828 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVII. No. 438. 



subsequently published genus or species, re- 

 spectively.') 



It may be that the 'subsequently published 

 species' refers to the application of an orig- 

 inal specific name and not a binomial. But 

 Kule 7 says : ' Publication of a species con- 

 sists only * * * (2) in the publishing of a 

 binomial, with reference to a previously pub- 

 lished species as a type.' 



While it is not my object here to advocate 

 any particular set of rules, but only to point 

 out the way these rules work in practice, I 

 would observe that in the above case: 



1. The use of the original specific name, 

 when the identity of Festuca spicata Pursh 

 is discovered, gives us two new names, Agro- 

 pyron spieatum Rydb. and A. Smithii Rydb. 

 This must always occur when the displaced 

 binomial has no earlier synonym, and even 

 when there is an earlier available name there 

 results a change of names. 



2. If a binomial has precedence over the 

 specific name, that is, if in transferring a 

 species to a different genus, the earliest spe- 

 cific name is used except where this specific 

 name already occurs, there is not more than 

 one new binomial. In the case under con- 

 sideration, as there is already an Agropyron 

 spieatum S. & S., if Festuca spicata Pursh is 

 transferred to the genus Agropyron, it would 

 ordinarily be given a new binomial, but as 

 the name A. diver gens Nees has been applied 

 to the same species, no new binomial is neces- 

 sary. 



3. If the earliest specific name which the 

 plant has received in a given genus is used, 

 the so-called Kew rule, no subsequent changes 

 are necessary, so long as the plant is assigned 

 to this genus. Subsequent investigations re- 

 garding earlier names under other genera 

 may add to our knowledge, but will not alter 

 the binomials. From the standpoint of sta- 

 bility the maximum would appear to result 

 from following the third method. 



A. S. Hitchcock. 



REMAINS OP ELEPHANTS IN WYOMING. 



I AM not aware that any elephant remains 

 have ever been reported from Wyoming, and 

 for this reason wish to make a record of the 



following notes : During the fall of 1894 

 Mrs. Dover, of Dover P. O., Albany Co., dis- 

 covered the lower jaw of a very small elephant 

 in Halleck canon, which is about forty-five 

 miles north and east of Laramie. The fossil 

 was covered with a thin coating of earth in 

 the valley wash, and not petrified. It was 

 badly taken up, and by the time it reached 

 me was very fragmentary. The front of the 

 jaw has been well preserved and the right 

 molar is nearly complete. The jaw and teeth 

 are exceptionally small and probably indicate 

 a new species. It is interesting to. note that 

 this specimen was found at an elevation of 

 about 6,500 feet above the sea. The remains 

 have been donated to the university, and in 

 due time will be described. 



Three years ago, while at work in the 

 Goshen Hole region, I found an elephant's 

 tusk that had been cut in two by a cattle 

 trail that was not over a foot in depth. The 

 tusk was over six inches in diameter. No 

 doubt there is more or less of an animal at 

 this place; but no attempt has been made to 

 unearth it. 



While at Casper a few years ago a stock- 

 man described a tooth which one of his riders 

 had brought into his ranch, and which he had 

 sent east as a present to a friend. From his 

 description it must have been a very large 

 tooth of an elephant. While this, da turn has 

 little if any value, yet it is quite certain 

 that an animal or a portion of an animal 

 was found in that region. 



To this I wish to add another note, which, 

 although not in connection with Wyoming 

 data, adds some important information to 

 this subject. Two years ago, while at work 

 near Fossil, a collector brought to me a beauti- 

 ful elephant's tooth of unusual size. He in- 

 formed me that he had taken it from the 

 bottom of a well very near Bear Lake, Utah. 

 This well was about twenty feet in depth and 

 the tooth was found in rather fine gravel. 

 The tooth belonged to E. primigenus, judging 

 from its size and the arrangement of the 

 plates. It is interesting to note that the ele- 

 phant lived at rather high elevations, as well 

 . as along the streams of the plains and the 

 lower areas of North America. It is also 



