84 
in the development of geographical science; 
and geography profited thereby. 
W. M. Davis 
CAMBRIDGE, MASS., 
June, 1918 
ARMAND THEVENIN 
Tue French paleontologist, Armand Theve- 
nin, who lost his life on March ‘7, at the age 
of forty-eight years, as a result of experiment- 
ing with poisonous gases in connection with 
the war, will be remembered chiefly for his 
beautiful memoir on the early vertebrates of 
France. He was particularly interested dur- 
ing several years in the Coal Measures Am- 
phibia of France and in 1906 under the title 
“ Amphibiens. et Reptile du Terrain Houiller 
de France” he published in the Annales de 
Paléontologie his initial memoir on this sub- 
ject. In this memoir Thevenin showed a wide 
acquaintance with the subject of fossil Am- 
phibia and was especially fortunate in the 
discovery of an interesting and primitive 
reptile which he described under the name of 
Sauravus costet. This form, as the most an- 
cient reptile of France, is paralleled in Amer- 
ica by the form Hosauravus copei described 
by Williston from the Coal Measures of Lin- 
ton, Ohio. 
Four years later appeared Theyenin’s mono- 
graphic contribution to vertebrate paleontol- 
ogy, published with the title “ Les plus anciens 
Quadrupédes de France” in Tome V. of the 
Annales de Paléontologie. This beautifully 
illustrated and carefully written memoir was 
awarded a prize by the Academy of Sciences 
and will now stand for all time as an indica- 
tion of the ability and ideals of Armand 
Thevenin. Had his life been spared he doubt- 
less would have given us other memoirs of a 
like nature, for shortly before the war he was 
interested in the study of the vertebrate pa- 
leontology of Madagasear, of which several 
studies had appeared in the pages of the An- 
nales de Paléontologie. Thevenin summarized 
the results of his studies on the most ancient 
vertebrates of France by noting, for both am- 
phibians and reptiles, the diversity of form 
and structure exhibited by the species which 
SCIENCE 
[N. S. Von. XLVIIT. No. 1230 
he had studied, suggesting that the vertebrates 
of the Coal Measures, though very ancient, 
were still a long way from their origin. A 
similar conclusion has been reached by stu- 
dents of early vertebrates in America. 
Thevenin was fortunate in his association 
in the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle 
with paleontologists of international fame, 
such as Albert Gaudry and Marcellin Boule 
and he profited by his association in pro- 
ducing under the stimulus of their influence 
his interesting studies on fossil vertebrates. 
His list of papers is not extensive, probably 
not over a dozen all told, but his work was 
earefully and well done and he will stand as 
a worthy worker in the development of verte- 
brate paleontology. Students of paleontology 
in the future may gain much by studying 
carefully the neat and orderly presentation of 
facts and the beautiful illustrations of his 
“Tes plus anciens Quadrupédes de France” 
and thus be stimulated to produce better and 
more carefully wrought pieces of thoughtful 
endeavor. 
Roy L. Moopr 
COLLEGE OF MEDICINE, 
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
SCIENTIFIC EVENTS 
THE KATMAI EXPEDITION OF THE NATIONAL 
GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY 
Worp has just been received of the safe ar- 
rival in the field of this year’s National 
Geographic Society expedition to the Valley 
of Ten Thousand Smokes. On account of the 
war and particularly because of the difficulty 
of securing transportation for a larger party 
it was deemed advisable to send only two men 
into the field this year, the director, Dr. Robert 
¥. Griggs, and other members of the expedi- 
tion remaining behind to work up the unpub- 
lished results of the expedition of 1917. The 
field party consists of Jasper Sayre and Paul 
R. Hagelbarger, ‘both members of last year’s 
expedition. Their mission is to carry forward 
reconnaissances into country not reached by 
previous expeditions and to lay the foundation 
for more intensive scientific study of the vol- 
canic phenomena manifested in the Valley of 
