ON THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. 19 



amount. The possibility of such an error, arising from this source, 

 is removed in the American ephemeris. There are other points of su- 

 periority ; one of the principle being " a more complete, full and accurate 

 table of latitudes and longitudes, particularly of American latitudes and 

 longitudes, than is now anywhere to be found," and the other relates to 

 the tide tables and other practical information concerning the tides. 



Under resolutions of the two Houses of Congress, the valuable report of 

 Dr. D. D. Owen on the geography of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota, (and 

 incidentally of the " Mauvaises Terres " in Nebraska,) has been published. 

 Its preparation reflects the highest credit upon the author, while the me- 

 chanical execution of the work is excellent, and forms a striking contrast 

 with the usual style adopted for Government publications. The report is 

 voluminous and constitutes a quarto of about 650 pages, with a volume of 

 maps. A report has also been submitted to Congress by Dr. Owen, 

 recommending a geological survey of Oregon and a special reconnoissance 

 of that singular region of Nebraska, knoAvn as ther" Mauviases Terres. 1 ' 

 The interest awakened throughout the Scientific world by what has been 

 already made known respecting the latter district is very great. It is a 

 tertiary deposite, abounding to a most extraordinary extent with the fossil 

 remains of extinct animals, some of which combine the distinctive char- 

 acteristics of several existing and distinct races. The discovery of an 

 entirely new family of mammalia, embracing eight new genera, is one re- 

 sult of the examinations already made by Dr. Leidy. In reference to this 

 region. Dr. Owen states that " it is not too much to assert that since the 



O ~ 



disclosures by the opening of the gypsum quarries of Montmatre, in 

 France, that made us first acquainted with those singular extinct fossil 

 races entombed in the Paris basin, no discovery in geology has divul- 

 ged such extraordinary and interesting results in palaeontology. 



The Legislature of Massachusetts have published during the past year a 

 new and enlarged edition of Dr. Harris' valuable work on " Insects Inju- 

 rious to Vegetation," and the Legislature of New York, " A Report on the 

 Great Exhibition of 1851," by B. P. Johnson, Esq. 



We would also in this connection call attention to the following scientific 

 works of great interest, issued during the past year in this country, by pri- 

 vate individuals. " Mastodon Giganteus," a description of the skeleton of 

 the Mastodon Giganteus of North America, with plates. This elegant and 

 costly work, the fruit of many years' investigation, has been brought out 

 by Dr. J. C. Warren of Boston, and is intended for private distribution. 

 Several valuable geological and zoological memoirs have been publishd by 

 Isaac Lea, Esq., of Philadelphia, and a valuable " Catalogue of shells 

 collected at Panama with notes on their synonomy, station and geographi- 

 cal distribution," has been issued by the late Prof. C. B. Adams. The num- 

 3 



