Apeil 29, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



585 



5. Such a problem is presented in the 

 future of the waste lands once covered by 

 the pine forests of Michigan. It is certain 

 befoi'e long to attract enough public atten- 

 tion to become a subject of legislation, and 

 our present attitude may do much to deter- 

 mine the course of events in this direction. 



6. Meantime there is every reason in 

 favor of proceeding as i-apidly as practi- 

 cable, along lines already suggested, in the 

 development of our State Biological Survey. 

 This, in fact, if not in form, has long been 

 in progress, as the studies of ' Unionidse in 

 Michigan,' the ' Bii-ds of Michigan,' the 

 ' Michigan Flora ' and various other pieces 

 of work of high scientific merit abundantly 

 testify. But it is time now that the work 

 should be organized, that the State should 

 recognize its duty to this form of scientific 

 work, and that we ourselves should be form- 

 ing clear conceptions of the ecological prob- 

 lems that, in wonderful, if perplexing, in- 

 terest, are sure to attend, into the twenti- 

 eth century, the Natural History Survey of 

 Michigan. 



V. M. Spalding. 

 University of Michigan. 



A COMPLETE SKELETON OF COBYPHOVON 

 RADIANS— NOTES UPON THE LOCO- 

 MOTION OF TBIS ANIMAL. 



The chief object of the American Museum 

 Expedition of 1896 was to complete ma- 

 terials for the investigation of the evolution 

 oftheAmblypoda,and extend our knowledge 

 of Corypliodon. Previous observations have 

 been principally upon scattered and im- 

 perfect material, and it seemed of the 

 utmost importance to secure materials 

 sufficient to determine the relations 

 of this animal to its ancestral form 

 Pantolambda, and to its successive form, 

 Ulntatheriwn ; also the proportions of the 

 body, the positions of its limbs and the num- 

 ber of its vertebrae. Accordingly the 

 Museum partj^, led by Dr. Wortman,. spent 



the months of April and May in north- 

 western New Mexico, revisiting the locality 

 where Cope's most complete Corypliodon, G. 

 elephantoims, had been found. The search 

 here in the ' Coryphodon ' or 'Wasatch 

 Beds ' was entirely unsuccessful, but fortu- 

 nately the underlying ' Torrejon Beds ' 

 yielded a remarkably complete series of 

 Pantolambda. The party moved to the 

 north in June, and devoted July and Au- 

 gust to a most energetic exploration of the 

 Big Horn Basin, especially of the exposures 

 on the south side of the Gray Bull Eiver 

 from Brown's Ranch towards the Big Horn 

 Eiver below Otto. 



As a result, parts of 18 individuals were 

 found in the Wasatch Beds (supplement- 

 ing the 30 individuals found in 1891), and 

 7 individuals in the Wind River Beds. 

 The selection of portions of nine individuals 

 for mounting was done with great care as 

 follows : The mounted skull, ' American 

 Museum Catalogue,' No 2,867, agrees ex- 

 actly in size, and is specifically identical 

 with the skull and jaws of No. 5,829. The 

 latter (No. 2,829), while laterally crushed, 

 had associated with it the right scapula 

 and complete forelimb, left scapula and 

 parts of left limb which were used in 

 mounting ; also all the vertebrse as far 

 back as the pelvis ; these vertebrse, while 

 too much crushed to mount, enabled us to 

 determine the formula and select, from 

 series Nos. 2,865 and 2,863, vertebrse which 

 exhibit the same characters. The latter 

 individual (No. 2,863) included the pelvis 

 and hind limb, thus determining positively 

 the correct proportions of the entire animal. 

 The mounting was done with great skill and 

 care by Mr. Hermann. 



In general one is struck by the very large 

 size of the head, formidable front teeth, the 

 shortness of the ribs, the heavy character 

 of the girdles, the heavy limbs, and the 

 semiplantigrade or subdigitigrade condition 

 of the feet. It is probable, as already shown 



