INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS DURING THE YEAR 1875. ccix 



by Professor Brewer, as he asserts that there is no proof of 

 this " dogma." He thinks that the practical breeders of thor- 

 oughbred stock (of whatever kind) commonly believe that so 

 long as the breed is kept pure and no other blood mingled, 

 that, although the animals may vary greatly in excellence, 

 all of them will have the essential characters which distin- 

 guish that breed from all other breeds or " types." On the 

 other hand, many persons (not breeders of thoroughbred 

 stock so far as he knows) have asserted that, if neglected, any 

 breed will " revert to the original type." That grade ani- 

 mals often " revert," that curious freaks and sports often at- 

 tend violent crossing (and also that breeds deteriorate under 

 bad management or bad conditions), are well enough known ; 

 but these facts do not affect the specific questions asked (in 

 a printed circular), where the blood is supposed to have been 

 kept strictly pure. 



The address of Mr. Sclater before the section of Biology 

 of the British Association for the Advancement of Science 

 was on "The Present State of our Knowledge of Geograph- 

 ical Zoology." It was restricted to the Vertebrates, but is a 

 useful discourse. 



"Bats and their Young" is the title of an article by Pro- 

 fessor B. G.Wilder in the Popular Science Monthly r , and con- 

 tains much new material regarding the early stages of these 

 animals. He has also contributed to the American Journal 

 of Science a description of a foetal manatee. 



Important monographic accounts of the Saccomyidce the 

 group of Pouched Mice and the Geomyidw, or Gophers,have 

 been published by Dr. Coues ; while Mr. J. A. Allen has pub- 

 lished in the Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural 

 History a synopsis of American Xeporidce, or Hares, the pres- 

 ent paper being an abstract of a monograph now in prep- 

 aration. Several papers on new or little-known mammals 

 by different writers are contained in the Proceedings of the 

 Zoological Society of London and other serials. 



A new fossil Lemur has been described in the Proceedings 

 of the Academy of Sciences of Philadelphia by Professor 

 Cope, from the Eocene and Tertiary deposits of the Rocky 

 Mountains. It belongs to a type which he had originally 

 shown to have relations with the Procyonidm and other re- 

 lated low forms of Carnivora. Professor Cope has also dis- 



