GEOLOGY. 339 



tke coal strata of Ohio. In adverting to these new fossils, Prof. Wyman 

 remarked : 



As we descend through the strata of the earth the remains of fossils 

 become ever fewer, downward to the coal formations. In America the 

 remains of reptiles in the coal series are found by their footprints. Some 

 have been discovered by Lee, and others are to be described by Rogers, but 

 these are of the Batrachian order. Now it is of the highest necessity 

 that great caution be used in deciding upon the character of animals thus 

 made known to us, since they sometimes exhibit both reptilian and ichthyic 

 characteristics. The Gar pike, for instance, might be taken for a reptile if 

 only a part of its skeleton was found, and vice versa. One part of a vertebra 

 would lead the anatomist to judge it a fish, another part would give equal 

 reason to suppose it a reptile. We must, therefore, have many parts of a 

 skeleton. The fossil in question was undoubtedly reptilian. The cranium is so 

 much like that of a frog as to give the impression upon first inspection that it is 

 that animal ; but, on counting the vertebras, we find the number to be too great. 

 The skull is that of the tailless Batrachia ; the posterior parts those of one with a 

 tail. He was sure it was not a fish ; it looks like that of a serpent. There are 

 in these remains two characters not found in existing reptiles. First, broad pro- 

 cesses in the vertebra?, comparable to the Mirapoma of the Western rivers, and 

 thus far the animal was Batrachian ; Secondly, ribs like those of a serpent, un- 

 like any known Batrachian. Of existing Batrachians some are without limbs, 

 and some with limbs. Some of these latter have two toes ; some three, and 

 others four and five. The footprints found in Pennsylvania exhibit five toes 

 before and four behind. In this specimen appearances indicate the existence 

 of a fifth toe on the forefoot, which may yet lead to the discovery of the con- 

 nection of these footprints with Batrachian reptiles. 



Prof. Agassiz said that this was very welcome evidence of reptile life, and of 

 the difficulty of identifying animals from portions. He said that in dissection 

 of turtles he had discovered the particular bones in the turtle's neck, which 

 were supposed to be peculiar to birds, so that had a skeleton been found, the 

 upper portion of it would have been referred to a bird, and the lower to a 

 reptile. These discoveries forced upon science the necessity of reconsidering 

 many cases which were now relied upon as furnishing reliable evidence of 

 the existence of peculiar animals in past ages. He believed that the Batra- 

 chians did not belong to the class of reptiles, but that they formed a class of 

 amphibians intermediate between reptiles and fishes, and comprising a large 

 portion of what were called the large reptiles of the old ages. 



FOSSIL IXSECTS OF THE TERTIARY MAELS OF CROATIA, 



AUSTRIA. 



At the recent Meeting of the German Association for the Promotion of 

 Science, Prof. Heer presented a conspectus of the fossil insects found in the 

 Tertiary Sulphuriferous Marls of Radobog, Croatia. The Professor determined 

 303 species distributed among 114 genera; of these. 39 are Coleoptera, 34 

 Gyninognatha (Orthoptera), 82 Hymenoptera, 8 Lepidoptera, 79 Diptera, and 

 61 Rhynchota. The Coleoptera offer but few striking forms ; among the 



