272 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIX. No. 476. 



Dr. E. S. Eiggs bases this interesting memoir 

 was fottn'd in the Graib!d River' V"iilley, near 

 Fruita, Colorado, in 1900. As illustrating 

 the enormous labor connected with the prepa- 

 ration of such a specimen it may be mentioned 

 that three skilled men were employed for more 

 than, eighteen months in mounting it. 



The author adopts the term Opisthocoelia as 

 having priority over either Cetiosauria or 

 Sauropoda. Of still greater novelty is his 

 identification of Brontosaurus with Apata- 

 saurus, the type of which is that of a young 

 animal differing from the subsequently de- 

 scribed Brontosaurus in juvenile characters 

 only. 



The material includes the last cervical ver- 

 tebra and the entire dorsal, sacral and caudal 

 series as far back as the twenty-fourth caudal. 

 We thus for the first time come into pos- 

 session of the exact characters of the dorsals 

 and of the full series of anterior caudals. 

 These are very accurately figured and de- 

 scribed by the author. The formula, like that 

 of Diplodocus and Morosaurus, is, dorsals, 10, 

 sacrals, 5, caudals, 24 -j-. The writer shows 

 that Marsh placed too many vertebra in the 

 back in his restoration, while Osborn also 

 erred in placing too many in the anterior 

 portion of the tail. 



The morphology of the sacral region of the 

 Opisthocoelia in general is very accurately 

 described, the only error being in the dia- 

 grammatic representation of the rib of the 

 caudo-sacral, which should be like that of the 

 primary sacrals and unlike that of the dorso- 

 sacral as shown by reference to the Permian 

 ancestors of the Dinosaurs. The author's 

 theory (p. 185) of the early formation of the 

 sacral vertebrse is also probably incorrect, be- 

 cause the primitive Diaptosauria {Palwohat- 

 ieria) show very early a marked separation 

 of the anterior sacral ribs from the posterior 

 dorsal ribs. 



The restoration of Brontosaurus is by far 

 the most correct we have ever had. It illus- 

 trates especially the- extreme shortness of the 

 back and the marked elevation of the sacral 

 spines. 



H. F. 0. 



TEE MILWAUKEE MUSEUM. 



The Report of the Board of Trustees of the 

 Public Museum of the city of Milwaukee may 

 well be read in conjunction with Mr. Bather's 

 article in Popular Science Monthly on ' The 

 Functions of Museums,' as in it the custodian 

 explains what has been done and what, with 

 proper facilities, may be done for the public 

 and for students. Mr. Ward's desire to give 

 a proper representation of the animals of Wis- 

 consin and of North America, before ' dab- 

 bling in foreign specimens ' is a step in the 

 right direction; the Milwaukee Museum is 

 one of our larger municipal museums and yet 

 much smaller institutions waste much time 

 and effort in the endeavor to duplicate the 

 work of the large museums, the result being 

 a small ill-balanced display of heterogeneous 

 objects with nothing properly represented. 



Few realize how extensive is the fauna and 

 flora of any given locality and how interesting 

 and instructive is a properly arranged and 

 well-labeled local collection. The importance 

 and efficiency of a museum does not depend 

 merely upon its size, but upon the manner in 

 which its collections are cared for and utilized. 

 Mr. Ward shows great courage in discussing 

 the question of gifts to museums, and treats 

 the matter much as did Mr. Bather. In the 

 earlier stages of growth of a museum collec- 

 tions are often accepted with the proviso that 

 they are to be kept by themselves, and later 

 on these gifts prove so many millstones 

 around the neck of the institution, seriously 

 hampering the progress of the museum. The 

 way out of the difficulty is pointed out by 

 both Mr. Ward and Mr. Bather; either let the 

 gift be confined to desirable specimens or ex- 

 hibits that may form part of an orderly whole, 

 or let them be declined. Those who really 

 have the good of a museum, or for that mat- 

 ter, other institutions at heart, will appreciate 

 and accept the proviso and contribute to its 

 growth and progress. 



The Milwaukee Museum has added to its 

 exhibition series cases containing the birds of 

 the region about Milwaukee and a case com- 

 prising the birds found at various periods of 

 the year, the contents of this being changed 

 according to the season; also a number of 



