142 Miscellaneous . 



Food of the Mastodon. By Prof. A. Gray. 

 Prof. Gray stated that there had been recently placed in his hands 

 specimens of earthy matter, filled with finely- broken fragments of 

 branches of trees, which were said to have been found occupying the 

 place of the stomach in the skeleton of the Mastodon exhumed on 

 Schooley's Mountain, N. J., and lately exhibited in Boston. As 

 similar observations are said to have been made in several instances, 

 Prof. Gray was induced to examine the substance brought to him. 

 The wood evidently consisted of branchlets of one, two and three 

 years old, broken, quite uniformly, into bits of half an inch or so in 

 iength, with only now and then traces of the bark remaining on the 

 wood. The wood was not at all fossilized, and was but slightly 

 decayed. From the appearance of the branchlets examined, Prof. 

 Gray inferred that they belonged to some coniferous tree or shrub, 

 and probably to a kind of spruce or fir, rather than to a true pine. 

 This inference was borne out by the examination of thin slices of the 

 wood by the microscope. The woody fibre was very beautifully and 

 distinctly marked with the circular discs that are characteristic of all 

 coniferous wood. The structure agreed perfectly with that in similar 

 branchlets of the common hemlock spruce. — Silliman's Journal for 

 May 1847, p. 436. 



On the Moose and Carabou, and on the American Raven. 



By L. Agassiz. 



These species differ from the European species, according to Prof. 



Agassiz, who consequently has named them anew, designating the 



Moose (Cervus alces) the C. lobatus ; the Carabou (C. tarandus) the 



C. hastalis ; the American Raven, C. lugubris. — Ibid. 



Pygorhynchus Gouldii, a new Echinus from the Millstone Grit of 

 Georgia. By M. Bouve. 



Above conico-convex, a little more sloping posteriorly than an- 

 teriorly. Margin somewhat rounded, except near and under the anus, 

 where, by an excavation or depression, it becomes acute. Inferior 

 surface subcircular. Mouth situated about one-third of longitudinal 

 diameter from the anterior margin. Apex subcentral, a little anterior, 

 but not so much so as the mouth. Ambulacra radiating at unequal 

 angles, the interambulacral spaces dividing the three anterior from 

 the two posterior, being wider than the rest. The pores of each 

 diverge considerably from the apex, becoming quite dilated a short 

 distance from it, then converge as they descend, until about two- 

 thirds the distance from the summit to the margin, where they are 

 very limited in width, and where the double rows become single. On 

 the margin they again slightly dilate, and are readily traceable to 

 their termination about the mouth, where they are prominent. The 

 anterior ambulacrum is much narrower than the rest. Anus trans- 

 verse, and situated at about one-fifth the distance from the posterior 

 margin to the apex. Whole length, as shown by three indivi- 

 duals examined, 1 J inch; greatest width lj inch; height 1 inch. 

 Locality, Baker County, Georgia. 



I have named this beautiful species after my respected friend, 

 Dr. Augustus A. Gould. — Ibid, p. 437. 



