798 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLII. No. 1092 



materially to the evidence that the deposits in 

 the two regions were cotemporaneous, a fact 

 hitherto suggested only by the common occur- 

 rence of the genus Edaphosaurus (Naosaurus) . 



It has been shown by me^ that North Amer- 

 ica was probably isolated from the Old World 

 in Permo-Carboniferous time, at least for such 

 forms as the Amphibia, and the suggestion 

 arises of the great antiquity of the embolomer- 

 ous type permitting such a distribution, a 

 suggestion borne out by Hoodie's find of an 

 embolomerous form, Spondylerpeton spinatum, 

 in the Mazon Creek beds of Illinois. 



Further work suggested by the facts here 

 stated is in progress. E. C. Case 



A SIMPLE METHOD OF INDICATING GEOGRAPHICAL 

 DISTRIBUTION 



In a recent number of Science a method of 

 showing geographical distribution is suggested.^ 

 All who have to work with these problems wiU 

 agree that political boundaries are unsatisfac- 

 tory in such work, and also that the system of 

 geographic coordinates (parallels and merid- 

 ians) is often too exact for the information in 

 hand, and, moreover, does not give a very clear 

 idea of the location to most readers. Although 

 there are obvious disadvantages in the use of 

 rectangular areas such as those suggested, it is 

 probable that their advantages are even greater. 



A modification of the boundaries suggested 

 seems desirable from the point of view of uni- 

 formity among the sciences. After thorough 

 discussion at several international geographic 

 congresses the government surveys have under- 

 taken the preparation of an international map 

 of the world on a scale of 1 to 1,000.000. The 

 quadrangle adopted for this map seems nearly 

 if not quite as well suited for showing distribu- 

 tion as that suggested recently. If this quad- 

 rangle can be adopted there will be a single 

 system of areas for the topographic map of the 

 world and for the purpose of stating distribu- 

 tion, and this has the great advantage of 

 simplicity. There is the further advantage 



4 Publication 207, Carnegie Institution. 



1 Adams, J., "A Simple Method of Indicating 

 Geographical Distribution," Science, N. S., Vol. 

 42, pp. 366-68, September 17, 1915. 



that the statement of the location in the new 

 system will show directly what topographic 

 sheets will give the actual physical environ- 

 ment of the species under discussion. 



The quadrangle of the international map is 

 4 degrees of latitude by 6 degrees of longitude; 

 these quadrangles are designated by a system 

 of letters beginning at the equator and numbers 

 beginning at longitude 180°. The surface of 

 the earth is divided into zones bounded by 

 parallels of latitude, each zone is 4 degrees 

 wide and extends around the earth. Zone A 

 extends from the equator to latitude 4°, zone B 

 from latitude 4° to latitude 8°, and so on; 

 there are separate sets of zones north and 

 south of the equator, that north of the equator 

 designated by the word " north " and that 

 south of the equator by the word " south." 

 There are also north polar and south polar 

 sheets, each circular and 4 degrees in diameter. 

 The quadrangles of each zone are numbered 

 from longitude 180° eastward around the earth. 

 Thus the two sheets of the international map 

 already published for the United States are 

 Boston, North K 19 (latitude 40° to 44° N., 

 longitude Y2° to 78° W.) and San Francisco, 

 North J 10 (latitude 36° to 40° N., longitude 

 120° to 126° W.). 



The only disadvantage of the international 

 map quadrangle, when compared with the 

 " merospheres " suggested by Adams, is their 

 somewhat smaller size. This is slight when 

 compared with the gain in uniformity secured 

 by the use of the quadrangle already adopted 

 for mapping the world. It is to be hoped that 

 any system of dividing the surface of the earth 

 into quadrangles will in the future be based 

 on the international map. 



William G. Eeed 



Office op Farm Management, 

 Washington, D. C, 

 September 22, 1915 



NEW jersey CETACEA 



Apropos of Mr. Fowler's note in the August 

 13, 1915, issue of Science, I wish to add 

 another New Jersey record for the dolphin, 

 Delphinus delpMs; early in May of this year 

 I found a dead specimen on the beach at Sea 



