SCIENCE PROGRESS 



whether the Microsauria should be classed as reptiles or 

 amphibians, special mention being made of the fact that the 

 British Ceraferpetimi galvani tends to connect typical stego- 

 cephalians with microsaurians, as it retains the sculptured 

 and grooved skull, the pectoral girdle, and the cartilaginous 

 carpus and tarsus of the former, combined with the elongated 

 body and short ribs of the latter. 



To the American Naturalist, vol. xviii. pp. 367-75, Mr. R. L. 

 Moodie contributes a note on the alimentary canal of a branchio- 

 saurian salamander from the Carboniferous shales of Mazon 

 Creek, Illinois, for which the generic name Eiimicrerpeton is 

 proposed. The specimens are preserved in nodules, and were 

 it not that soon after death the oesophagus became loosened 

 and displaced, the viscera would recall those of a modern 

 salamander. The viscera were compared with those of several 

 modern salamanders, with the result that they are closest to 

 those of an immature Diemydylus torosiis, the next nearest 

 types being DesmognatJms, Spelerpes^ and Hemidactylus. From 

 this, it is possible that the adults of the last three retain 

 an ancestral condition of the intestine which is transient 

 in Diemydylus ; and the resemblance of the viscera of the 

 fossil to the recent forms tends to confirm the theory of 

 the author that modern salamanders are descended from 

 branchiosaurians. 



The small, carapaced, amphibian-like creature from the 

 Permian of Texas described many years ago by Prof, Cope 

 under the name Dissorophus and an allied genus for which the 

 author proposes the name Cacops form the subject of two 

 papers by Mr. S. W. Williston, respectively published in the 

 Bull. Geol. Soc. America, vol. xxi. pp. 249-48, and the Journal 

 of Geology, vol. xviii. pp. 526-41. They are regarded as 

 indicating a family — the Dissorophidce — of uncertain affinity. 



As the general characters of the skeleton are well shown in 

 the annexed illustration, it will suffice to quote Mr. Williston's 

 definition of the family, which is as follows : 



Skull with the otic notch completely enclosed, so as to form 

 a large ear-cavity. Palate with only two large teeth on each 

 side, one at the anterior inner margin of the nares, the other at 

 the posterior margin ; mandibular and maxillary teeth of nearly 

 equal size. Parasphenoid reduced. Twenty-one presacral and 

 two sacral vertebrae ; tail short. A dorsal carapace, composed 



