140 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF 



ceous plants seem addicted to these irregularities. It was not 

 unusual to find several young seedling plants spring from one 

 orange seed. 



June 11. 

 The President, Dr. Ruschenberger, in the chair. 

 Twenty -five members present. 



Prof. Cope offered some remarks on the discoveries recently 

 made by Prof. Marsh as to the structure and characters of the 

 Pythonomorpha, based especially on material recently obtained 

 by him in Kansas. As the writer had recently passed in review 

 much similar material, he was much interested in Prof. Marsh's 

 conclusions. These, he said, were of importance. In the first 

 place, he had ascertained that what was formerly supposed to be 

 the inner side of the quadrate bone was the outer side, a conclu- 

 sion Prof. Cope thought entirely consistent with the other known 

 relations of the parts. 



Secondly. He had discovered the stapes, and had entirely con- 

 firmed the opinion of the speaker, which Prof. Marsh had appa- 

 rently overlooked. This was stated as follows : l the quadrate 

 "is characterized by the presence of an oval pit. . . . Its use 

 is uncertain, but there is some probability that it received the 

 extremity of an osseous or cartilaginous styloid stapes. A groove 

 on the under side of the suspensorium would accommodate such 

 a rod, and in a position nearly similar to that which it occupies 

 in many of the Ophidia." It is in precisely this position that 

 Prof. Marsh is so fortunate as to have discovered it. 



Thirdly. Prof. Marsh believes that he has found the columella. 

 I have supposed it to be wanting, from the absence of its usual 

 points of attachment on the parietal and pterygoid bones. It 

 remains to compare the bone found by Prof. Marsh with ali- and 

 orbito- sphenoid and ethmoid ossifications found in rnan}^ sau- 

 rian s. 



Fourthly. Prof. Marsh has observed the parieto-quadrate arch 

 described by the speaker, and makes the interesting observation 

 that it is formed of three elements, the median connecting the 

 parietal with the opisthotic. This piece, he says, is " apparently 

 the squamosal ;" as the latter bone completes the zygomatic arch, 

 it cannot 'occup} r a position in the parieto- squamosal, unless it 

 sends a branch in that direction. 



Fifthly. He discovers the malar arch, proving it to be incom- 

 plete and supported by the postfrontal bone. Prof. Marsh also 

 observes an ossification in the glenoid cavity of the opisthotic, 

 which he regards as the pterotic (of " Huxle}-," which should be 



1 Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc, 18G9, p. 180. 



