504 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIX. No. 482. 



The skull has the palate deeply excavated. 

 The masticatory surface on each side is tra- 

 versed by a prominent, sharp and dentated 

 ridge. The oral surface of the premaxillaries 

 is excavated for the reception of the tip of 

 the lovcer jaw. The cutting border of the 

 maxilla is coarsely dentated. 



The exposed portions of the hinder limbs, 

 and probably of the fore limbs also, were pro- 

 tected by an armor of dennal bones, as in some 

 living species of the genus. The extremity of 

 the tail is expanded and covered on the upper 

 surface by a plate composed of several bones 

 joined by sutures. The skin of the region 

 around the tail was provided with many 

 pebble-like dermal bones. On the hinder part 

 of each thigh there was a large bony spur. 

 All these bones were covered in life with a 

 thick layer of horn. This new species is 

 named Tesiudo osborniana, in recognition of 

 the interest of Professor H. F. Osborn in the 

 fossil testudines. 



Remarks were made by the author of the 

 paper on the geographical and geological dis- 

 tribution of the genus Tesiudo and its related 

 genera, and on their probable origin. 

 The Flora of Dominica: F. E. Lloyd. 



This paper gave a general account of the 

 vegetation of the Island of Dominica, which 

 the author visited during last summer. 



The island is of volcanic origin, remarkably 

 broken in contour, and very diifieult for travel. 

 The rainfall is excessive, but with considerable 

 differences in distribution. For example, on 

 the west coast there is a mean annual rainfall 

 of 59.51 inches, while 239.50 inches were re- 

 ported for Middleham in 1901, an amount not 

 far from the mean. The eastern slopes of the 

 island are exposed to the trade winds, and the 

 vegetation, from the shore line to the top of 

 the mountains, shows the effects in the pe- 

 culiar molding. The temperatures are not 

 excessive, but the atmospheric humidity is 

 great. 



The vegetation, excepting in certain re- 

 stricted areas, is of the tropical rain-forest 

 type. The large trees are clothed with a 

 heavy epiphytic growth chiefly composed of 

 bromeliads, aroids, orchids, ferns and a Cy- 

 clanthera. At the higher levels the Hymeno- 



phyllacese, Musci and HepaticEe predominate, 

 among which, however, many larger ferns and 

 small orchids find a place. Four species of 

 tree ferns, and several species of palms are to 

 be found. Heliconia, a plantain-like plant, is 

 very abundant at high altitudes. Lianas and 

 ' ropes,' as air roots are called locally, are 

 abundant. 



In the Grand Savannah desert conditions 

 prevail, caused by the small rainfall (59 

 inches) and the shallow soil underlaid by trap 

 rock. The vegetation here, and along the 

 rocky shore, is quite distinct in character. 

 A viviparous agave and four cacti are here to 

 be found. The savannah is a sloping grassy 

 plain with scattered shrubs and small trees 

 "among which occur several Mimosoidese. 



The strand vegetation on account of the 

 steep, gravelly character of the shore is meager 

 in species. The sea-grape (Coccolohis uvifera) 

 is everywhere, and Ipomcea pes-caprw and 

 Ganavalia are common. T'erminalia occurs in 

 some localities. M. A. Bigelow, 



Secretary. 



THE ACADEMY OP SCIENCE OP ST. LOUIS. 



The academy now meets in its own build- 

 ing, at 3817 Olive St., and held its regular 

 meeting on February 15. 



Rev. Martin' S. Brennan delivered a pop- 

 ular lecture on the ' Nebular Hyijothesis ' ac- 

 cording to La Place, illustrated with lantern 

 slides. In the discussion following, Mr. 

 Nipher remarked that he had applied the 

 equations for gaseous nebute, which had been 

 deduced in his paper on the ' Law of Contrac- 

 tion of Gaseous Nebulae,' to the case of our 

 own planetary system. 



Introducing an integration constant into 

 the pressure formula, the pressure and, as a 

 consequence, the temperature, can be made 

 zero at any radius from the center. He had 

 given the constant a value which made the 

 mass of the nebula equal to that of the entire 

 solar system. When the nebula has reached 

 such a stage that the mass external to Nep- 

 tune's present orbit is equal to Neptune's 

 mass, the density at Neptune's orbit will be 

 1.93 X 10~15 grams per c.c, and the pres- 

 sure will be 1.49 X 10~i'' atmospheres. The 



