HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



21 I 



Britannica," that in Sutherland there has been found 

 " a variety of P. scotica differing from the usual form 

 by having the umbel sessile, so that the elongated 

 pedicles appear to be one-flowered peduncles, as in 



-the common Primrose. Thus far the two forms are 

 in analogy with veris and vulgaris ; but there is no 

 corresponding change of character in calyx or 



-corolla.— IV. West, Bradford. 



The study of Flowers. — Messrs. W. & R. 

 •Chambers (London & Edinburgh) have just pub- 

 lished a well-got-up sixpenny brochure bearing the 

 .above title, and written by Dr. Andrew Wilson. 

 This little work is in reality a series of practical 

 exercises in elementary botany and gives simple but 

 very pleasant lessons about a buttercup, wallflower, 

 primrose, apple, deadnettle, tulip, daffodil, iris, 

 pea, daisy, &c. We cordially recommend the work 

 ,to all those engaged in teaching elementary botany. 



GEOLOGY. 



" Missing Links " between the Reptilia and 

 the Lowest Mammalia. — At a recent meeting 

 of the Geological Society, Professor Owen, F.R.S., 

 referred to certain Triassic reptiles from South 

 Africa, already described by him, as showing certain 

 resemblances to implacental Mammals. Another 

 still more interesting indication of such resemblances 

 is furnished by some remains from Graaff Reinet 

 received from Mr. E. J. Dunn. These consist of some 

 thoracic vertebrae with portions of ribs, a sternal 

 bone, a scapula, and a right humerus, found imbedded 

 in one mass of rock, and of a femur and phalanges, 

 and a pelvis in another mass. Professor Owen de- 

 scribed these bones in detail. The vertebra; were said 

 to agree most nearly with those of Dicynodon and 

 Oudenodon. The supposed sternal bone is of a 

 rounded hexagonal form, and is regarded by the 

 author as the anterior bone of the sternum proper, 

 which is usually unossified in recent lizards, but well 

 ossified in Ornithorhynchus. In the scapula also the 

 author pointed out resemblances to that bone in 

 Ornithorhynchus. The humerus in its general pro- 

 portions, and especially in the great development of 

 its ridges, was also shown to resemble the same bone 

 in the Monotremes. The ungual phalanges were 

 described as broad and obtuse, probably constructed 

 to bear claws adapted for digging, as in Echidna ; 

 the femur also resembles that of the last-named 

 animal. Professor Owen remarked upon these ap- 

 proximations to the Monotrematous Mammalia, in 

 allusion to which he proposed the name of Platy- 

 podosaurus rolitstus for this animal, the humerus of 

 which was \o\ inches long and nearly 6 inches broad 

 at the distal end. He also alluded to the interesting 

 problems opened up by the study of these South 

 African reptiles in connection with their possible 

 .relationships to the low implacental Mammalia of 



New Guinea, Australia, and Tasmania. Professor 

 Seeley, after having had the opportunity of inspecting 

 the specimens, by the courtesy of Professor Owen, had 

 arrived at the same conclusions with the author as 

 to the distinctness of this form. He was not able to 

 follow the author in dividing the reptiles of South 

 Africa into Dinosauria, Anomodontia, and Therio- 

 dontia, and asked Professor Owen to state how these 

 groups differ in vertebral characters, that we might 

 judge of the affinities of the fossil. All seemed to him 

 to show remarkable mammalian resemblances, as had 

 been pointed out by the author ; but he doubted 

 whether this implied the evolution of Mammalian 

 orders from the South African reptiles, as Professor 

 Owen had suggested. He alluded to the remarkable 

 modification of the humerus found in the mole, as 

 throwing light on the singular modifications of form 

 which may result from burrowing habits, and suggested 

 that as the Ornithorhynchus also burrows, and its re- 

 semblances to the fossil do not extend to the more 

 important parts of the skeleton, the correspondence 

 was more likely to show merely that the humeral 

 bones were used in similar ways in the fossil reptile. 



Jade Celts. — At the meeting of the Archaeolo- 

 gical Association of Ireland, held in Belfast in the 

 month of July, a highly polished and elaborately 

 wrought celt of Eastern jade, found in Co. Antrim, 

 was exhibited by Canon Macllwaine, who read a 

 paper on it, and others of like material. Since the 

 close of the proceedings a very similar celt has come 

 to light, which was discovered in the Co. Derry. A 

 coloured engraving of both will appear in the forth- 

 coming journal of the society. The engravings are 

 from the establishment of Messrs. F. Ward and Co. 

 The genuineness of both these interesting antiquarian 

 objects appears to be capable of direct proof, which 

 will give to them, as " Irish finds," a great amount 

 of interest among our archaeologists. 



Stratigraphical position of the various 

 Formations. — The anniversary address of Mr. 

 Kinahan, M.R.I. A., as president of the Royal Dublin 

 Society, has been republished in the form of a small 

 pamphlet. The author deals principally with the 

 stratigraphical position of the various formations in 

 Ireland, and points out the erroneous ideas which 

 may arise concerning the thickness of strata by com- 

 puting their vertical extent from the aggregate of 

 their component parts formed in different places. 



Geologising in India. — The following extract 

 from a letter of Mr. R. Lydekker, M.A.,F.G.S., the 

 well-known Palaeontologist to the Indian Geological 

 Survey, will give a good idea of the difficulties under 

 which science has to be pursued in the Himalayas : 



Skardo, Baltistun. 



May 25/Vz, 18S0. 

 Since my last letter, I have only made ten marches, 

 but they have been stiff ones. We had a very hard 



