July 24, 1891. J 



SCIENCE. 



53 



development of two and three sets resi^ectively, coming to matu- 

 rity on consecutive days. This hypothesis, of course, cannot ap- 

 ply to the tertian type of malarious fever, since in this the febrile 

 paroxysms follow each other with an interval of only one day of 

 apyrexia intervening, instead of two days as in the case of the 

 quartan type. 



Golgi is of the opinion that he has brought forward satisfactory 

 evidence to show that tertian ague depends on the presence in the 

 blood of a distinct variety of the malaria parasite, which passes 

 through its developmental phases in two days instead of in three. 

 In regard to classification, Golgi holds that the various clinical 

 types of intermittent fever are caused by varieties of one and the 

 same parasitic species, and that this belongs to the genus amoeba. 

 The twelve photographs which illustrate his first paper deal with 

 the development of the parasite of quartan fever, and show, sur- 

 rounded by normal red blood corpuscles, its successive metamor- 

 phoses. The photographs, which are very fine, were taken by 

 means of Zeiss's microphotographic apparatus. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



On some Extinct Vertebrata from the Miocene Rocks of the 

 North-west Territories of Canada recently described by 

 Professor Cope. 



Among the more recent and interesting additions to the collec- 

 tions in the National Museum, Ottawa. Canada, are the mammal- 

 ian and fish remains from the tertiary rocks of the Canadian 

 North-west. These collections which were made by Messrs. Mo- 

 Connell and AVeston especially have been recently studied by 

 Professor E. D. Cope of the Academy of Natm-al Sciences, Phila- 

 delphia. The results of his observations will soon be made known 

 in a memoir now in print, and to be published by the Geological 

 Survey Department. The specimens in question are now on ex- 

 hibition in the upright cases of the museum, and from the labels 

 attached the following interesting forms are noticed as of special 

 interest. 



Extinct Rhinooeros {Menodus angiistigenis). — This is the name 

 which Professor Cope has given to the largest species of hoofed 

 animal analogous to the rhinoceros that has ever yet been discov- 

 ered, and which in early tertiary times was roaming in the then 

 existing forests of the now treeless prairie regions of Canada. 



The best portion of the skull of one individual may be seen, 

 about three feet long and eighteen inches across, with the frontal 

 bones and snout preserved ; also the two horn-cores and portions of 

 the upper jaw, with several huge molars in situ. The lower jaw 

 of the same individual was also found, and the teeth beautifully 

 preserved. Some of these teeth are nearly four inches across and 

 three inches in thickness, being nearly four inches in length, with 

 zig-zag and sharply-cut crowns. The humerus, femur, tibia, 

 many horn-cores, and bones of the pelvic arch and of various 

 other portions of the skeleton, were also found, making in all a 

 beautiful display of fossil bones belonging to as huge and ferocious 

 a beast as prowls to-day in the jungles of an African or Indian 

 forest. Besides this form of Menodus, Professor Cope has recog- 

 nized a number of others, to which he has given separate specific 

 designations, so we find that tliere existed in Canada not only this 

 huge and ferocious species of Menodus, but other allied creatures. 

 These include Menodus syceras Cope, M. Prouti,i Owen, M. 

 Americanus Cope, and M. Selwyni Cope. They all belong to mio- 

 cene tertiary strata occurring in the vicinity of Swift Current 

 Creek, North-west Territory. These all belong to the family of 

 the JHtanotheridce, and form a group of animals analogous to the 

 rhinoceros. 



Extinct Horse (Anchitherium Westoni Cope). — This is one of 

 the forms wliioh belong to the Palceotheriidce, a family of extinct 

 animals whose affinities seem to place them foremost as the an- 

 cestors of the EquidcB or horses. 



Extinct Boar {Elotherium Mortoni Leidy). — Among the spe- 

 cimens on exhibition and collected by Mr. Weston may be seen an 

 almost perfect lower left ramus of this extinct mammal, allied 

 to the modern wild boar and pig, and belonging to the family of 

 the Chceropotamidce. This creature was of huge dimensions, the 

 specimen of the jaw in question being nearly ten inches in length. 



The teeth are beautifully preserved in a spotted grey and yellow- 

 white lime-rock. This is the first time that this form has been 

 found so far north on the American continent. 



Extinct Deer {Leptomeryx mamniifer Cope). — This new species, 

 a member of the family of the Tragulidce, appears to be one of the 

 ancestors of the deer tribe, being both a ruminant and ungulate 

 mammal. A very well preserved portion of the lower jaw, with 

 several teeth in situ, has permitted Professor Cope to establish its 

 relations and aflSnities, and it forms a valuable addition to the 

 fauna of those times which preceded the advent of the great ice 

 age, when all these types disappeared and made room for the 

 mastodon, the mammoth, and other creatures, including the 

 megalonyx and its allies. 



Other Extinct Forms. — Besides the above may be seen a large 

 incisor belonging to a large carnivore allied to the modern 'dog or 

 wolf; the tooth of an oreodont, an extinct hare (Palceolagus lur- 

 gidus Cope) belonging to the family of the Leporidce ; also a spe- 

 cies of Trionyx which Professor Cope has called Trionyx leuco- 

 potaniicus, from the fact that similar forms occur also in the 

 White River series of formations in the southern territories of the 

 United States. But besides the above we find also extinct forms 

 allied to the squirrels (Hypertragulus riversus Cope), and also a 

 large number of bones of siluroid'fishes belonging to the genera 

 Ainiurus, Bhineastes, etc. Among these we find Amiurus Mc- 

 Connelli, A. cancellatus (all described by Cope): also Amia ma- 

 crospondyla, Ainm Selwyniana, and Bhineastes rhoeas Cope. 



Fossil Turtles. — Then come the remains of a species of Style- 

 mys, an extinct turtle belonging to the family of the Testudinidce, 

 one of the Chelonia. 



Chalicotherium and Hempisalodon. — The latter form (described 

 under the name of H. grandis Cope) affords another example of 

 an extinct type of hyeua, much larger than any of the modern 

 living ones. It belongs to the family of the Hycenodontidoe, and 

 forms a part of a sub-order of that family with very large repre- 

 sentatives. The genus Ghcdicotherium, one of the family of the 

 Chalicotheriidce Lydekker, has certain affinities to the rhinoceros, 

 whose size and ijroportions it greatly resembled. 



Thus it will be seen that from the mioctne tertiary strata of the 

 Swift Current River, not far from the line of the Canadian Pacific 

 Railway, along the treeless prairie region of Canada, a large fauna 

 existed, some of whose remains now adorn the cases of the Na- 

 tional Museum at Ottawa. Henbt M. Ami. 



Ottawa, Ont., July 6. 



Osteological Notes. 



Among the primates, the Anthropomorpha (higher apes) have 

 strong jugal arches, longer than in man, and presenting marked 

 horizontal and vertical curvature. Although properly composed 

 of only two bones, viz., the zygomatic process of the squamosal, 

 and the jugal, this last rests upon a process of the maxilla so 

 much developed that in many cases it might be rightfully consid- 

 ered as entering into the formation of the arch. The suture which 

 joins the squamosal and the jugal is long and serrated, its great 

 inclination downwards and backwards vastly increasing the 

 strength of the parts as well as the power of resistance. 



In the gorilla the jugal arch is relatively broader and more de- 

 veloped than in the other higher apes. The process of the squa- 

 mosal presents a sudden vertical convexity upon its upper border, 

 at a point corresponding to the junction of the anterior transverse 

 root, the remaining portion of the arch being nearly of the same 

 width. The breadth of the channel for the play of the temporal 

 muscle is proportionally large. The entire structure of the arch, 

 especially in its horizontal and vertical curvatures, exhibits enor- 

 mous strength. In the adult male all the cranial ridges attain 

 their maximum size, thus presenting a largely increased surface 

 for the origin of the temporal muscle, while the relative greater 

 breadth of the ascending ramus of the mandible, and the in- 

 creased width of the pterygoid fossce are correlated with a corre- 

 sponding development of the masseter and pterygoid. The long 

 and massive canines so characteristic of the higher apes, especially 

 of the gorilla and orang, have reference to the powerful action of 

 the last-named muscles. Their use has also a sexual relation. 

 The glenoid cavity is transversely broader than in man, and 



