374 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXII. No. 560. 



Dr. Theodore A. IToch, on a case of acute 

 anterior poliomyelitis in a youth, sixteen 

 years old, who died in thirteen weeks after the 

 onset of the disease. The clinical and post- 

 mortem records of the case are given, and the 

 microscopical examination is extensively il- 

 lustrated. The article is to he continued. 

 Following this, Dr. Paul Masoin, physician at 

 the colony of Gheel, Belgium, reports and 

 briefly discusses five cases of epileptiform at- 

 tacks occurring in the course of dementia 

 prsecox among patients at the colony, com- 

 paring them with the other motor exteriora- 

 tions of hebephreno catatonic subjects. Dr. 

 Guy Hinsdale next presents the history of a 

 remarkable case of paraplegia from fracture 

 of the first, second and third dorsal vertebrae. 

 The patient suffered seven other fractures in 

 the accident, an explosion. A laminectomy 

 was performed, removing the arches of the 

 first, second, third and a part of the fourth 

 dorsal vertebrae. Three years after the acci- 

 dent the patient is able to turn herself in bed, 

 and to walk with assistance. Dr. M. A. Bliss 

 reports a case of small round cell sarcoma of 

 the spinal column, and Dr. G. L. Walton one 

 of family atrophy of the peroneal type. 



SPECIAL ARTICLES. 



SKULL AND SKELETON OF THE SAUROPODOUS 



DINOSAURS, MOROSAURUS AND BRONTOSAURUS. 



1. Shull of Morosaurus. 



. One of the most fortunate discoveries re- 

 sulting from the American Museum excava- 

 tions in the Bone Cabin Quarry deposits, in 

 the Wyoming Jurassic, was the skull of 

 Morosaurus. Hitherto our knowledge of the 

 skull of the Sauropoda has been limited to 

 the skull of Diplodocus and the posterior por- 

 tion of the cranium of one specimen of 

 Morosaurus, both described by Marsh. 



The present specimen (Amer. Mus., No. 

 467) was traced by Dr. W. D. Matthew from 

 a series of crushed cervical vertebrae. It was 

 found in an extremely crushed condition and 

 was restored with great skill and care by Mr. 

 Adam Hermann, the preparator of the mu- 

 seum. In the region of the occiput sqme aid 

 was gained from the specimen described by 



Marsh and from the posterior portion of an- 

 other cranium also found in the Bone Cabin 

 Quarry. 



All three specimens exhibit a well-defined 

 parietal foramen at the junction of the 

 parietals, frontals and svipraoccipitals. This 

 foramen is smoothly lined with bone and leads 

 directly down into the cerebral cavity. It is 

 thus highly probable that it lodged a large 

 pineal eye, an organ the existence of which 

 was left problematical by Marsh.^ In Marsh's 

 drawing the parietal opening is indicated 

 rather as a fontanelle than as a foramen. 



The skull of Morosaurus differs from that 

 of Diplodocus principally in the highly con- 

 vex forehead or antorbital region, which is 

 undoubtedly correlated with the difference in 

 character of the great cropping teeth, which 

 contrast widely with the slender, pencil-like 

 teeth of Diplodocus. This skull shows these 

 teeth in different stages of wear and of shed- 

 ding or succession. Above, there are four 

 premaxillary and eight maxillary teeth, de- 

 creasing in size as they extend toward the back 

 of the jaw. From twelve to thirteen man- 

 dibular teeth are preserved. The deep, massive 

 proportions of the premaxillaries, maxillaries 

 and mandibular rami are also mechanically 

 correlated with the insertion and powerful 

 functions of these large teeth. It is evident, 

 however, that the animal had no power of 

 masticating its food, and that these anterior 

 teeth served simply for prehensile purposes. 



The anterior narial openings are very large 

 and face forward and obliquely upward, rather 

 than more directly upward, as in Diplodocus. 

 The antorbital openings are correspondingly 

 reduced. As restored, the orbits are enormous, 

 but there is considerable deficiency of bone 

 in the surrounding parts, so that the contours 

 are not quite certain. From the superior as- 

 pect of the skull it is evident that both frontals 

 and nasals were much longer than in Diplo- 

 docus, the latter bones sending forward median 



^ " There is no true pineal foramen, but in the 

 skull here figured. (PI. II.) there is the small 

 unossified tract mentioned above. In one speci- 

 men of Morosaurus a similar opening has been ob- 

 served, but in other Sauropoda the parietal bones, 

 even if thin, are complete." 



