January 24, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



149 



the specimens of Megalocnus might have been 

 contained in this box of fossils from Honduras, 

 or they may Jiave come from some locality not 

 in Cuba. 



The only evidence which seems to contradict 

 this expression of doubt is that given by de la 

 Torre* in his ' Observaciones Geologicas y 

 Paleontologicas en la region central de la Isla 

 (Cuba).' In this article additional localities, 

 the vicinity of Cardenas and between Santo 

 Domingo and Sagua, are recorded. I am not 

 able to express an opinion as to the correct- 

 ness of these localities or on Torre's ability to 

 determine fossil vertebrates. I am inclined to 

 doubt because there has been so much error 

 regarding those fossils concerning which we 

 have subsequently been able to procure definite 

 data. 



The question which I wish here to bring to 

 the attention of vertebrate paleontologists is : 

 Are vertebrate fossils of the genus Megalocnus 

 found in Central America, especially in Hon- 

 duras ? 



A note may be added upon the question of 

 the priority of the name Megalocnus Leidy, 

 and Myomorphus Pomel. The note by Leidy 

 was published in the Proceedings of the Acad- 

 emy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Vol- 

 ume XX., pages 179-180. The date given at 

 the bottom of the page is June-July, 1868. 

 The article by Pomel was published in the 

 Comptes Rendus de V Academic des Sciences, 

 Paris, Vol. LXVII., for the second half, July 

 to December, 1868, pp^ 665-668. This is the 

 account of the proceedings of the session of 

 Monday, September 28, 1868. Apparently 

 Leidy's name antedates that of Pomel by sev- 

 eral months. 



The recent manunalian fauna of Cuba con- 

 sists of only two genera, a rodent, Capromys, 

 which possesses species in several other West 

 Indian Islands. It is a peculiar genus, having 

 its nearest relatives in the Octodont rodents of 

 South America. There are no relatives at all 

 on the North American continent. The other 

 genus is a peculiar large insectivore, Soleno- 

 don. This animal is entirely different from 

 anything found in any other part of America. 



* Anal. Real. Acad. Habana, Vol. XXIX., pp. 

 121-124, August, 1892. 



It is most closely related to a genus, which is 

 very different, found in Madagascar. If there 

 had been any Pleistocene connection between 

 North America and Cuba it would have inevi- 

 tably caused a considerable similarity between 

 the mammalian faunas of the two regions. 

 However, none of the common mamjnalian 

 types of the continent, such as cats, raccoons, 

 hares, etc., are found in that island. 



T. Wayland Vaughan. 

 Smithsonian Institution, 

 December 18, 1901. 



THE ENGLISH SPARROW IN NEW MEXICO. 



PoR some time we have known of the pres- 

 ence of this bird at Eaton and Las Vegas. 

 I have now for the first time observed it at 

 Albuquerque, the birds being fairly numerous 

 in the immediate vicinity of the railway sta- 

 tion. 



T. D. A. COCKERELL. 



SHOBTEB ARTICLES. 



NEJED: an ARABIAN METEORITE. 



Among a considerable number of important 

 specimens lately added to the Ward-Coonley 

 Collection of Meteorites, now on display at 

 the American Museum of Natural History in 

 New York, is a mass or single bolide of iron 

 from Western Australia called the Toundegin 

 or Penkaring Rock Meteorite. It is one and 

 one half feet in greatest diameter, and weighs 

 between 300 and 400 pounds. Its companion 

 piece, which is in the Royal Museum of 

 Vienna, weighs 910 kilogrammes (half a ton) 

 and is with Cranbourne, also from Australia, 

 one of the largest two meteorites from the en- 

 tire Eastern Hemisphere. 



But of even more interest is the subject of 

 the present notice: the Nejed Meteorite 

 from Central Arabia. It is a siderite or 

 iron meteorite, whose form is rudely tri- 

 angular, flattened in its longest diame- 

 ter, which is about fourteen inches, while 

 its thickness below is eleven inches, and 

 its breadth, or height, about nine inches. Its 

 surface is completely and very handsomely 

 covered with the pittings so frequent in 

 meteorites, whether of iron or of stone. The 

 sharpness of these depressions and the bright- 



