May 29, 1903.] 



SCIENCE. 



873 



These pots were buried December, 1902, on 

 the Arlington farm of the IJnited States De- 

 partment of Agriculture, in a heavy clay soil 

 at three different depths. Eight complete sets 

 are covered to a depth of six or eight inches, 

 such as would take place in deep ploughing. 

 Twelve complete sets are buried at a depth 

 of twenty inches, where they will be compar- 

 atively free from the action of frost. Twelve 

 more complete sets are buried from three to 

 three and one half feet, thus insuring fairly 

 uniform conditions as to temperature, moist- 

 ure, etc. 



In all 32 complete sets or 3,584 pots have 

 been buried. It is proposed to take up one of 

 each of these sets from time to time and test 

 for germination. The present plan is to make 

 the tests at the end of one, two, three, five, 

 seven, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty, 

 forty and fifty years. With this scheme the 

 last set of those buried at a depth of six to 

 eight inches will be taken up for test after 

 the lapse of twenty years, and, indeed, it is 

 quite probable that most of this series will 

 have germinated or decayed long before this; 

 in fact we feel reasonably sure that many will 

 succumb during the first year. Similar re- 

 sults will undoubtedly be had from those 

 buried at greater depths, though here vitality 

 will be retained longer. Many, of course, 

 will live for a number of years; on the other 

 hand, it will be quite surprising if any re- 

 spond to germination tests at the end of fifty 

 years. J. W. T. Duvel, 



Assistant in Seed Laboratory, U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture. 



SOME NEW GENERIC NAMES OF MAMMALS. 



In preparing an index of the genera of 

 ma m mals, a number of names have come to 

 light which have been previously used for 

 other groups. Some of these names are in 

 current use and apparently have no synonyms 

 which can be substituted for them. The fol- 

 lowing new names are therefore proposed: 

 \^ Eosaccomys — ^new name for Saccosiomus 

 Peters, 1846, which is preoccupied by Saccos- 

 toma Fitzinger, 1843, a genus of reptiles. 



Eucervaria — ^new name for Cervaria Gray, 



1867, which is preoccupied by Cervaria Walk- 

 er, 1866, a genus of Lepidoptera. 



Helicotragus — new name for Helicophora 

 Weithofer, 1889, which is preoccupied by 

 Helicophora Gray, 1842, a genus of MoUusca. 



LophocehiLS — new name for Bemnocelms 

 Gray, 1870, which is preoccupied by Semno- 

 cehus Lesson, 1840, a genus of lemurs. 



Morenella — new name for Morenia Ame- 

 ghino, 1886, which is preoccupied by Morenia 

 Gray, 1870, a genus of chelonians. 



Nannospalax — ^new name for Microspalax 

 Wehring, 1898, which is preoccupied by Mi- 

 crospalax Trouessart, 1885, a genus of Arach- 

 nida. 



Necronycteris — ^new name for Necromantis 

 Weithofer, 1887, which is preoccupied by 

 Necromantes Gistel, 1848, a genus of Mol- 

 lusca. 



N'eocothurus — new name for Cothurus Pal- 

 mer, 1899, which is preoccupied by Cothurus 

 Champion, 1891, a genus of Coleoptera. 



Octodontomys — ^new name for Neoctodon 

 Thomas, 1902, which is preoccupied by Neoc- 

 todon Bedel, 1892, a genus of Coleoptera. 



Tapirella — ^new name for Elasmognathus 

 Gill, 1865, which is preoccupied by Elasmog- 

 nathus Pieber, 1844, a genus of Hemiptera. 



Tytthoconus — new name for Microconodon 

 Osborn, 1886, which is preoccupied by Micro- 

 conodus Traquair, 1877, a genus of Pisces. 

 T. S. Palmer. 



U. S. Depaetment of Ageicultuee. 



MUSEUM NOTES. 

 The Annual Report of the director of the 

 Carnegie Museum shows good progress in 

 various directions, but particularly in the line 

 of paleontology, where valuable additions have 

 been made in the shape of specimens of the 

 larger dinosaurs and of Oligocene mammals. 

 Important additions have been made to the 

 entomological collections, which are now 

 among the most important in the United 

 States, and there has been obtained by pur- 

 chase the only specimen of the almost extinct 

 Rhinoceros siraus in this country. Pending 

 the important additions to the museum build- 

 ing which are to be made the director pro- 



