734 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. III. No. 72. 



sanog, the figures from which are repro- 

 duced, and the suggestion advanced that 

 they indicate Huron-Iroquois influence. A 

 number of pipes of clay and stone and 

 arrow heads of unusual shape are figured. 

 The timely warning is given that of late 

 years the manufacture of fraudulent speci- 

 mens of this character has notably in- 

 creased, and collectors should be on the 

 alert. To detect these ' fakes,' Mr. Boyle 

 recommends the use of a lens of low power 

 by which it is easy to distinguish where the 

 partination has been destroyed. 



D. G. Brintott. 

 University of Pennsylvania. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 



BATEACHIANS AND CRUSTACEANS FROM THE 



SUBTERRANEAN WATERS OP TEXAS. 



In advanced sheets from the Proceedings of 

 the U. S. National Museum, Dr. Leonard Stej- 

 neger describes a new genus of batrachiaus 

 from an artesian well at San Marcos, Texas, 

 and Mr. James E. Benedict describes a new ge- 

 nus and three new species of crustaceans from 

 the same well. Dr. Stejneger gives some inter- 

 esting details regarding the new species of sal- 

 amander-lilie batrachians which he calls Typhlo- 

 molge Hathbuni, ' ' The animals, by their want of 

 external eyes and their white color, at once pro- 

 claimed themselves as cave-dwellers, but their 

 extraordinary proportions, absolutely unique 

 in the order to which they belong, suggest 

 unusual conditions of life, which alone can 

 have produced such profound differences. The 

 most startling external feature is the length 

 and slenderness of the legs, like which there is 

 nothing among the tailed batrachians thus far 

 known. While the normal number of fingers 

 and toes is present (4 and 5), it is worthy of 

 note that not only is there a great variation in 

 the relative length of these members, but even 

 the length of the legs in the same animal may 

 differ as much as two millimeters. Viewed in 

 connection with the Avell-developed, finned 

 swimming tail, it can be safely assumed that 

 these extraordinarily slender and elongated legs 

 are not used for locomotion, and the conviction 



is irresistible that in the inky darkness of the 

 subterranean waters they serve the animal as 

 feelers, their development being thus parallel 

 to the excessive elongation of the antennre of 

 the crustaceans, of which I have been informed 

 by Mr. Benedict. The external gills at once 

 suggested that these animals might be only lar- 

 V£e. The fact that one of them contained large 

 eggs, and that another expelled three eggs af- 

 ter being caught, was no positive proof to the 

 contrary, but in conjunction with the affinity of 

 the species to other forms known to have per- 

 sistent gills throughout life it makes it abso- 

 lutely certain that we have to do with an adult 

 and final animal." 



THE FOREST RESOU'RCES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



In a recent circular prepared by Dr. B. E. 

 Fernow for the Division of Forestry of the 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture it is stated 

 that the forest area of the United States (exclu- 

 sive of Alaska) may be placed at somewhat less 

 than 500,000,000 acres. This does not include 

 much brush and Avaste land which is, and will 

 remain for a long time, without any economic 

 value. This area is very unevenly distributed ; 

 seven-tenths are found on the Atlantic side of 

 the continent, only one- tenth on the Pacific 

 coast, another tenth on the Rocky Mountains, 

 the balance being scattered over the interior of 

 the Western States. Both the New England 

 States and the Southern States have still 50 per 

 cent, of their area, more or less, under forest 

 cover, but in the former the merchantable 

 timber has been largely removed. The prairie 

 States, with an area in round numbers of 400,- 

 000 square miles, contain hardly 4 per cent, of 

 forest growth, and the 1,330,000 square miles — 

 more than one-third of the whole country — of 

 arid or semi-arid character in the interior con- 

 tain practically no forest growth, economically 

 speaking. The annual value of forest products 

 is estimated at over $1,000,000,000, which makes 

 the industry next in importance to agriculture, 

 exceeding in the value of its products the mining 

 industries by more than 50 per cent. 



CAPE COLONY GEOLOGICAL COMMISSION. 



We have already announced the appointment, 

 by the government of Cape Colony, of a Geo- 



