212 



SCIENCE. 



[K S. Vol. XXII. No. 555. 



current of water, or perhaps to the action of 

 waves beating upon the shore of a lake. The 

 latter seems the more probable hypothesis. 



Family SUIDiE. 

 DiNOCHCERUS HOLLAND^ gen. et sp. nov. 



This new genus and species was recently 

 exhumed in the Agate Springs Fossil Quarry 

 by T. F. Olcott, a member of the Carnegie Mu- 

 seum field party in this region. The type con- 

 sists of the greater portion of the skeleton 

 of, perhaps, one of the most striking animals 

 found thus far in this quarry. The animal is 

 closely related to the genus Elotheriiim found 

 in the Oligocene formation. The dentition 

 is apparently somewhat more specialized than 

 in the latter genus. There is only a faint 

 trace of the cingulum on the inferior pre- 

 molars. This cingulum terminates on the pos- 

 terior base of the tooth, forming a rather 

 heavy basal heel. There is no cingulum on 

 the inferior molars. The dentition on the 

 whole is characteristically similar to that of 

 Elotheriiim, as is also the general contour of 

 the skull. The limbs are elongated, and the 

 general structure of the skeleton recalls that 

 of the Oligocene genus. This similarity is of 

 much interest when the changes which have 

 taken place since the Oligocene time in the 

 Oreodontida; and the Camelidse are considered. 

 The gigantic size of this Loup Fork s^jecies 

 (the length of the cranium alone being about 

 90 cm.), together with the fact that the re- 

 mains are found in a much later geological 

 horizon than that in which Elotherium has 

 been found, is thought by the writer to be of 

 sufficient importance, pending a more thor- 

 ough study of the type, to provisionally sepa- 

 rate the two forms generically. 



When the material is cleared up a final study 

 of the osteology of the specimen will be made 

 and a detailed description will appear in the 

 publications of the Carnegie Museum. 



O. A. Peterson. 



Carnegie Museum, 

 July 31, 1905. 



^ The specific name is given in honor of Dr. W. 

 J. Holland, the Director and Acting Curator of 

 Paleontology in the Carnegie Museum. 



QUOTATIONS. 



THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Further investigation has brought to light 

 in the Department of Agriculture additional 

 transactions that have excited^ome criticism. 

 The grand jury at Washington is still at work 

 upon the offenses of Assistant Statistician 

 Holmes. Chief Statistician John Hyde, who 

 resigned and at once sailed for Europe, has 

 been asked by Secretary Wilson to come back. 

 He replies that he will return without delay. 

 He is wanted as a witness before the grand 

 jury. After a long conference with the Presi- 

 dent last week Attorney-General Moody said 

 that the Federal criminal statutes were so 

 antiquated that they did not meet existing 

 conditions. Congress will be asked to make 

 them broader and more stringent. President 

 Jordan, of the Southern Cotton Association, 

 demands the removal of the secretary, asserting 

 that he is incompetent. The secretary, in 

 whom Mr. Roosevelt has confidence, says it 

 would be cowardly for him to resign while his 

 department is under fire. Investigation is be- 

 ing made as to the connection of several promi- 

 nent officers of the geological survey, as di- 

 rectors and stockholders, with a journal de- 

 voted to mining. It is asserted that much 

 information obtained at the expense of the 

 government has been published by them in 

 that journal long before the appearance of it 

 in the official reports, which, it is said, have 

 been unwarrantably delayed. It is asserted in 

 similar charges against the Fish Bureau that 

 much information has been published in maga- 

 zines by officers, with illustrations, prepared by 

 the government, which have appeared in the 

 official reports several months later. Dr. D. E. 

 Salmon, the well-known head of the Bureau of 

 Animal Industry, is criticized by some because 

 of his association with the contractor who sup- 

 plies labels (invented by himself) for use in 

 the inspection of meat. It appears that Dr. 

 Salmon assisted this man some years ago and 

 was his partner for six years in a small print- 

 ing business. At Dr. Salmon's suggestion he 

 invented the label, but Dr. Salmon withdrew 

 from the partnership very soon after the inven- 

 tor obtained his first contract, in 1901, and has 



