692 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. 2LI. No. 1062 



raccoons as well as to Bassariscus, and there- 

 fore belongs in some subdivisional group by 

 itself. This is likewise true of Nasua, for, 

 although the morphology and characters of 

 its skull, axial skeleton and limbs are pro- 

 cyonine, it nevertheless departs very decid- 

 edly from the true raccoons in not a few of 

 its osteological characters. This is seen in 

 the elongate form of the skull in Nasua with 

 its relatively smaller bullae; the mesial fora- 

 men between the anterior palatine foramina; 

 the upturned nasals, but more particularly 

 the great differences to be found in the long 

 bones of its skeleton; their proportional 

 lengths and their characters, as well as the 

 difference in form of the scapula and pelvis. 

 These constamt differences in the skeleton 

 among Bassariscus, Procyon and Nasua are 

 supergeneric and must be so considered. 



Coming to Potos, we not only find the rad- 

 ical difference in the dental armature as com- 

 pared with all the other genera; but its skull, 

 although exhibiting certain general procyo- 

 nine characters, is, in its form, entirely dif- 

 ferent from the skull of Procyon, or of Nasua, 

 or the bassaris, or of Bassaricyon. The skull 

 of a kinkajou is as short as the skull in a do- 

 mestic cat; the mastoid process is entirely 

 aborted; the paroccipital stands away from 

 the bulla on the same side; tympanies short; 

 frontal sinuses extremely small; and in the 

 mandible the complete coossification of the 

 horizontal rami at the symphysis, with the 

 lower border of the bone concave. There are 

 likewise numerous differences in the axial 

 skeleton which have been fully enumerated 

 above. In short, Potos, with its short skull; 

 prehensile tail; different vertebral column; 

 and other departures in its skeleton from the 

 more closely related genera noted above, be- 

 longs strictly in a group by itself — that is, the 

 several sx>ecies do, and, while evidently pro- 

 cyonine in its characters and relationships, 

 it is nevertheless well removed from the more 

 typical raccoons, and the further we study its 

 habits and anatomy, the more evident does 

 this fact become. 



In short, this group of mammals consti- 

 tutes a superfamily Procyonoidea, divisible 



into two families — the Procyonidee and the 

 Potoslidse, with the former family divided 

 into three subfamilies, Bassarisinae, Bassari- 

 cyoninse and Nasuinse, thus: 



Superfamily Families Subfamilies 



(ProcyonidsB rBassarisins 

 Potosidse Protosinae 

 and this I believe to be their true relation- 

 ships in nature. 



K. W. Shupeldt 

 Washington, D. C, 

 December 24, 1914 



THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



The sessions of the annual meeting of the acad- 

 emy were held in the Oak Room of the Ealeigh 

 Hotel and in the United States National Museum, 

 Washington, D. C, on April 19, 20 and 21, 1915. 



Sixty-one members were present, as follows: 

 Abel, Becker, Bell, Boltwood, Britton, Bumstead, 

 Cattell, Chamberlin, Chittenden, Clark (W. B.), 

 Clarke (F. W.), Clarke (J. M.), Conklin, Coulter, 

 Cross, Ball, Davenport, Davis, Day, Donaldson, 

 Fewkes, Frost, Hague, Hale, Harper, Harrison, 

 Hayford, Hillebrand, Holmes, Howell, Jennings, 

 Loeb, Mall, Meltzer, Mendel, Merriam, Michelson, 

 Moore, Morgan, Morley, Nichols (E. L.), Noyes 

 (A. A.), Noyes (W. A.), Osbom (H. F.), Osborne 

 (T. B.), Parker, Pickering, Pirsson, Eansome, 

 Eeid, Eemsen, Sehuchert, Scott, Smith (Erwin F.), 

 Walcott, Webster, Welch, Wheeler, White, Wood 

 (E. W.), Woodward. 



The following scientific program was carried out 

 in full: 



"Localization of the Hereditary Material in 

 Germ Cells," by Thomas H. Morgan. 



Problems of Nutrition and Growth: 



"Stimulation of Growth," by Jacques Loeb. 



"Specific Chemical Aspects of Growth," by 

 Lafayette B. Mendel. 



"Basal Metabolism during the Period of 

 Growth," by Eugene P. Du Bois, medical di- 

 rector, Eussell Sage Institute of Pathology (by in- 

 vitation of the Program Committee). 



"Eeteution in the Circulation of Injected Dex- 

 trose in Depanoreatized Animals and the Effect of 

 an Intravenous Injection of an Emulsion of Pan- 

 creas upon this Eetention, " by I. S. Kleiner and 

 S. J. Meltzer. 



"The Electrical Photometry of Stars," by Joel 

 Stebbins, Draper Medallist. 



