76 



THE MUSEUM. 



ncmoralis in quantity, and including 

 both banded and unbanded varieties, 

 one would certainly come to the con- 

 clusion that Ihe original type was red, 

 whereas in liortcnsis yellow is the pre- 

 vailing color. The percentages of nc- 

 inoralis were found by Mr. Belt, of 

 Ealing, to be, at any rate for his neigh- 

 borhood, 37 percent, yellow, 51 red, 

 and 12 brown; while those oi hortcnsis 

 from the same district were 86 per 

 cent. }ellow, 14 red, and o brown. 



Another point of difference seems to 

 be that the color of the peristome and 

 columella is normal in ncmoralis and 

 accidental in hortensis, and collectors 

 will notice that it is much more fugi- 

 tive in Iiortensis than in ucmoralis. so 

 that the varieties of the latter shell 

 with dark red, pink, or yellow lips 

 should be protected from the light, and 

 even then may be found to lose the 

 color of their peristome. 



No doubt some of these differences 

 are not of very conclusive force when 

 used singly as arguments for the spec- 

 ies being only allied and not one, but 

 the cumulative force they possess when 

 considered all together is by no means 

 small. 



Ncmoralis is probably the older 

 shell of the two, being found not only 

 sub-fossil, but actually in Miocene 

 strata, while I am not aware that a 

 similar antiquity can be claimed for 

 hortcnsis. It might, therefore, be 

 held that hortensis is but a weak off- 

 shoot from nenioralis, or a more north- 

 ern form. My own observations, how- 

 ever, in Central and Southern France 

 and in Switzerland would not lead me 

 to this conclusion. 



Unlimited Supply of Fossil Re- 

 mains in the Bad Lands. 



Professor O. C. Farrington, of Chi- 

 cago, who spent last summer with his 

 assistants in the Bad Lands of South 

 Dakota, Nebraska and Wyoming, 

 writes in his report as follows: 



"No region in the world is richer in 

 the remains of ancient mammals than 



that mentioned, and the work of col- 

 lecting and preserving them before 

 they decay seems of paramount impor- 

 tance. Aside from the intrinsic inter- 

 est which the structure of these an- 

 cient animals possess, it seems hardly 

 less than a duty on the part of the 

 museum to secure and preserve as far 

 as possible these remains, as often as 

 they are exposed by the hand of na- 

 ture. The expedition sent by the 

 museum this year devoted its atten- 

 tion mainly to collecting mammal re- 

 mains of the White river and Loup 

 Fork ages I was ably assisted in the 

 work of collecting by Mr. E. S. Riggs, 

 and about three months were spent by 

 the party in the field. The work was 

 conducted during the first seven weeks 

 in the Bad Lands of South Dakota, 

 after which the "Corkscrew" beds near 

 Harrison, Nebraska, were visited. 

 The party then explored the escarp- 

 ments of the Deep Kiver beds near 

 White Sulphur Springs, Montana, and 

 the remainder of the time available 

 was spent in the Hat Creek basin of 

 Wyoming. While the material is as 

 yet too largely in the matrix to be ac- 

 curately reported upon, the expedition 

 may be characterized as remarkably 

 successful. The amount and quality 

 of the material collected are such as 

 to amply repay for the outlay, and it 

 was clearly demonstrated that the ma- 

 terial could be secured by collection 

 in the field far more profitably than by 

 purchase. The quantity of material 

 obtained for a given outlay was larger. 

 The work of collection was directed 

 towards a needed kind of material, and 

 details of scientific value were noted 

 which could not be gained with a pur- 

 chased collection. Among the speci- 

 mens secured were a nearly complete 

 skeleton of Titanotherium, a large 

 skull, with jaws and thirteen vertebras, 

 three skulls and many miscellaneous 

 bones of animals of the same genus; 

 two skulls, jaws, and leg bones of Acer- 

 atherium; a probably complete skele- 

 ton of Poebrotherium; a skull of Proto- 

 ceras; twenty-five skulls, some with 



