Notices of Memoirs — Various Brief Notices. 517 



pay a very substantial sum for this accumulated information, as, 

 without this, he might have to spend years and lose much valuable 

 time and money in finding it out. Thus the late occupier would 

 find that he had not only been getting together much valuable 

 information for himself, but information of such a nature that the 

 incoming tenant would be glad to buy it. 



VIII. — Brief Notices. 



1. The Yorkshire Philosophical Society. — The Annual Eeport 

 of this Society for 1903 is a trifle more bulky than usual, separate 

 copies of Dr. Anderson's paper on the West Indian Eruption, which 

 was published by the Eoyal Geographical Society, together with the 

 12 plates and map which accompanied the original paper, being 

 inserted. 



2. Cambrian of Portugal. — A fine series of fossils from the 

 calcareous schists of Alemtejo is described by J. F. Nery Delgado 

 (see Comm. Serv. Geol. Portugal, 1904, 6 pis.). Delgado considers 

 the fauna nearly allied to that of Olenelliis, and that it is more 

 ancient than the Cambrian fauna of Spain, which certainly belongs 

 to the zone of Faradoxides. The fauna contains Paradoxides, 

 Olenopsis, Miclcsia, Microdiscus, Metadoxides, and Olenellus among 

 the Trilobites, Lingulella, Oholella, Acrothele, Hyolithes, and many 

 Laraellibranchs. The plates contain photographic figures and are 

 excellently produced. 



3. Reclassification of the Reptilia. — Professor Osborn has 

 printed in the American Naturalist for February, 1904, his paper 

 on the reclassification of the Reptilia, read before the Societ}'- of 

 Vertebrate Palseontologists at Philadelphia in December, 1903. He 

 arrives at the following conclusions : — 



The birds probably originated from a group of Diaptosauria 

 identical with or closely related to that which gave rise to the 

 Dinosauria. It is not true that birds have descended from Dinosaurs, 

 but there is very strong evidence that birds and Dinosaurs are 

 descended from a common stock. 



There is no question that the mammals are affiliated with the 

 subclass Synapsida rather than with the Diapsida ; both in skull 

 and shoulder-girdle structure and in the phalangeal formula they 

 are Synapsidan. As to their nearer relationships they appear to be 

 rather with the superorder Anomodontia and with the order Cyno- 

 dontia or Theriodontia. The divergence of the mammal stem from 

 these typical reptiles will probably be found to have occurred in the 

 Permian or Trias of South Africa. 



4. Geology of Tunis. — Under the title "Etude geologique de la 

 Tunisie centrale," Dr. L. Pervinquiere has written a detailed mono- 

 graph around a really magnificent map of the country, geologically 

 coloured. The formations dealt with range from the Pleistocene 

 to the Trias, the fossils themselves being referable to the Lias, 

 Oxfordian, Portlandian, Neocomian, Aptian, Arbian, Cenomanian, 



