460 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IX. No. 231. 



fragment of skin is 1 cm. thick covered, exter- 

 nally with coarse, dirty yellowish hair, and in- 

 ternally so thickly set with rounded ossicles as 

 to suggest a cobblestone pavement. The inner 

 surface of the larger piece does not show any 

 ossicles, but in the freshly-cut margin they are 

 apparent, although small and completely im- 

 bedded in the skin ; the hair on this fragment 

 is from 5 to 9 cm. long. Under the microscope 

 a transverse section of this hair is seen to be 

 solid, lacking the central pith usually present, 

 and on comparison with the hairs of various 

 South American edentates its greatest likeness 

 is found in the central axis of the hair of 

 Bradypus. The microscopical structure of the 

 ossicles, which is described at length by Dr. 

 Lonuberg, is strikingly like that of the ossicles 

 of the true fossil Mylodon. The claw, 104 mm. 

 long by 34 wide, is considered to belong to Neo- 

 mylodon, as there is no existing South American 

 mammal provided with similar claws, and is be- 

 lieved to have belonged on a hind foot. The 

 animal is estimated to have been at least 6 feet 

 long and 4 feet or so high at the shoulder. After 

 a careful consideration Dr. Lonuberg comes to 

 the conclusion that, while Neomylodon was con- 

 temporaneous with early man and was used as 

 food, it certainly does not exist at present, be- 

 cause it is absolutely impossible for it to have 

 eluded the sharp eyes of the native Indians ; 

 neither is it identical with the animal that 

 Eamon Listai is said to have shot at. It will 

 be noted that the conditions under which the 

 skin was preserved are very similar to those 

 which led to the preservation of portions of the 

 skin and feathers of Binornis. 



F. A. L. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

 The> Second International Conference on a 

 Catalogue of Scientific Literature requested the 

 delegates from the countries represented to 

 take steps for the formation of committees to 

 study the various questions relating to the Cata- 

 logue, and for the United States the following 

 committee has been named : Dr. J. S. Billings, 

 Professor Simon Newcomb, Dr. Theodore N. 

 Gill, Professor H. P. Bowditch, Dr. Robert 

 Fletcher, Mr. Clement W. Andrews and Dr. 

 Cyrus Adler. Diflferent universities and scien- 



tific societies have been invited to form com- 

 mittees to report upon the questions involved. 



The appointment of Mr. Herbert Putnam as 

 Librarian of the National Library will be wel- 

 comed by all friends of science and learning. 

 It is well known that Mr. Putnam has excel- 

 lently administered the Public Library of Min- 

 neapolis and the Boston Public Library, and 

 will undoubtedly make the National Library 

 what he has himself said it should be, " the foi-e- 

 most library in the United States, a national 

 library, the largest in the United States, a 

 model and example of assisting the work of 

 scholarship in the United States." Men of 

 science are directly interested in this appoint- 

 ment, as the great collection of scientific books 

 of the Smithsonian Institution is deposited in 

 the Library. 



Dr. Thomas J. See, recently appointed pro- 

 fessor of mathematics in the Naval Observa- 

 tory, has been designated as Chief of the Nau- 

 tical Almanac. 



Peofessob Patrick Geddes, of Edinburgh, 

 is at present visiting the United States with a 

 view to sociological and other studies. Profes- 

 sor Geddes is well known for his accomplish- 

 ments and versatility in biological science and 

 for his efforts to improve sociological conditions 

 in Edinburgh. 



Me. G. F. Stout, recently appointed Wilde 

 lecturer on mental philosophy at Oxford, and 

 Mr. Charles Stewart, Curator of the Museum 

 of the Royal College of Surgeons, London, have 

 been given the degree of LL.D. by the Univer- 

 sity of Aberdeen. 



The Stockholm Society for Geology and 

 Geography has awarded its Vega medal to 

 Professor Georg Schweinfurth, of Berlin. 



The Leopoldinisch-Carolinische Deutsche 

 Akademie der Naturforscher, of Halle, has 

 awarded the Cothenius gold medal to Dr. F. 

 Zirkel, professor of mineralogy in the Univer- 

 sity of Leipzig. 



Professor A. H. Sayce, of Oxford Univer- 

 sity, has been appointed Gifford lecturer in 

 Aberdeen University for 1900-1902. 



"' Professor Burdon Saunderson gave the 

 Croonian lecture before the Royal Society on 



