Fkbruary 12, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



271 



It has been generally accepted that Moissan 

 prepared diamonds synthetically by chilling an 

 iron rich in carbon, the supposition being that 

 in the interior of the mass of iron, solidified 

 on the exterior, the pressure on solidification 

 must be intense, and that under these condi- 

 tions the carbon crystallized in the form of 

 the diamond. This position is very strongly 

 attacked by C. Combes in the Moniteur Sci- 

 entifique. In his paper he argues that Goep- 

 pert and Friedel have found plant remains in 

 diamonds, showing that the crystals must have 

 been formed at a temperature below at least 

 772°. At the temperature of fused cast iron 

 the diamond is converted into graphite. The 

 diamonds supposed to have been formed by 

 Moissan were doubly refracting, and hence 

 not diamonds. Moissan's analyses of his 

 crystals were unsatisfactory for diamonds. 

 Finally Friedel has proved that such a mass 

 of iron as was used by Moissan really contracts 

 on cooling instead of expanding, and hence 

 the supposed pressure was not present. Thus 

 it appears to Combes impossible that Moissan 

 has prepared diamonds synthetically. It is, 

 however, possible that Hannay was more suc- 

 cessful in this respect. J. L. H. 



REGENT ZOOPALEONTOLOGY. 



THE SAUROPODA. 



Two memoirs have recently appeared on 

 this gToup which gi-eatly extend our knowl- 

 edge, from the Carnegie and the Field Co- 

 lumbian Museums. 



' Osteology of Haplocanthosaurus.' * This 

 memoir by Mr. J. B. Hatcher is devoted to a 

 new sauropod which is decidedly more primi- 

 tive than any of the American Sauropoda 

 hitherto discovered. In an exhaustive memoir 



"■■ ' Osteology of Haplocanthosaurus with De- 

 scription of a New Species, and Remarks on the 

 Probable Habits of the Sauropoda and the Age 

 and Origin of the Atlantosaurus Beds,' by J. B. 

 Hatcher, Memoirs Carnegie Museum, Volume II., 

 No. 1, jSTovember, 1903. There are a few points 

 requiring revision: The sacral ribs are described 

 as ' parapophyses,' which a reference to the 

 Permian ancestors of the dinosaurs will probably 

 show to be incorrect. The theory that the Sauro- 

 poda were aquatic reptiles is through a misunder- 

 standing attributed to Osborn. 



illustrated with six plates the author describes 

 it in detail. ' The principal new points are 

 the following: The spines of all the cervical 

 and dorsal vertebrse are single or simple, as in 

 the carnivorous dinosaurs, instead of double, 

 as in Diplodocus, Morosaurus and Bronio- 

 saurus. There are apparently fourteen dorsal 

 vertebras instead of ten as in the above-named 

 fonns, and from thirteen to fifteen cervicals; 

 five sacrals and about forty caudals. The lo- 

 cality is the classic one of Caiion City, from 

 which Marsh secured his type of Diplodocus 

 about 150 feet above the summit of the red 

 Triassic sandstones; the author believes it to 

 be a lower horizon, of greater age than the 

 Como Bluffs. As regards proportions, the 

 thoracic region is believed to be proportion- 

 ately longer than in the other dinosaurs. The 

 limbs are elevated, and Haplocanthosaurus 

 appears to have been an essentially quadru- 

 pedal type. . 



As regards general questions, the author 

 considers the Dinosauria as a subclass. He 

 adheres to the use of the term Sauropoda in 

 preference to Opistlioca?lia Owen or Cetio- 

 sauria Seeley. In this connection it may be 

 pointed out that while Owen defined the Opis- 

 thocoelia as the suborder Croeodilia in 1859, 

 he recognized them as Dinosauria in 1875. 

 Haplocanthosaurus is placed in the family 

 MorosauridsB, which is considered the most 

 primitive family of Sauropoda. An especially 

 interesting point is its resemblairce to a type 

 recently described from South America. 



A very valuable feature of the memoir is 

 the discussion of the age of the Atlantosaurus 

 beds and of the geological section at Cafion 

 City. The author shows that Cope's Camara- 

 saurus skeleton was probably found 350 feet 

 higher than Haplocanthosaurus. The conclu- 

 sion is that the beds are chiefly of Upper 

 Jurassic age, but in their uppermost members 

 they may represent a portion at least of the 

 Cretaceous. 



' Structure and Relationships of Opistho- 

 coelian Dinosaurs.'* The skeleton on which 



* ' Structure and Relationships of Opisthoccelian 

 Dinosaurs, Part I., Apatosaurus Marsh,' by Elmer 

 S. Riggs, A.M., Publ. Field Columbian Museum 

 82, Geol. Ser., Vol. 11., No. 4, August, 1903. 



