June 27, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



1035 



THE RANGE -OF THE FOX SNAKE. 



To THE Editor of Science: Cope (Bept. U. 

 S. Nat. Mus., 1898, p. 832) gives the range of 

 the fox snake, Coluber vulpinus B. & G., as 

 'distributed over the northwest of the eastern 

 district, not being known from east of Illi- 

 nois or south of the mouth of the Missouri 

 Eiver.' Dr. J. A. Allen in 1869 (Proc. Bos. 

 Soc. Nat. Hist., 12, 171 fE.) mentioned a spec- 

 imen of this snake taken in the vicinity of 

 Wenham, Mass., in 1861. Cope apparently 

 overlooked this record. Eckel, in his recently 

 published 'Catalogue of the Eeptiles of New 

 York' (Bull. 51, N. Y. State Museum), gives 

 it a doubtful place on the strength of this 

 record of Dr. Allen's. 



Aside from this single case, no record has 

 been made, to my knowledge, of the occur- 

 rence of this snake in any state east of Illi- 

 nois with the exception of Ohio. In the 

 vicinity of Sandusky, east and west along the 

 lake, the fox snake is found. On Cedar Point 

 — a tongue of sand twelve miles long and a 

 few hundred yards wjde at best — several spec- 

 imens have also been taken. The specim.ens 

 from these localities are in the Zoological 

 Museum of the Ohio State University. 



Owing to the fact that several species of 

 plants and animals of pronounced western 

 type have been found in this region, it appears 

 that this may form an eastward arm of the 

 zoogeographical as well as the phytogeograph- 

 ical district to the west. Hence, any informa- 

 tion as to the occurrence of the fox snake 

 east of Illinois will be welcomed by the under- 



Max Morse. 



Ohio State Linwersity. 



A PROPOSED AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIO 

 ASSOCIATION. 

 During the Convocation "Week of 1901- 

 1902, there were meetings of the Section of 

 Anthropology of the American Association 

 for the Advancement of Science, the Ameri- 

 can FoUi-Lore Society, and several other or- 

 ganizations, in Chicago. In connection with 

 these meetings there was, on December 31, a 

 conference of committees on the needs of 



American anthropology appointed by the An- 

 thropological Society of Washington, the 

 American Ethnographical Society, and the 

 Section of Anthropology of the A. A. A. S. 

 The participants in the conference were 

 Franz Boas, Stewart Culin, Eoland B. Dixon, 

 George A. Dorsey, Livingston Farrand, J. 

 Walter Fewkes, George G. MacCurdy, W J 

 McGee, Frank Eussell, and Frederick Starr. 

 Although little constructive action was taken 

 at Chicago, the conference resulted in a gen- 

 eral feeling that more definite cooperation 

 among American anthropologists would be 

 advantageous. 



Subsequently several of the conferees en- 

 gaged in correspondence pursuant to the de- 

 liberations in Chicago, which soon served to 

 bring out and strengthen the feeling that 

 some sort of organization was needful; and 

 in the course of a few weeks preliminary 

 steps were taken toward the formation of an 

 association of American anthropologists of 

 national character. The most important ac- 

 tion was the selection of a number of pros- 

 pective founders of the proposed association, 

 from whom expressions were invited. Most 

 of the anthropologists so addressed have re- 

 plied, and nearly all of these decidedly fa- 

 vor organization. Accordingly, arrangements 

 have been made for a founding meeting, to 

 be held at Pittsburgh in connection with the 

 meeting of the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science, in the audience 

 room of Bellefield Church, on Monday, June 

 30, at 2 o'clock p.m. Provisional arrangements 

 are also under way for a scientific meeting of 

 the new organization in connection with Sec- 

 tion H (Anthropology) of the A. A. A. S. on 

 Wednesday, July 2. 



The most serious question brought out in 

 the preliminary correspondence and confer- 

 ences is. Shall the new association be strictly 

 professional or of more general character? 

 With the view of holding the settlement of 

 this question in abeyance pending the com- 

 pletion of the organization, it was thought 

 better by the Chicago conferees to limit in- 

 vitations to the founding meeting to about 

 forty of the leading anthropologists of the 

 country. The invitations are now being sent 



