January 1, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



35 



found in stable form in close-fertilized species 

 (and which exist potentially in cross-fertilized 

 species) is a matter of great interest, both 

 theoretically and practically. The adherents 

 of the mutation theory will see in them a con- 

 firmation of their views. The rest of us are 

 compelled to admit that, thus far, their origin 

 is obscure. 



In the light of the facts cited, the question 

 whether a given crop is cross- or close-fertil- 

 ized becomes a matter of prime importance, 

 as different methods of procedure are required 

 in the two cases. Dr. Hopkins states that 

 clover plants selected in a manner analogous 

 to that described for timothy did not repro- 

 duce true to seed, but that the plants grown 

 from the seed of a single plant represented all 

 the forms observable in the original field of 

 clover. This is what Mendel's law leads us 

 to expect, if clover is cross-fertilized, a matter 

 which has recently been called in question. 

 It is easily seen that we have here a list of 

 important problems for plant physiologists, in 

 determining definitely what crops do and what 

 do not cross-fertilize. There is likewise a broad 

 and promising field of work in securing in 

 a stable form superior strains of all ordinary 

 crops to which these methods have not already 

 been applied. The amount of improvement 

 possible represents the difference between the 

 mixture of all strains and the best components 

 of the mixture. W. J. Spillman. 



U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



RECENT ZOOPALEONTOLOGY. 



FIELD EXPEDITIONS DURING THE PAST SEASON. 



The Kansas chalk was visited by three 

 parties during the summer. The first, under 

 Professor S. W. Williston, representing the 

 University of Chicago, was extremely suc- 

 cessful, especially in procuring remains of 

 mosasaurs, pterosaurs and toothed birds; the 

 collection will be arranged principally as 

 a study collection in the university. The 

 second party represented the Carnegie Insti- 

 tution of Pittsburg, and is reported to have 

 been very successful also. The third party 

 was that of Mr. Charles H. Sternberg in the 

 same field. He writes that he collected over 

 sixty specimens of Cretaceous fossils, includ- 



ing especially well-preserved specimens of the 

 turtles. Protostega gigas is represented by 

 three skulls and a complete skeleton. The 

 skeleton lay on its dorsal surface with the fore 

 limbs stretched out at right angles to the me- 

 dian line of the carapace, measuring six feet 

 between the ungual phalanges; the hind limbs 

 were parallel with the neural arch, and 

 stretched out behind. Mr. Sternberg also 

 secured a number of mosasaur skulls, with 

 portions of the skeleton of Platecarpus (one 

 individual included sixty-six continuous verte- 

 brae behind the skull) ; also skulls of each of 

 the three genera of mosasaurs, the skeleton of 

 Portheus, and skulls and skeletons of a num- 

 ber of other genera of fishes. It appears that 

 erosion of the chalk is quite rapid, and there 

 are practically fresh exposures in many parts 

 of this famous region. 



Professor Loomis, of Amherst College, who 

 has been for some years with the American 

 Museum of Natural History expeditions, dur- 

 ing the past season conducted a party from 

 Amherst into South Dakota. A collection 

 including the remains of some 500 animals 

 was made, chiefly in the White River beds, 

 the best specimens being the skeleton of a 

 titanothere and of an oreodon. 



Princeton University sent an expedition 

 under Dr. Marcus Parr into the Laramie and 

 Judith River Beds of Montana. It is re- 

 ported as having been very successful. 



The American Museum of Natural History 

 sent four parties into the field. The first, 

 the third Whitney Expedition for fossil horses, 

 worked in western Nebraska and South 

 Dakota, and added considerably to the collec- 

 tion of fossil horses already in the museum. 

 The choicest specimen found by this party 

 was the skeleton of Camelus occidentalis. 

 The second party worked in the Bridger Beds 

 of western Wyoming under Mr. Walter 

 Granger, and was successful in securing a 

 representative collection of the small fauna 

 of that region. The third party, under Mr. 

 Peter Kaison, continued the excavation of the 

 Bone Cabin Quarry in the Como region, the 

 chief discoveries being a fore limb of Moro- 

 saurus, a skull of Diplodocus, portions of an- 

 other skeleton of Stegosaurus and a very large 



