Decembeb 13, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



835 



and Washington, the last ones I attended until 

 recently, it was very easy to find out who were 

 present from day to day, and generally pos- 

 sible to identify each member. The contrast 

 in this respect was very great in New York 

 last winter. It was very difficult, if not im- 

 possible, to learn who were in attendance, and 

 equally to identify the members — quite a dis- 

 appointment to me and I feel sure also to 

 others. When I saw how things were at this 

 meeting I asked a seemingly energetic mem- 

 ber standing by me : " Wherefore this trouble ? 

 Why not post an alphabetical list in a con- 

 spicuous accessible place on the wall so we 

 can tell, all of us, at a glance who are here." 

 He seemed quite pleased with the idea and 

 asked me why I did not patent it. I took this 

 reply seriously until I learned that my com- 

 panion was the learned permanent secretary of 

 our association and then I saw he was poking 

 fun at me, for how absurd to think there could 

 be improvement on what such a man arranged ! 

 Perish the thought! 



Our identification by buttons was very un- 

 successful, apart from the absence of a list of 

 names ; the figTires were far too small for most 

 eyes. In fact the inability to make out the 

 figure on a button placed me in the above 

 absurd position of criticizing the management 

 to our learned secretary himself. Moreover, 

 the buttons were not quite fairly distributed. 

 I came early and was assigned a low number, 

 below fifty, I think, but I could not get that 

 button throughout the whole meeting though I 

 applied for it every day. I saw plenty of 

 higher figures, way up into the hundreds. 

 Members arriving laueh later were served 

 much more promptly. Why not have the 

 numbers on ribbons with large conspicuous 

 figures, say scarlet ground and one inch black 

 figures. These we could see. Then if in addi- 

 tion a daily list of members present were dis- 

 tributed, I for one should find happiness right 

 at this part of the meeting, but I fear on ac- 

 count of the expense — what are our dues for — 

 and because I see in the notices sent out that 

 no daily program will be issued, I shall have 

 to seek happiness elsewhere. 



Clarence L. Speyers 



rutgees c0li.ege, 



New Brunswick, N. J. 



SPECIAL ARTICLES 



ON THE DISCOVERY OF REPTILIAN REMAINS IN THE 



PENNSYLVANIAN NEAE PITTSBURG, 



PENNSYLVANIA 



In the vicinity of Pittsburg, the Ames Lime- 

 stone rests upon a bed of almost structureless 

 red and green clay which forms the upper 

 part of the Pittsburg Red Shale. The thick- 

 ness of this bed varies, but usually ranges 

 from eighteen to about forty feet. At a 

 locality about one mile west of Pitcairn and 

 fifteen miles east of Pittsburg, the writer was 

 fortunate enough to obtain a number of bones 

 which appear to represent the remains of ani- 

 mals of at least two groups, namely: thero- 

 morph reptiles, and amphibians. 



In this preliminary notice it is intended 

 merely to describe these bones in a general 

 way, and to show the stratigraphic position of 

 the bed in which they were found. The bones 

 have been examined and provisionally identi- 

 fied by Professor E. C. Case and Dr. W. D. 

 Matthew, to whom my thanks are due. A de- 

 tailed description of these fossils will be given 

 by Professor Case in the forthcoming number 

 of the Annals of the Carnegie Museum. 



The "Crinoidal" (Ames) Limestone of 

 western Pennsylvania is the youngest of the 

 fossiliferous limestones of marine origin in 

 that region, and is located at about the middle 

 of the Conemaugh Series (Lower Barren 

 Measures). In the vicinity of Pittsburg it 

 lies 315 feet below the Pittsburg coal. At 

 Pitcaim, the section extends but a short dis- 

 tance above the Pittsburg coal, but in the more 

 complete sections farther south, the Monon- 

 gahela Series, about 380 feet in thickness, over- 

 lies the Conemaugh. Above the Monongahela 

 Series is the Dunkard Series, usually referred 

 to the Permian. The horizon of the vertebrate 

 fossils is at least Y25 feet below the base of the 

 Permian (Dunkard Series), and about an 

 equal distance above the top of the Mississip- 

 pian. 



At Pitcaim the red clay beneath the Ames 

 Limestone is 37 feet in thickness. Three feet 

 above the base is a layer of somewhat nodular 

 limestone, full of small worm-tubes {Spirorhis 

 carhonarius Dawson). The teeth of the dia- 

 dectid reptile described below were weathered 



