PARE ee ON THE LIMITS OF THE CLASS OF FISHES. BY THEODORE GILL, M.D., PH.D. In the classification of the animal kingdom the vague ideas prevalent among the vulgar and originating in prejudices based on habitat or external appearance have been more or less reflected, and special forms associated with earth, air and water. were the inhabitants of the “ element” associated together on the one hand, and separated from those of other “ elements” in the other by the ancient cosmologists and poets.* This was the first generalization or attempt to combine the groups which from all time have been recognized as “beasts” or “ animals,” “ birds,” “ fishes,” and others in still more comprehensive groups. But, in time, and as investigation was directed to the structure of animals, it was found that the preconceived ideas respecting the relations of the various forms to the media which they inhabited, were by no means the correct expressions of the relations of such forms in structural features. The recognition of this fact resulted in the admission of several classes (anticipating the definite ideas which are now associated with such groups) and the virtual sepa- ration of the vertebrates from the invertebrates. But the ancient * In the beginning God created the k and th th. And the earth was without form and void. the fi nt wad divided th ters tl fi t pact tb \cka Ga geet God said: Let t waters under the heaven be gathered ae unto one place, aA let the dry je appear: arn said: Le tke waters, bring phe pigs ged the moving aibei that hath life, and pan that may afe en firmament « of — nd God said: Let the earth bring forth the d, cattle and creeping thing, ces beast a the earth after his kind: and it was so.— Genesis, sx A mees L2 T, ig 20, 2 fr th x d by several of the ancient poets and especially by Ovid in the following lines :— mare et tellus, et, quod tegit omnia, celum, Bans erat toto nature vultus in orbe, Quem dixere Chaos; rudis indigestaque mo, Hane Deus et melior litem ‘natura diremit : : ET ~~ terras, et a oe — ; iscibue erra feras cepit; volucres agitabilis aër. Orie, ernie I,l.5- -7, 21- 2, 72- T5. H ee 72 THE LIMITS OF THE CLASS OF FISHES. idea of a certain relation between form and habitat still prevailed to a greater or less extent, and the vertebrates, in the earliest days of systematic zoology, were instinctively divided into quad- rupeds, or animals especially fitted for progression on land ; birds, especially adapted for flight and fishes, destined for life in the waters ; while those animals not referable to either category, such as reptiles, bats, etc., were slurred over or forced into combination with the others on account of some points of real or supposed agreement. Soon, however, the distinction of the cold-blooded quadrupeds from the warm-blooded ones (mammals) a&d the affin- ity of the former and the serpents were recognized, and the class of “reptiles” constituted. It was long before it was fully and generally acknowledged that the latter was a heterogeneous assem- blage of forms having very diverse relations, part of them being closely related to birds, and the others almost undistinguishable from fishes. Such recognition has now become practically uni- versal, but, at this point, the progress of zoological taxonomy as exhibited in the appreciation of the subordination of types has been to a great extent arrested, and naturalists have mostly been content to recognize the five classes, Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, Batrachians, and Fishes. Several naturalists, however, have dis- sented from this view, and indeed the class of fishes has not been so universally recognized with the limits the mind is still most apt to connect with it as is usually supposed. The Class and its modifications.—The cetaceans and fishes were regarded as a group codrdinate with the warm-blooded quadrupeds (mammals) and birds, either avowedly or by implication, till Brisson, in 1760, finally withdrew the former from the class, and placed them in more immediate relation with the warm-blooded quadrupeds, regarding them, however, as constituting a peculiar class: the class of fishes, thus relieved, was for the first time presented with the limits since generally recognized. It is true that, as a matter of fact, the agreement of the ceta- -~ ceans with the mammals in their respiratory apparatus and warm _ blood had been long previously recognized, even by Aristotle and indeed by every observer capable of comparison of facts, but in spite of such recognition, the apparent agreement in form and ~ Mapioflity for progression in the waters exercised such a prepon- : acs or nee over the mind, that the hints thus offered were not wecepted T their fulness till 1758 by Linné. THE LIMITS OF THE CLASS OF FISHES. 73 Linné first, in the tenth edition of his “Systema Nature’? (1758), eliminated the cetaceans from the class of fishes and combined them with the viviparous quadrupeds in a single class, for which he proposed the now universally accepted name Mam- malia. At the same time that he eliminated the cetaceans, how- ever, he violently divorced from the class of fishes and referred to the amphibia, under the name Amphibia nantes, first (in 1758), all the Chondropterygii of Artedi (except thé sturgeons) as well as the genus Lophius ; and, subsequently (1766), he removed still others from the class, completing the removal of the Chondropterygii by the exclusion of the sturgeons, and discharging at the same time the genera Cyclopterus, Balistes, Ostracion, Tetrodon, Diodon, Centriscus, Syngnathus and Pegasus, most of which formed the Branchiostegi of Artedi. He seems to have been led to this measure by the belief that they were provided with lungs instead of gills, apparently having been misled by an erroneous observa- tion of Dr. Garden, of Charleston, on Tetrodon. Gmelin, in his edition of the “Systema Nature” (1788), re- stored to the class the forms thus divorced from the fishes. The genus Myxine was referred to the class Vermes by Linné and his followers, and therefore doubtless was overlooked by Bloch, who redescribed it as a fish under the name Gastrobranchus. The constituents of the class having been at length, for the time, agreed upon, the question of its subdivision or union with others was next agitated. Pallas combined the fishes with the Amphibia of Linné in a class, codrdinate with mammals and birds, which he named Mono- cardia. Long afterwards, Prof. Owen adopted the same view, but _ gave the new name Hematocrya. On the other hand, the elder Geoffroy St.-Hilaire, and following him, Latreille,* separated the combined Elasmobranchiates and Marsipobranchiates as a class (equivalent to the order Spiracu- lata of Pallas), and named it Ichthyoderes or Ichthyodera. This view, however, fell still-born. ee In 1856, Prince Charles Bonaparte + recalled that Isidore Geof- 2 * LATREILLE (Pierre André)—Familles Naturelles du Règne Kiting; exposées succinctement et dans un Apa analytique avec Pindication de leurs genres. Paris, J. B. Baillière. Libraire de Bandouin Frères. 1825. [8vo, 570 pp-]—Troisième Classe, ayeee Airie (G. St. H.), p. 107; qne Classe, Poissons, Pisces. p. 1 t Bien (Prince Charles eas Be Tableaux paral- léliques de la deuxième sous-classe bar Oien Præcoces ou Autophages;. . . TA THE LIMITS OF THE CLASS OF FISHES. froy St.-Hilaire * had, in 1852, separated from the class of fishes as the type of a new class (Myelozoa) the genus Branchiostoma or Amphioxus (a species which was originally described by Pallas as a member of the molluscan genus Limax), rediscovered and first referred to the class of fishes by Costa in 1834. Bonaparte, at the same time, proposed to withdraw from the invertebrates the genus Sagitta (Quoy and Gaimard) and elevate it to the rank of a class (Aphanozoa) of the ‘vertebrates. In the elevation of Sagitta to the rank of a class Bonaparte has anticipated Professors Carus and Huxley (who also elevated the same form to class rank, retaining the name Chetognatha, originally conferred upon it as the type of an order by Leuckart). But his views respecting its pertinence to the branch of verte- brates are untenable, for there can now be no doubt that it is at least most nearly related to the class of annelides. In 1857, the question of the primary classification of fishes was again reviewed by Prof. Agassiz. That eminent zoologist ‘was satisfied that the differences which exist between the Selachians (the skates, sharks, and Chimerz) are of the same kind as those which distinguish the amphibians from the reptiles proper and justify, therefore, their separation, as-a class, from the fishes proper. I consider also (he adds) the Cyclostomes as a distinct class for similar reasons; but I am still doubtful whether the Ganoids should be separated also from the ordinary fishes?’ He finally however admitted four classes, viz :— ‘Ist class; Myzontes with two orders, Myxinoids and Cyclos- tomes. (Suite et fin.) < Ganoids, > Selachians, ‘gee 1857. > Pisces. > Dimen sain 1866. 1868 Cope, shes part., TAT plur. * Corr Œ. D.) Synopsis of the xtinct Batrachia and Reptilia of North America, 1869, _ p-3; Trans. Am. Phil. Soc., v, + Cope (Edward Drinker), PAMBA i the Systematic Relations of the Fishes. (Contributions on the Ichthyology of the eal Antilles, $I.) Ill. LEPTOCARDIANS. SYNONYMES, AS CLASS. = Myelozoa, Is, Geoff. St. Hil., Bon., 1856. < Myzontes, Agass., 1857. = Leptocardia, Häckel, 18% = Leptocardii, Cope, 1868, ne SYNONYMES, AS SUBCLASS. = Leptocardii, Müller, 1844, et auct. plur.