872 
others have been trenched by streams. All 
show more or less distinet changes of form by 
weathering and washing (especially where tor- 
rent fans are built upon them), although gen- 
erally retaining something of the tumult of sur- 
face that characterizes recent slides. One of 
the slides (that by Schwanden in the Linththal) 
has a small amount of morainic material strewn 
over its surface, as well as more abundant mo- 
raine beneath it; and from this Oberholzer 
concludes that it occurred during the last in- 
terglacial epoch. But inasmuch as its surface 
is still very uneven, it can hardly be believed 
that it has been overridden by more than a 
small and short-lived glacier. 
No reference is made to the suggestion, which 
is certainly gaining ground among Swiss ob- 
servers, that the landslides of the class here 
described result from the oversteepening of the 
basal slopes of valleys that have been over- 
deepened by glacial erosion. 
THE GREAT AFRICAN LAKES. 
THE peculiar likeness of the fauna of Lake 
Tanganyika to marine forms has prompted a 
special study of the Great African Lakes by 
an expedition under the direction of J. E. S. 
Moore, whose report contains matter of much 
value (Tanganyika and the countries north of 
it. Geogr. Journ., XVII., 1901, 1-35). 
North of Tanganyika, the floor of the great 
rift valley or graben in which the lakes lie rises 
to form a strong barrier which once constituted 
part of the divide between the Congo and the 
Nile drainage systems. But now a group of 
large and active volcanoes some 50 miles 
further north, one of which is 13,000 feet high, 
have built a second barrier on'the valley floor, 
thus cutting off the basin of Lake Kiyu from 
that of Albert Edward Nyanza, and raising the 
former nearly 2,000 feet. That Kivu was once 
tributary to the Nile is clearly shown by its 
fauna, which is in nearly all respects identi- 
cal with the normal fresh-water lake fauna of 
the Nyanzas to the north; but its outlet, 
Rusisi river, now flows south with many cata- 
racts over the rocky swell in the valley floor, 
thus connecting Kivu with Tanganyika; and 
it is evidently since this connection was made 
that a fish characteristic of the Congo basin has 
SCIENCE. 
‘field. 
[N.S. Vou. XIII. No. 335. 
reached Kivu. The rift valley, the active vol- 
canoes far inland, the great lakes and their 
peculiar fauna combine to make this a region of 
remarkable interest. 
W. M. Davis. 
RECENT PROGRESS IN PALEONTOLOGY. 
CONGESTION OF MUSEUMS. 
Iv is very important that the various museums 
of the country should receive special funds with 
which to work up the collections of vertebrate 
fossils that are rapidly accumulating. Much 
more time is required in preparing a fossil than 
is spent in collecting and shipping it from the 
The result is that all the museums of the 
country which have been collecting during the 
past few years are greatly congested with 
material. According to a moderate estimate, 
from five to fifteen years of constant work must 
be spent upon the collections now in each of our 
museums. The delay in working up fossils of 
various types threatens to cause serious incon- 
venience and delay in the matter of publication. 
Even highly trained preparators are unable to 
prepare a fragile fossil rapidly. Some single 
dinosaur vertebrze, for example, are so broken 
that from a month to six weeks must be spent 
uponthem. The collections which have already 
been made in the West fill thousands of boxes, 
and the most welcome gift which could be made 
to any of our museums would be a gift espe- 
cially for the purposes of preparation. 
SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS, 
A GRATIFYING division of labor is in progress 
among the vertebrate paleontologists of the 
country. In Kansas University, Professor 
Williston is beginning a very careful study of 
the Plesiosaurs, which will form a sequel to his 
admirable memoir upon the Mosasaurs. In the 
University of California, Dr. Merriam is making 
a special examination of the John Day fauna. 
In Yale University, Dr. Wortman is thoroughly 
revising the rich collections made in the Eocene 
or Bridger beds, and will publish a series of 
papers illustrating Professor Marsh’s principal 
types. In the American Musuem, Dr. Hay is 
especially studying the fossil Chelonia of the 
American Museum and Cope collections; Dr. 
Matthew is making a study of the Creodonts of 
