February 14, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



255 



powerful. In conclusion the origin of 

 hibernation was discussed and the probable 

 relations of early amphibia and reptilia. 



Dr. Wieland exhibited the skeleton of 

 the giant turtle Achelon, pointing out the 

 points of morphological importance, and 

 the affinities of the Protostegidse. 



Professor Bashford's presidential addi-ess 

 on the " Findings in Fossil Fishes, 1906- 

 1907" appeared in Science on February 14. 



Dr. Hussakof presented a model of a 

 restoration of DinicMhys, which empha- 

 sized the great head and relatively small 

 body and tail, suggesting a bottom-living 

 fish. He also showed illustrations and 

 specimens giving the exact detail as to the 

 location of the fish-bearing beds in the 

 Devonian of Canada. 



Dr. C. R. Eastman announced the dis- 

 covery of a new species of Coelacanthus, 

 the earliest yet found in this country, and 

 represented by a nearly complete indi- 

 vidual, in the basal portion of the Kinder- 

 hook limestone of Iowa. The accompany- 

 ing invertebrate fauna is regarded by Dr. 

 Stuart "Weller as a survival of late Devon- 

 ian times, and its marked Devonian aspect 

 has also been commented on by Professor 

 S. Calvin. The specialized character of 

 the new American form indicates that the 

 ancestors of the gToup are to be sought in 

 rocks possibly as old as the Lower De- 

 vonian, where their remains have hitherto 

 escaped notice. A description of the new 

 foi'm will be found in the Journal of 

 Geology. 



Professor R. S. Lull presented a com- 

 parative study of the musculature of the 

 chameleon and a chelonian, together with 

 the muscle depressions on the skull of Tri- 

 ceratops, the main muscles of the latter 

 were ascertained— those of the jaws and 

 of the neck region. The frill or crest seems 

 to have had its incipient function in pro- 

 viding space for attachment of the great 

 temporal muscles of mastication. A sec- 



ond function, that of providing leverage 

 for the wielding of the head, with its great 

 ai-mament of horns, and a final function 

 of protection of the neck, were ascertained. 

 The crest is quite similar to the casque of 

 the chameleon, both morphologically and 

 in function, while the male of the living 

 Chameleo owenii from Fernando Po re- 

 sembles Triceratops still further in the 

 development of three horns. Convergence 

 toward the turtles is shown in the beak and 

 the false roofing of the skull above the 

 brain case, culminating in the turtle Meio- 

 lania of the Tertiary of Lord Howe Island, 

 which also bore horns on the skull. 



Professor Lull's second paper considered 

 the migrations of the elephants, first from 

 the ancestral home in the Fayum of Egypt, 

 and later to and from the great center of 

 proboscidian evolution in India. The Am- 

 erican elephants have been the result of 

 successive migrations, one genus only, Di- 

 belodon, having reached South America by 

 way of the Isthmus of Panama. 



Professor H. F. Osborn discussed "Doli- 

 coeephaly and Brachycephaly in Titan- 

 otheres, " showing that while lengthening 

 or shortening might take place uniformly 

 as if the skull were stretched, still it was 

 more generally to be attributed to local 

 lengthening or shortening of a special part 

 as the face or brain case. On Friday at 

 5 P.M. Professor Osborn gave an illustrated 

 lecture on his trip into the Fayum, this 

 being before both the zoologists and paleon- 

 tologists. 



Professor E. C. Case had a paper on the 

 "Permian Glaciation and Distribution of 

 Permian Reptiles" presented; in which he 

 brought out the uniform character of the 

 fauna of Africa, South America and India, 

 and its entire lack of affinity with the 

 North American Pelycosauria. During 

 the Permian glaciation of the southern 

 hemisphere, its reptile fauna was driven 

 northward, surviving in some unknown 



