642 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. III. No. 



The broad problems involved in the an- 

 nounced topic were primarily presented by 

 Mr. Whitman Cross in a concrete case. He 

 described the present state of knowledge re- 

 garding the formations of the Bocky Mountain 

 region belonging to the periods between the 

 Marine Cretaceous and the Wasatch Eocene, 

 including the Laramie, Arapahoe, Denver, Ft. 

 Union and Puerco. The statigraphic relations 

 as at present known were described, and then 

 the facts of the fossil floras, the invertebrate 

 and the vertebrate faunas, were summarized. 

 From the facts given it appears that the geolo- 

 gist investigating the formations of the group 

 named is confronted by much conflict of evi- 

 dence as to the relative importance of the time 

 intervals separating the epochs of sedimenta- 

 tion. This is especially true in respect to the 

 drawing of a line between the Mesozoic and 

 Cenozoic in this region. The conflict of evi- 

 dence in this instance was cited to show the 

 necessity for a careful examination as to the 

 nature of the connection between great faunal 

 changes and the contemporaneous events of 

 stratigraphic history. It appears that all forms 

 of life were able to survive the period of 

 great orographic disturbance at the close of the 

 Laramie proper without radical change and 

 that the dominant vertebrate life of the Post- 

 Laramie disappeared at the close of that epoch 

 from causes as yet vmknown, which did not 

 aflfect in any corresponding degree the contem- 

 poraneous plant and invertebrate life. 



Mr. F. H. Knowlton presented a review of 

 the fossil floras of the Laramie, Arapahoe, 

 Denver and Fort Union formations, showing 

 the strong distinctive characters of each and 

 also their intimate relationship. This evidence 

 fails to indicate any one break of supreme im- 

 importance in this series of epochs. 



Mr. T. W. Stanton reviewed in a similar 

 manner the known invertebrate life of the 

 upper Cretaceous and lower Eocene deposits of 

 the Rocky Mountain region. The termination 

 of true marine conditions was deemed to be 

 the only safe criterion from this evidence to be 

 applied in drawing a boundary for Mesozoic 

 time. 



A comparison of the vertebrate faunas of the 

 Post- Laramie, Puerco and Wasatch formations. 



by Prof. W. B. Scott, of Princeton, was read 

 by Mr. Cross. This brought out the remaik- 

 able differences in the vertebrate life of the 

 three epochs, and also the impossibility of ex- 

 plaining the abrupt changes in these faunas 

 from our present knowledge of attendant con- 

 ditions. 



Mr. F. V. Coville gave a review of the con- 

 ditions affecting the distribution and changes 

 in living floras, starting with the great control- 

 ling factors, heat and moisture, and making 

 suggestions as to the applicability of these data 

 to geological history. 



Dr. C. Hart Merriam similarly described the 

 conditions most affecting the distribution or 

 causing modifications of terrestrial vertebrate 

 life of the present, and discussed the apparent 

 application of these facts to the past. 



Mr. Bailey W^illis referred to the variable re- 

 lations which might exist between angular un- 

 conformity and otherwise important strati- 

 graphic breaks. 



Mr. R. T. Hill briefly referred to the develop- 

 ment of knowledge of the Lower Cretaceous 

 series of Texas, to which he had given twenty 

 years' study, and brought out facts that bore in 

 a general way on the subject under discussion. 



W. F. MOESELL. 



THE ANTHBOPOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF 

 WASHINGTO^N. 



The 248th regular meeting of the Society was 

 held April 7, 1896. 



Dr. Arthur MacDonald read a paper entitled 

 Psycho-Neural Measurements of Human Beings 

 xvith Illustrations and Experiments. 



Introduction : Philosophy in the old sense is 

 almost impossible ; no one man can have suffi- 

 cient insight into the different sciences to under- 

 stand their relations and make judgment of 

 their content. Specialism may narrow a man, 

 but it deepens his knowledge. Knowledge is 

 so dovetailed together that a specialty studied 

 thoroughly necessitates the investigation of the 

 nearest lying branches. Generalism is liable 

 to be superficial. The habit of studying one 

 thing thoroughly is the method of specialism 

 and is directly practical. The desire to include 

 the universe may be called generalism. 



Facts about the nervous system of man are 



