December 30, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



953 



An organization, ' La society des amis de 

 I'Universite,' has been formed in Paris and 

 adopted a constitution on December 11th. The 

 object of the Society is to aid in the devel- 

 opment of the University of Paris, by form- 

 ing new chairs, assisting the laboratories, es- 

 tablishing scholarships, prizes, etc. It is 

 proposed to issue a bulletin especially in the 

 interests of the students. 



Dk. Thomas Egleston, emeritus professor 

 of mineralogy and metallurgjr in Columbia Uni- 

 versity, has presented to the University his 

 library and mineralogical collection. The former 

 is especially rich in serials ; the latter contains 

 about 5,000 valuable specimens. 



Mb. Charles Wheeler, of Philadelphia, has 

 given $5,000 to Harvard University in memory 

 of his son, Stuart Wadsworth Wheeler, '98, who 

 served in the Porto Ricau campaign, and died in 

 Boston a short time ago. The money will be 

 invested, and the interest used as a loan fund in 

 the Lawrence Scientific School. 



President Waefield has announced a gift 

 of $10,000 to Lafayette College. It is also re- 

 ported that a gift of $50,000 has been made for 

 the Chemical Laboratory. 



It is proposed to establish, as a memorial to 

 Sir Robert Peel, a scholarship in the Technical 

 School at Blackburn. Mr. Yerburgh has opened 

 the fund with a donation of £1,000. 



Dr. James Little has been nominated 

 regius professor of medicine in the University 

 of Dublin in the place of Sir John Banks. 



Professor Rontgen, of Wiirzburg, has de- 

 clined the call to Leipzig as the successor of 

 Professor Wiedermann. 



DISCUSSION AND COBBESPONDENCE. 

 THE ORIGIN OP MAMMALS.* 



The question under discussion is not new, 

 but one of a series of similar nature and diffi- 

 culty. The origin of birds, of reptiles, of am- 

 phibians and of fishes really precede it, and 

 offer less diiBculties in solution. The answer 



* Eemarks in the general discussion on the Origin 

 of Mammals, at the International Congress of Zoology, 

 Cambridge, England, August 25, 1898. 



to each, in my opinion, belongs to the future, 

 and how far it may profitably be sought in the 

 present limited state of our knowledge is a fair 

 question in itself. 



Too often in the past a discussion on the 

 origin of mammals has seemed a little like the 

 long philosophico-theological controversies in 

 the IMiddle Ages about the exact position of the 

 soul in the human body. No conclusion was 

 reached, because, for one reason, there were no 

 facts in the case that could settle the question, 

 while the methods of investigation were not 

 adapted to insure a satisfactory answer. The 

 present discussion is on a much higher plane, 

 and the previous speakers have made an admi- 

 rable presentation of their side of the case. I can- 

 not, however, quite agree with them as to the 

 value of the facts and theories they have pre- 

 sented, and shall consider the question from 

 another point of view. 



The mammals, as we know them to-day, are 

 classed by themselves, yet contain such diverse 

 groups that it may fairly be regarded an open 

 question whether all have a common origin. 

 The attempt to ascertain whence they came is 

 likely to bring out indications that they may 

 have had several sources of origin, and this, if 

 so, may help to explain the great diversity 

 among them. 



It is, of course, evident that some of the most 

 characteristic features of recent mammals, for 

 example, the hairy covering, the circulatory 

 system and the milk glands, cannot be used in 

 a comparison with fossil forms. The osseous 

 structure only is now available in the early 

 mammals and other vertebrates, and in this 

 alone points of resemblance must be found if 

 different groups are connected genetically. 



In considering the relations of reptiles to 

 mammals so far as the fossil forms are con- 

 cerned, which seems to be the main question 

 before us to-day, I have only time to speak of 

 the skull, and shall refer to some of its salient 

 features already mentioned in this discussion, 

 namely, the teeth, the squamosal bone, the 

 quadrate, the occipital condyles, and with them 

 the lower jaw. These, perhaps, may serve as 

 crucial points in distinguishing the skull of a 

 reptile from that of a mammal, even if they fail 

 to indicate a near affinity between them. 



