258 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



HORNED FROGS VIVIPAROUS. 



A correspondent of theWeekly, referring to the horned frogs 

 of the Western Plains (Phry?iosoma), informs us that, when 

 crossing the Plains some years ago, he carried with him sev- 

 eral specimens, and on examining them one night found that 

 twenty-four young ones had suddenly made their appearance, 

 each one about the size of a dime, and all very lively. This 

 shows that, instead of producing eggs deposited externally, 

 they are ovo-viviparous, as is the case with many other rep- 

 tiles. Letter. 



STRUCTURE OP MOSASAUROID REPTILES. 



In the June number of the American Journal of Science, 

 Professor Marsh, of Yale College, has an important paper on 

 mosasauroid reptiles, which are so well represented in the 

 cretaceans of this country. Among the new points estab- 

 lished by Professor Marsh are : 1st, the correct position of 

 the quadrate bone, which has been reversed by some previous 

 writers; 2d, the discovery of the stapes; 3d, the discovery 

 of the columella ; 4th, discovery of the malar arch ; 5th, de- 

 termination of the quadrato-parietal arch in several genera ; 

 and, 6th, the number of the cervical vertebrae. The anterior 

 and posterior links of the order are also fully described. 



Two new genera, Lestosaurus and Phinosaurus, are estab- 

 lished. The paper is illustrated by four plates, in which botli 

 the anterior and posterior arches and limbs of this group are 

 figured for the first time. 



COPE OX THE FOSSIL FISH OF THE KANSAS CRETACEOUS. 



Professor Cope has shown, in a paper read to the American 

 Philosophical Society, that the greater number of the fossil 

 fishes of the cretaceous strata of Kansas belong to three fam- 

 ilies, namely, the Saurodontidoe, the Pachyrhizodontidm, and 

 the Stratodontidm. Of the first family four genera and ten 

 species are described in his paper, some of them (as those of 

 the genus Portheus) being among the most formidable of 

 marine fishes. Of the second family one genus and four spe- 

 cies are introduced, and three genera and seven species of 

 the third. The Stratodus, a genus of the Stratodontida>, is 

 provided with multitudes of minute shovel-headed teeth. He 



