9
AMERICAN NATURALIST
AN ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE
NATURAL HISTORY:
EDITED BY A. S. PACKARD, Jr, anD EDWARD D. COPE. ASSOCIATE EDITORS: W. N. LOCKINGTON, DEP. OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVELS. ProF. H. CARVILL LEWIS, DEPARTMENT OF MINERALOGY, Pror. C. E. BESSEY, DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY. Pror, C. V. RILEY, DEPARTMENT OF ENTOMOLOGY. ProF. O. T. MASON, DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY. Pror. HENRY SEWALL, DEPARTMENT OF PHYSIOLOGY. Dr, C. O. WHITMAN, DEPARTMENT OF MICROSCOPY.
a VOLUME XVII.
PART FIRST,
eat Sion Y, ( “ger 8 1929
CONTENTS.
The History of Anthracite Coal in Nature and Art. Speman RS Lippiscott: c e 8 The Development of the Male Prothallium of the Field Horseta
paea GRE ei 4s a a kasy paari Campbell... 10 On the Geological Effects of a Vary Kotava of ih Ea rth. a Mes FORMA Se be Paien: 25 On the Bite of the North Kikian Coil nakes (genus Elaps) . need W. True. Pee
chenial Hairs and Fibers of Composit. [ Illustrated.]. . 5 ACO EEO Instinct and Memory exhibited by the Flying Squirrel in Conid
ment, with a thought on the Origin of Wings in Bats . ols GTN see ia S208 7 gO The Extinct Rodentia of North America. [Illustrated.]. .... Dei Di. Copt oe nie e TOS SATO The Eroro Of Maat is 20 soe e See ae . .. Arthur Erwin Brown... z Indigg tone Graves i a a oe ERS i aa at: wees wey Charles? RAW ss Ss
Organic Physics. aae tp 863, Vol ahkera MOT aa aaa 9 The Mining Regions of Southern New Mexico. [Illustrated.]. . F. M. Endlich , Recent Discoveries of Fossil Fishes in the Devonian Rocks of
Canada: isl u reece oS aie a ee A ee ae ed ane Pe Re MAUT a e n ee TSE n thẹ Extinct Dogs of North America, _[Mstated ieee S SEN 8 AE See ae ee eae 5 “The Plains” of Michigan. . +See CEE & leah ema ee eee oon oa Indian Music. dn ‘win A. Barber Fa aby n the O nce of Pouitifagas: Strata i in a pire Plt eCarntiit} Group of Middle Pesueyhenains ieee eae aus eee COMMON a i ea OTE be Phn at ae ee see ee A ete ee) oe eee uaa F Jori.. taS e SPs he Naturalist Brazilian Expedition. iaoe I.—From Rio de Janeiro to Porto Alegre.)....... aw . Herbert H. Smith .. . . 351, 467 Unnatural Attachments among Animals. ........ ee Joha dean Catok; i ciec 359 severity Hunting in the Tee ee ee es 1E C Woi., SS 363 a a acts Dipti. ior yi WE L E OFFER Sos SSBF, 409 A Study of me Paimature Tiange of the North American ‘Shrikes, to C goroet < thomas T Sirects. e . a e 389 Wampum and is Histo AEE AS RES . Ernest arera E E T Tre PAL Eo canisation of Ani R CE ee ae ee 6 od ip eee Charles Morris. e sa o o 46 Fiske Ge fg Classification of Moths. . . ene R. ae oie ee
on the Ea of pe especially Sule: of the {Illustrated.].. . Swale coh eek ee + s a POGUE BERET ss so o rs . 505 Upekee e p on e ee Sele ee eve ye tes cA Ge Van Akin... o 4 tt Pearls and Pearl Fisheries. Pani.: ano a GO o, T A EEA . 579 rries—Soapstone Bowls and the Tools ied in inir ies ete oaa te es E era A araa ple etd i putes with a Coral 6. foie ee ace aA .J. Walter Fewkes . je oo WS Progress of nen Paleontology in in ithe United Šut ‘ee the year 4002. 5560. ee ee Viale wee Charles A. White... . «+ 598 Note on the abe Campeloma of ee ie ee a ev eihene R. Ellsworth Call... ... 603 Mosses. a get hte RR aS ee ae ose We P Deos ee ore 68 PGiG tee ae MUTCSSION gs iso E see eee le La we ee ee os OS
Seay ee TA COR eS i OS
EDITORS’ Tarv The American Naturalist, 58; Nature in the Field, 58; The National Academy of Sciences, 59; Dates of issue of the Naturalist for 1882, 6o ; Spencer and Darwin, 174; The tiarians, 175; Home Credit, 176; Credit and Ag ed ah 293; The Origin of the Fittest, 294; Time in Biological work, 295; Ph ae Diagrams, 391; Scientific Publications of the United vernment, 515; Bismarck as PERESA 516; The National Academy’s meeting, 627.
lV
Recent LITERATURE.
Contents.
A new edition of Sachs’ Botany, 60 ; , eats A the cervical Vertebræ in Chelonians, 6r; n the Noxious enefici
ng
Summer Birds RO me Catskill, Pe ; Faiet s Notes on some Fossil Mammals, 183; Nicholson’s Synopsis of th e Ani ph 5 Kingdon 184; Recent Books and Pamphlets, 184 ; I
h . cal Yearly Record, 394; ssn ice of LeCont 's Geology. 39 5; Zittell’s Mand-book of Pal-
zontology, 396; Davis’ Glacial Erosion, e Lyman’s expedition,
397; Miller’s American Palzozoic Fossils, Remik 6 n the Systematic Aaa ement of the
American Turdidæ, 398 ; The Unite ao y came Repi for 1881 and 1882 [Illustrated], phlets, 401; Lieut. Symonds’ Report on the Upper Columbia
Mosie’s How to Dissecta Bird. as ; aes ea of nee Caprellidz, 633; The Ge logical a. od 1878, 634; Geological Survey of Ohio, 634; King’s Economic Relatio is aes Wiscons Bi 6; The Zoological Record for 1881, 637; Recent Books and Pamphlets,
GENERALI NOTES.,
Geography and Sins Tompi Stations, 185 ; Danish Arctic Expedition, mi; Arctic
Items, 176; Scientific Results of the Jeannette Expedition, 187; Geographical Notes, 188; Africa, 301; aye i, 302; Geogra ae Notes, 304; nn: 402; The Oasis of Ouargla, 403; i graphi- cal N 404; Arctic Items, 527; Cape Horn Pedia, 528; Asia, 528; Salt and
Ivens’ poes in Central and West Africa, 530; Asia, 641; Africa, 642; Geographical Notes, 644.
G i Palæontol On Uintath d Bathmodon, 68; The Nevada Biped Tracks urate 68; The Ploy of Chester county, Penna., 72 ; Kowalevsky on Elasmotherium, 72; wo new Genera of Pythonomorpha, 72, Scudder on Triassic Insects, 73; Some Tertiary Neu-
bottom under the . 305; The Tertiary sits o lope, 308 ; A new fossil Sirenian, 309 ; The Geological Structure of South America, 309; Geological News
33 genus aces (Mcrae, 535; Geological Notes, 535; The Decay of Rocks Geologically Considere Annual
, 645: Geology of the Chester valley of Dees oe a Report of the State Geologist = “New Senay pa 1882, 648; The Tides on the f49; A New Iguanodon, 650; Geological News, 65
Mineralogy —The Mechanical Separation of Minerals, 74; Axinite from Bethlehem, 75; Samarskite from Canada, 76; The Cryolite group of Minerals, 76; Heating oe. for the Microscope, 76; Mineralogical Notes, 76 ; Analyses of some Virginia minerals, 312 ; Analyses o
e North Ca Carolina minerals, 313; A new variety of Bournonite, 314 ; Native Gold alloys, 314;
Contents, v
Some Greenland minerals, 314; Tin in Alabama, 315; Telluriferous Copper, 315; The Nomen- latu:
ro ; Charo Precipitant for Gold, 652 ; Crystallized Serpentine from Delaware, 653; The Fluorine Uidon. 53; orwegian Dust Shower, 654; Microlite from Elba, 654; Amelia County, Va., min- erals, 654; The Wm. S. Vaux Collection, 654.
ty.—The In pa of Schweinitzian and other early descriptions, 77; Watson’s s= E to Am n Botany, X,’ 78; Bot ppa in HEARS 79; Sylloge Fun- gorum omnium SPAR pit in 79; Dr. Gray’s R f Echi um, 80 ; New species of North American Fungi, 192, 316; New species Ps Micrococcus (Bacteria) ;
5 New rm G 655 boards as to the Compass Plant, 656; apie of the rll hg cy A ie on Tradescantia virginica, 658 ; Influence PP s Moonligh n Plants, 658 : SPUR rkable fall of Pine Pollen, ka! Pie AER of Plant and Animal Cells, ea ; of REV 659.
S A lists of North American Lepidoptera, 80; The “ rani nie 82; ei
thaline C came. 83; Alternation of Crops versus the Wheat-stalk Isosoma, 84 ofa colytid beetle in the sugar maples of -Northeastern New York Dindi. ii: i aes is stinct in a Butterfly, 196; Observations on the fertilization of Yucca and on structural and ana- tomical Ton in Piosaba and Prodoxus, 197; Natural Sugaring, 197 ; Epilachna corrupta as an injurious Insect, 198 ; Saa a the Twelve-punctured Asparagus beetle, 199 ; Trogoderma tarsal M E I i lifornia, 199 ; Hearing in Insects, 200; Instinct of the
ut)
Seventeen-yea’ (Ci d ; Food-habits mmen maculata, 322; Clothes
;. ah ie ;
Relations of the Carabidæ ze Coccinellidæ to Birds, 419; Phylloxera ae 9; Fostering the
study of nomic Entomology, 420;Viviparity in a Moth, ; Damage to Silver Plate by In-
sects, 420; The Hibernation pA Aletia xylina Say, in prs United States a a settled fa ct, 420; Pos- at i
» 549 ew Cl eC ica, 660; A pretty and unique mae Tosia [lustre ted], a ; Simulium feeding on other Padi as saree in a Beetle, ; Synopsis of the N. A. Heliothinz, 662; Stylopised ; Death of pdt Bele ith 663; Fig Caprificators, 663; Protection of Insect
aa 2 ie The Chigoe in Africa, 664; Cocoon of Telea polyphemus, 664: The sucki rgans of Bees, Bugs and Flies » 664; The “ Pine Moth of Nantucket,” k: Entomolog-
Zool th l , 86; New and rare Fishes in the Mediterranean, 88 ;
A Dt inis Flat-w worm, 89; Meta misëphosts of Penzeus, 90; The growth of the Molluscan
‘shell, e: he ir dai bathe o es
ze by cut cuttings , and the identi ak certain species, ; On the eastern n range of Unio pressus (Lea), 204; Bythinia Limax maxi Copepod of
tentaculata ( Linn.) the family Harpacticidæ, 206; The sucker on ae fin of the Heteropods is not a sexual characteristic.
rotary organs, A curious Nudibranch Mollusk, 214; Zoological Notes, ~ ; Transactions of the Linnzan Society of New York, 324; Remarks on the Piriha of argaritana margaritifera (Linn.),
Contents.
324; The COANE ME position vas ie Archipolypdcs, a + group oi RN ppd Misrata 326; The Vogmar o banksii), 330; Hia on Floridian and ‘Texan Fishes, sats ; Shufelde’: s Contributions to the Anat- omy of Birds. 437° * pnie FaFa 3325 i Anatomy of the Chiroptera, 332; Zoological Notes, 333; taken off the southern coast of New England in 1882, 425; Migration of Animals naar the Suez — 435; Sg ley of the Sponges, 426 ;
The Affinities of Tetraplatia volitans, n New England Waters, 426: Limax maximus in Central Mas sachin, k Tullberg on the structureof the Shell of Crus- tacea and Mollusks, 427; Wright’ s Am n Parasitic ae aes 427; Supposed D of the species of Ocypoda from the Bon n islands, 427; heres ae Uni o, 428; ate species of Polydesmus with Eyes Paidtcatant, as 428; The P: of Verte bra es as seen inthe
and th
ts, 4 A ma: $ an Whale ba; The Repetition of oe Hydrozoa, 432; Distribution of Unio pressus T i + Sa i
33; Animals, 550; Desiccation a Pauk 551; The cause rof" ‘R t” in Sheep, 551; Chromato- i rg Be
Web, 669; The St a,
the Mouth Structure of Tadpoles, 670; Hybridization of Brook Trout and Grayling, 671; Effect a page on Insect Life, 671; The Hairy Woodpecker, a correction, 673; Zoological Notes
Physiology. —Beneke on spe coe tt 98; A Correction, 98; Sense of Color in Cephalopoda, 99; Physiological News, e recent accessions to our knowledge of the Physiology of the
th mbryo f Disease terial Organisms, 442; The Origin and Destiny of Fat Cells, 444; Recent Embryological papers t j i
the Blood, 5 Action of Saliva, 562; Varying the os 1 Background se Reflex aer 562; ‘denon i el
Plants and Animals, 563; A Text-book of Physiology, 677 ; Comparisons of Strength between large and small Animals, 677; The direct influence of gradual variations of temperature upon the rate of beat of the Dog’s Heart, 680; Skin vision, 680; Phosphorescence and Respiration in Annelid Worms, 681.
Psychology.—Teaching Para Mie use of EE 100; The Habits of a caged Robin, 102;
The Nesting of the black and , 103; A bewildered Snow-bird, 105; A Toad’s Cun- ning, to5; Anecdote about Cats, 220; Th e odi Diiis of a blind eo 220; Additional remarks relative to teaching Brutes the use of Letters, 212; Dreams, 338; z Mulleron the Inheritance of Traditions among social agra ” Animal Docters, 445; gar icide of Scor- pions, 446; Exhibition of Reasoning Powe r Bear, 448; The Se of Bees 448; The Frontiers of Insanity, 449; Romanes” pee Sete 564 ; Intelligence in Protozoa, ate age Anxiety in a horned Toad, ; Bufo americanus at Play, 683; Intelli-
; Mat gence in the Elephant, 684; A Story of a Dog, 684; The Mocking Bird, 685; Maski rabs, 636. .
Anthropology.—Discovery of Mound Relics at Devil river, Lake Huron, 106 ; Stone Im ean Miami county, Ohio, 107; Cup-shaped Stones in a 107; har of as
we language neri Aa ono ology in Europe, 108; ee nology of the Vega, 223; The Manu- pa Troano, 225; Archæological Lectures, 226; Music of North American paia 226; an; es of A Alia. 34! ; The Antiquity of Man, 343; Bittiothers Americana, 345: Ravana
of Miklukho- Maclay, 449; Revue d’Ethnographie, 450; Legends of the Iroquois, 451 American Copper Artefacts; 452; Babylonian Oils ao: 452; White Indians in South Amer- ica, 453; Cann balism in New England, 453; The Brookville Society of Natural History, 453 ;
Contents. vii
Mexican Archæology, 453; ee in France, 453: Report of the Peabody Museum,
g 3: 454; The-American Antiquarian, 454 ; Popular Ethnology, 454; Dawkins on the Antiquity of i e He
Man, ; The Carson Fania, 567; Corea: mit Nation, 563; Contributions to North American Et ’ ; A new African Sgi $ ; Peabody demy of Science, 570; Archæology of Illinois, 570; The Wyoming Historical and Geological Society,
d Asiria ot eae Ws o Germany in 1881-:882,
n Her 687; Anthropometry,
ast, Dialects of Bolivian Indians Big Race eae at N ani of ore Oh 691. Microscopy.—Orientation in Microtomic Sections, 109; The Reconstruction of Objects from peat 110; Method of Reconstruction, tır ; The Diffusion of Bacteria, 112 ; Proceedings of estruction of Microscopical Organisms in Potable
; The Microbe of “ Red Evil” a Pig
se. their Photographs, 572; Hertwig’s Method of Preparing and Cutting eener
Eggs, 572 tr News, 114, 229, 346, 458, 575, 692. PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES, 116, 232, 3 an ews 577 695. societies mentioned and the page of each reference
„Next volume we will have the
ee ee ee a a O OEN?
’
THE
AMERICAN NATURALIST.
VoL xvu. — JANUARY, 1883. — No. I.
THE HISTORY OF ANTHRACITE COAL IN NA- TURE AND ART.
BY JAMES S. LIPPINCOTT.
HAT our anthracite has been debituminized is evident, but whence the heat that has thus changed its character is not so clear. It appears, says Dana, that the change has arisen from some cause connected with the uplifting of the rocks which con- tain the coal. In the anthracite fields the coal beds have been violently contorted, and the angles of dip are frequently vertical, © and in some instances the beds have been entirely inverted. This is doubtless due to the corrugations of the coating crust of the earth which, from some cause, has operated more violently in the eastern than in the western section of the coal basins. The an- thracite beds lie in closer proximity to the granite and gneissic bases of the Silurian rocks which form the lower substratum of the base of the coal rocks and thus were more fully exposed to the heating action of the earth’s nucleus, and more completely debituminized. The pressure of the vast accumulation of super-
incumbent rocks must not be disregarded as a probable source of
heat, and consequent chemical change. Under the influence of the elevated temperature and the great pressure which prevail at considerable depths, sedimentary rocks which have been long accumulating, would acquire a certain degree of fluidity and ap- proach a temperature nearly equal to that of redness, and thus we may find a cause adequate to debituminize the bituminous coals into the hardest anthracites.
The more closely the coal strata are studied, the more forcible
‘becomes the evidence that they aai in the manner of mod-
VOL, XVII.—NO,. I.
2 History of Anthracite Coal in Nature and Art. (January,
ern deltas. That the wood and fine sand exist without pebbles, and are stratified with the leaves and roots of terrestrial plants, free in most part from any intermixture of marine remains, im- ply the persistence in the same region of a vast body of fresh water. This water was also charged, as is a great river, with an inexhaustible supply of sediment, and such as would drain a con- tinent having within it one or more ranges of mountains. A bed of coal, even when purest, consists of distinct layers, though not usually separable unless quite impure from the presence of clay. These layers may,be distinctly seen as alternating shades of black, even in almost any of the hardest specimens of anthracite. The researches of chemists have proved’ that wood burned in the earth and exposed to moisture and partially or entirely excluded from the air, is converted into lignite or brown-coal. A long period of decomposition finally changes this lignite into bitumin- ous, and subsequent decarbonization through the increased heat of pressure or proximity to the heated earth, converts this finally into anthracite. The gases that result are the fire damp so de- structive to incautious miners.
The processes through which the beds of anthracite has passed may be outlined as follows;
The coal was formed at the level of the sea and afterwards lifted to a vast height, but the shrinking and crumpling of the crust has flexed these beds and the many sand and clay and lime- stone beds beneath them; the frost and rains have broken them down and the waves of the ancient sea have repeatedly rolled over them as they have many times subsided to be again raised and again acted upon by agencies above the water. But a small part of these coal beds, and of the great masses of rock which once towered to such vast heights, remain, and the greater the elevation the greater has been the destruction. Our beds of an- thracite are now found only where the subsidence was very great —in troughs caught in foldings of the underlying rocks, being often nearly vertical and doubled and re-doubled upon each other. The old rocks were worn down, after the once horizontal deposits had been made to stand on edge at various angles to the horizon; the soft clays and limestones and sands were then washed into the ocean, or gathered into the deeper depressions in the con- torted strata.
The Carboniferous ead opened with a marked change over
1983.] History of Anthracite Coal in Nature and Art. 3
the continent. The red shales became covered with extensive beds of gravel or deposits of sand, which, hardening into a gritty rock, form the millstone grit and sandstone, which underly the coal measures. These fragments are the veins of some quartzose formations of former ages, which have again and again been cemented and re-broken, to repose at last a barrier against further destruction of the beds of coal. Forbidding as these barrier mountains may appear whence no valuable return could reward the cultivator, they may be regarded as proofs of the wisdom of the great architect who has provided that they should preserve, by their enormous eastward thickening, the secure basins har- dened and toughened to resist further denudation, to become the strong storehouse of treasures more truly golden than all the glittering mines of Colorado and California.
“ Coal,” says Professor Newberry, “is entitled to be considered the mainspring of our [material] civilization. Wealth with its comforts, the luxuries and triumphs it brings, are its gifts, and its possession is. therefore the highest material boon that can be craved by a community or nation.” Coal is to the world of in- dustry what the sun is to the natural world, the great source of light and heat, with their innumerable benefits. It is not only the principal generator of steam, but steam is also dependent upon iron, and the manufacture of iron is dependent upon coal, therefore these three most powerful among physical agents of modern advancement have their basis in the coal mine. “ The exclusive possession of vast mines of anthracite within short dis- tances from the seaboard, is one of inestimable value, and places- Pennsylvania in an enviable position.” “ And it is difficult to say what vast populations its production alone will hereafter sus- tain, and to what height of power and importance it may ulti- mately elevate the State.”
From Bethlehem we have followed the beautiful Lehigh, whose waters have been drawn largely into the canal,the massive walls and locks of which are a fitting measurement of the enterprise and in- domitable energy of the father of the Lehigh coal business, and whose name is commemorative of the town which stands at the upper extremity of his noble work. The story of the efforts of Josiah White, of Philadelphia, and his indomitable pluck, deserves to be again and again rehearsed, conveying as it does a lesson of instruction to new men of new generations. It has been well told
4 History of Anthracite Coal in Nature and Art. į January,
by his son-in-law, from whose work we extract one short notice of the labors of this extraordinary man.!
To the sagacity and perseverance of Josiah White, we are in- debted for the planting of the seed that has grown to such gigan- tic proportions in the anthracite coal.trade of Pennsylvania. Josiah White and Erskine Hazard, his partner in the manufacture of wire at the Falls of Schuylkill, early learned that they needed a liberal supply of fuel, such as would alone be found in mineral coal. Having obtained a small quantity from the Lehigh in 1812, the earliest brought to market, one of the first experiments in having it for manufacturing purposes was made at their works. “Incredible as it may seem at this day, great difficulty was found in causing it to ignite, mainly from want of patience and from the deficient draft of the furnace in which the effort was made to burn it. An entire night was spent in the vain attempt, when in des- pair the workmen shut the furnace door and retired and left the coal to its fate. Fortunately one of them had left his jacket in the mill, and on returning for it in half an hour later noticed that the door was red hot, and upon opening the furnace was surprised to find the mass at a glowing heat. The other workmen were summoned and four separated pieces of iron were heated by the — same fire and rolled, before it required to be renewed.” The secret of kindling anthracite had been discovered. In 1814 a few ark loads were brought down the Delaware, but the public was very unwilling to purchase, for said many “the black stones will not burn.” Bryant records the distrust with which it was viewed in “ A meditation on Rhode Island coal”’
“ Dark anthracite! that reddenest on my hearth,
Thou in those island mines dost slumber long, But now thou art come forth to warm the earth
And put to shame the men that mean thee wrong ; Thou shalt be coals of fire to those that hate thee,
And warm the shins of all that underrate thee. Yea, they did wrong thee foully, they who mocked
Thy konest face, and said thou would’st not burn, Of leaving thee to chimney-pieces talked
And grew profane, and swore, in bitter scorn That men might to thy inner caves retire,
And there, unsinged, abide the day of fire.’’
1 Memoir of Josiah White, showing his connection with the introduction and use of anthracite coal and iron, and the construction of some of the canals and railroads of Pennsylvania, etc. By Richard Richardson. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. 1873. 12mo, pp. 135.
1883.] History of Anthracite Coal in Nature and Art. 5
White and Hazard procured a new supply from the head-waters of the Schuylkill, paying forty dollars a ton delivered in wagons at their works. Believing they could supply the needs at a cheaper rate by making the Schuylkill navigable, they applied to the Legislature for the privilege. But through the ignorant mis- representations of the member from Schuylkill county, who as- sured the Legislature that “ the black stone would not burn,” they were unsuccessful. They were not the men to be thus thwarted, and we find them soon active in organizing an association for the improvement of the Schuylkill, which resulted in the present Schuylkill Navigation Company, incorporated in 1815.
Having failed to obtain coal from the Schuyikill region, either by law for the improvement of the river or afterwards from the Navigation Company, White and Hazard turned their attention to the Lehigh region. Coal had been discovered on the Lehigh as early as 1792 and a Lehigh coal company had been formed, but without a charter, which had sent a small quantity to Philadel- phia, but owing to the difficulties of navigation it early abandoned the business. Some of the coal it is said, was tried under the boiler of the engine at Centre Square, in the first Philadelphia water works, but only served to put the fire out, and the remainder was broken up and spread on the walks as gravel.
Josiah White visited the Lehigh region in 1817, and returned home favorably impressed with the practicability of improving the river and mining coal. In company with his co-partners he ob- tained a lease of the coal company’s lands for an ear of corn a year, if demanded ; obtained a charter for the improvement of the Lehigh, and soon in person sat about leveling it from Stoddarts- ville to Easton upon the ice, with the only leveling instrument to be found in Philadelphia. They at first constructed a turnpike road descending 1000 feet in the eight miles from the mines to the river. The road was superseded by the gravity railroad in 1827. Josiah White, in the construction of the dams and walls _ labored with untiring assiduity, dressed oftentimes in a red flannel shirt, roundabout coat, cap and strong shoes with a hole cut in Uie toe, to let out the water. “In the summer I was,” says he,
“as much in the water as out of it for three seasons and slept for the first two without a bed, in the same manner as the work- men.”
In 1820, they sent the first anthracite to market by their arti-
6 History of Anthractte Coal in Nature and Art. [January,
ficial navigation, the whole quantity being 365 tons, which was more than enough to supply the families who would use it, although they never asked more than eight dollars and forty cents aton. To overcome the objection many found owing to the diffi- culties found in igniting the coal, Josiah White made many ex- periments with different kinds of grates, fixtures in his office and at his house in Philadelphia, and had a fire in operation for the inspection of the public, which showed the complete practicability of using anthracite for household warming, cooking, etc.
Though the company was mining or rather quarrying the finest mass of coal yet known to exist, the difficulties in the way of selling the stock or extending the works seemed to increase; but “there is no difficulty to him that wills,’ and by allowing new subscribers extraordinary advantages, the company obtained means to continue the improvements. In January, 1823, they ` were declared finished, and in this year, 5800 tons were sent down the Lehigh, and but about 1000 tons were left on hand un- sold in the following spring. Josiah White had, about this time, contrived the present plan of weighing coal in wagons, with a scale, the dish resting on four knife-edged fulcrums and com- pound levers. His genius seemed equal to any emergency. In 1824, they sent down 9540 tons. The public had begun to be- lieve in the permanency of the supply, and new forms of grates and stoves having been introduced and the price kept steadily at eight dollars and forty cents per ton, the demand increased. Several patriotic ladies exhibited sample-fires, and their glowing grates warmed the indifferent to a zeal for anthracite, making it popular, so that, in 1825, the company sent 28,393 tons to mar- ket. In 1827 the railroad from Mauch Chunk to the mines was made, mainly upon the old wagon route laid out by Josiah White and Erskine Hazard, in 1818. This was the first railroad in this country constructed for the transportation of coal, and, with one or two trifling exceptions, the first constructed for any purpose. This was a gravity road, having a descent of 100 feet per mile for upwards of nine miles. After the mules, which had hauled back the trains, had ridden down with the coal in a car made for the purpose of carrying them, they could not be forced to walk down again, being ever ready to enjoy the luxury of a ride.
Josiah White thus divides with another enterprising Friend, or Quaker, Edward Pease, of Darlington, England, the honor of
i 3 e E ie $ $ iQ i a ; a i j
g
i
1883.] History of Anthracite Coal in Nature and Art. 7
having been a pioneer of railway enterprise. Edward Pease was
the father of British railway enterprise; and was, like Josiah White, “a man who could see a hundred miles ahead.” He was
a man of excellent business abilities, energetic, and of most per- sistent stuff. Having been placed upon a committee to devise improved modes of conveyance from Stockton to Darlington,
thenceforth his heart was in the project of a railway, till the act was passed in 1823, and the first railway was opened for traffic
Sept. 27th, 1825, thirteen months prior to the opening of that be-
tween Liverpool and Manchester. The road built through the
influence of Edward Pease was intended to aid in developing the
vast mineral resources of his district, and but for his exertions
and that of his sons, another generation might have passed away before the people of the region benefited could have enjoyed the
marvelous prosperity with which they have been favored. The
enterprise, courage and pertinacious genius of one man has
tamed the uncouth savagery of nature, changed the dashing tor-
rent into a placid canal, turned the wilderness into a busy abode
of happy industries, opened to day the treasures hidden for ages,
and poured them out to bless his fellows and advance more rapidly
the ever progressing course of human development. When
from the summit of Mount Pisgah the admiring tourist gazes
upon the wonderful scene spread before him, and regards the
railroads with their immense trains of coal, the canal bearing its
burdened boats, the activity everywhere visible in this hive of industry, let him turn to the memory of Josiah White, and apply
to him the words as aptly written of another, Si ejus monumentum requiris circumspice.
Arrived at White Haven, we leave the Lehigh Valley road and take the Nescopeck branch. This carries us for nine miles up an incline which, at some places, rises upwards of 147 feet to the mile, while it follows seemingly every curve that could be readily devised in its winding track. Mountains are around us and above us, and red rocks and gray rocks and white sandstone—pebble rocks succeed in order piled in endless variety of attitudes—until we at length are deposited at the simple station at Upper Lehigh, and we have reached a height of 1850 feet above the sea. We are in the midst of a coal basin, small, it is true, but of immense value. The Green Mountain basin is but about two and a quar- ter miles in extent, and is worked at five slopes which supply
8 History of Anthracite Coal in Nature and Art. [January,
three immense coal-breakers and turn out annually 300,000 tons of.superior coal. This basin exhibits the manner in which the beds have been laid down and corrugated very satisfactorily. Its twelve feet vein is the lowest workable bed, and is known as the Buck Mountain seam, one of the most valuable for furnace use. The blocks of white quartzose conglomerate lie in wild confusion around, a white sandy soil prevails, and a wilderness of whortle- berry bushes, overtopped by sorrowing pines, are among the un- attractive features of the landscape. We are compelled to look far away for beauty, and we find it in the long green masses of the Buck mountain, towering in the distance in the south, and in the hazy Pokono, sixty miles away to the east, in the dim dis- tance. A pleasant walk of half a mile will bring us to a mass of giant rocks, from which we may look down into the wide and deep ravine bearing the repelling name of “ Hell Kitchen,” from the blasts of hot air that at times arise from its depths. From this pleasant outlook we may extend our gaze over and beyond the Butler valley, or Nescopeck, as it is also termed, to find our view bounded on the north by the mountains of that name which arrests our otherwise extended range of vision; even to the Wy- oming mountain, the southern border of that valley long known to fame, and sung by Campbell as ;
“ Once the loveliest land of all That see the Atlantic wave the morn restore.”
We will leave the scenery around us near and far, and devote ourselves for the remainder of this too extended paper to the un- romantic but deeply interesting facts of coal mining. In wan- dering about the wilderness we came upon great sink-holes, which marked the places where the underpinning had broken and per- mitted the superincumbent mass of rock to descend. In these places there appeared a mixture of broken coal and sand, indi- cating the outcrop of the great coal seam. At a point near our hotel this has been opened, and a slope and steam engines and coal breaker, and all the busy industries of coal mining are vig-
orously in action. At the No. 1 slope the coal seam descends at an angle of about 30° until it has reached the perpendicular depth of 180 feet. The bed then rises nearly vertical, and ap- proaching the surface, sinks again at nearly the same angle to the depth of 240 feet, and thence lies, as it extends southward, be- neath and across the valley at an angle of 10°, more or less, being
1883.] History of Anthracite Coal in Nature and Art.
Lower A seam.
Upper A seam.
(R) Buck mountain seam.
1880
SECTION THROUGH SLOPE 2 UPPER LEHIGH COLLIERY.
Counter gangway.
Scale 400 feet to the inch,
Tide elevation 1547 feet.
Main gangway.
Slope No: 2.
Tide elevation 1787 feet 4 inches-
NA
Buck mountain seam,
5 7 7 / (B.
ed
s10
s
Lower seam, approximate position-
i
10 The Development of the Male Prothallium [January,
somewhat flexed from the level until it runs out on the southern edge of the basin. At the summit of the second dip another slope has been opened, and between these two slopes stands the giant coal-breaker, supplied with coal by the action of immense engines which draw, by means of wire rope, the loaded cars to its lofty height. The coal is drawn, in the second slope, up an incline of 424 feet by means of a wire rope 4300 feet in length, and nearly two inches indiameter. About 600 cars are daily hoisted by this rope, and the cars are drawn 174 feet up the in- cline within the breaker alone. This anticlinal, flexure, or saddle, brings into near proximity to the breaker a vertical mass of coal twelve feet in thickness and nearly 200 feet in height, and extend- ing eastward and westward up and down the valley, to thin out as the conglomerate rises, basin-like, to its outcropping edge. During 1880 there were three breakers in the basin, employing 389 men inside and 215 outside the mines. To open the mine -and break up the coal from its beds. 1514 kegs of powder, weigh- ing twenty-five pounds each, were used, and the product of 330,444 tons of coal of 2240 lbs. each were sent to market. This valley and its plant for mining is the property of one family, and has proved, under their enterprise and energy, a princely domain.
A’
MS
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MALE PROTHALLIUM OF THE FIELD HORSETAIL.
BY PROFESSOR DOUGLASS H. CAMPBELL.
lepers the vascular cryptogams, perhaps none can be more
satisfactorily studied than Eguisetum arvense, both as regards the structure of the mature plant and that of the prothallium; the plant being a common one, and readily obtained for study. The growth of the fertile plant is very rapid, so that the cells are large and distinct, and being comparatively free from the silicious deposit so noticeable in most of the other species, it is much less difficult toexamine. Finally, and what is of chief interest here, the spores germinate very readily if sown immediately after ma- turing, and offer a most interesting example, in their development, of the growth and division of cells. Within a few weeks of sow- ing, the antheridia are. produced abundantly, containing anthero- zoids of extraordinary size, much larger than those of the mosses -and ferns.
1883. | of the Field Horsetail.. rI
This paper contains the results of some observations upon the development of the male prothallium of Egutisetum arvense, made in the botanical laboratory of the University of Michigan, in the ‘spring of the present year.
Mature fertile plants were gathered on the 28th of April, and the following day the spores (Pl. 1, Fig. 1) were sown under glass, some in water and the remainder in damp earth. The second day after, while some were already divided into two cells, (Fig. 3), others had just begun to throw out the root hair (Fig. 2). Usually the first sign of active germination was the protrusion of a nearly colorless tube, the root hair (Fig. 2), followed very soon by a division of the body of the spore into two cells by a longi- tudinal septum (Fig. 3 a). Sometimes the second cell seems to be formed by a kind of budding (Fig. 3 4), but this, though not uncommon, is not the ordinary method. The root-hair grows with extreme rapidity, especially where the spores were growing in water (Fig. 4), and is destitute of chlorophyll, while in the body of the spore the chlorophyll is abundant. Almost imme- diately on the germination of the spore a very perceptible change occurs in the chlorophyll. While in the spore before germination ‘the chlorophyll is evenly distributed throughout, as soon as ger- mination begins there is a tendency in it to collect in distinct masses or chlorophyll bodies, which at an early stage in the ‘development of the prothallium become very sharply marked. It is a difficult matter to give any definite rule for the method of cell division, as it differs so much in different individuals. Some- times, though rarely, no root-hair is given off, the spore develop- ing otherwise in a normal manner; again, in other cases there is a great enlargement of the spore without the formation of septa for a long time after germination commences (Fig. 8), (this was specially noticeable in the spores grown in water)—forming elon- gated flask-shaped cells.
On May 3d the spores presented the appearance shown in Figs. 4-6. Some were divided into four cells by longitudinal septa dividing the cells already formed, and in others (Fig. 5), the lower cell remained undivided, while the upper was divided into two, the cells having considerably grown in the meantime. No fur- ther change of importance was noted for several days, except a constant increase in the size of the cells. Figs. 7 æ ġc shows forms observed May 5th, the first showing a spore that seem
12 The Development of the Male Prothallium [January,
to have divided into three cells at first, instead of two, as was ordinarily the case.
Many of the prothallia show a tendency to branch quite early, as is shown in Figs. 9 and 10, drawn May 8th. In these the basal cell remains undivided, and increases but little in length, while the others become elongated and divided by a longitudinal septum, forming two parallel rows of cells that finally develop into the two main branches of the older prothallium. This tendency is more plainly seen in Figs. 11 and 12, drawn at the same time from specimens that had developed further. In both of these the rows of cells have separated at the ends so as to plainly show the beginnings of the branches.
Sometimes, as in Fig. 14, there is considerable growth before any tendency to branching is shown; in this case the branch seeming to be formed by budding rather than by a division of the terminal cell. In contrast to this elongated form, there were numbers having the short thick form seen in Fig. 13.
Observations, made May soth, showed that many of the larger prothallia had sent out a second root-hair from one of the lower celis. In some of the prothallia the branches also seemed in- clined to divide again, thus forming four nearly equal branches instead of the two ordinarily present. This was more especially noticed in the case of spores growing in water, probably on ac- count of the more nearly equal pressure on all sides, those grow- ing on earth being flatter and having usually but two main branches. At this stage the chlorophyll bodies are remarkably distinct, being large and bright colored.
For some time after these observations were made, probably largely due to the unusually cold and dark weather, growth pro- ceeded quite slowly, no noticeable change being remarked for almost a week; by the end of this time some of the more for- ward prothallia had assumed a distinctly two-branched form (Fig. 15), the branches being long and slender; from this point growth proceeded more rapidly, both laterally and longitudinally, the branches becoming flatter on account of the lateral growth of the cells and their division into new ones by longitudinal septa. The prothallia now begin to assume the irregular form that they have when mature, by giving off side branches at irregular intervals in which, as in the rapidly growing main branches, the protoplasm is strongly condensed at the ends (Fig. 16). `
1883.] of the Field Horsetail. 13
From this time on, the growth is very capricious; branches are given off, apparently without any definite order, the cells already formed also dividing, so as to make the prothallium broader and thicker. This growth continues until antheridia are to be formed. ;
For two or three weeks the spores grown in water and in moist earth, develop in much the same manner, but finally those in water grow much less rapidly, though seeming to retain their vitality to some extent. Their growth is more erratic, many growing fora long time without dividing, forming single cells that are very much elongated; others develop without sending “out any root-hair, and nearly all, after three or four weeks, stop growing, or grow very feebly. When sown in water the spores soon sink and form a filmy green mass closely resembling a small alga. Those grown on earth form bright green, velvety masses that might readily be taken for a small moss. In both cases the long root-hairs, becoming entangled, make the pro- thallia cling together in great numbers where the spores are thickly sown. The abnormal development in water is probably Owing to the lack of proper nutriment as well as to the different physical conditions to which the spores are subjected.
For a considerable time before antheridia were formed, the prothallia increased but little in length, but became noticeably broader and thicker, the ends of the main branches growing blunter and dividing up into short branches, so as to become somewhat club-shaped (Fig. 17). This process was slow at first, but after the first antherozoids were formed, there was a rapid increase in the size of the prothallium.
The first mature antherozoids were observed June 7th, nearly six weeks from the time the spores were sown ; Fig. 20 gives the appearance presented by the prothallium at the time that the first antheridia are formed. Hofmeister gives five weeks as the time requisite for the production of the first antherozoids, but this dif- ference of a few days in the time, may be readily accounted for by the extraordinary lateness of the past spring.
From the very great simplicity of the structure of the anther- idium, it is very difficult to say just when it begins to be formed, for it is merely an excavation or cavity in the end of a branch of the prothallium that becomes filled with protoplasm more dense than that in the body of the prothallium. After the mature an-
14 Development of the Male Prothallium, etc. []anuary,.
theridia were formed, it was an easy matter to trace the develop-.
ment back, but it was impossible to determine just where it began. The process was as follows: After the branch in which the antheridium was to be formed had attained sufficient size, there was a concentration of protoplasm at this point (Fig. 18), a cavity being gradually formed, at first indistinct, but finally assuming a nearly regular oval shape (Fig. 19). This mass of protoplasm soon breaks up into small round bodies that are dis- charged as antherozoids. The first antheridia are formed singly, but later (Fig. 19) two or three are formed almost simultaneously at the end of a single branch. When the antherozoids are ma- ture, the cells surrounding the interior cavity of the antheridium separate, leaving an opening by which they escape. Usually the whole mass of antherozoids is discharged in a few minutes, but sometimes the discharge is more gradual. Each antherezoid is enclosed in, and lies coiled up within,a membrane. After resting for a few moments this sac bursts, freeing the enclosed anthero- zoid, which immediately swims rapidly away with a peculiar un- dulatory movement due to its spiral form. The most noticeable thing about them is their great size, for while most antherozoids are so minute as to look like mere specks, even when a high power is employed, these are readily studied with an ordinary % objective. They are quickly killed by the application of iodine by means of which the cilia are made rigid, standing out in all directions from the thicker end of the antherozoid, and plainly visible with the low power. The body is long and slender, taper- ing to a point at one end and bearing the remains of the envelop- ing sac in the inner side. The body is contracted, becoming shorter and blunter after iodine is applied.
In germinating the spores, the only precaution necessary is to
keep the atmosphere around them moderately damp. In making —
the foregoing observations, this was done by sowing the spores on damp earth in unglazed earthen saucers which were placed under bell jars. By giving water every two or three days no- difficulty was experienced in keeping the prothallia in a healthy
condition. EXPLANATION OF PLATE I.
Fic. 1.—Two spores, one with the elaters coiled around it, the other with the elater>
expande Fics, 2 and 3. —Germinating spores on sich * 4,5 and 6.—G g spores o aien 34, showing variations in mode of ion
PES OSS ee ee ae eo eee ea
PLATE I.
PLATE II.
SE NNa = =
a
‘DEVELOPMENT OF THE MALE PROTHALLIUM OF THE HorsETAIL.
13A Geological Effects of a Varying Rotation of the Earth. x 5
Fics. 7 and 8.—Germinating spores on May 5th, showing variations in mode of division, “ 9 and 10.—Young prothallia on May 8th. “ 11 and 12.—Young prothallia on May 8th, ene early branching. Fic, 13.—Short, thick prothallium (May 8th), “ 14.—Young prothallium, much elongated (May 8th). All the figures magnified 125 diameters. EXPLANATION OF PLATE II. ag 15. —Branching prothallium, May 18th 16,— ‘giv: Map cue prothallium, showing protoplasm condensed in the ends of the cells “ 17,.—End of branch of older prothallium. “ 18.—Young antheridium. “ 19.—Antheridia; æ, unopened; 4, opened, with escaping antherozoid cells, June 13t Oi a + Prothalfias with antheridia and antherozoids, June roth. “ 21,—Antherozoids, mag. All the figures excepting Fig. 21 magnified 125 diameters.
:0: ON THE GEOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF A VARYING ROTATION OF THE EARTH. BY PROFESSOR J. E. TODD. HE fact of variation in the velocity of the earth’s rotation, seems so nearly established as to call for a consideration of its effects on geology. One can scarcely read Professor New- comb’s masterly paper on the acceleration of the moon without feeling that the ability of astronomers to state the exact times of eclipses, especially of those in past time, has been, greatly over- rated. As he himself says in conclusion, “If Hansen is right, then Ptolemaic eclipses might be harmonized, but the Arabian would be ten to fifteen minutes out of the way, which to my mind seems very improbable. Apparently, therefore, we can hardly avoid accepting one of these propositions: Either the recently accepted value of the acceleration, and the usual inter- pretations of the ancient solar eclipses are to be radically altered, the eclipse of — 556 not having been total at Larissa, and that re) — 584 not having been total in Asia Minor ; or the mean motion of the moon is, in the course of centuries, subject to changes so wide that it is not possible to assign any definite value to the acceleration.”
We learn from this same paper reasons for believing that the Newcomb. Observations on the moon before 1750, p. 278. (Washington Ast.
and Met. Observations, Vol. xx, App. U.)
16 Geological Effects of a Varying Rotation of the Earth. [ January,
earth lost seventeen seconds in its rotation between 1750 and 1800, and has gained thirty-one seconds since 1800 A.D.’ Also, that much greater variations may have taken place in the past, and yet escaped the observation of astronomers:
Mr. G. H. Darwin, in his paper on the Precession of the Vis- cous Spheroid, and on the remote history of the earth, shows that if we assume a viscosity for the earth, such that a cubic inch, when subjected to a force of 1314 tons, would be distorted ġ of an inch in twenty-four hours, and that such viscosity has remained constant, the retardation of the rotation of the earth has been such that 46,300,000 years ago a sidereal day was fifteen hours thirty minutes, and a sidereal month 18.62 days. As Mr. Darwin remarks: “It seems that we have only to postulate that the up- per and cooler surface of the earth presents such a difference’ from the interior, that it yields with extreme slowness, if at all, — to the weight of continents and mountains, to admit the possibil- ity that the globe on which we live may be like that here treated of.” Hence we may start with the assumption that not only is the rotation of the earth variable, but this variation is con- -siderable.
It is proposed to present, in the treatment of our subject, first, a theoretical discussion of the case, secondly, a survey of related facts, and finally, suggestions to direct further investigation of the . matter. ne
I. The rotation of the earth may be considered as the result of — gravitation condensing it from its original nebulous or gaseous — ‘condition, The check to condensation we may consider to have — been originally the expansive power of heat and the centrifugal — component of its force of rotation. Now, however, we find the f equilibrium of rotation lying between the following forces : i
Forces affecting the rotation of the Earth. Those tending to accelerate are:
First. The contraction of the earth, especially in low latitudes. This, now, as in all past ages, is doubtless the main force on this 5 side.
Second. The transfer of matter of any kind, from lower to ~ higher latitudes. This may be (1) either by the transfer of liquid 5 matter in the interior, attending a local depression of the earth's — crust in lower latitudes, or (2) a transfer of water, either as vapO%
1 See also Am. Fourn. of Sci: (111), XIV, p: 408.
? Phil. Trans., Vol. 170, Part 11,
1883. ] Geological Effects of a Varying Rotation of the Earth. 17
water or ice, by some secular change in the earth. For example, the accumulation of ice at the poles during the glacial period. It should be noted here, that the circulation of ocean currents and aérial currents have no effect, so long as the sea-level remains constant. Every current, however strong, or whatever its direc- tion, is counteracted by others. (3) A third case under this head, is the transfer of sediment, either by river or ocean currents. All streams flowing toward the poles conspire to this effect. The higher the latitude the more efficient the stream, other things be- ing equal, but as the erosion is diminished by the cold, those in middle latitudes are probably the most efficient.
On the other hand, retarding influences are as follows:
First, and most unquestioned—the friction of the tides. The conditions in which this force would be most efficient have not, so far as the writer is‘aware, been satisfactorily stated. An alterna- tion of oceans broad enough to accumulate the wave to its utmost, and of narrow continents, with shores adapted to raise the water to its highest point, and wholly check its flow, would seem perhaps the most, favorable.
Second. The transfer of matter of any kind from higher to lower latitudes. The remarks made under the head correspond- ing, above, will apply equally well in this case.
Third. Any elevation of the earth’s crust, either local or gen- eral, in lower latitudes, resulting either from increased heat, as near volcanoes, or from any bending of the earth’s crust. If in the lat- ter case, both the anticlinal and synclinal folds of the crust are in the same latitude, no change in rotation would result.
Fourth, and last, but by no means least, we would rather say greatest, a distortion of the earth’s body by the attraction of the sun and moon. The degree of viscosity assumed by Mr. Darwin would seem to be little enough to satisfy the most ultra rigida- tian or uniformitarian, and if a more yielding condition be predi- cated of the earth, certainly its effect will be indefinitely magni- fied. Whether instruments will ever be invented delicate enough to measure its amount is doubtful.
1 That this force is really efficient at the present time is attested by the influence of a variation in distance of these bodies on the occurrence of earthquakes. Fron» the researches of Perrey, Volger and others, we learn that earthquakes are much more numerous when the earth is near perihelion than when near aphelion, and
that they occur more frequently and with more violence when the moon is in perigee
than a: other periods,
VOL. XVII.—no. I. 2
18 Geological Effects of a Varying Rotation of the Earth. | January,
To illustrate the efficiency of these different forces, we may re- fer briefly to the following calculations: The sinking of the equator 110 feet would shorten the time of rotation of the earth one minute, or if it was retarded one minute per day, it would produce eventually a depression of the equator 110 feet.’ Erich- son estimated that if the center of the Mississippi basin were 45° 55’, and its mouth 29° 8’, the sediment brought down by it would retard the earth .00036 of a second in a century. Fer- rel, in 1853, assuming that the tide caused by the moon in the open sea is two feet in height, and that it is highest two hours after the culmination of the moon, showed that it would retard the earth at the equator fifty miles in a century.” For the retard- ing effect of the sun and moon on a viscous earth, see reference above to Darwin’s paper.
2. A Theoretical View of the Action of these Forces—-We may conceive, therefore, the earth rotating in unstable equilibrium between these sets of forces. As will be seen presently, any change produces effects which tend to counteract the forces causing it. If the earth were wholly fluid, only two of the influ- ences enumerated would remain, and they are those conceived to ‘be most efficient now, viz., contraction from loss of heat, and dis- ‘turbance from the effect of the moon and sun. A varying ellip- -ticity would exist, because of the varying distances of the sun and moon on the one hand, and the cooling on the other, and there would be more or less regularity in this variation of ellipticity as _ ‘the earth approached or receded from the sun or moon, in the movements of revolution. As soon, however, as the earth be- came a’solid and rigid mass, as at present, either a decrease Of increase of ellipticity would first show itself in the shifting of the waters of the ocean, so that the sea-level only would describe the 7 resulting figure.
That is, if the earth were nearly perfectly rigid, and the rota- tion diminished continually, the sea-level would be continually lowering at the equator, and rising at the poles. If, on the other hand, by some cause the velocity of rotation were accelerated, the waters would rise at the equator and sink at the poles. By a lit tle calculation, it will be found that the regions where the sea-
1 Compare Am, Four. of Sci. (111), XII, p. 353-
2Newcomb, Reduction and Di:cussions of Observations on the Moon before ns. p Il. ae
1883. | Geological Effects of a Varying Rotation of the Earth. 19
level would remain approximately stationary, would be near thirty degrees of latitude. It would describe a see-saw movement, as it were, around those parallels. The variation in altitude at the equator would be about one-half as much as at the poles, in any change in which the volume of the earth remained the same.
A decrease of velocity of rotation would, in this way, eventu- ally lift the tropical lands so high above the sea, that their weight would become a force sufficient to cause their depression, which, in time, would either lift the tropical sea-beds, or the higher lati- tudes of both land and sea-bottom.
The former would have little effect to accelerate the earth’s rotation, because the average altitude of equatorial continents and seas would remain the same. It would, however, have the effect to drive the waters still more toward the poles. Eventually, how- ever, if not at first, equatorial lands would sink, at the expense of raising higher latitudes, and acceleration would result. This de-
. pression, when begun, would probably go beyond the point just sufficient to establish equilibrium in the earth’s crust, and would continue, even while the rotation was being accelerated by the depressions. For momentum, in all known cases of vibration, carries the vibratory body beyond the point of rest. Any increase of acceleration would be closely followed by a rise of the sea- level, within the tropics, and a lowering of the sea-level outside, increasing in amount toward the poles. This, with the extra fall of the tropical crust, would turn the tide, eventually, to such an acceleration, that the polar regions would be much elevated above the sea, and in time they would begin-to sink from their weight. This would become a retarding influence, which, with the con- tinued retarding influence of the sun and moon, would produce a transfer of water to the higher latitudes, and so the cycle of one vibration would be complete. Now, if these two forces alone should act upon sea and land, there would be, on the whole, a run- ning down, a graduation of vibrations into rest, only to be occa-
sionally broken, perhaps, by varying astronomical relations; but
| -another feature comes in to keep the great double pendulum
swinging. The contraction of the earth will accelerate, by the depression of the tropical regions, and retard by depression of higher latitudes. This, therefore, would be a force to keep this vibration continued. The efficiency of this force can scarcely be questioned, at least for the earlier geological epochs, when we
20 Geological Effects of a Varying Rotation of the Earth, | January,
think of the folds and faults of ancient strata. Thus far, we g
have not considered the effect of the movement of the waters, transfer of sediment, etc. The latter would be of comparatively slight efficiency, as before stated. The former would be con- siderable, and might act as a counter check, and in this way produce slight vibrations, superimposed, as it were, on those of more importance, which we have just considered.
These general movements of land and water need not conflict materially with the various local movements, which have been so clearly defined by various geologists. For example, the local folding of strata, and the elevation of mountains and continental plateaus; areas rising from local heating in the vicinity of vol- canoes, and, on the other hand, depressions resulting from the ac- cumulation of sediment.
These, in all ages, must have been numerous. Over areas where both the general and the local influences were acting, of course the result would be the algebraic sum of the two. Per- haps further investigations may discover that certain so-called local movements are indirectly the result of the general influence supposed. For example, in the downward movement of either high or low latitudes, we have supposed that it was attended with and partially the result of, contraction of the earth. This would be likely to be attended with an elevation of mountain ranges. The elevations along the lines of volcanoes crossing the tropical regions at the present time may, perhaps, be considered examples of such action. Another point should be added before we attempt a practical application of our theory. The neutral belts, as they may be called, between the areas of apparent elevation and de-
Í
DE S NES
seik
pression, with respect to the sea-level, will be very variable. Some |
reasons for the variability will be, (1) The different ellipticity of the earth, at different ages; (2) The amount of contraction of the earth in any vibration; (3) The different capacities of ocean beds- in different latitudes, pee the consequent varying rate of change ` in the sea-level. This would affect especially the sea-level at the neutral belts.
II. So much for the theory. Let us proceed to compare it with recorded facts.
I. Changes during the present Epoch.
The first attempt to map the areas of depression and elevation was made by Darwin, soon after his interesting observations O%
1883.] Geological Effects of a Varying Rotation of the Earth. 21
coral islands. His map has been often copied. From this, and the statements of numerous recent observers, we may establish the following generalizations :
I. Areas closely adjacent to active volcanoes, with very few exceptions, are rising. For example, Sunda islands, Sandwich islands, Philippines, West Indies, Central America, etc.
2. Extensive alluvial, and marine plains, rapidly formed, seem frequently to be areas of subsidence. For exdmple, deltas of the Po, Indus, Ganges and Mississippi, Holland (?), New Jersey (?), North Carolina (?).
3. All islands, not volcanic, between the parallels of 30° lati- tude, bear signs of recent sinking; except Ceylon, of which some, however, report evidences of sinking, and Madagascar, which shows evidence of recent extinction of volcanic action.
4. The continents, within the same boundaries, not infrequently show signs of sinking. The Great Barrier reef testifies to the sinking of Northern Australia. From tropical Africa little is re- ported which bears upon our case.
South America is reported as sinking at the mouth of the Amazon, by Agassiz; as being bordered with barrier coral reefs, ‘from Abrolhos islands to the equator, by C. F. Hartt. A sunken sandstone reef at Pernambuco, underneath the present one, is re- ported by J. C. Hawkshaw. Demerara is protected by dikes from the encroaching sea (F. M. Endlich). Upon the west side of the continent, although it may be considered a volcanic area, Von Tschudi reports a subsidence of the coast, at Peru, since its dis- covery. Bousingault, Proctor and Orton consider that there is strong evidence that the Peruvian and Columbian Andes have sunk considerably since the visit of Humboldt. Darwin reports -a depression of Callao, by the earthquake of 1746.
Some exceptions should be noted under this head. Texas is reported to be rapidly rising. This may be due to its nearness to the probably rising axis of the Rocky mountains, which en- roaches upon the tropical area. India seems to be S at several points, as at Bombay, Sinde, Orissa, &c.
5. Areas outside of about 30° latitude are very generally rising. Avoiding, for the present, those near volcanoes, we enumerate:
In the northern hemisphere: Scandinavia, Scotland, France, Spain, North Africa (Reclus), Russia (Murchison), Spitzbergen (Lamont), Franz-Joseph-Land (Howorth), Siberia (Wrangell),
22 Geological Effects of a Varying Rotation of the Earth. [January, —
Saghalien and Manchooria (Smidt), North China and Japan (Pumpelly) Alaska (Dal!), British Columbia (G. M. Dawson), California (Newberry), Hudson’s Bay region (Bell), North Green- land (Kane), Labrador (Packard), Nova Scotia (Hind), New Eng- land! (Shaler).
In the southern hemisphere: Southern New Zealand (Haast), Southern Australia, Melbourne (Becker), Natal (Griesbach), Chili, Southern La Plata, and Patagonia (Darwin).
Some exceptional regions may be mentioned. A few have al- ready been noted under a previous head, which may explain their occurrence. But the sinking of South Greenland, Southern Sweden, and others can scarcely be so explained. Itseems better to refer them to local foldings of the earth’s crust, which are progressing rapidly enough to neutralize the general elevation of higher latitudes.
From this survey we come very readily to the conclusion, that the facts confirm our theory, for an acceleration of the earth’s rotation. Such, it will be remembered, is indicated by recent astronomical observations. And if it is objected, that it is believed that there has been a retardation for ages previous, we may reply, that the evidence is wanting, or at best, indecisive,? except for a very short time preceding this century. A brief counter- move= ment in a period of prevalent acceleration, would be no more than © our theory would provide for. :
We may therefore glance backward through the ages to further test our theory.
Sas =: OL hh ee ee ER PE Sr Sie ee ee ee ee ali
ies Sas
2. Changes in the Early Quaternary.
Preceding the present epoch, most geologists find abundant evidence of a depression, in high latitudes, at least in the North- — ern hemisphere, and far below the present altitude. The evidence from the southern hemisphere, for obvious reasons, is not so abundant. Yet Darwin gives very clear evidence for this point, from Patagonia, and Haast reports a similiar movement in New — Zealand, and probably in southern Australia. There is equally : abundant and reliable evidence, of a period of elevation of the —
$ a $ z = ee D wi EEA E A T TEA i PLA EL OT NOA EI S Be E A EAE O LASINEN E S A E E RA SI D a ee a Y E a), TSEN Sieg IES A a A AE OEE EE A SS ES SA E EAE A E E ENS A Oe Mee ee TSS A
1 New England is stationary according to observations of the Coast Survey for q | 1877. (Am. Purn. of Sci. (111), XXI, p. 77.) Therising of afew of the other coun- _
ports as at present rising or pipari (vide Corals and Coral islands) are to be re- ferred to such a case.
1883.] Geological Effects of a Varying Rotation of the Earth. 23
same regions, in the age preceding the depression just mentioned, and to an altitude far exceeding the present. As to relations of these periods to the prevalence of glaciers, there is not so com- plete harmony among geologists, but that need not affect our theory. Moreover this vast vibration seems to have had greater amplitude, in general, in proportion to nearness to the poles. This is well shown in the discussion of the matter by Professor Dana, in his Manual of Geology, pp. 552-558.
For the tropical regions in the same periods we cannot say as much, Comparatively few observations are reported which have any decisive bearing on their movements. It will be readily seen that we should expect a general elevation immediately preceding the present epoch.
Wallace, from his profound studies of the fauna and flora of Java, Sumatra and Borneo, concludes that they were submerged during the Miocene, but “at some later period a gradual eleva- tion occurred, which ultimately united them with the continent. This may have continued till the glacial period in the northern hemisphere, during the severest part of which a few Himalayan species of birds and mammals may have been driven southward. Java was first separated by subsidence, then a little later Sumatra and Borneo.”! He, from similar data, judges Celebes to be a fragment of the great eastern continent in perhaps Miocene times. This suffices to show a vibration in tropical areas, such as our theory demands, except that its time is not definitely deter- mined. It seems not improbable that they may have been ele- vated through the Pliocene, been depressed during the Glacial epoch, then partially elevated during the Champlain, and again depressed, perhaps to a greater extent, which movement continues to the present, except where counteracted by volcanic influences.
From New Guinea and Australia we find nothing recorded which will throw any light on their movements, in the epoch preceding the present. Nor can we hope, perhaps, to find any- thing in the coral islands bearing on this stage of our case. It is barely possible that some of them which are much elevated, as Elizabeth island, Metia, Rurutu and others (vide Dana’s Coral islands), may ultimately prove to be monuments of such an eleva- tion as well as of a still earlier depression, deeper than that of the present. And if it be incredulously asked, What, then, has be-
1 Island Life, p. 353.
24 Geological Effects of a Varying Rotation of the Earth, | January,
come of the former tops of other islands, which certainly must d have been in existence, to form the bases of many of the presents t
atolls, and for a connecting stage between the successive depres-
sions according to our theory? it may be replied, that they `
may have been carried away by the waves in the period of up- heaval. We may, perhaps, see some evidence of this, where some
atolls are themselves arranged in a ring-like form, as though an
older atoll had been shattered, and each remnant became the cen-
ter ofa smaller one, as is the case in Atoll Ari, and in the Mal- :
dives generally. Falling into the same line of argument is Darwin's observation of the terraces, on the Island of San Lorenzo, opposite Callao.
EAE e Pain
He found there evidence of three terraces, and on the lowest, at —
an altitude of eighty-five feet, recent shells, but they were deeply corroded, and had “a much older and more decayed appear- ance, thon those at a height of 500-600 feet on the coast one Chili.’
Professor Dana, in his work on coral islands, argues strongly —
Te
aaa ipa
in favor of recent tropical depressions, in not only the Pacific and ‘
Indian oceans, but in the Atlantic also, even including many areas
which Darwin considers to have been elevated. He also con- — siders them as being compensated by elevations in higher lati- _
tudes preceding or during the Glacial period. As before suggested, it does not seem to the writer necessary to assume a continuous subsidence from that time, perhaps inter-
rupted with periods of stability, but rather that there may have ~
been at least one time of considerable elevation intervening. Our hypothesis may assist in explaining certain problematic questions of this age, viz.: The occurrence of European plants in Australia,
by the elevation of the tropical regions, at the proper time to form —
a bridge between the Palearctic and Australian provinces, and
the occurrence of numerous edentates in North America towards
the end of the Glacial period, by the elevation of the regions be- tween North and South America.
3. Changes in Earlier Ages,
It is quite generally recognized by geologists, that in earlier — times the land and sea were subject to oscillations of continental — extent. Indeed, Europe and North America seem to have risen © and subsided contemporaneously. Considering that conglomer- ates indicate recent elevation of the land, and perhaps a culmina- —
1883.] Geological Effects of a Varying Rotation of the Earth. 25
tion of elevation, and that heavy deposits of limestone, on the other hand, mark a continued submergence, we may note nine great vibrations, to say nothing of several minor ones. We may enumerate the periods of depression, as the Huronian, Trenton, Niagara, Lower Helderberg (?), Corniferous, Sub-Carboniferous, Permian (?), Cretaceous, Later Eocene, and the Champlain already mentioned? When we remember that these formations have been studied almost exclusively in the higher latitudes, and that we have seen reason, from later epochs, to believe motions of opposite phase, in lower latitudes, we may find it, as far as we now know, strong corroboration in our theory.
Before leaving this point, the writer would say, that after elab- rating the theory as given above, he was pleased to find an almost identical view expressed by Dr. Dawson,’ as follows: “We have seen, in the progress of our inquiries, that the move- ments of the continents seem to have occurred with accelerated rapidity in the more modern periods. We have also seen that these movements might depend on the slow contraction of the earth’s crust, due to cooling, but that the effects of this contraction might manifest themselves only at intervals. We have further seen that the gradual retardation of the rotation of the earth fur- -nishes a cause capable of producing elevation and subsidence of the land, and that this also must be manifested at longer or shorter intervals, according to the strength and resisting power of the crust. Under the influence of this retardation, so long as the crust of the earth does not give way, the waters would be driven toward the poles, and the northern land would be sub- merged, but as soon as the tension became so great as to rupture the solid shell, the equatorial regions would collapse, and the northern land would be again raised.” This corroborating view, from so experienced a geologist, guarantees that the ideas pre- sented above are not wholly visionary.
III. We pass on to indicate briefly certain important lines of investigation in connection with our subject.
(1.) A re-examination, from a mathematical and physical stand- point, of the possibility of such contraction of the earth, and
_ such variation of its ellipticity, as this theory requires. Sir Wil-
1 Compare Dawson, Story of Earth and Man, p. 178; Shaler, chapter on Ancient Glacial Periods, in his recent work on Glaciers; also, Dana’s Manual. ;
2Story of Earth and Man, p. 291.
26 Bite of the North American Coral Snakes. [ January,
liam Thompson thinks any considerable change of ellipticity in geological ages impossible. G. H. Darwin thinks the diminution of ellipticity in recent times not impossible! Fisher, Dutton and others? considering the matter from different standpoints, declare against any considerable amount of contraction since the forma- tion of the first crust. Mallet has estimated it at probably as great a figure as any one.
(2.) A more careful noting of the height of marine terraces in all parts of the world, and an accurate determining of their rela- tive ages, as indicated by their fossils and degree of preserva- tion. The common remark, “containing recent shells,” is of little value.
(3.) A more careful study of the geological formations in trop- ical regions, and an especial noting of any signs of their alter-
nating with similar formations outside. This, probably, may as”
readily be told, as in any way, by the comparative development of their forms of life.
(4.) A special study of the areas occupying the neutral ground, to discover, if possible, the over-lapping of formations, alternately from the higher and lower latitudes. Such areas should be chosen
as have been as little disturbed by local causes as any. Those —
presumably the more favorable are Texas and Eastern Mexico. The Pampas and Australia. India, North and South Africa, are less favorable, at least, for the recent formations. The great vari- ability of the neutral belts should be remembered, and the con-
sequent extensive overlapping of strata. These areas may be —
found especially instructive, not only in determining the succes- sion of strata, but in filling up the gaps in the series, both in the -geological strata and the forms of life.
"ry oe
ON THE BITE OF THE NORTH AMERICAN CORAL
SNAKES (GENUS ELAPS)3 BY FREDERICK W. TRUE.
1. The facts presented below indicate clearly, I believe, that : the North American coral snakes possess the poisonous charac- a teristics of the family to a considerable Gores; rendering their —
1 Vid. Nature, Jan. sth, 1882. 2 Vid. Fisher’s Physics of the Earth’s Crust, p. 75. 3 Read before the Biologicil Society of Washington, Oct. 13, 1882.
1883.] Bite of the North American Coral Snakes. 27
bite dangerous or fatal in its effects. The somewhat general notion that they are harmless is erroneous. Incidentally it ap- pears that the popular belief that certain serpents sting with their tail extends to the coral snakes.
2. On the afternoon of June 1, 1882, Mr. William Shindler, artist in the U. S. National Museum, was bitten in the index fin- ger of the left hand by a specimen of coral snake, Zlaps fulvius, received from Gainesville, Florida, which he had placed in his room that he might sketch it. The wound was inflicted be- tween 2 and 3 o'clock, p.m. The serpent had not been fed for two months previously. It clung so firmly to the finger that it had to be pulled off. The first symptoms, which appeared imme- diately after the bite, consisted of violent pain at the wound, and extending up the arm to the left breast. The wound was cauter- ized by Dr. J. M. Flint. The symptoms continued without ma- terial change to half past four in the afternoon. At that hour, according to Mr. Shindler, the first symptoms of drowsiness or unconsciousness made their appearance, and remained until the morning of the 3d inst.
At 7.30 P. M. on the day of the bite, Mr. Shindler felt so ill that he deemed it prudent to call upon his physician, Dr. L. M. Tay- lor, of Washington. Dr. Taylor has kindly furnished me with a summary of the symptoms which he observed from the time the case came into his hands at the hour stated, until signs of recovery appeared, and of the treatment employed. The notes. are as follows:
June 1, 1882, Case of William Shindler. Bite of coral snake; index finger, left hand.
Symptoms.—Finger swollen. Complains of acute pain extending up arm and down to region of heart. Partial delirium. Pulse at wrist of injured hand almost imperceptible; on other side weak, irregular, compressible. Skin cool, clammy. Tongue tremulous, cool, white. Nervous, excitable, garrulous. Eyes dull, stupid in expression; pupils contracted. Jactation, nausea, persistent vomiting. Treatment —Saturated bandage with strong ammonia water, and applied to woun Prescription. —Bicarbonate of soda 4 drachms. Sub-nitrate of bismuth cometh Water sufficient to dissolve soda. Teaspoonful every five min- utes. Administered six doses. Symptoms.—Nausea returned; vomiting ceased. Prescription,—Aromatic arie of ammonia...........++...1 ounce. ‘French br: Teaspoonful every Ans minutes until six or ie Pel had been given. Left patient comfortable. Tablespoonful every hour during the night. .
28 Bite of the North American Coral Snakes, | January,
e 2,8 A.M. Symptoms.—Patient free from pain, pulse feeble, STI. still ae on ae side. General condition much improved. Recovery certain Continue use of recipe every two or three hours.
In three days after treatment the patient felt in good health
again. About two mionths after the event, however, pain set in once more at the bitten finger, extending to the knuckles, and after a few days an ulcer made its appearance above the latter. At this date Mr. Shindler informs me that he is in good health, but that pain is felt from time to time in the bitten finger. 3. Desirous of learning whether cases like the preceding were common, I called upon Dr. Taylor, who referred me to several physicians in Texas. I received extended communications from Dr. Thomas Kearney and Dr. J. Herff, of San Antonio, which I append. I also caused search for parallel cases to be made in the catalogues of the library of the Surgeon-General’s office, to which I gained access through the kindness of Dr. Robert Fletcher.
The search proved fruitless, showing that few or no such cases —
have been hitherto recorded,
The following letter of Dr. Kearney, mentioned above, gives in- 4
formation of some cases of coral snake bite occurring in Texas,
as well as allusions to the popular belief in serpent’s stings and :
the treatment of rattlesnake bite : SAN HNN TEXAS, Fuly ro, 1882. _ Mr. Fredk. W. True, National Museum, Washin
EAR SIR :—Your letter of June rgth, was ret is weuitig on my return tothis
city. You wish me to give you whatever information’ I possess relative to the effects of ‘the bite ot the coral snake, treatment, &c., and whether any of such wounds have come under my immediate notice, In reply I must say that I have never seen or treated
a case of coral snake bite. The snake is classed here as among the poisonous rep- —
tiles, and its bite is considered about as fatal as the bite of the rattlesnake.
are seldom met within this portion of Texas. During my long residence in this
State and in Mexico bordering on the Rio Grande, a period of nearly thirty years, I
may have seen one or two dozen, and most of these, with few exceptions, I have met —
with in shady nooks or in thickly shaded thickets, out of which they seldom ven-
ture. This perhaps is one cause why they are not so often met with as the rattle- _ snake, whose liabits lead him to seek open glades and prairies where he can enjoy —
his sunshine bath. From all the information that I have received as to the charac-
‘ter of the coral snake, I have no doubt as to its poisonous nature, and it is the com- _ mon belief among the people, that like the scorpion he is armed with a sting in his —
ail.
The following case of a bite of a coral snake, followed by death, occurred neat — — Christi, Texas, during the last year of the “ late unpleasantness.” An infant child of Mr. Alexander Stringer was playing in the yard, and being attracted by the ~ bright colors of a coral snake, grasped it near the middle. The screams of the child brought its parents to its relief, but too late, the snake had done its work. The —
d A
1883.] Bite of the North American Coral Snakes. 29
child lingered in great agony until the following morning and died as above stated. The snake, as described to me, was about eighteen inches long, and it is a matter of doubt with me whether the bite of so smal) a snake would have proved fatal to an adult, The year following this unfortunate occurrence I became a resident of Cor- pus Christi, and resided for several years within a hundred yards of Mr. Stringer, and he, as also many of the citizens, often told me of the sufferings and death of that child, and I will here add, that Stringer always contended that the snake did not bite the child, but inflicted the fatal wounds with the sting of its tail, and in this opinion he was not alone, About two years after this I was ona visit to my friend, Capt. R. King, the proprietor of a great stock ranch, Santa Gertrudes, forty miles from Corpus Christi. Walking across the court-yard one evening in company with Mr. R. Holbien, the book-keeper, I saw in the grass a small coral snake of six- teen or eighteen inches in length; I commenced annoying it with my cane to satisfy myself as to whether it had a sting or not; Holbien remarked, * be careful, that is the same kind of a snake that killed Stringer’s child.” Holbien was living in Corpus Christi when the child died. I pinned the snake to the ground with my cane, but could not induce Holbien to make close examination, he was afraid of it. My eyesight was very defective. I called Mr. Greer, the superintendent of the ranch, who hap- pened to be passing at the time, and requested him to notice closely as to whether he could see a sting or not; he assured me he could see the sting very plainly ae I pressed upon the snake sufficiently hard to cause it to strike with its tail.
motions of its tail indicated that it was used as a means of defence, tine it had a sting or not. I killed the snake and cut off an inch or more of its tail. The fol- lowing morning I examined it as closely as I could; I found the terminal tip was constituted of bone of extreme hardness—almost flinty, in dividing it I had to force
e knife through with a hammer. I found in the center a dark substance about the size of a hog-bristle attached only at its upper part, about one-half an inch from the apex of the tail. This limited examination gave me no MERET results, as my sight was defective and I had no magnifying glass to aid me; and notwith- standing Mr. Greer’s assertion that he had seen the sting, I came to aS conclusion that the black, thread-like matter I had noticed in the center of the bony case was probably the caudal terminus of the spinal cord. Since then no Opportunity has presented itself to me for further investigation. I believe I have now given you all the information I possess relative to the coral snake, and regret that it is out of my power to give you anria more satisfactory. I will add that the coral snake, as- met with in Southwestern Texas and in Mexico bordering on the Lower Rio oe ae Bins pern inches in length ; all that I have seen, with few excep-
tions, ranged in length from twelve inches to twenty-four.
In the treatment of the bite of the coral-snake, I would adopt the same course of treatment as in case of the rattlesnake bite or that of any other poisonous reptile. I have noticed the same train of symptoms follow the sting and bite of the centipede, the bite of a diminutive spider found occasionally here and in Mexico, which is fol- lowed by an alarming train of symptoms if not soon arrested, and the bite of ee cop- perhead, moccasin and rattlesnake. I have seen an infant die in ten hours after be- ing stung by a centipede, but have never heard of a death of an adult from the same cause, though I have had many come under my notice. When my attention has been called in time, I have never failed to cure a snake bite (rattlesnake) with Bibron’s mixture, bandaging the limb above the wound, scarifying freely, and bath- ing i it for several hours with tincture of iodine, alcoholic paesa being freely ad=
ministered when the temperature and pulse indicated its use
: \ 30 Bite of the North American Coral Snakes. | January,
I have treated cases successfully when no other antidote was at hand, by giving internally and externally tincture of iodine, and using. whisky, ad Zidétem, to keep ` up temperature and pulse.
Remedies to be successful in such cases must be applied very soon after the wound is received. When delayed too long the vital forces sink rapidly, and when the patient ceases to complain of pain, death is close at hand.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, HOMAS KEARNEY.
Dr. Herff’s letter contains information of two additional cases, one proving fatal, the other having the most serious consequences. He writes as following.
I know two cases where persons were bitten in the finger, where the back- teeth of the serpent could come into action, and one died in twenty-four hours, while the other one recovered after an almost fatal prostration of thirty-six hour’s duration.
Different from our common poisonous snakes me scion tes a neither swell nor become discolored, but the poison acte a-serpents (hy- drophis and platurus) is described to act. For jóia nothing is felt but a glow- ing heat over the body, which is soon followed by total prostration, very smali and slow pulse and absolute suppression of urine. The fatal case I know of came under my observation a as minutes before death occurred under the symptoms of paralysis
of the heart. The second case was brought soon enough for me to try stimulants, whisky, hypodermic rates of ammonia and fomentations of digitalis leaves over the region of the kidneys. The man, a strong young Scotchman, recovered in three
days and felt only a feeling of tingling in his extremities for some time after. n In neither case unconsciousness, vomiting, or bleeding from nose or mouth oc- , q curred, nor could anything be observed on the wound, except the small impression caused by the teeth of the serpent. Both men kept the snakes as pets and the last one ; used to put his finger in the animal’s mouth very often to show how tame he was. — One day he put it in a little deeper than usual and while trying to extricate it the © teeth bit him. ey I may add that before I had these experiences I used to handle snakes of that spe- cies myself frequently and had no hesitation to catch them with my hands, although a I never tried the experiment for which the poor Scotchman paid so dearly. Different from other snakes, it does not try to bite, but when you handle it winds around your hand with considerable force and for such a thin animal with a very firm grip.
4. A recent letter from Mr. James Beel, of Gainesville, Florida; to Professor Baird, and by him kindly transmitted to me, con- tains some matters of interest relative to coral snake bites. ba quote from it as follows:
“ I have known for some time that the coral snake was poisonous, quite as much
so as the rattlesnake, but I did not know but what there were two kinds, one poison- ous and the other not. A gentleman and a little child were killed in West Florida, - where I formerly lived, by snakes bite, and, ’tis said, by this kind of snake. The poison, however, was not so rapid in its effects. I once put a grass snake and one of these coral snakes into a large glass pickle-jar, and the coral snake bit the other, which died in a few minutes thereafter, Mrs. Bell was watching them at the time, and thinks it did not live over five minutes after being bitten. I have tried fre-
1883] Achenial Hairs and Fibers of Composite. 3I
quently to get them to bite or to find their fangs, but have never succeeded, although I did not examine very closely.”
Mr. Shindler informs me that he tried a similar experiment with the snake which wounded him, with a like result.
Mr. Swartz, of Washington, related to me another case which occurred in Crescent City, Florida, in which the poison did not seems of a very virulent nature, the bad effects yielding readily to such remedies as the person bitten was able to apply.
5. That coral snake bites are of quite rare occurrence seems due (1) to the lack of abundance of these serpents, especially about towns; (2) to their sluggish disposition, and (3), as Duméril - has remarked, to the small size of the mouth, which prevents them from fastening upon any but a sharply curved surface. Elap-
soid serpents are not so little obnoxious in all countries as in North America. They are the scourge of India.
_ 6. Numerous writers of the first half of the present century, and later authors as well, refer to the habits and characteristics of the North American and smaller South American coral snakes. The majority, while alluding to their close relations to the very ven- omous sections of the family E/apide, regard them as the inno- cent members of the group.
7. I am indebted to Mr. Shindler for permission to publish the case in which he was the principal; to Dr. Taylor for the medital summary of the same; and to Dr. Kearney, Dr. J. Herff and Mr. Schwartz for information of the other cases cited. Also in an especial manner to Professor Baird, and indirectly to Mr. Bell, for the use of the communication of the latter observer.
Ta t
ACHENIAL HAIRS AND FIBERS OF COMPOSITÆ.
BY PROFESSOR G. MACLOSKIE.
HE large order of Composite plants has so much unity of struc- ture, that characters scarcely of specific value elsewhere, are here used for the separation of genera and for limiting sub-orders. Any attempt towards the discovery of additional tribal character- istics is therefore excusable. I have been examining the surface of the achenes, the hairs growing from them and their internal structure, and have found characters scarcely noticed by previous 1 Duméril and Bibron : Erpétologie générale. Holbrook: North American Her- petology, iii, 1842, pp. 50-51. Jordan : Manual of the Vertebrates, 1878, p. 183.
' q S20 Achenial Hairs and Fibers of Composite. | January, i
writers, and running on the lines of the general affinities of the — groups. = The achenial hairs of Seneczo vulgaris and of Doria (Othonna} long ago attracted interest; they are double, each having two — tubes with a partition between, like the two flues of a double = chimney, and they contain within their interior spiral fibers or elaters which are rapidly unwound on the access of moisture, ~ swelling and escaping by the tips of the ~ tubes, as by the lifting of a pair of trap- | doors (Fig. 1). l
I have found that other species of the genus Senecio have similar hairs. S. vis- cosus L., is represented by De Candolle and — by Hooker and Arnott as having glabrous — J achenes ; and S. żriangularis of Colorado is 4 Le similarly described by Porter and Coulter. But both these species have duplex achenial ~ Fic. 1. — Duplex hair s 4 froin aes of Senecio vul]. hairs with elaters, though less conspicuous — afa: the elaters pro- than in S. vułgaris; and the same is true of — the two varieties of S. aureus, balsamita 7 and borealis. The duplex hairs abound most on the angles of the : achenes, and are mounted on a pedestal consisting of a pair ot 4 cells apposed like the guard-cells of a stomate. : The achenial hairs of Ruckeria, belonging to the sub-order_ Calendulaceze, were shown nearly half a century ago, by Decaisne, to agree with those of Senecio. In examining other genera of the Calendulacez, I find that in some cases the achenes are glabrous, - and that Calendula arvensis has multicellular hairs on its achenes like those of the perianth. This I take to be a case of the ens | croaching of perianth hairs on a neighboring region, which occurs — in a number of genera; there being still room for an intermediate _ set of duplex hairs. I believe that I have found these in Calendula, though not so clearly as to make out its affinity with Senecionide (Fig. 2). In the sub-order Inuloideæ the achenial hairs are — —Mul duplex and obtuse, and mounted on pedestal-cells, —
like those of Senecio, but devoid of elaters. They manifestly represent the elater-bearing hairs already described, and one is tempted to think that they must have shed the elaters, but we have found no traces of such structures even in young flow ars (Fig. $)
1883.] Achenial Hairs and Fibers of Composite. 33
The Asteroidez and several other sub-orders have duplex hairs without elaters, the two divisions being acute at their tips, more or less divergent, generally unequal in length, one of them being sometimes very short (Fig. 5). These are a further modification ot the Inuloid pattern, and some Asteroidex (as the English daisy (Fig. 4) and Baccharis tvefotia) are of the Inuloid type, whilst Pluchea fetida, placed by Bentham and Hooker among the Inu- loids, agrees in this respect with the Asteroids, where DeCandolle placed it in the Prodromus.
In many instances achenes represented by authors as smooth, have some of these duplex hairs indicating their real affinities; and
in other instances (as Chrysopsis villosa and Sericocarpus,) the duplex hairs are very long and fine, as if they were simple hairs ; but still their Asteroid character is easily seen (Fig. 6 B). They are sometimes confined to the achenial angles, the intermediate areas bearing glands. Archer refers to such achenial hairs being bifid at the apex as existing very extensively among the Compos- itæ (Proc. Linn. Soc., 1861, p. 17), and Kraus briefly speaks of them (Pringsheim’s Jahrbücher fiir Botanik, 1866-7). In Town- sendia they diverge at the tips so muchas to become recurved (Fig. 7). As some species of this genus have glabrous achenes Professor Asa Gray has made the presence or absence of such hooked hairs the ground of splitting the genus into sections. We now see that such distinction depends on the greater or less devel- opment of a structure mages ee to all the Asteroids and to
VOL. XVII.~—No. i
34 Achenial Hairs and Fibers of Composite. [January,
other tribes of Composite. It is not improbable that we may find rudiments of the hooked hairs even in such of the species as are described as having glabrous achenes. Descriptive botanists may fairly characterize parts as “smooth” when hairs, if present, are not prominent; but in seeking to find the affinities of tribes and genera, we must do our utmost to detect hidden marks, and thus the structure of these hairs has a higher significancy than the de- gree of their development. : Duplex hairs are general in Asteroideæ, Eupatorieæ, Ver- : noniez, Helianthoidex, Helenioidee, Arctotidez, and Mutisiez, but we have found no trace of them in Anthemidez or in Cicha- riee, The Cynaroidez appear to me to present two types of - structure ; some genera (as Carlina and Xeranthemum) agree a A evides; whilst the true thistles agree with Cichorieæ. Cen- taurea (C. nigra, C. scabiosa, C. terniflora) has the achene covered
in some cases (as Callistephus chinensis, the China-aster) man jointed hairs like those of the perianth are intermingled with d plex hairs on the fruit. Engelmannia (of Helianthoidez) is said
is true of the aberrant Ambrosia. 7% agetes erecta (the large can marigold, of Melenioidez) has the achenial hairs short lanceolate, but its congener, 7. patula, shows that this is a mer variation of the duplex type. In some cases where we sho expect to find duplex hairs, a cursory examination will sugg that they are simple; but here a closer view is apt to show rudiment of the missing half, like a small twin brother, at base ® the larger part (as Liatris scariosa, Fig. 6, D.). It is always th basal division of the cell which is less fully developed. Th _ tition between the chambers of the duplex hair is usually p
and sometimes we could chase air-bubbles up and down tubes.
The genera of Anthemidex have, nearly all of them, glabr
Leucanthemum. (Fig. 8.) Achillea mille cfolium seems have these, but its pericarp has internal glands within its cel
1883.] Achental Hairs and Fibers of Composite. 35
The achenial surface of the sub-order, Cichoriex, is de-
void of hairs, and is covered by imbricating flat denticulate cells. The inner cells of the peri- carp develop fibers, enclosing crystalloids, which aid in the dehiscence of the fruit, much after the manner of the fibrous layer of pollen-sacs. Thus A I found the so-called indehiscent fruit of dande- inai i ; ea : ‘ Fic. 8.—Epiderm- lion in the act of dehiscing, by the aid of its of peticarp of A, fibers, when moistened, pressing out the seed, and Eten cotula and of its crystalloids serving as props and wedges, vx wiper the tapering form of the seed being well fitted for ri 3 Is enclosing spi- the process. ine
Krigia virginica has simple red-brown spines over its fruit, and chicory has elegant multicellular hairs, corresponding with the perianth surface. The thistle group of the Cynaroidez agree as
Ye
Fic, jii FiG.10.
Fic, 9.—Denticulate epidermal cells of pericarp of Lactuca scariola (Cichoriez). Fic. 10.—Endocarpal fibrils and crystalloids of Cirsium lanceolatum (Cynaroi- dez).
to absence of ‘double hairs, and as to the fibers and crystalloids with the Cichariacez.
Professor Asa Gray suggests that the mucilaginous filaments of Senecio are probably of service by gluing the achene to the soil, its pappus being thrown off. There is much mucilage in and about the filaments of the Cichoriez, and it will be an inter- esting question to determine what are the functions of these and the crystalloids, —
The consideration of the facts stated above suggests a some- what different line of affinities from that usually adopted, and a
. reéxamination of the tribal unity of Cynaroidez. We give the orders in the subjoined table, according to the arrangement of Bentham and Hooker. But it is manifest that Anthemidez and Arctotidez and Mutisiez are misplaced, and that other readjust- ments are to be made, if we are to marshal the groups according to the character here discussed. Yet the parallelism between the structure of the hairs and the affinities of the groupe, as founded on other characters, is singularly complete.
#
36 f; nstinct and Memory exhibited by the [January,
, In many. instances apparent exceptions turned: out on reëxami- _ nation not to be exceptional; and although our work has been only tentative, enough has been found to demand the.attention of synantherologists.
TABLES OF ,ACHENIAL HAIRS, &C,,,OF COMPOSITAE.
I. Vernoniez: as in Asteroidez. 11. Eupatorieze : Ill. Asteroideze. D uplex miis) pe bifurcate, and often unequal, acute at tips. i irs sometimes: few or obsolete’! sometimes asin Inuloidex, No elaters. Iv. Inuloidex. Duplex hairs, iiol obtuse and equal; No.elaters. v. Helenioidez: as in Asteroidee, Crystalloids in endocarp. VI. Anthemidex. Achenes ‘usually glabrous; but having Se cells with "spiral filaments, (Glands in Achillea within pericarp ce vit. Senecionidexz. Duplex hairs, having divisions equal, with as or filaments, ae which e escape when moistened. “VILL. Uxiendines probably as in Senecionideve (with multicellular hairs interposed in some). DO Arctotideze, as in’ Asteroides. x. Cynaroidex. . Some as in Asteroideæ (Carlina, Xeranthemum). Some as in ‘Cichoriacez (Cnicus, &c.). Ar retium, Centaurea, Echinops, &c., have sim- le hairs on achene like those of periant xi, Mutisieze, as in Asteroide. XI. Cichorieæ. Achenes glabrous, with denticulate epidermal cells. Endocarp having filaments, — erystalloids,
a
nh Rees
“Ty `
f INSTINCT AND MEMORY EXHIBITED BY THE FLY- | ING SQUIRREL IN CONFINEMENT, WITH oi
3
A THOUGHT ON THE ORIGIN OF |
“WINGS IN RARS, 2
BY F. H. KING,
I’ June, Bye, I obtained a litter of three flying arate Scitt- : ropterus volucella (Pall.) Geoff., from a nest built of small twigs
and oak leaves, lined with grass, which was situated about ten feet from the ground ina small red oak standing in a grove of © the same kind. The nest was a complete ball, from which the — inmates escaped without any specially provided opening. No
large trees of any kind exist within two miles of the grove, the
locality, in its topography and vegetation, being an extension of — the Minnesota prairies into Wisconsin. | The squirrels, so small when taken as to escape very readily between the wires of an ordinary canary-bird cage, became very tame and playful at once, they grew rapidly upon cow's
1883.] Flying Squirrel in Confinement. 37
milk, which they lapped from the dish in the manner of a cat, except that the nose was held closer to the milk, so close, indeed, that it was with difficulty that the movements of the tongue could be observed.
They were-strictly nocturnal and, at first, had regularly: two frolics each night, beginning at! 10.45 P. Mi, and at 3:30 A, My, which’ lasted from an hour to an hour and a half. During the whole of the first week of their captivity, the beginning of these frolics did not vary. five: minutes from the'time stated, but after this they became more irregular in their beginning and ‘more fre- quent.) Their play consisted in running, jumping and gnawing simply, with nothing whatever of that rollicking roll-tumble-and+ pull of the kitten. A favorite sport, out of the cage, consisted in climbing to some elevated’ point and then leaping and sailing to some: distant lower level. . Their early efforts in this direction were truly amusing; when the point of departure was reached, all fours were brought very near together and the head dropped with the nose pointing forward; in this attitude 'a number of quick vibrations of the body to and fro upon ‘the fect, were made; which always suggested. to me the act of winding themselves up preparatory to the leap, and. the number and: intensity of these vibrations was usually, proportionate to the distance to be cov- ered, They were not very accurate marksmen in the beginning, and oftener shot over the mark than underiit. Twas glad. of this, too, for a favorite leap. of theirs during their early efforts, iwas from the books on my secretary to the top of my head when sit- ting at the desk reading or writing. Not once did one of them alight on my nose or slide down my face, but. very often they shot past, my head, sliding. down my back and. even) plunging through the back of the chair to the floor without touching me, to return by way of my legs to the station pcan! resolved to make a better record next time.
Tn their flight-liké leaps, the four limbs were “extended i in such a manner as to throw them all into very nearly the same plane, thus: stretching ‘the patachute-like expansion ' ‘of the. skin tense and wide. It is “interesting to observe, in this ‘connection, that while’ on the flight, and espécially just before alighting, the fore limbs are made to make a series of rapid and short vibra- tions not wholly ‘unlike the ‘ movement in true ‘Hight. ‘The fact
y have been noted, ‘and the’ eS which follows uttered by
38 Instinct and Memory exhibited by the [ January,
others, but I have not observed it in my reading. Have we not in the modified structure of the flying squirrel, and in the tremor of its fore legs while sailing, the true key to that further modifi- cation in the bat which gives it the power of flight?
The common squirrels when they jump from any considerable height to the ground, have the habit of extending the legs in the manner of the flying squirrel, and at the same time of broadening the body very much horizontally; this is of manifest account in reducing the energy of impact due to the fall, and suggests pos- sibly both the method and the occasion for the modification now possessed by the flying squirrels. The traction brought to bear upon the integument between the limbs in the effort to spread the legs, must stretch it, and may be supposed to have begun a
modification which was perpetuated and intensified by natural
selection until the modification in the flying squirrel was reached. The habit of spreading the legs may have had its origin partly in the mere effort to balance the body and maintain the desired atti- tude for alighting, and partly in the knowledge obtained experi- mentally in repeated acts of jumping.
It does not seem improbable that the development of wings in the bat may have been initiated in the same manner and have passed along essentially the same road, that is, the earlier ances- tors of the bats may have had a dermal modification nearly iden- tical with that of the flying squirrels, and which may have been used in much the same way for similar purposes. The next step, probably, in the development of the bat’s wings, was the forming of the habit of vibrating the fore limbs together in a vertical plane, and the embryonic phase of that movement, it seems to me, may be represented in the tremor of the limbs mentioned as occurring in the flying squirrel under consideration.
In the effort to maintain the proper attitude of the body, we may have had the initiating factor; for if they were originally provided with parachute-like appendages, and used them as the flying squirrels do, it is probable that a similar vibratory move- ment would have been a necessity in order to keep the body in the attitude which would present the greatest surface to the air in falling. With the vibratory habit fixed, increased skill in execut- ing it would of necessity prolong the leaps, and this is another step towards flying; and increased use.and greater advantage
Se ee:
De eee Nee Pe ey ees Ty SS
eee Hews
REAA eg S E A
1883. | Flying Squirrel in Confinement. 39
would operate, through natural selection, to bring about the final modifications.
I have never known wild animals that became so perfectly familiar and confiding as these young squirrels’ did; and they seemed to get far more enjoyment from playing upon my person than in any other place, running in and out of pockets, and be- tween my coat and vest. After the frolic was over they always esteemed it a great favor if I would allow them to crawl into my vest in front and go to sleep there, where they felt the warmth of my body, and it was very rare indeed, during the first six months, that they failed to ask the privilege; indeed they came to con- sider themselves abused if turned out, When forced to go to sleep by themselves, the attitude taken was amusing, the nose was placed upon the table or other object it happened to be upon, and then it would walk forward oyer it, rolling itself up until the nose almost protruded from between the hind legs; the tail was then wrapped in a horizontal coil about the feet, and the result was an exquisite little ball of life in soft fur which it seemed almost sacrilegious to touch. If they escaped from the cage during the night, I was sure to be warned of the fact by their coming into the bed to roll themselves up close to my face or neck. They would very rarely return to the nest in the cage to sleep when the play was over. One of them found its way, while clambering about on the bed, between a pair of flannel blankets where it went to sleep near the foot, and always after that, if left to himself, he would find that spot to sleep.
So far as I observed, they exhibited no lonesomeness when left without a playmate, nor did I ever observe them play with one another, neither did they quarrel.
Before I procured a suitable cage, one of the three squirrels escaped. The other two derived great enjoyment running in the wheel, and in this sport the two would very often participate at the same time, but not, apparently, because the enjoyment was greater. In this sport one of them was so unfortunate as to break one of his hind legs above the heel; I splinted it care- fully for him, securing the splints with thread. To this treatment he objected emphatically, scolding and pinching much during the operation, and when I returned at noon he had cut the threads and removed the splints. I could not replace them until evening; when I could attend to the little patient he was placed in my
40 Instinct and Memory exhibited by the [January, 4
hand, where he lay upon his back without a struggle, nor offering d
to bite, except once when the pain seemed greater than he could
Sp i ae, ee
endure, and then he only pressed his nose against my finger with
his mouth closed... During the whole operation those keen, full,
black, eyes gazed steadily into my own without following, so far, S
as. 1 could; observe, the movements ,about him. , He. did not, remove the splints a second time, nor did I see him make any,
effort to.do.so, .When.the bones had knit together sufficiently, 1 4 removed .the splints, and he used: his leg well but it was.a little
stiff.
Did this |squirrel, after wearing the splints for a short time, find : that the pain was more intense without them. than with them?
Did he discover on removing the splints an increase of pain, and
connect that increase as an effect with itsicause ? Did, he com;
nect the présence of the splints upon -his leg for the first time
with the treatment he had) received in the morning? . Had he a reached the conclusion that the first treatment was for his relief
and, therefore, would submit to a second treatment? Had he learned through | his experience with the first splint on and off, that it was, for the time, the right thing in the right place?
And did that’ experience lead to a decision not to remove. the, : splints a second time? If these questions are answered in the affirmative, this little in ane manifested no low degree of intelliz A
gence.
thrée squirrels, two! of them had escaped, Skip’ alone remained and in regard 'to his preferences jas, to kinds of food, it may be said that he preferred nuts to anything) else, but would also eat apples, cakes of various kinds and bread with apparent relish. Occasionally he. would take a little fresh meat, both raw and cooked, but the amount was. always small. While the three squirrels were. together and quite young, I introduced a large moth, Saturnia io, into the cages this resulted in a frantic eer gle on the part of ithe squirrels, each struggling for the moth ;
was soon captured, the wings torn from the body, and the pie: abdomen, charged with eggs, eaten by one of them. They would also capture and:kill any beetles placed in the cage, but would
Before the onth of October following: the capii of these :
Seen
rarely eat them. I, once introduced a young chipping sparrow. —
alive, not yet feathered ; it was seized instantly and killed, but nọ |
part of it was eaten. Two NY of the same species which Le
1883.] Flying Squirrel in Confinement. åI
now have in confinement eat. birds’ eggs with great satisfaction, even when plenty of nuts of three kinds are before them.
After the weather began to grow cold I placed, one evening, on the floor a handful of acorns before Skip was let out, He began his frolic as usual, and finally ran upon them.
The circumstances were such, that the acorns awakened in him a new: and intense emotion which,in.an instant. seemed to fill his whole being to overflowing... For;a few minutes | he appeared transformed into,a wild -squirrel and, went bounding about the reom shying from objects with which. he was’ perfectly familiar, and Sstarting)at-the slightest noise, He soon returned to the pile of nuts and took one of them) in his mouth, running. with it to.a corner.of the room, where he made a hurried, eager effort to.bury it, thumping the acorn upon the floor as if he was endeavoring to push it beneath the surface.: After from three. to) five thrusts, made.as rapidly as one can count without, separating the words, he made as, many strokes with. his fore, feet upon, the carpet, scratching asif- to cover) the acorn up. This. done’ he hurried back to the pile of acorns, seized another, rushed) back. to, the same corner again; going through the same motions as before. I kept his pile supplied, and,he worked during a full half hour, dey positing a few nuts incall corners of the room, behind table legs,: behind the books in my secretary, and in the pits made. by the tie-buttons in all the upholstered chairs. | The next evening. be- fore letting him, into the room, I placed an assortment of nuts. upon the floor, among which were acorns, hazel-nuts, hickory- nuts, pecans and English walnuts, all of which he had been fed upon frequently, exhibiting but dijtle preference for either, so far as I observed. -
On discovering the pile, Sie did, aot: appear agitated as. on po previous evening, but set at once to carrying off the acorns and. hazel-nuts, hiding them with the same motions as before; but to my surprise he touched. none of the, other nuts. I tried. him on. succeeding nights with the same, and to me strange results, for acorns and hazel-nuts are the only ones.that grow in the vicinity where the squirrels were taken, The piget hirkorga is. founds An abundance not more than ten miles distant.. ;
Have we here inherited mental attributes so ines: as not are to originate the generic act of storing up nuts on the approach of
cold weather, but so specific a form of it as a selection of the two
42 Instinct and Memory exhibited, etc. [ January,
kinds of nuts from among three others which, beyond much question, were the only ones of the five named with which his near ancestors had anything to do? It should be stated in this connection that the squirrel had eaten of the other nuts during at least two months prior to the selection in question, with as much apparent relish as he evinced for either the hazel-nuts or acorns. This particular squirrel, only about five months old, had had no experience whatever with nuts except in confinement, and of course had never before attempted to bury them. Have we in this instance and in similar ones, evidence that an act, executed repeatedly during particular seasonal conditions, and under cer- tain sense-impressions, as sight and smell, may impart so definite a set to the organization as that it shall be transmitted to an off- spring? Is this set a molecular one and located in the nervous tissue? Is it so sensitive that if, when the body is experiencing those seasonal changes due to the change of seasons in the earth during which the original set had its origin, a combination of vibra- tions (those accompanying the sight and smell of an acorn, for ex- ample) like those which were instrumental in producing the set, are again imposed upon the nervous tissues, similar feelings will be - awakened which tend to culminate in a desire like the ones which had prompted former generations to the act in question? And in this way to a repetition of that act? Did not Skip on the night in question experience a true recollection in which the memory he had inherited was jogged by the combination of the sight and smell of acorns and the systemic feeling of approach- ing winter ? : é On the 27th of June, 1880, I left Skip with a little girl to be cared for during my absence, which lasted through the summer ; when we met again, about the middle of September, Skip showed unmistakable signs of a distinct remembrance of me by playing . upon my person, in his usual manner, with great freedom. The most decided test, however, of his keen memory, was exhibited
when he was allowed to play in the closet where Mrs. King’s —
wardrobe hung beside my own. He played with unusual vigor and for a long time upon my garments, running in and out of pockets, but exhibited great caution in touching hers, only alighting upon them to jump to some of mine. He had never seen Mrs. King before the evening on which this frolic occurred.
Saas
i ee Dre iil Sc a a a aha abe OR a E ae ak ae EA YM OLE Rae
<<
1883. ] The Extinct Rodentia of North America, 43 THE EXTINCT RODENTIA OF NORTH AMERICA. BY PROFESSOR E. D. COPE,
tae order of Rodentia appeared in the Wasatch' Eocene epoch in North America, and has continued to the present time in gradually increasing numbers. No species of the order is yet known from the Puerco or lowest Eocene, nor are any known from older formations. The Wasatch Eocene has given us but few species, and these are members of a single genus. In the Bridger epoch the number of species was larger, and they be- longed to several genera. The order displays a sudden expan- sion in the White River or Oligocene epoch. We know from this formation ten species of seven genera. From the John Day River formation we have twenty-one species of nine genera. The Upper Miocene Loup Fork epoch has yielded remains of nine species of seven genera. Four existing genera are represented by extinct species in the Miocene beds; two of these begin in the White River and two in the John Day epochs. The four primary divisions of the order Rodentia are thus de- fined, principally after Brandt and Alston: I. Incisor teeth 3. Fibula not articulating with the superior condyle of the calca- m. No intertrochlear crest of humerus. .- 1. Mandible with the angular portion springing from the outer side of the my covering of the lower incisor. Fibula distinct from tibia.
s Malar bone not supported below by a continuation of the maxillary i ess.” An interpterygoid fissure. .. HYSTRICOMORPHA.
rio less rounded ; coronoid process high, falcate. Fibula distinct from tibia. No interpterygoi SUFE., cee essesceevasees ScIUROMORPHA,. 3. Mandible with the angular portion springing from the inferior edge of the sheath of the inferior incisor (except Bathyerginz). Fibula coéssified with the tibia, Malar short, usually supported on a maxillary process. No interpterygoid fissure (except in Bathyergine)...... MYOMORPHA, II. Incisor teeth $. Fibula articulating with the condyle of the calcaneum, An intertrochlear crest umerus. 4 No true alisphenoid canal ; fibula ankylosed to tibia below ; angle of man- fth 3 ci swe alvenins
dible in the plane o AGOMORPHA.
These groups, as is well known, include families and genera which display adaptations to various modes of life. Some are exclusively subterranean, others are arboreal, and some live on the surface of the ground. Of the latter, some are provided with formidable spines as a protection against enemies, while others depend for their safety on their speed. Of the latter character are
1 For the positions of the American Tertiary epochs, see AMERICAN NATURALIST, 1882, March.
44 The Extinct Rodentia of North America. [ January,
the Rabbits of the Lagomorpha, and I have noted! how that they have superadded to the ordinary rodent structure certain points which also characterize, the most specialized. Perissodactyla and
a A pati
4 l i E 4
Artiodactyla among ungulates. The fusion of the inferior part of :
the fibula with the tibia (found also in the Myomorpha) belongs t to the higher types of these orders. The strong intertrochlear ridge of the humerus is an especial feature of the groups mentioned, dis- tinguishing them from the lower types in all the orders. The articulation of the fibula with the calcaneum, mentioned by Mr, Alston, is a character of the Artiodactyla. Associated with these i is the elongation of the bones of the limbs, especially, the posterior
one. The modification of the tarsus. in Dipus (the jerboas) evi- dently has a direct relation’ to the projectile force transmitted through the hind legs in rapid progression by leaping. Here the
metatarsals are coossified into a cannon bone, though, as there are
three bones, involved, the result is somewhat different from the
cannon bone of the Ruminantia.
| es ee ohn «) Loup Wasateli Bridger | Ridel Day. | 1 Fork.,
pete
|
| IAE ne E (porcapinesj. | Hystric |
Hystrix L. eevee h arhe gestr ss eee | iaaa rails $ I SCIUROMORPHA (squirrels). | Mylagaulide i | Mylagaulus Cope, wile deala of ge eee mebinidele sees >| 2 || Fam. ? a Heliscomys Cope. ....+.. vhs begun wees b onl arora siepi) T eth se Kee eee _ Castorida: i wri i | z | Eucastor Leidy - s... - ee ee ee ee ee ls wee eee ee ecee I Gaston Joa sad ss paves e hiera pees I 2 I Lehyramyide.: | | | Plesiarctomys Brav,, 3 ee ee eee Syllophodus Co ladak 2 agen Gee ljeeee There r | | ane keere iride ef $ if d | i Meniscomys Co i RE GN ane oe 4 joes Gymppiyohos Gs. ; l ke aaa bemp egei Sciu "i eeeeee b$ dd | I | 2 i I p ESTA ( rats): | | | | r MNE oh alan Ho Li TRE A E | Fae Eumys Leidy. asters ml Hoy gi enj, I h cheer Page Hesperumys Waterh. ju. evalin.. pi. asolteient algei i idw Paciculus CARE: hikes» sia ees. ea La, base ba 6,01 Teda " Geomyidee. Mann | Dect kere Pleurolicus Cope......:. B JQ. Dita. bed ba) oo Shules eit Entoppychys Go PE eve ecereccee reese ee ges ranees te eeee enn | 5 sess ee LAGOMORPHA HE i | R | 4 i | el oe p ji j iodi sot biagan Paleolagas Leidy. bei E P | ents ban caps | 4 | Io fe Panolax Co ope... Eere ps | Gus! ja tek i” Bes Bane. gone oss wee A ernie, eee ee dJa. sie
1 Bulletin U. S. Geological Survey Terrs. tv, 362, 1881.
eae team en
1883.] ., The Extinct Rodentia af North America. 45
After a general view. of the species and genera, some deduc- tions as to the course of evolution of the order will be presented.
Eocene RODENTIA. PLESIARCTOMYs Bravard.
This is the prevalent genus ofi Rodentia ofi the Eocene period in- North America, Specimens were _ first. discovered, by Dr, Hayden in Bridger, beds of Wyoming, and were described by Dr. Leidy; I subsequently detected them in the Wasatch forma- tion of New Mexico: ` Their remains are rather abundant in both formations, but display but little variety of form.
The teeth have short crowns and long roots, and have the gen- eral characters as well as numbers as the existing species of squir- rels.. There are, however, cranial characters which distinguish it from the existing forms of that family. The crowns of the infe-
Fic. «Parts of twocrania and the ulna and radius of e ie delicatissi- mus pede natural Bite, from a-block of the Wasatch bed of the Big Horn river, Wyoming. Original, from Vol. 1v, Report U. S. Geol. Surv. ‘Senden _ ior molars support four rather small and strictly TREG tuber-
cles. There are five superior molars, of which the anterior is of
nal! size. They resemble those of Sciurus, but the transverse
46 The Extinct Rodentia of North America. (January, |
crests are obsolete or wanting. The positions corresponding to : their external extremities are marked by more or less distinct cusps. There is a single internal tubercle of the crown. In the third and fourth molar of P. delcatissimus I observe rudiments of — a second internal tubercle. The incisor teeth are compressed, — with narrow anterior face. The enamel is not grooved, and is — little or not at all inflected on the inner side of the shaft, while it l is entirely so on the external face. 4
There is a large round foramen infraorbitale exterius, like that of Ischyromys and Fiber, and entirely unlike that of Gymnopty- _ chus and Sciurus, conforming in this respect to the forms of the ; extinct group of the Protomyidz of Pomel.
The cast of the brain indicates smooth oval hemispheres, which leave the cerebellum and olfactory lobes entirely exposed. The latter are ovoid and expand ed laterally.
The species from whicli most of the characters of the genus as above stated have been derived are the P. deli- catior and P. delicatissimus. They further display the fol- lowing general characters: The anterior limbs are rela- | tively longer than in recent species of squirrels.
a Ji i;
a
= = =
posteriorlimbislarger. These — points indicate approximation — to the cotemporary Me _ don rs. —Bones of the specimens of Plesi- sn ne cement ) altas delicatissimus Leidy, represented in No characters have Fig. 1. Fig. a, humerus, front view ; 4, prox- i dis mal e of ulna and radius. Fig. ¢ 5 Risti eee rs Tey MoT g i cart oF tibia posterior side; d, same Pad be- tinguish the American low; e, astragalus from above ; , astragalus „nu! and calcaneum, distal ends. ciel trata cies as representing a gen Vol. Iv, Report U. S. Geol. Survey Terrs. distinct from the Plesiar
Pie. 2.
1883. | The Extinct Rodentia of North America. 47
mys gervaisi of the French Eocene. Bravard briefly dis- tinguishes the genus as distinct from Arctomys in the greater thickness of the angles of the molars, which thus become tuber- cles. Only the mandible and mandibular teeth of the P. ger- vatsu are known. It has been found in the Upper Eocene, near Perreal, Apt, France.
I have seen six species of this genus, of which two, P. hians Cope, and P. undans Marsh, belong to the Bridger beds only; one P. leptodus Cope, to the Washakie; one P. duccatus Cope, to the Wasatch and Wind river, and two, P. delicatior Leidy, and P. delicatissimus, Leidy, to all the Eocenes except the Washakie.
The following comparison of the P. delicatissimus with the Sciurus niger, or common gray squirrel, may be made. The pelvis is longer as compared with the bones of the fore leg. The humerus is longer as compared with the length of the ulna and radius. The species exceeds the S. ziger in size, one-fourth linear.
It is then probable that the species of this, the oldest known genus of Rodentia, were arboreal, like the squirrels‘’of the present geological period.
SYLLOPHODus Cope.
This genus is much like Theridomys of the European Upper Eocene and Lower Miocene, and may be the same. The species were smaller than those of the last described, and are only known from lower jaws. These contain teeth which differ from those of Plesiarctomys in having cross-crests which are slightly con- nected at one side. They look like the unworn condition of Ischyromys, of which genus they may be the ancestor. Two species, S. minimus and S. fraternus have been described by Leidy. Both are from the Bridger horizon.
MIocENE RODENTIA. Iscuyromys Leidy.
The essential features are, dentition, I.,; C., $8; M., į; the molars with two crescents on the inner side above, each of which gives rise to a cross-ridge to the outer margin. In the mandibular series the crests and crescent have a reversed relation. No cementum.
To the above characters given by Dr. Leidy, I have added the absence of postfrontal processes, and the superior position of the infraorbital foramen. Also that the pterygoid fossa is large, and
48 The Extinct Rodentia of North America. [January,
that its inner and outer plates are well developed, and sub- equal,
The bones of the limbs are generally similar to those of the Sciuridz. In this family the genus Gymnoptychus nearly resem- bles Ischyromys in dental characters. But besides the important difference in the former and position of the infra-orbital foramen,
-Ischyromys has an excavated posterior palatal border.
Fic. 3.—Zschyromys pus Leidy, natural size, from the White river beds of Color- ado, original, from the Report U. S. Geol. Surv. Terrs. a; 4, c, cranium; g, mandi oe from above.
Dr. Leidy remarks that this genus belongs to the family of the _ Sciuridz. This is indicated by the dental characters ; but in some — other respects there is a greater divergence from the squirrels and _ marmots than is the case with the genus Gymnoptychus. Thus, the large foranien infraorbitale anterius occupies the elevated position at the origin of the zygomatic arch seen in the porcupines and cavies. There is no superciliary ridge nor post-orbital pro- 7 cess as in most Sciuridæ, but the front is contracted between the orbits in the same manner as, but to a less degree than, in Fiber, and the Eocene Plesiarctomys Brav. Both the last named and Ischyromys present many points of Aiet epa to Pomel’s tribe
i
1883. | The Extinct Rodentia of North America. 49
of Protomyide, but differ from any of the genera he has included in it, .
This family is thus defined by Pomel 2 “ Infraorbital foramen as large as in the Hystricidz, and by the position of the angular apophysis of the mandible almost in the general plane of the hori- zontal ramus. The jugal bone, at least in those species where we have observed it, is very much enlarged at its anterior portion, and the orbit is almost superior.”
These characters apply to Ischyromys, excepting as regards malar bone, which is principally unknown in the latter. |
Another family, the Ischyromyidz, has been proposed by E. R. Alston, for the reception of this genus, to which he thinks with me? Plesiarctomys (=Pseudotomus) should be referred. He thus defines the family :* “ Dentition as in Sciuridz ; skull re- sembling Castoridz, but with the infra-orbital opening large, a sagittal crest; no post-orbital processes ; palate broad ; basioccipi- - tal keeled.”
Doubtless Ischyromys belongs to an extinct family, but which of the above names is available for it I do not yet know. I would characterize it as follows:
-Dentition as in Sciuridæ, infraorbital foramen large, superior ; pterygoid fossa large, with well-developed exterior as well as in- ‘ ferior walls; a sagittal crest.
The superior position of the infraorbital foramen and the well- Pi ay pterygoid lamine are characteristics found in the Murid
Bats one species of this genus is known, the /schyromys pe Leidy. The skull is as large as that of a prairie marmot. limbs are comparatively small, so that the animal was not sakes arboreal in its habits.
Sciurus Linn. (true squirrels).
In this genus the molars are § or j, the first superior small when present. The grinding surfaces of the crowns when unworn present in the superior series a single internal cusp, which is low - and anteroposterior. From this there extend to the external border of the crown two low transverse ridges, whose exterior
1 Catalogue Method. et Descr. de Vertebres Foss. de le Bass. de la Loire, 1853, p- w :
* Annual Report U. S. Geol. Survey Terrs., 1873 (1874), P. 477-
3 Proceed. Zool. Society London, E p 78.
VOL. XVIIL.—NO, 1,
a siete
50 The Extinct Rodentia of North America. [January,
terminations are somewhat enlarged, In the lower jaw the trans- verse ridges are not visible, and there is a low tubercule at’each angle of the crown, between which there may be others on the border of the crown. Attrition gives the grinding surface of the latter a basin-like character. The foramen wfraorbitale is a short, narrow fissure, situated in the inferior part of the maxillary bone in front of its tooth-bearing portion, but descending to the level of the alveolar border.
The well-known characters of this genus are found in the man- dibles of species which I ob- tained from the White River — Miocene beds of Colorado and the John Day of Oregon. — The teeth display the sub- quadrate form of this genus, without any tendency to the ©
Spermophilus. Two of the — species, S. vortmani Cope and ~ S. relictu$ Cope are as large as | z our gray and red squirrels, | Fic, 4.—Skuil and jaws of species of Sci- TTF ectively , and the third, 5. ; urus; original, from Vol. rv Report U. S. Ge- bal/ovianus Cope; is about the : er eiea igs aM, S. ballovionus: size of the Tamias quadrivi- larged. Figs. e-f, S. relictus, enlarged one- fatus or Western chip-munk. i half. g-h, S. vortmani, natural size. ke S rie Gs kon ia 4 White River formation, and the two other species from the John | Day. . i GYMNOPTYCHUS Cope. : In dentition this genus is much like Ischyromys. There arè only four superior molars, As compared with the existing genera of squirrels, it differs in — the structure of the molar teeth. The arrangement of the tuber- — cles and crests is more complex than in any of them, excepting — Pteromys. Thus in all of them there is but one internal crescent — of the superior molars, and but two or three cross-crests; while in — the inferior molars the arrangement is unlike that of the superior teeth, the cross-crests being marginal only. In Pteromys (F. . - Cav.) the transverse valleys of the inferior series of Gymnopty- —
1883. | The Extinct Rodentia of North America. 5I
chus are represented by numerous iso- lated fossettes. The structure of the molars in the fossil genus is exactly like that which I have described as found in Eumys, extending even to the details. This is curious, as that genus is probably a Myomorph.
The protrusion of the posterior ex- tremity of the alveolor sheath of the in- ferior incisor on the outer side of the ascending ramus is not exhibited by the North American Sciuridæ which I have examined, nor by any of the extinct gen- era herein described, excepting Castor and the Geomyidæ. Itis seen in a lesser degree i in the house and wood mice, the ~%
jumping mouse and meadow mouse, all ig, 52-2, Gymnoptychus Muride. Agee Cope, from the White
d of Colorado. a,
Two species of this genus are certainly eh size; d-d, enlarged,
e, lower jaw of Gymnoptychus known. They belong to the White $- ebhus: Copey eas DÈ River horizon of Colorado. They dif- oad same locality. Orig- „fer, so far as known, chiefly in size, and '™*"
in the proportions of the inferior premolar tooth. See Fig. 5.
Mensıscomys Cope.
This genus is readily distinguished from all the others here treated of, by the complexity of the structure of its molar teeth, and the curious resemblances that some of them present to the molars of the hoofed mammalia. They are without enamel inflec- tions, and the triturating surface exhibits two external and one internal crescentic sections of the investing enamel. On the sec- ond superior molar there are three external crescents, and the first molar is simply conic. Between the inner and external cres- cents there are the curved edges of enamel plates directed ob- liquely and transversely. The grinding surfaces of the inferior molars display; in the unworn condition, curved transverse crests,
connected longitudinally on the median line; on wearing, the lateral emarginations of the enamel become shallower, disap- pearing from the inner side, but remaining on the outer. Incisor teeth not grooved. Foramen infraorbitale anterius small inferior,
52 The Extinct Rodentia of North America. | January,
‘and near the orbit. Postorbital processes; no sagittal crest.
Fic. 6,—Cranium, jaws and teeth of Meniscomys Be bal Cope, from the John D
f Oregon; natural Sie aad enlarged
The characters of the dentition of this genus resembles those of the genus Pteromys, which includes the large fly- ing squirrels of Asia and the Malaysian archipelago, to which region they are confined. The superior molars differ from those of Pteromys in wanting all re-entrant enamel inflection.
The general characters of the skeleton are unknown. A femur is rather slen- der, and a tibia rather elongate, showing that the limbs are not short.
Four species of this genus are known to me, all from the John Day Miocene of Oregon. They differ considerably in the details of the structure of the mo- lar teeth. Those of the Meniscomys hippodus are more prismatic than those of the other species, and the external face is not inflected at the grinding sur- face as in them. Nevertheless the molars
have short roots. The arrangement of the crests of the crown of
Fic. < == pern cavatus
Caper P of cranium and lo
‘aw of one e individual from the Joh nitens Marsh, they are complex and much wrinkled, whiletperowers molars —
Day river, ih a nat. size enlarged, Origina
the superior molars is a good deal like that to be seen in the molars of some of the later three-toed horses, if the cementum be removed. (Fig. 6.)
In the M. cavatus Cope (Fig. Z% the constitution of the superior molars
is more complex, while that of the —
inferior molars is more simple. The bulla of the ear is set with simple transverse septa within, while in the
M. hippodus their internal face has — a reticulate structure like tripe. The — superior molars of the M. Holophus . Cope (Fig. 8, a, 6) have their crests —
ower and cusps unwrinkled. In. the
e
1883. | The Extinct Rodentia of North America. 53
are most complex with reticulate ridges. (Fig. 8, c.)
There is a suggestive resemblance “between the forms of the molar teeth of the Meniscomys hippodus and those of the Haplodontia rufa now living in Oregon. The two genera have doubtless had a common origin, but the present. differences are consider- able. Thus the Haplodontia has an extended osseous cavum tympani,
which does not exist in Menisco- "mys, CASTOR Linn,
G. 8.—a-é, superior molars af
The beaver is the largest rodent Memscomy iolophus, — é, inferior mola M. nitens from
of the northern hemisphere, and has iey ska aes a. skull of the Af. the widest distribution. It was ZA hippodus, nat. size. oes from
ceded in the Miocene pried by he John Day river, Oregon
Fic. 9.—Skull of Castor peninsulatus Cope, nat. size. From the John Day epoch, Oregon. Original.
54 The Extinct Rodentia of North America. (January, d
number ot species in both the eastern and western continents, of inferior size and more restricted distribution. The greater number of these belong, I believe, to the same genus as the Castor fiber, though they have been separated under the name of Steneo- fiber Geoffr. There is no essential difference in the dentition, and it is probable that. the extinct species had the peculiar flat tail of the
dal vertebrz of the C. pan- sus, from Nebraska, have exactly the character of those of the beaver.
The family of the Castor- ide differs from the Sciuri- dz in the absence of post- orbital angles or processes, and the presence of a pro-
auditorius externus. In both ofthese points it agrees with the Haplodontiide, a
distinguished from the Cas- toridæ on various grounds. I do not think any of his characters are tenable, ex- cepting that drawn from the form of the mandible, which is expressed thus in
Fic. 10.—Skull and bones of cane pore ed ul i f mandi- sulatus Cope, represented in S P S .
Fig. 9. occi- : pital view; 4, c, right ramus of pact Bet d, ble much twisted.” This —
right femur. Natural size. character will be better de-
scribed as follows: Angle of mandible with a transverse edge 4 due to inflection on the one hand, and production into an ie ; 1
externally; the inflection bounding a large interno-posterior fossa.
modern beaver. The cau:
family which Mr. Alston has ~
Mr. Alston’s diagnosis:
longed tube of the meatus j
2i 3 E E E E EEA à EF SE E E ey O ES E R EAEE a E ATA E E
E aa
i oe aa
1883. | The Extinct Rodentia of North America. 55
The Haplodonta rufa is a curious burrowing rodent found in the Cascade mountains of Oregon, and is known as showtl or sewellel. It has no tail.
The longest known species of this genus is the C. viciacensis, which is common in the Miocenes in several parts of Europe. In North America the C. nebrascensis Leidy, is stated by Hay- den and Leidy to be found in the White River formation. It is of about the same dimensions as the European species. So are the C. peninsulatus Cope, from the John Day River epoch of Oregon, and the C. pansus of the Loup Fork horizon of New Mexico and Nebraska (see Fig. 11). The smallest species is the C. gradatus Cope, a contemporary of the C. peninsulatus in Ore- gon. None of these species are nearly so large as the recent beaver.
Eucastor Allen.
Besides the preceding, there are some other forms of beavers in the late Tertiaries of North America and Europe.
The Castor tortus was described by Leidy from the Loup Fork formation of Nebraska. He coined the subgeneric name Eucastor for it without corresponding definition. In his- monograph of the Castoride, J. A. Allen re- ferred this species! to a genus distinct from € Castor, and defined it, using for it Leidy’s aed seman ie ee name Eucastor, This genus appears to me to Shock va b, 30 4 pi be valid. The three genera of Castoridz will ge ee ee
m Sherry Nat then be defined as follows: size. Origina
Molars and premolars with one inner and two or three outer folds. ETE Castor, “ Inferior premolar and third superior molar elongate, with four enamel folds; the rest with only two” . . Diobroticus
Superior premolar enlarged, with one inner fold; inferior dii a with two lakes... s o o Eucastor.
1 Monographs of North American Rodentia, Coues and Allen, U. S. Geol. Surv. Terrs., 1877, Xt, p. 450.
` ? 3 56 The Extinct Rodentia of North America. (January,
‘The Eucastor tortus was larger than any of the extinct species _ of Castor, but was considerably smaller than the beaver. The Diobroticus trogontherium of Europe was a still larger species, one- fifth larger than the beaver in dimensions.
MYLAGAULUs Cope. Be
The reduction of the posterior molars, seen in Eucastor, is — carried to a still higher degree in — this genus. The last or fourth mo- — lar has disappeared, and the indica- ` tions from the specimens are, that — the third was early shed. The sec- —
ond is a small tooth, while the first — “is enormous, and performed the — greater part of the function of mas- ‘ tication. :
The characters of the genus are: | Inferior molars three, rootless; the — first much larger than the others. — Enamel inclosing the first molar not ~ ` inflected ; but numerous fossettes on —
Fic. 12.—a, b,c, Mylagaulus mon odon Cope, lower j jaw and a separate tooth, natural size; d, M. sesquipe- the grinding surface of the crown, — dalis, first inferior molar, nat. si Original, From the Loup Fork epoch whose long diameter is anteroposte-
of Nebraska. rior. 4
The only lower jaw ofa species of this genus in my pòsses 4 presents a small part of the base of the angle and of the coronoid — ‘process. These parts are so nearly in the plane of the incisive alveolus as to lead to the belief that the genus Mylagaulus longs to the sub-order Sciuromorpha. The rootless teeth with deep enamel fossettes approximates it to the Castoridz, but it pears to me that a new family group must be established for its reception. Such characters are the presence of only three in-
of the external sheathing enamel. -whether the Hystrix refossa Gerv, has any relation to this famil
Two species of this genus are known: a larger M. monodi Cope, and a smaller, M. sesquipedalis Cope. Both are from the Loup Fork epoch of Nebraska. The former was about the size of the wood-chuck (Arctomys monax), to judge by the dimensions i of its lower jaw. Itis larger than the M. sesquipedalis, and has different arrangement of the enamel fossettes. In that species, i
pes
1883. ] The Extinct. Rodentia of North America. 57
stead of being in three parallel lines, the middle line is only repre- sented by its extremities. At the middle of the crown the fos- settes of the internal line are incurved so as to be nearly in con- tact with the fossettes of the external line.
HE Iiscomys Cope.
Inferior molars four-rooted, the crowns supporting four cusps in transverse pairs. A broad ledge or cingulum projecting on the external side from base of the cusps. The inferior incisor com- pressed, not grooved, and with the enamel, without sculpture.
Fic. 13.—a-d, lower jaws of Heliscomys vetus Cope; a, natural size p 4, c, d, €n- larged ; ¢, f, Eumys elegans Leidy, natural size ; e, cranium from above; J, left ramus of lower jaw, external side. All from the White River epoch of Colorado; ‘Original.
This genus is only represented by a small number of speci- mens, which are mandibular rami exclusively. Its special affini- ties therefore cannot be ascertained, and even its general position remains somewhat doubtful. There is some probability, however, that it belongs to the Myomorpha, as the type of dentition is much more like that of the genera of that group than those of the Sci- uromorpha. To the Hystricomorpha it does not belong.
As compared with known genera of Myomorpha, it is at once separated from many of them by the presence of a premolar tooth. Among recent genera of this sub-order, Sminthus possesses this tooth in both jaws, and Meriones in the upper jaw only. It is present in both jaws in the Sciuromorpha generally. The tuber- cles of the teeth resemble those of the Muridz, but their disposi- tion is unlike that of any existing North American genus. re- mote approximation to it is seen in the genus Syllophodus of the Bridger Eocene formation, where there are four subquadrate molars with tubercles; but the latter form two transverse crests, with an additional small intermediate tubercle, and the wide cin-
gulum is absent. But one species of Heliscomys is known, the H. vetus, from the White River epoch of Colorado. It is not larger than the domestic mouse (Mus musculus). (To be continued.)
58 Editors Table. (January, a
EDITORS’ TABLE. : EDITORS: A. S. PACKARD, JR., AND E. D. COPE,
With 1883 the AmERIcAN NATURALIST commences the — seventeenth year of its existence. It enters this period with a — larger constituency of readers and contributors than it has had at any time in the past. It is, however, not only on the numbers — but on the quality of its patrons that the management feels dis- posed to congratulate itself. It appears to be the most favored medium of publication of the naturalists and biologists of the United States, when they wish to bring the results of their inves- tigations before the general public in a more or less popular form. We hope to continue to deserve the favors of our friends, and | present them this month with solid evidence of our intentions in — this respect. :
The present number contains thirty pages more than the — standard number heretofore published, and it is intended that this increased amount shall be permanent. We add two new de- partments, those of physiology and psychology, which supply a need we have long felt. These give us a total of ten depart- — ments, the greater number of which are separately sub-edited by able scientific men. It is especially our aim to preserve the well- known national character of the NATuRALIsT. Our editors repre- sent different regions ; one resides in Boston, one in Providence, | three in Philadelphia, two in Washington, one in Ann Arbor, — Michigan, and one in Iowa. For our new departments we hope — to secure the services of representative men in other sections.
An especial feature of the NATURALIST is the preference which — it gives to American work and workers. Zt is the only magazine — in the world to-day which keeps its readers en rapport with the work — of Americans in the field of the natural sciences, To do this more — perfectly in the future will be the object of its managers and — editors. 7 The zoôlogy of the future is to be more and more the © study of living beings, rather than of museum-preserved skin — and bones. The best schools in Europe for the zodlogist are the © sea-side laboratories at Naples, at Roscoff and Paukson ie m a In England and this country museum-t : best results and have most advanced biology by deep-sea dredging — and marine exploration, for the sea has been the source of all life. _ It is refreshing to read of Haeckel’s journey to Ceylon. Like an old- _
1883. ] Editors’ Table. 59
time naturalist he goes into raptures over the beauties and won- ders of tropical scenery, the luxuriant equatorial vegetation, the interesting human races of Ceylon—all this, while pursuing his special researches. It is a refreshing sign of the times that as histologists, embryologists and anatomists, we can do without museums, elaborate and costly piles of brick and mortar, but can by the ever resounding sea, the flowing river, the quiet lake, com- mune with living nature. The paleontologist even, leaving his boxes of bones, his drawers of disjointed skeletons and fossil shells, while digging in the cemeteries of departed life forms, gets his meed of inspiration, as ennobling in its way as Gray’s “ Elegy written in a Country Churchyard.”
There is little doubt but that the zodlogical student, after a year or more spent in Germany, returns. with new ideas, new fields of research and new methods. Incomparably the best school, how- ever, for the advanced American student, would be a year or more spent at the Zodlogical Laboratory at Naples. It is hoped that the means may be found in the United States to engage a table and send a promising working naturalist to Naples.
In this connection the proposed permanent zoological laboratory in connection with the work of the U.S. Fish Commission, at Wood's Holl, is of interest. It is designed to erect a permanent building, with work-rooms, large tanks and all the apparatus for studying the habits and development of marine animals, from s arks and the food-fishes down to the minutest forms of life. A steamer of 1000 tons is now building especially designed for deep-sea dredg- ing in the Atlantic ocean. She is to be fitted with electric lights which can be lowered 500 fathoms, so as to light up the sea-bot- tom. With these appliances and means for investigation, it only remains to furnish the men who can make the best use of such grand facilities, and produce work like that which has emanated from Naples and Roscoff.
The National Academy of Sciences has, at present, ninety- six members and four honorary members. The possible number of members is one hundred. There are nine foreign associates. The principal localities which furnish the members and honorary members are as follows: Washington, 15; Philadelphia, 13; Bos- ton and neighborhood, 13; New York and neighborhood, 12; New Haven, 12; San Francisco and neighborhood, 4; Princeton,
; Baltimore and St. Louis each 2. The condition of election to the National Academy is original work done, as in the academies of sciences of Europe. A much more rigid scrutiny is now given to the claims of candidates than was the case at the time of the organization of the Academy. No person can now be elected to membership who cannot show a record of original work of a high standard. A few of our ablest scientists are, however, not yet members, but their election is only a question of time. . By the
60 Recent Literature, [January, —
death of Professor W. B. Rogers the office of president is now : vacant. The candidates for the position most spoken of, are Pro- — fessor J. D. Dana, Professor F. A. P. Barnard and Professor James
Hall.
—— The numbers of the AMERICAN NATURALIST for 1882 were — issued on the following dates: January, Dec. 30, 1881; February, January 25, 1882; March, Feb. 24, 1882; April, March, 22, 1882; May, April 24, 1882; June, May 20, 1882; July, June 22, 1882; August, July 28, 1882; September, Aug. 24, 1882; October, Sept. 28, 1882; November, Oct. 28, 1882; December, Dec. 2, 1882. :
RECENT LITERATURE.
A New Eprrion oF Sacus’ Borany.' It is now more than seven years since the English-speaking and reading botanists were — laid under great obligations to Macmillan & Co., for bringing out — the translation of the third edition of Sachs’ Lehrbuch, made by — Bennett and Dyer. During this period it is safe to say that no | single book on morphological and physiological botany has been — more studied and consulted by advanced students, and it is not too much to affirm that few books have ever exerted a more — beneficial effect upon a science, than it has in England and Amer- ica. We have now a new English edition of this important work, © based upon the fourth German edition of the Lehrbuch, but with — many additions, corrections and modifications by Dr. Vines, who, — for some years has been well known as a careful student and in- vestigator. re It would be impossible within the limits of an ordinary review to notice the peculiarities of the new edition, containing as it does — over one hundred pages more matter than the old one. New para-
Se ake (Mere ys AE E die rhe ee
occur here and there in the body of the book, and especially in the appendix. We note with pleasure the remark [Appendix, p- 955], that as the nuclei of the coalescing myxoamcebe remain distinct, “the plasmodium can no longer be regarded as the equivalent of a zygospore, and the position of the Myxomycetes among the Zygomycetes is untenable.” This relegates the Myxo- mycetes to the Protophytes, where they were first placed by Fischer, and subsequently by us in our “ Botany.’?
1 Text-Book of Botany, Morphological and Physiological. By Jurus SACHS, Pro- fessor of Botany in the University of Wurzburg. Edited, with an Appendix, by Sipney H.V , M. A., D. Sc., F. L. S., Fellow and Lecturer of Christ College, Cambridge. Second Edition, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1882, New York:
=
i o. 2 Botany for High Schools and Colleges, New York, 1880.
1883.] Recent Literature. 61
The proposition is made [Appendix, p. 956], to unite the Zygo- sporez and the Oosporee, because of the apparent extension of the Fucoidez and Siphonez into these two groups. Another suggest- ive paragraph on p. 956, gives a short account of DeBary's views respecting the affinities of the groups of the higher Fungi, as ex- pressed in his Beitrage (No. 4, 1881). After giving other appa- rent relationship, it is stated that “the Uredinez form one of the more highly developed groups of the Ascomycetous series,” ex- actly the position which we have assigned them. (Botany, p. 310, et seq.)
The mechanical execution of the volume is similar to that of the first edition, there being the same clear type, and excellently printed figures. Of the latter there are thirty-one more than in the previous edition. To say that there are no errors or inconsist- encies of translation or editing, would be to claim a perfection im- possible in so large a volume. The.work has been so well done that every botanist-in this country may well thank the editor for his labor. However, a few things might have been avoided; for example, on p. 62, the term “metabolism” is used instead of “metastasis,” and it is there stated that it “ will be adopted in the following pages,” but upon turning to page 703, one finds “As- similation and Metastasis” as in the old edition. There is, more- over, a great difficulty in distinguishing between the foot-notes added by the editors of the first and second editions. These, how- pai are but small blemishes in a great and valuable work.—
VEAB:
DISPOSITION OF THE CERVICAL VERTEBR OF CHELONIANS.'— M. Vaillant has here given to the world the results of his studies of the cervical vertebra of nearly fifty species of Chelonians, in- cluding Emys ornata, Testudo sulcata, Cinosternum pennsylvanicum, Thalassochelys caretta, Chelodina longicollis, Sternotherus cas- taneus, and Trionyx javanicus, and thus ranging through all the principal groups of the order.
is portion of the skeleton has heretofore been but little stu- died, and our author reviews all previous notices of it in the most thorough manner, The variations in structure are greater than would be expected in so homogeneous an order, yet are correlated with the habits of the various species, dependant in all cases upon their mobile neck for the power of seizing their food. Notwith- standing this diversity, M. Vaillant states that the eight cervical vertebre can always be readily distinguished from those of other parts of the vertebral column. f
The greater portion of the article is taken up by technical
description and comparison of these bones in the various species xamined, but a resume, with a diagrammatic tableau, brings ‘Memoirs sur la Disposition des Vertebres Cervicales chez les Chelonians. Par M. LEON VAILLANT. (Présentéa l’ Academie des Sciences le 15 Nov. 1880, Annales Sci. Nat. Zool., Art. No. 7.)
62 3 Recent Literature. (January,
Ginglymoid articulations vary also from three to none, but their position is always between the hindermost vertebrz. sé ginglymoid articulations have direct relation to the mode it which the neck is retracted, since they permit only movements of flexion and extension; thus it is easy to comprehend their absence among the pleuroderes, in which the retraction of the neck is performed by a deduction. The marine turtles have only — one ginglymoid articulation, and thus in this respect stand — between the pleuroderes and the true cryptoderes, which have two or three. 4 The Trionychidæ have only one or two ginglymoid articulations, but their fewness is more than counter-balanced by the perfecti supplementary ginglymus presented by the dorso-cervical articu- : lation. From the possession of this peculiarity the Trionychidæ — constitute a type apart from other Chelonians. : The variations in the double-convex vertebrz in forms, evidently i nearly related, renders their physiological function less easy to determine, yet it is evident they play an important part in the re- a traction of the neck. The marine turtles possess but one of i these vertebræ, and this has but slight convexities. a The Chelydras, Cinosternes and Staurotypes have also but one, with convexities more prominent than in the marine turtles (Tha- lassians), and in these tortoises, especially the ftrst group, the re- traction of the neck is incomplete, although more perfect than in the marine turtles. The true cryptoderes, Testudo, Emys, Cistudo, Terrapene, etc., have two such vertebræ ; while the pleuroderes with long necks have two; those with shorter necks one. M. Vaillant does not venture to assign a reason for the variable position occu- pied by these double-convex vertebra, since it is not constant even in the same genus. M. Vaillant promises to follow up his valuable researches upon the hard parts by a study of the actual mode of articulation and of the muscles. Not only is the mode of articulation very vari-
i
varieties. _ :
In most cases the atlas is distinct from the odontoid process, whick is united by a close amphiarthrosis to the second vertebra, and movements are effected by articulations which unite it to the three portions of the atlas, which in very old individuals is a sin- gle bone. In most pleuroderes the odontoid apophysis is firmly
1883. ] Recent Literature. 63
united to the atlas, and movement is limited to that possible be- tween the adjoining facets of the odontoid and atlas, but in E/seya latisternum the odontoid process is distinct. On the other hand, Cycloderma aubryi among the Trionychidz has these parts united to that any extended movement seems impossible.
M. Vaillant does not consider the retraction or non-retraction of the neck a leading character, and prefers to keep the usual classification into the three great families of Cheloniida, Triony- chide, and Testudinide. The first of these includes the Thalassi- ans and the Chelodinz (pleuroderes), the second the Trionychide only; the third the Chelydina (pleuroderes) and Chersemydina, which last group embraces the incompletely cryptodere Chely- dre and the truly cryptodere Testudinez.
Whatever difference of opinion there may be upon the value of certain characters in classification, we will not deny the force of M. Vaillant’s argument, which is as follows:
“ When we consider that animals as intimately related as are Testudo pusilla and Pyxis arachnoides present really important dif- ferences in the constitution of the cervical part of the back bone, we cannot but place a great distinction between genera established from the elements at the disposal of the palzontologist and those established by the more complete study of the whole structure of living animals.”
ALLEN’s Human Anatomy.'—The object of the author of this work is to present the facts of human anatomy in the manner best suited to the requirements of the student and practitioner of medicine. It is, in fact, intended to be a physician’s human an- atomy, not one for the use of the scientist or the surgeon, for one or the other of whom most works upon anatomy have been writ- ten. As surgical and general medical practice are not separated from each other in this country to the same extent that they are in Europe, the author believes rightly that there is room for a work which shall accurately and concisely express the present state of anatomical science, including every application thereof needed by the physician.
; e form and construction of the human body, the variations in the condition of the various organs within the limits of health, the relations of the parts to each other, both topographically and clinically ; the uses of the organs, and the nature and general be- havior of morbid processes with the manner in which they are modified by locality, should all be known to the physician, and will obtain ample treatment in this work. Aware that some of these desiderata trench upon physiology, Dr. Allen engages only to treat of them from an anatomical point of view. Those scien-
tists who are not physicians will be pleased to find that the work
z | System of Human Anatomy, including its medical and surgical relations. By Harrison Allen, M.D. Philadelphia: Henry C. Lea’s Son & Ce., 1882.
T
64 Recent Literature. [January, `
contains an elaborate description of the tissues; an accountof — the normal development of the body, and a section upon, mon- strosities ; while not the least useful part to those engaged in the © medical profession will be that devoted to the method of conduct- _ ing post-mortem examinations, and to medico-legal matters gen- erally. a The work will appear in six sections, two of which, that on Histology, by E. O. Shakespeare, M.D., and that on Bones and — joints, by Dr. Allen, are already issued. . ee The other sections are as follows: m1. Muscles and fascia; | Iv. Arteries, veins and lymphatics; v., Nervous system; VL 1 Organs of sense, of digestion, and genito-urinary organs. The | section upon histology contains twelve delicately executed plates and numerous woodcuts, and treats fully and. clearly upon the lymph, blood, connective tissue, epithelium, cartilage, bone, mus- | ele, nervous tissue; etc. a In the second section, which is illustrated with thirty plates, — an-innovation is introduced which ought to be extensively fol- — lowed. Each bone ‘figured is drawn to a scale sufficiently large — to enable the names of all the parts, processes, foramina, etc., to be printed upon or around them, thus obviating the waste of time and lack of precision caused by literal or numbered references. — Nothing more complete than the figures and descriptions given — of both bones and joints can well be desired, and if the rest of thé work is equal to the parts before us, Dr. Allen may be congratu- lated upon having to a great extent attained the goal aimed at. — The greatest drawback to the work is its high price; small > enough, probably, to the well-established physician, but very — large to the student and commencing practitioner, to both of — whom its acquisition would bea boon. i TuHomas’s REPORT ON THE Noxious AND BENEFICIAL INSECTS oF Ixi1no1s.—This report is principally composed of that of D. W. Coquillet, on the insects of Northern Illinois, and of that of Professor G. H. French. The former notes the occurrence 1 destructive numbers, in the year 1881, of the corn or boll worm (Heliothis armigera), the imported currant worm (ematus ventri cosus), the gooseberry worm, and the larva of Eupilhecta iter rupto-fasciata Packard, the latter of which devours the interior ¢ the currant berry. Descriptions of the principal injurious insects and their methods of destruction, with an account of their insect enemies, and mention of such remedies as have been found use-
.
1883.) 3 Recent Literature. 65
be protected, and then to apply more tar. Mr. Coquillet has proved that the army worm produces three broods in a season, and hibernates in the larva state: Some army worms live as cut worms, never migrating, while others migrate in large armies from field to field, and the writer argues cogently that the migrat- ing worms are a distinct race, the progeny of moths, the cater- pillars of which lived in marshes, and acquired the habit of mi- grating before the annual overflows; while the sedentary worms are bred from moths that for many generations have lived in the same locality. Professor French describes a new wheat-straw worm (/sosoma allynit), and gives a most interesting history of the depredations of the boll worms.
THE GEOLOGY oF PHILADELPHIA COUNTY, ETC.'—This is among the latest contributions of the Geologi¢al Survey and is introduced by a preface of sixteen pages (entitled a letter of transmittal) by Professor Lesley and ninety-four pages of Mr. Hall’s report. The first fourteen pages of this latter contain the general remarks of Mr. Hall, with a table of the order of the formations as he conceives them to be, and a condensed summary of his reasons for believing the South Valley Hill rocks and the Philadelphia and Chestnut Hill schists superior to the Chester Valley limestone. The suc- ceeding thirty-three pages are devoted to general descriptions of the formations and contain numerous sketches, small maps and sections. Following these are forty-three pages of township geol- ogy, which complete Mr. Hall’s part of the volume. The remain- ing forty-three pages are devoted to the chemical work of Dr. Genth and Mr. F. A. Genth, Jr.
_ This work is an exceedingly important one because it brings to a head in the work of the Geological Survey of Pennsylvania a difference of theory which has already come to the surface in other parts of this country and indeed in Europe as to the relative ages of various groups of Palzozoic and Eozoic rocks. Professor Les- ey in his introduction pays a justly merited tribute to the saga- city of Professor John F. Frazer, of the first Geological Survey of Pennsylvania. ;
e states, on what ground does not appear in the volume, that the serpentine which Mr. Hall traces to Bryn Mawr, does not con- tinue its south-westwardly course through Delaware and Chester counties, and asserts, that ‘we can accept the palæozoic age of the Philadelphia rocks with a moderately reserved confidence.”
Mr. Hall's argument may be condensed somewhat as follows: er ThE Philadelphia, Manayunk and Chestnut Hill beds or South Valley Hill, which is equivalent to part of them, cannot be older than the Laurentian.” (Roger's third Belt). This will be generally admitted, © Aaii ,
* The ( Phil: [a co ontgomery and Bucks, by Chants Br Hates with analne of mocks BE. A. Gerth and FA Genth, Jr. Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, C. 6.
VOL. XVII.—wNo, I. 5
66 Recent Literature. _ [January,
2. “It is clear that the Potsdam sandstone was deposited on the third belt.” l
This is not in conformity with numberless observations made in Adams, York, Lancaster and Chester counties as may be seen by consulting the maps and text of reports, C, CC, and CCC and of Chester county when it is published, as well as notes made b; Dr. Frazer in the company of Mr. Hall at Harper’s Ferry. i3
3. “ But it is equally clear that the mica schists and gneisses are not found between the Primal and the rocks of the third belt.” This statement is inconsistent with a whole host of observations on the South mountain and in the counties named above as well as in Cumberland and Franklin. f
4. “If the mica schists were older than the Potsdam, they must have been deposited up to a geographical line.” Not if there was a fault along the South Valley hill which diverged to the south slightly before reaching the eastern extremity of that valley.
5. “ Even supposing a fault * * there would still be some remnants of these rocks in their normal position * * and | fragments * * entombed in the Potsdam,” &c. ae
As to the first, abundant demonstration of it exists in the | counties above named, and that the second proposition is in ač- cordance with Mr. Hall’s observations is clear from the fact, that out of six specimens of his Potsdam or Edge Hill rock sent to | the laboratory for analysis, four were named by Dr. Genth and his son “ hydro-mica schist ;” which proves an abundance of that material in the rock. ee
Space will not here permit a presentation of the reasons for the — opposite view, z. e., that the South Valley Hill rocks belong ġelow — the limestone. This one consideration may be, however, pre — sented that he who can, may accommodate it to Mr. Hall’s theory.
In at least two places in Chester county limited areas of Lauren- tian rocks are observed to be in contact with the South Valley Hill ve schists (on this point Mr. Hall and Dr. Frazer are in accord). One — of these areas, near West Chester, is completely surrounded by them. The other forms a narrow tongue or peninsula in contact with them on three sides. Yet there is not a sign of any of thê thousands of feet of the Huronian, Potsdam or Limestone which | : ought to appear between them, according to Mr. Hall’s view. |
The color scale on the large geological map which accompanies — Mr. Hall’s report, seems to the stranger not to agree with the — color as used on the map. On the former the intermediate Manayunk belt is designated by dark red, whereas on the map — this color seems to be given to the northerly Chestnut Hill group, and vice versa. ie
The last forty pages contain the report of Dr. Genth on the | dolerites, mica schists, gneisses, granites and other rocks of the district, and constitutes a very valuable leaf in the still small bo of chemical lithology.—P. F. (tie tbo la
ee
1883. ] Recent Literature. 67
. Jackson’s VEGETABLE TECHNOLOGY.'—The purpose of this work is to supply, in compact form, references to the many botanical pa- pers and books of economic interest, and which, in many cases, were so published as not to be catalogued in the ordinary book lists. As stated in the title page, the book is founded upon a catalogue of works on applied botany, prepared by Mr, G. J. Symons. To that list large additions and many corrections and modifications were made. Books or papers of purely local value were stricken out, as were also those on silk and cochineal culture, as well as those relating to the vine, the latter “ simply on the ground of its enormous extent.”
The plan of the work is to give first an author’s catalogue of books, that is, the books, papers, etc., are arranged alphabetically by the author’s names. The place and date of publication are given in each case, along with the full title. A catalogue of serials, and one of anonymous publications follow, the first notable for its shortness. No serial is entered for the United States.
The index of subjects fills about one hundred pages, and is suf- ficiently classified as to enable one to readily find any book or paper in the author's catalogue. The volume cannot fail to be . Of great use to librarians and others who wish to know the extent - ~ literature of the department of botany of which it treats —
. D.
RECENT BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS.—Ext. Note sur l’Osteologie des Mosasauride. Par M. L. Dollo. Ext. du Bulletin du Musée Royal, d'Histoire Naturelle de Bel- gique. Tomes, 1882. From the author.
Synopsis of the Classification of the Animal Kingdom, by H. Alleyne Nicholson. Messrs. Blackwood & Co., Edinburgh and London, 1882. From the author.
__ The Quarterly Journal of the Boston Zoological Society. Vol. 1. October, 1882. No. 4. From the society. ` Prospectus of the second edition of the American Palzozoic Fossils. By S. A. Miller. From the author. The Geological Record for 1878, with supplements for 1874-1877. Edited by _ Wm. Whitaker and W. H. Dalton. London, 1882. From the editors.
Sitzungberichte der Gesellschaft zur Beforderung der gesammten Naturwissen- schaften zu Marburg 881. From the society.
_ Etude Carcinologique sur les genres Pemphix, Glyphea et Araeosternus. Par T. C. Winkler. Ext. des Archives du Musée Teyler. T. 1, sér. 11, par. 11. Haar- t, 1882. From the author. i
Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. Central Park, New York. Vol. t, No. 3. On the Fauna of the Lower Carboniferous Limestone of Spergen Hill, Indiana, with a revision of the descriptions of its fossils hitherto published, and illustrations of the species from the original type series. By R. P. Whitfield. From the author.
_Tryon’s Manual of Conchology. Von W. Kobelt. Diagnosen neuer Arten (Helices). By the same, From the author.
_ Notes on some of the Tertiary Neuroptera of Florissant, Col., and Green river, Wyoming Territory. By S. H. Scudder. From the author.
! Vegetable Technology. A contribution towards a bibliography of economic sotany, with a comprehensive subject-index. By Benjamin Daydon Jackson, Secre- taryof the Linnean Society. Founded upon the collections of George James Symons, F. R. S. London: Published for the Index Society. Dulan & Co. 1882.
68 General Notes. [January —
Annual Report of the American Museum of Natural History, Central Park, N. Y. Feb. 15, 1882. | A sketch of the progres of American mineralogy, an address delivered before $ in Amer. Assoc. for the Adv. cf Science, at ennea, Aug. 25, 1882, by Professor Geo. J. Brush, pretident: Salem. F t On the Cranium of a new species of Hype heen fee the Australian seas. By W. H. Flower. From the Proc. Zool. Soc. of merle May, 1882. Fro pert author, An die eee r und Freunde des “ Kosmos.” By Professor Dr. B. V po notice of the ss cates of the editorship af. te above magazine fromm De Ee Krause to the Lather Humboldt Linney. No. 38. Geological Sketches. By Archibald Geikie. Parti. — Kant. By William Wallace, M. A. Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott & Co, From ~ the publisher : Nature relics. Charles Darwin. London, Macmillan & Co., 1882. Contains no- — tices z ia life and character, work in zodlogy and work in psychology, by Rom ; his work in botany, by W. T. Thiselton Dyer; his work geology, ‘eo A. Geikie, and an intro ponro notice by T. H..Huxley. -AIl AOAIE from “ Na- ture,” From the publisher
The oe Roll and E LETAR of Systematized Notes. Climate. Vol. 1, Part z. „Sven vapor, Conducted by Alex. Ramsay, F.G.S. London. From Rt rab lisher,
Some Observations on ostriches and ostrich farming
Sur fas copenucrien s turriformes des Vers de terre fe France. Par M. E. L. Trou- essart. Paris.. From thes uthor.
Dencatpeion. Labologiqke® des Récifs de St. Paul. Par s Renard. Bruxelles. Ext. des Ann, de la Soc. belge de Microscopie. From the author.
Les Roches pear nic et ae) EEE eo de la Rison: de Bastogne, Par A Renard, Ext. du Bulletin du Mus. Roy. d’Hist. Nat de Belgique. From the author
Notes on the Barth ram oak Span, terkorpa Michx.). i Isaac C. Martindale From the au i
Com ee ndu des Seances de la Commission Internationale de Nomenclatu: Géologique et du Comité de'la Carte Géologique de l’ Europe, tenues a Foix (F vance i Sept., 1882.
Dr.
HHG ws Klassen und Ordnungen des Thierrichs.
it Abtheilung. eles. Leipzig und Spreng From A e pub A
i Rm tas Mammalia in the Indian Museum, Calcut By john kidas , M.D. Part mates, Prosimiæ, Chiroptera pk aiara Calcutta.
by the idese pe the Indian Museu
GENERAL NOTES. GEOLOGY AND PALAIONTOLOGY.
On UINTATHERIUM ANÐ BATHMoDoN.—At a recent meeting of the Philadelphia Academy, Professor Cope exhibited a mandible of Uintatherium robustum of Leidy, which includes the symphy sis. This region supports but two teeth, probably incisors on each side, which distinguishes the genus from Bathyopsis Cope, where there are four on each side. Its structure in this point had been previously unknown. ` He then exhibited some bones of
its internal side not found in Coryphodon. -It may be an e a face for a produced entocuneiform, or for a distinct bone or spine The specimens exhibited represent the Bathmodon radians eS
new and much larger species, to which the name of Bashmos pachypus w was given.
1883. ] Geology and Paleontolog /. 69
Tue NevaDA Bipep Tracks.—It is probable that the contem- poraneity of man with the horse and other extinct Pliocene mammals in Western North America will soon be satisfactorily demonstrated. The first evidence on the subject was furnished by J. D. Whitney, chief of the Geological Survey of California, in the case of the Calaveras skull, which was said to be taken from the gold-bearing gravel; and in several other cases subse- quently added. From the fact that scientific observers were never present at the unearthing of the remains of man and his
The Carson Mammoth Tracks.
works from this formation, the evidence has been generally re- garded as inconclusive. ‘(he gold-bearing gravel of California is, _ however, a very peculiar formation, and an object once buried in _ it, would carry such marks of its origin as to be quite recogniza- _ble. This was the case with the Calaveras skull when first dis- covered, as I am informed by Professor Verrill of Yale College. This gentleman states that the skull was partially filled and cov- ered with the hard, adhesive “cement ” so characteristic of the _ formation.
I here refer to two observations of my own made in 1879, in
70 General Notes. [January,
Oregon?! and California? which were confirmatory of the exist- ence of man in the Upper Pliocene of both those States, but the evidence is in neither case absolutely conclusive.
The discovery that the tracks of several species of Pliocene Mammalia? in the argillaceous sandstones of the quarry of the Nevada State Prison at Carson, are accompanied by those of a biped resembling man, is a further confirmation of these views. The tracks are clearly those of a biped, and are not those of a member of the Simiidz, but must be referred to the Hominidz. Whether they belong toa species of the genus Homo or not,
The Carson Footprints. 2 cannot be ascertained from the tracks alone, but can be deter- mined on the discovery of the bones and teeth. In any case the — animal was probably the ancestor of existing man, and was à- contemporary of the Llephas primigenius and a species at Egu
We give two cuts of these tracks, extracted from a paper read by Dr. Harkness of San ran before the California Acad- emy of Sciences.—E. D. Coj
1 AMERICAN NATURALIST, 1878, p. 125. i 1 Loc. cit., 1880, p. 62. 3 Loc. cit., 1882, pp. 195 and 921.
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72 General Notes, [ January, :
THE GEOLOGY oF CHESTER County, PENNSYLVANIA.—Some points in the geology of this region of considerable complexity have been recently worked out by Dr. Persifor Frazer, of the State Geological survey. The results are published in his These Premiére presented to the University of France, 1882. The - structure of the limestone valley of Chester has long been under discussion. The northern hill is composed of sandstone and quartzite, the bottom of the valley of limestone, and the south hill of hydromica-and chlorite schists and slates. The first two formations are the primordial and auroral, Nos. 1 and 2 of Rogers, or the Potsdam and Calciferous of Hall. The dip of these beds is south-east, and there is no reversed dip and no synclinal. Professor Fraser believes that a fault extends along the northern base of the south hill for forty miles, and that the oldest beds - have been thrust up to form the south hill. The schists then are older than the Potsdam beds. Their dip is like the latter, south- east. South of this hill the schists descend and are succeeded by another limestone, which is in place between the former and the Potsdam beds. This formation is then considerably older than — the limestone of the valley. Fraser calls it the Doe-run lime- stone. This is succeeded by the Potsdam again, and it in turn by the valley limestone, as in the valley itself. This latter bedi appears in the region of Avondale and London Grove.
KOWALEVSKY ON ELASMOTHERIUM.—Dr. W. Kowalevsky bas
pees It is proven that Srorecires Duv. is identical with mek
motherium. The genus stands at the top of the family. next t
A The £. żypus was as large as the Indian rhinocert ope.
Two New Genera oF PyrHonomorpHa.—M. L. Dollo, in. th Bull. du Mus. Roy. d’Hist. Nat. de Belgique, describes the Mo- sasaurian remains in the Museum of Brussels. He forms from cl
He also proposes the genus Plioplatecarpus for the reception a Mosasaurian resembling a Liodon, but which in the structure its coracoid and maxillary teeth differs widely from that gef
1883.] Geology and Paleontology. 73
approaching more nearly to Platecarpus, Cope. The species, the remains of which were found near Maestricht, is named P. marshit. Mr. Dollo thinks that this animal possesses a sacrum of two vertebrae. It has also sclerotic bones. The genera of this order or sub-order are, then, eight in number, viz.: Baptosaurus Marsh ; Pterycollosaurus Dollo; Mosasaurus Conyb.; Platecarpus Cope (Lestosaurus Marsh); Plioplatecarpus Dollo; Liodon Owen (Rhinosaurus and Tylosaurus Marsh); Sironectes Cope (//olo- saurus Marsh); Clidastes Cope (Edestosaurus Marsh).—E&. D. Cope.
ScupDER on Triassic InsEcts.—At a late meeting of the Na-
later date than the vertebrata. In the present case they indicate an earlier age than the insects.—£. D. Cope.
Some TERTIARY NEUROPTERA OF FLORISSANT, CoLorapo.—Mr. S. H. Scudder’ states that the Florissant strata, which are by Lesquereux and Cope placed immediately above the Green River shales, have yielded seven genera and twelve species.of Planipen- nian Neuroptera, including five Raphidiide, four Chrysopide, one Hemerobiid, and one Panorpid.
The number of tertiary Planipennia known is already nearly doubled by the discoveries made in the American tertiaries. The Florissant beds have furnished six species of Odonata besides two Jarve. Two of these, and one larval form, belong to Aischna, the rest are Agrionina. The four species from the Green River shales are all Agriones. The resemblance of the faunas of the two localities is very apparent, though the species and even the genera are wholly distinct. The facies of both is decidedly sub- tropical.
_ Grotocicat Norrs.—Recent numbers of the Annals and Mag- azine of Natural History contain the following articles: Notes on the Trochammine of the Lower Malm of Aargau (Switzerland), by Dr. R. Haeusler; Notes on fossil Calcispongiz, by G- J. Hinde.
is paper is devoted especially to those sponges which have been grouped by Professor Zittel in the family of “ Pharetones,”
3 Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist, Vol. KXI, p. 407, 1882. n o
a." General Notes. [ January, —
and embodies some fresh facts regarding their spicular structure, _ as well as descriptions of five new species, From the close simi- _ larity between the minute spicular characters of these species and those of existing Calcisponges, the writer believes that the origis _ nally calcareous composition of the fossil forms can no longer be disputed. He also believes that the majority of the Pharetones. — possessed a “dermal layer of quadriradiate (?) spicules.” The affinities of Paleocampa, Meek and Worthen, as evidence of
wide diversity of type in the earliest known Myriopods, by S.H. Scudder. In the October number of the Geological Magazine H. H. Howorth continues his argument in favor of the occurrence _ of a great Post glacial flood by examining the evidence of the Angular drift which overlies much of the land on either side of — the English channel. The unrolled surface of these stones, the
presence among them of land-shells and quadrupedal bones, the — want of stratification, and the lack of marine beaches and of marine organisms throughout this layer, are to the author eloa f quent evidence of their deposition by a sudden and violent flood. The absence of river shells, and the lack, throughout the section | of the English channel, of any smooth trough such as a river F would form, are against the fluviatile origin of this drift, as is also _ the character of the drift itself, so widely different from the fine mud of the deltas. Mr. Howorth promises a farther argument, — but hints that the flood he postulates is not a universal or Nowy achian deluge; H. Woodward has a note on El/ipsccaris dewalquet, —
a new Phyllopod crustacean shield from the Upper Devonian of Belgium; N. Flight continues his history of meteorites ; T:E Jamieson continues his enquiry into the causes of the depression
and re-elevation of the land during the Glacial period; and J. S.
Gardner gives suggestions for a revised classification of the Brit- ish Eocenes. Mr. Gardner believes that the separation of a part of the series as Oligocene is artificial as regards England. The Oligocene strata of England are the Fluvio-marine series of Isle of Wight. The United States Geological Survey is pro cuting work in the old States as well as in the Territories of West. Three parties are now surveying in the Southern Ap lachians. Many of the employés are local geologists.
MINERALOGY:.'
THE MECHANICAL SEPARATION OF MiNERALS.— Mechani methods for separating the minerals composing a rock are 0 great value in lithological investigations, and, where possible, should be employed in advance of chemical analyses. The method is the now well-known one of using a liquid of gre density, such as a solution of mercuric iodide, in which the pub
1 Edited by Professor H. CARVILL Lewis, Academy of Natural Sciences, delphia, to whom communications, papers for review, etc., should be sent.
1883.] Mineralogy. * 75
verized rock is suspended, and its constituents separated succes- sively according to their specific gravity.
Another method, recently employed with success, depends upon the attractability of ferruginous minerals by an electro-mag- net. The poles of a horseshoe electro-magnet are moved about through the pulverized substances, the strength of the magnet being increased at each succeeding experiment by the ad- dition of greater battery power. Thus magnetite and hematite may be first extracted by a weak current, then follow ferruginous augites, hornblendes and garnets, while a stronger magnet attracts tourmaline, idocrase, bronzite, actinolite, etc., and, finally, by a still more powerful magnet, biotite, chlorite, muscovite, and even dolomite may be extracted. Minerals containing very minute percentages of iron may be attracted if tne magnet is powerful enough. The gray powder of syenites and diabases may thus be separated in a few minutes into a white powder containing the non-feldspathic minerals, and a dark-colored one composed of the other constituents.
By employing the former method in conjunction with this, very accurate results may be reached. ~ j
A fhonolite, for example, consisting of orthoclase, nephelite, augite and magnetite, was first freed from magnetite by a weak magnet, then, the strength of the current being increased, a mix- ture of augite and nephelite was extracted, which was finally separated into its constituents by the specific gravity method, mercuric iodide of proper density being employed. The com- position of the rock was thus fourd to be, magnetite 4 p. c., augite Il p. c., nephelite 48.5 p.c., orthoclase 25.5 p. c., impure feldspar, etc. i Lip c: i
AXINITE FROM BETHLEHEM.—Through the medium of the late Professor W, T. Roepper, Pennsylvania mineralogists have been
Bethlehem, Pa., the locality having been discovered by Professor
suggested the name of the species. They occur with asbestos in a hornblendic rock, and, while devoid of the beauty possessed by Specimens of the same mineral from other localities, are of some crystallograthic interest, as lately shown by B. W. Frazier, of Bethlehem. A close relationship has been found to exist between the crystallograthic characters of axinite and those of datolite. The axial lengths closely correspond, and a comparison of the angles between similar planes shows a remarkable agreement. They. are found, moreover, to correspond in habit as well as in angles. Both minerals are silicates of lime and contain boracic acid, and it is very probable that the morphological resemblance is consequent upon a resemblance in chemical composition. _
76 ni General Notes. (January,
SAMARSKITE FROM CaANADA.—Mr. G. C. Hoffman has found irregular fragments of samarskite in Berthier county, Canada. The mineral is massive, has a sub-metallic lustre, brownish-black ~ color, grayish-brown streak, hardness of about 6, fusing between — 4 and 4.5, and specific gravity of 4.947. Its composition, accord- — ing to an analysis given in the Amer. Jour. Science, Dec., 1882, is as follows: e
Cb,0,,Ta,0, SnO, YO CeO UO, MnO FO 55-41 10 14.34 4.78 10.75 51 4 CaO _ MgO K,O Na,O F H,O 5.38- Il -39 23 (trace) 2.21
Tue Cryotire Group oF Minerats.—J. Brandl has investigated the chemical composition of the minerals of the Cryolite grou and derives several new formula. Pachnolite is shown to ha the composition, AIF;, CaF, NaF. Thomsenolite, often c founded with pachnolite, differs from it in composition by com taining one molecule of water. New formule are also assign
Al,(F,OH)s The rare mineral, Fluellite, has probably the for- mula, AIF, + H,O. Bi
HEATING APPARATUS FOR THE Microscope.—Thoulet descri in the Bulletin de la Société Mineralogie de France, a new meth of heating objects upon the stage of the microscope. He constructed a small “stove,” or chamber, to rest upon the sta and to contain the object and the thermometer. It consists of. glass tube fitting into a copper cylinder which rests upon a © of copper, furnished with lateral prolongations, whic can heated by a gas jet. The whole is insulated by resting upon disk of cork. The temperature of the chamber can be raised ‘ heating the prolongations, of copper and lowered by introd a current of fresh air through a small tube fixed in the side. exact measurements can be taken with this simple apparatu well adapted for determining the temperature of the disap ance of bubbles in liquid inclusions, for studying the form of crystals at various temperatures, or for other micro-che investigations.
MINERALOGICAL Notrs.—Descloiseaux has described som nute crystals which occur in Pegmatite near Nantes, France, í which probably are new. They are transparent, rectangular bles, less than a millimeter in length, which become white but ¢@ not fuse when heated, and are insoluble in acids. They are pror ably composed of a silicate of alumina, iron and lime, and af identical with some similar crystals previously described by 4 trand from another locality in the same region ard just published a paper upon the action of heat upon cryst
1833. | Botany. ` #7
substances, in which his former conclusions regarding pseudo- symmetry appear to be confirmed. Hintze reports the discovery of Danburite in Switzerland, on the Scopi.. The crystals were at first thought to be topaz, which they closely resemble. The angles measured corresponded closely with those of the American min- eral—_—A nugget of gold, weighing forty-four pounds, has been found in the Ural district. This is the largest nugget ever found in Russia. It is reported that natural sulphuric acid has been found in large quantity in Sweetwater county, Wyoming. The ground for a space of one hundred acres or more is impregnated with the acid, which is said to be of pure quality.
BOTANY.
THE INTERPRETATION OF SCHWEINITZIAN AND OTHER EARLY Descriptions.—In working up the flora of Iowa, it has been necessary in a number of instances to identify Schweinitzian spe- cies of microscopic fuagi. I have had in the Herb. Curtis and Ravenel’s Exsiccati, specimens upon the same species of host recorded by Schweinitz, and from the same immediate locality, to compare with his descriptions. In several cases I have been
cates of the originals from which the descriptions were taken. The following instances, which have probably puzzled many other botanists, will serve as illustrations:
The uredineous fungus, abundant on various species of Lespe- dezz, forming blackish spots on the leaves, and now known as Uromyces lespedeze, is quite fully described by Schweinitz, under the genus Puccinia. He makes two species, one of which has spores that are distinctly two-celled or bilocular, and the other those that are sub-bilocular. In the former he says the “ septum is situated exactly in the middle of the spore,” while in the latter it is barely conspicuous (Syn. Fung. Car., p.73). A glance under a common microscope, however, reveals the incongruous fact that the spores are but one-celled, and that there is not even a shadow of a septum. How is-such an egregious blunder to be reconciled with the accuracy characteristic of science and scientific men? This cannot be a slip of the pen, for in his Synopsis of North American Fungi, published nine years later, there is no correc- tion, and the species still remain in the genus Puccinia, which ‘would not be the case if he had ascertained in the meantime that
“the spores were unicellular. ; ae
©- Another equally remarkable instance is that of the common Uromyces on Desmodium. In the earlier work the spores are ‘said to be obscurely. septate with very long pellucid pedicels (I. c., P-74). ‘In the later work he describes the species at greater
+ "Edited by PROF. C: E. Bessey, Ames, Towa. |
78 General Notes. (January, ` length and adds that the pellucid pedicels are jointed (\.c., p: 297). As these spores have considerable resemblance to those of many f Puccini, and although but one-celled are quite opaque, we caf almost make ourselves believe that, assuming the relationship from their general appearance, he easily persuaded himself that a septum must be present although not readily demonstrated, . But this explanation will not do in the preceding instance, or in the case of the jointed pedicel, for both are transparent, and the latter — perfectly colorless. ” These are selected from plenty of such discrepancies between Schweinitz’s descriptions and the objects described. It will not an- | swer to throw such works aside and refuse to take trouble with — an author who describes so carelessly, or, as it would seem, de- liberately falsifies, for the law of priority in synomymy is inexor- able, and early descriptions must be identified so far as possible. — Upon reflection, however, it does not appear probable that any one would falsify a scientific description, for there is no assignable motive for doing so, Let us rather look for a solution of the problem to the facilities possessed in the author's time for minute observations. Microscopes were then much inferior to our pres = ent instruments, and methods of manipulation not so well known. This was a suggestive idea, and I at once acted upon it by putting — some of the ary spores under a low-power to see whether they |
+
looked the same, except in size, as when mounted in the usu way in water, and viewed under 350 diameters. A few spores — scraped from the surface of the leaf were scattered on a glass slide, a half-inch objective used, magnifying about 75 diameters, _ and the key to the whole mystery was discovered. uB | The spores of Uromyces lespedeze are much thickened at the apex, this thickening often occupying half the length of the spore, and it gives every appearance, under the conditions named, of @ i two-celled spore with a septum at or near the middle. 4% T instance of tke jointed pedicel is equally simple. The pedicels being delicate cylinders collapse when dry, and twist like a rib: bon, and what appear to be three or four joints in each ice are very distinctly shown. i -I have narrated this experience of mine chiefly for two reasons: (t) to give others this important key with which to interpret the writings of Schweinitz and other early systematists, and (2 to show the importance of noting very carefully the kind of instr ment used and the methods employed in all microscopic otk. — F. C. Arthur, Ames, lowa.
as a pamphlet of 66 pp., extracted from Vol, xvir of the Proc. ® the Am. Academy of Arts and Sciences. It consists of, 1, A’ of plants from Southwestern Texas and Northern Mexico, © lected chiefly by Dr. E. Palmer in 1879-80; and, 11, Descriptit
1883.| Botany. 79
of new species of plants, chiefly from our Western Territories. The first includes the “ Polypetala” only, and is much more than a list, containing descriptions of many species, and notes upon many others.
all uncomfortably warm.
The botanical part of the course, under Mr. J. C. Arthur, con- sisted of lectures, laboratory work, and collecting excursions. The botanical laboratory, supplied with simple and compound microscopes, was open from 9.30 A. M. to 6 P.M. Forty students availed themselves of its privileges.
A small part of the time was given to the study of plants with no other aid than the gommon hand lens. Besides illustrating a method of careful observation, it was designed to show that in- struction need not be confined to flowering plants because a com- pound microscope is not obtainable. For this purpose four plants were used: dark green scum (Oscillatoria), large tree lichen (Par- melia), common liverwort (Marchantia), and milkweed (Asclepias cornuti). ;
The work with the compound microscope covered in the main the same ground as the lectures, which were as follows: 1. A sur- vey of the science; 2. Protoplasm; 3. The cell, and cell-structures : 4. Protophyta, the sexless plants; 5. Zygosporez, the unisexual plants; 6. Oosporez, the egg-sporé plants; 7 and 8. Carposporee, the red sea-weeds and their allies; 9. Bryophyta, the mosses and liverworts ; Pteridophyta, the ferns and their allies; 11: Phanero- gamia, the seed-bearing plants, (1) the conifers and their allies ; 12. Same, (11) the flowering plants proper; 13. General histology
Of tissues ; 14. Movement of water and gases in the plant; 15. Assimilation and metastasis; 16. Movements of plants; 17. Modes of fertilization; 18. Dissemination of seeds; 19. Insectivorous plants.
_ SYLLOGE FUNGORUM OMNIUM HUCUSQUE COGNITORUM. By Profes- sor P. A. Saccardo, Padova, Italy.—The first volume of this long expected work has at length appeared and will help to satisfy a want that has long been felt by the students of mycology. The volume forms a large octavo of 768 pages, with descriptions of nearly 2900 species of Sphzriceous Fungi. Adding greatly to the practical value of the work are the haditat lists inserted after each of the different families or sub-divisions and giving in alpha-
grow, with numbers referring to the descriptions of the species found on each. The low price (49 francs) at which the volume is
=
. year 1882 three different lists or catalogues of Lepidoptera ha
80 General Notes. (January,
Dr. Gray’s REVISION OF THE SPECIES OF ECHINOSPERMUM.—In ~ the recently received ‘‘ Contributions to North American Botany” — by Dr. Gray in Vol. xvir of the Proc. of Am. Acad. of Arts and © Sciences, the following corrections are made in the disposition — of the species of Echinospermum, as given in Gray’s Synoptical — Flora of N. A., pp. 188 and 189. ia
E. virginicum Lehm.
Æ. pinetorum Greene; a new species trom New Mexico.
E. deflexum Lehm,
E. ursinum Greene ; a new species from New Mexico. a
£, floribundum Lehm ; “ the synonym Æ. subdecurrens Parry is to be suppressed, asit ; belongs to the next.”
E. diffusum Lehm; this is not the Æ. diffusum of the Synoptical Flora. (See be:
low).
E. ciliatum Gray; this is the the Cynoglossum ciliatum Dougl. of the Syn. Flora. H also includes C. howerdi Gray. : : Æ. californicum Gray; this includes the large flowered specimens which in the Syn. | “Flora were described under Æ. diffusum. The true Æ. diffusum is the small- — flowered species, specimens of which were mixed e with those of Æ. californi- — cum.
The remaining species were unchanged.
ENTOMOLOGY .! New Lists oF NORTH AMERICAN LeEpipopTrERA.—During the
been published. The first, issued in January, is “ A check-list of the Macrolepidoptera of America, north of Mexico,” published by the Brooklyn Entomological Society. In the preface the
eric combination being given. The list has proved very useful lepidopterists, and will be followed, we hope, with suppleme! rom time to time, or, what were better, new ‘and impro editions. Jae ts The second publication we would call attention to, is somet! more than a list. It is very properly called “ A Syponymical alogue of the described Tortricidae of America, north of Mexict by C. H. Fernald, A.M., professor of natural history in the M State College. It was issued by the American Entomolo i Thi: ent is edited by Professor C. V. RILEY, Washington, D.C.,to Marani CER wa etc., should be sent. es p
1883.] Entomology. 81
Society in July. Working, as did the author, at this single family for many years before issuing the catalogue, this is, as might have been expected from Professor Fernald’s well-known caution and ability, a work of exceptional value, and puts the study of the Tortricidæ in this country, at once upon a basis which it never had before. Not only are synonyms given with full references, but also the localities and food-plants, when known, though a number of these last which we have communicated to him are, for some reason, omitted.
We may have.occasion to refer to this admirable catalogue in future, more to add some facts from our own experience than to offer any criticisms or suggestions ; for the work is so admirable in every respect that it leaves little to be desired. Like every other cataloguer, Professor Fernald