690 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XV. No. 383. 



present a relatively large and varied list of 

 land and sea manunalia. These number in 

 existing native species and races ninety- 

 five, of which seventy-seven are terrestrial 

 or amphibious, and eighteen are aquatic. 



The extinct mammalian fauna of the two 

 states is remarkably large, exceeding 

 greatly that of the entire remainder of the 

 United States east of the Mississippi River. 

 Of extinct terrestrial mammalia there have 

 been described, mainly from the limestone 

 bone caves and fissures of the Pleistocene 

 horizon in the lower Delaware Valley, 

 ninety-one species. These include such 

 tropical genera as the giant sloth, rhinoc- 

 eros, tapir, elephant, manatee and saber- 

 toothed tiger, as well as arctic forms now 

 only existent in Canadian regions, such as 

 the reindeer, moose, musk ox and walrus. 

 From the marl beds of New Jersey nine 

 species of whales, referable with one excep- 

 tion to the tropical shark-toothed family 

 now existing in the Indian Ocean, have 

 been described. 



Comparing the two lists, the remarkable 

 fact is shown that in Pennsylvania and 

 New Jersey the list of extinct species of 

 mammals known to us equals, if not ex- 

 ceeds, that of the existing species. In 

 contrast to this New York in Miller's re- 

 cent list only boasts of five species of 

 known extinct mammalian species. 



The effect of deforestation by axe and 

 fire, and its consequent radical alteration 

 of climatic conditions even in the most in- 

 accessible parts of the Alleghanian wilder- 

 ness at the present day, has done much 

 more to alter the faunal status than all 

 other destructive agencies combined. In 

 consequence many of the least known of 

 the smaller mammalia approach extinction. 

 Of the larger, the native wapiti, bison, 

 beaver, cougar, wolf and wolverine, some 

 of which lingered far into the last century 

 in Pennsylvania are now exterminated. 



De. Feedbeick W. Teue, of Wasliington, 



in a communication on ' The Identity of the 

 Whalebone Whales of the Western North 

 Atlantic,' summarized the results of an ex- 

 tensive investigation of the whalebone 

 whales of the Atlantic coast of North 

 America carried on under the U. S. Na- 

 tional Museum, the principal object being 

 to ascertain whether the species which oc- 

 cur in American waters are the same as 

 those known to frequent the coast of Eu- 

 rope, and thus to provide a more trust- 

 worthy basis for the study of the geograph- 

 ical distribution of these animals. The 

 American species were found to be the 

 same as those of Europe, but the European 

 finback whale known as Rudolph's Rorqual, 

 Balcenoptera horealis Lesson, has not been 

 found in American waters. The species oc- 

 curring on the east coast of North America 

 are as follows: 



Greenland whale or Arctic right whale, Balcena 

 mysticetus (L.). 



Black whale, or the' right whale of the Tem- 

 perate North Atlantic, Balcena glacialis (Bonna- 

 terre). 



Humpback, Megaptera nodosa, (Bonnaterre). 



Common finback, Balcenoptera physalus (L.). 



Sulphurbottom, Balcenoptera musculus (L.). 



Little piked whale, or lesser finback, Balcenop- 

 tera acutorostrata, (Lac). 



APTEENOON SESSION. 



Peofessok H. von Iheeing, of Sao Paulo, 

 Brazil, in a paper on the 'Molluscan 

 Fauna of the Patagonian Formation,' 

 which was presented by Professor W. B. 

 Scott, described two of the most striking 

 of the many new species contained in the 

 large collection made under his direction. 



Peopessoe Edwaed S. Moese, of Salem, 

 Mass., in a 'Comparison between the An- 

 cient and Recent MoUuscan Fauna of New 

 England,' said that the results of obser- 

 vations and measurements of the species of 

 shells found in the shell heaps of New Eng- 

 land, in comparison with the shells of the 

 same species found living to-day in close 

 proximity to the deposits and presumably 



