570 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIX. No. 1276 



being distinguished from the Elasmobranehii 

 (Selaehii) by: the development of true scales 

 and of two related structures — articulated fin 

 rays and membrane bones, the latter includ- 

 ing an opercle covering the branchial clefts; 

 the reduction of the interbranchial septa; the 

 presence of a developed air-bladder or lung, 

 of two external nostrils on each side; the lack 

 of pelvic claspers (mixipterygia), etc. The 

 Teleostomi, as Mr. C. Tate Eegan^ has recently 

 stated, " may be arranged in two series : in the 

 Actinopterygian series (Chondrostei and Tele- 

 ostei) the duct of the air-bladder opens dor- 

 sally or dorsolaterally into the alimentary 

 canal, the branchiostegals retain their primi- 

 tive serial arrangement, and the supports of the 

 paired fins are either in the form of a series of 

 parallel pterygiophores each of which is seg- 

 mented into a basal and a radial portion or 

 are modified from this plan by a simple proc- 

 ess of concentration and reduction ; in the Cros- 

 sopterygian series (Crossopterygii and Dip- 

 neusti) the opening of the pneumatic duct is 

 ventral, the branchiostegals are replaced by a 

 pair of gular plates, and the paired fins are 

 more or less lobate, with their supports tend- 

 ing to the biserial arrangement with axial 

 basalia." The first of these two series, the 

 primary subdivisions of the Teleostomi, is 

 known as the Actinopterygii or Actinopteri; 

 the second series apparently has received no 

 definite name. As both morphological and 

 paleontologicaP evidence indicate the mono- 

 phyletic naturalness of this group, it should 

 receive a distinctive designation; to indicate 

 its similarity and relationship with the prim- 

 itive Amphibia, this group, comprising the 

 Crossopterygii and the Dipneusti (Dipnoa), 

 may be termed Amphibioidei. 



The taxonomic rank to which the Amphi- 

 bioidei may be assigned is largely a matter of 

 personal opinion. The writer would classify 

 the group in serial arrangement among other 

 chordates as follows, leaving out of consider- 

 ation several groups wholly extinct and of 

 doubtful affinities (of these the Arthrodira or 



^Ann. Mag. Nat. Eist. (8), 3, 1909, p. 76. 



2 DoUo, Bull. Soc. Belg. Oiol., 9, 1895, p. 79. 



Arthrognathi have often been regarded as re- 

 lated to the Dipneusti or the Crossopterygii) : 



Subphylum Euohorda. 

 Superclass Pisees. 



Class Marsipobrancliii. 

 Class Elasmobranehii. 

 Class Teleostomi. 

 Subclass Actinopterygii. 

 Superorder Chondrostei. 

 Superorder Holostei. 

 Superorder Teleostei. 

 Subclass Amphibioidei. 

 Superorder Crossopterygii. 

 Superorder Dipneusti. 

 Superclass Tetrapoda. 

 Class Amphibia, etc. 



Carl L. Hubbs 

 riBLD Museum of Natural History 



THE BUFFALO MEETING OF THE 

 AMERICAN CHEMICAL SO- 

 CIETY 



The Buffalo meeting of the society, known as 

 the "Victory" meeting, was held April 7 to 11 

 and was attended by approximately 1,100 chem- 

 ists, and was one of the most enthusiastic meet- 

 ings the American Chemical Society has ever held. 

 Professor Giacomo Ciamician was elected an hon- 

 orary member of the society as Italy's leading or- 

 ganic chemist. Publication of compendia of chem- 

 ical literature and monographs was undertaken by 

 the society and committees appointed to carry the 

 plan into effect. The society also joined with the 

 National Eesearch Council in approving the forma- 

 tion of an International Eesearch Council and an 

 International Chemical Council in which all neu- 

 tral nations were to be allowed to participate on 

 the same basis as the allies. The society again 

 took a strong stand against the free importation of 

 chemicals and chemical apparatus for educational 

 institutions, believing that such a privilege not 

 only retarded the production of such materials in 

 this country, but it also created a false impression 

 as to the superiority of foreign-made materials. 

 The society voted that at the Philadelphia meeting 

 which is to be held from September 2-6, inclusive, 

 a Dye Section of the society should hold meetings 

 with Charles L. Eeese, as chairman. The opening 

 meeting on Tuesday, April 8, was made especially 

 interesting by the three following addresses, which 

 have been published in full in the May issue of the 

 Journal of Indiistrial and Engineering Chemistry: 



