June 30, 1899.] 



SCIENCE. 



913: 



Indies and the adjacent coasts of America, 

 though 18 have a more or less extended range 

 over both hemispheres. 



Professor Osborn reported upon the anatomy 

 of the feet of a specimen of the well-known 

 ' mule-footed hog ' of Texas, recently presented 

 to the Zoological Museum of Columbia, by Dr. 

 Wickes Washburn. Externally the feet pre- 

 sent the appearance of complete fusion of the 

 third and forth toes. Internally, however, 

 considerable differences are observed. In the 

 pes the third and fourth metapodials and the 

 first phalanges are entirely separated and nor- 

 mal, the second pair of phalanges are closely 

 united, and the terminal phalanx is also closely 

 united, so it has the appearance of a single ele- 

 ment. The fusion is less advanced in the 

 manus ; here the metapodials, first and second 

 phalanges are separate, one of the second pha- 

 langes being abnormally hypertrophied and a 

 supernumerary element being inserted beneath 

 it. The terminal phalanges are very firmly 

 united into a single element, which holds the 

 bones above it together. Some discussion fol- 

 lowed, during the course of which Professor 

 Bristol stated that a large number of experi- 

 ments were being carried on at a Western ranch 

 to ascertain the effects of breeding upon this 

 peculiar variety. Professor Osborn remarked 

 that this anomaly presented an interesting case 

 of the persistence of a character which must 

 have originated as a sport. 



Professor Osborn's second paper included a 

 description of the remarkably complete skeleton 

 of a Mosasaur, recently mounted in the Amer- 

 ican Museum of Natural History. The skele- . 

 ton was procured two years ago from the 

 famous Smoky Hill Cretaceous beds of Kansas, 

 through Mr. Bourne, and has been worked out 

 with the greatest care. It is practically com- 

 plete as far back as the 7Sth caudal, and the 

 bones are approximately in position, including 

 the fore and hind paddle and, what is more re- 

 markable, the almost complete cartilaginous 

 sternum, sternal ribs, epicoracoids. The spe- 

 cies represents the largest type of American 

 Mosasaui-, Tylosaurus dyspelor Cope. As illus- 

 trated by numerous photographs and drawings, 

 the specimen throws a flood of new light upon 

 the structure of the Mosasaurs. The principal 



characters are the following : 7 cervicals, 10 

 dorsals connected with the sternum by carti- 

 laginous ribs, 12 dorsals with floating ribs, one 

 sacral and 72 caudal s (out of a total number of 

 86), coracoids connected by broad epicoracoids 

 having a transverse diameter of 22 cm. The 

 sternum is triangular in shape, tapering pos- 

 teriorly and having the general form of that in 

 Trachydosaurus ; there is no evidence of an 

 episternum, the shoulder girdle in general being 

 more degenerate than Platecarpus, in which an 

 episternum has been observed. The fore pad- 

 dles are smaller than the hind ones and include 

 two co-ossified carpals. The fifth digit is some- 

 what enlarged and set well apart from the 

 others. The hind paddle is slightly larger and 

 very completely preserved. The tail is re- 

 markable in presenting an upward curvature in 

 the mid-region, which probably supported a 

 prominent caudal fin, but it is not angulated 

 as in Ichthyosaurus. The skull shows the pres- 

 ence of epipterygoids. The total length of the 

 skeleton as preserved is a little over 270 feet ; 

 the estimated total length of the animal is 30 

 feet. In mounting, a single large panel has 

 been used, the animal lying upon its ventral 

 surface, with the paddles outstretched, the 

 sides of the back bone curved in a graceful 

 manner, exactly as originally imbedded in the 

 matrix. Francis E. Lloyd, 



Secretary. 



THE NEW YORK SECTION OF THE AMERICAN 

 CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 



The regular meeting of the New York Section 

 of the American Chemical Society was held on 

 Friday evening, the 9th inst., at the Chemists' 

 Club, IDS West Fifty-fifth street, Dr. William 

 McMurtrie presiding. The following papers 

 were read : ' Apparatus for testing the Density 

 of Cements,' by Morris Loeb, Ph.D.; 'The De- 

 termination of Sulphur in Bitumens,' by S. F. 

 and H. E. Peckham. 



The apparatus described by Dr. Loeb is a 

 modification of the well-known method for de- 

 termination of the density of powders by dis- 

 placement of liquid contained in a flask, but by 

 the system of calibration adopted and the use 

 of a specially graduated burette the volume 

 of liquid displaced is obtained by difference 



