166 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. I., No. 6. 



fessor Hubrecht finds mathematics unconvincing, we 

 would beg him to consult genealogical records, by 

 which he could ascertain the carefully registered con- 

 tradiction of his assumption that there is a series of 

 the first-born, or even an approximation to it. 



Second, We cannot accept the assertion, that a large 

 number of ancestors increases the tendency to varia- 

 bility, because the direct influence of the progenitors 

 upon the production of variations very rapidly dimin- 

 ishes as the number of generations increases. And, 

 on the other hand, it is well known that long-inherited 

 characteristics are the most constant. Tlie more 

 ancient a feature is, the greater its fixity: hence we 

 might as well assume the opposite of Hubrecht's 

 assertion; viz., that the greater the number of ances- 

 tors, the more fixed the qualities of the young. Here 

 it may be noticed, that although it is very probable 

 that the parents' age causes modifications in the 

 young, yet Hubrecht mentions only one fact to sup- 

 port the assertion, and that fact is the only one 

 brought forward to support any portion of his hypoth- 

 eses. We certainly have no sufficient reason for 

 agreeing with the assumption that first-born would 

 be more variable than last-born. 



Third, If we admit the two previous premises, we 

 should still have to show that they have given us the 

 determination of the real causes. If evolution by 

 primogeniture were a real cause, then the most varia- 

 ble animals, or those classes where there are most 

 species, would, in consequence of inherited habit, pro- 

 duce young while themselves young, and the stable 

 types would have acquired the characteristics of re- 

 producing very late. Such, however, is not the case. 

 Insects, the most variable of types, reproduce, for the 

 most part, at the end of their lives ; while the perma- 

 nent type, Lingula, reproduces while young. Further 

 objections might be added ; but sufficient has been 

 said to explain, and, it is believed, to jxistify, the con- 

 demnation of the hypotheses involved in the author's 

 generalization. 



Professor Hubrecht, by his able morphological re- 

 searches on various subjects, notably on the anatomy 

 of nemertines, has earned a well-deserved esteem: 

 and it is a matter of regret to have to criticise any 

 writing of his severely; but the tendency to draw a 

 maximum of conclusion from a minimum of fact is 

 one to which we feel impelled to object most strenu- 

 ously. Hubrecht (p. 279) speaks almost sneeringly 

 of what he is pleased to call the school of scientific 

 zoologists,' or those who have sought to elevate zool- 

 ogy above mere systematic work. The cause of his 

 animus we do not know, but feel that he is hardly 

 just, and not likely to wish to be called an loisci- 

 entific zoologist himself. Of his hypothesis of devel- 

 opment by primogeniture, our opinion has been 

 expressed. Charles S. Minot. 



NOTES ON THE GEOLOGY OF JAPAN. 

 We are permitted, by the courtesy of M. Jules 

 Marcou of Cambridge, to make use of tlie following 

 extract from a letter addressed to him from Tokio by 

 Dr. C. Gottsche, professor of geology in the Tokio 

 daigaku, or imijerial university. 



Since you published, seven years ago, the Explica- 

 tion d'line carte geoloc/ique de la terre, much has been 

 clianged in Japan. Lymau's flying surveys in Tesso 



' Scientific zoology iwiintenachafiliche zonlogie) has bad, 

 since the esttljlisiiment of Siebold and Kolliker'a Zeitschri/l 

 fiXr wisHenfichafUicJie soologie, a special significance to profes- 

 sional naturalists. 



and Japan expired in 1879. A new geological survey 

 has been established, under the superintendence of 

 Dr. E. Naumann ; geology has been taught for more 

 than six years, both in the university and at the en- 

 gineering college of Tokio; and travellers are allowed 

 to cross the interior in every direction. A mass of 

 information has been procured in this way; and I 

 suppose you will find valuable materials in the no- 

 tices, and in the little sketch-map my friend and 

 countryman. Dr. Naumann, is just preparing for you. 

 Nevertheless, I take the liberty to furnish you with 

 some additional remarks on facts or specimens which 

 I have recently examined, and which might be over- 

 looked by him. 



The upper Devonian system is indicated by half a 

 dozen specimens of Spirifer disjunctus de Verneuil, 

 which I met In several old Japanese collections, and 

 which partly originate from the provinces Tosa (on 

 Shikoku) and Ise (on the main island). This fossil 

 has not yet been met with in situ. 



The carboniferous system is only represented by 

 marine limestones, which are exposed in seventeen 

 localities along the eastern coast of Japan, from 39° 

 10' N. L. to 31° 20' N. L. The fauna is very scanty; 

 but everywhere the limestones are characterized by the 

 common occurrence of Fusulina and Schwagerina, 

 which in many cases are accompanied by Endothyra, 

 Textilaria, and Trochammina. Among other fossils, 

 I mention only Bellerophon (?) hiulcus Sow., Favo- 

 sites, and Poteriocrinus. 



The limestones correspond, in my judgment, to the 

 whole carboniferous system, the upper jiroductive 

 series included. My reasons are: 1°. The different 

 paleontological character of the lower carboniferous 

 mountain-limestone of Lo-ping in China (cf. Kayser, 

 Zeitschr. deuisch. geol. gesellsclu, 1881, 351); 2°. The 

 common occurrence of the genus Schwagerina, which 

 I think is confined to the uppermost carboniferous and 

 lower dyassic systems of Nebraska, Russia, and Aus- 

 trian Alps; .3°. The researches of V. von Moller, 

 who states that the marine carboniferous limestones 

 of Russia also represent the entire system. From 

 the second point, it might seem that our Japanese 

 deposits correspond only to the uppermost series, 

 which in China is really productive. 



The darktriassic shales, with Monotis salinaria, var. 

 RichemondianaZittel, which Dr. Naumann discovered 

 near Sendai {Jahrh. k.-k. reichsanst., 18S1, 519), now 

 extend from 40° N. L. (Niageba, province of Ugo) 

 to 33° N. L. (KInkaisan, province of Higo). This 

 will be the more interesting to you as special care is 

 devoted in your Explication to the Monotis strata. 

 Very similar dark shales from Okatzumura and Min- 

 atomura, district of Ojikagori, province of Rikuzen 

 (about 38° 30' N. L., 141° 20' E. long., Greenw.), are 

 lower liassic. I recognized within them Aiietites bi- 

 sulcatus Brug., Arietites of rotiformis Sow., and Ly- 

 toceras sp. of the group of L. fimbriatum. The two 

 Arietites are characteristic for the Ammonites Buck- 

 landl-zone of Oppel. 



The middle Jurassic is only represented by plant- 

 beai'ing sliales. Dr. Geyler of Frankfurt described 

 already sixteen species from the Tetorigawa valley, 

 in the province of Kaga (Palaeontogr., xxiv. 221, .5 

 pi.), mostly identical with Jurassic species from' 

 Amuria, eastern Siberia, and Spitzberg. In the 

 mean while the number of localities and fossils has 

 somewhat increased. The said strata have been met 

 with again at Nozlrlniura, province of Echlzen; 

 Ogamigo, district of Onogori, province of Hida; 

 MidzutanI, near Yuasa, province of Kishlu; and 

 Tannomura, province of Awa, on Shikoku. The 

 leading fossil is everywhere Podozamites lanceolatus 



