August 3, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



151 



^IVvAVv-.i^^*"' 



At 5 :30 P.M., October 13, 1905, shortly after 

 leaving Cortlaxid, N. Y., on a Lehigh Valley 

 train for Elmira, N. Y., I observed to the 

 south or southwest a meteor of great bril- 

 liancy. Its first appearance was about thirty 

 degrees from the zenith and descended very 

 rapidly in an arc to about the same distance 

 from the horizon, when it burst like a sky- 

 rocket. It left a narrow, smoky trail, which 

 gradually increased in size and changed in 

 form to a zigzag, becoming more cloud-like 

 in appearance and growing fainter and fainter 

 until it was entirely dissipated. The smoky 

 trail in its transition was distinctly visible 

 for ten minutes. The sketches indicate its 

 gradual transition. 



E. E. Davis. 



- Norwich, N. Y. 



SPECIAL ARTICLES. 



ON THE OCCURRENCE OF DESMOSTYLUS, MARSH. 



The genus Desmostylus was described by 

 Marsh^ in 1888 from tooth fragments found 

 in Alameda County, California. It was re- 

 ferred to the Sirenia, and its nearest affinities 

 were supposed to be with Metaxytherium from 

 the Tertiary of Europe. In 1899 and 1900 

 additional specimens were examined by the 

 writer, with a view to obtaining further in- 

 formation as to its affinities, but no material 

 was obtained which furnished more evidence 

 than the type specimens described by Marsh. 



In 1902 Yoshiwara and Iwasiki' described 

 from the Miocene of Japan a number of speci- 

 mens showing tooth structure almost identical 

 with that of Desmostylus. This material also 



^ Am. Jour. Sci., 1888, p. 94. 

 ^ Jour, of the Coll. of Science, Imperial Univ. 

 of Tokyo,, Vol. 16, Art. 6, 1902. 



furnished considerable evidence concerning 

 the structure of the skull. The authors recog- 

 nized the resemblances of this form to the 

 Sirenia. 



Shortly after the appearance of the paper 

 on the Japanese specimens a review of this 

 article was published by Professor H. F. 

 Osborn,^ who included a short note on recent 

 studies of Desmostyliis by Merriam. Pro- 

 fessor Osborn considered the reference of the 

 animal somewhat uncertain, very properly 

 pointing out that both sirenian and probos- 

 cidean characters were represented. 



During the past year two occurrences of 

 Desmostylus have come to the notice of the 

 writer. In both cases the reference of the 

 specimens to this form seemed beyond ques- 

 tion, and in both instances the occurrence 

 furnished evidence of considerable importance 

 regarding the possible habitat of the animals. 

 The first specimen, consisting of two well-pre- 

 served columns of a large Desmostylus tooth, 

 came into my hands through the kindness of 

 Professor Andrew C. Lawson. It was ob- 

 tained by Professor Lawson from Mr. W. L. 

 Still, of La Panza, San Luis Obispo County, 

 Calif. It was found in a cultivated field on 

 Mr. StiU's ranch. This locality is stated by 

 Professor Lawson to be in a belt of Monterey 

 shale which extends through this part of the 

 country for many miles. 



The second lot of material, including nu- 

 merous tooth fragments, was presented to the 

 university by Mr. C, H. McCharles, of the 

 University of California. It was obtained 

 from a belt of shale six miles northeast of 

 Santa Ana, Orange County, California, and 



^Science, N. S., Vol. XVI., p. 713. 



