VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY. 483 



Mammals. 



The chief part of the work done on mammals during 1878 

 has been in the line of anatomical investigation, general or 

 specific; but, at the same time, some important systematic 

 treatises have been published. Only a few of the contribu- 

 tions can be alluded to. In general osteology, E. von Eb- 

 ner and G. M. Humphreys may be mentioned. In the anato- 

 my or physiology of the nervous system, A. Adamkiewicz, 

 M. Duval, S. Strieker, and A. Vulpian have done considera- 

 ble work. The lungs have been especially investigated by 

 L. Stieda. The placentation has been studied for the ai (Bra- 

 dypus tridactylus ) by N. Joly ; for the apes, by W". Tur- 

 ner; and for the dugong, by P. Harting. The last contribu- 

 tion is noteworthy, inasmuch as the placental characteristics 

 of the Sirenians (of which the dugong is a representative) 

 were previously unknown. J. A. Allen has published an 

 elaborate memoir on the geographical distribution of the 

 class. Special groups and species have been investigated, 

 but chiefly from an anatomical standpoint. The Mono- 

 tremes have been illustrated in a handsome monograph by 

 P. Gervais. A much-needed systematic revision of all the 

 known bats is due to G. Dobson. P. Van Beneden and P. 

 Gervais's great work on the Cetaceans has been continued. 

 W. H. Flower has elucidated the family of Ziphiids, and es- 

 pecially the genus Mesoplodon. Several numbers of a mono- 

 graph of the Felidce, superbly illustrated by Wolf, were pub- 

 lished by D. G. Elliott. The anatomy of the binturong (Arc- 

 tictis) was examined by A. H. Garrod; that of the anteater by 

 G.Valentin; and that of the Armadillos by A. H. Garrod and 

 M. Watson. The history of the urus (Bos primigenius), as 

 well as the European bison, has been investigated by Aug. 

 Wrzesniowski. A new specific name for a gorilla-like ape 

 has been introduced by E. Alix and A. Bouvier. Fossil 

 forms have been described by E. D. Cope, O. C. Marsh, A. 

 Gaudry, P. Gervais, W. B. Dawkins, R. Hoerness, C. Capelli- 

 ni, and W. H. Flower, and postgraduates of the College of 

 New Jersey (H. F. Osborn, W. B. Scott, and F. Speir, Jun.). 



