240 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. I. No. 9. 



is the thii'd upper molar. It possesses two 

 divergent roots. Contrary to what one ex- 

 pects, the smaller part of the crown forms 

 the outside (buccal), and the larger the in- 

 side (palatal) surface. Du Bois thus de- 

 scribes the tooth on the assumption that the 

 broader of the two roots represented two 

 other confluent roots. If the broader half 

 of the crown were outside (as it appears to 

 be from the figure) the identification of the 

 tubercles on tlie grinding surface would be 

 easy. As it is, it is difficult, if not impos- 

 sible, to name the cusps. The tooth must 

 be classified as irregular and degenerate. 

 I am in the habit of naming such teeth, 

 crater-like, since all sides of the crown are 

 uniformly higher than the centre, and the 

 sides of the single valley are much fissured. 

 We often meet with such teeth in man, but 

 so far as I laiow they have not been seen La 

 apes. 



The tuberculation in the gorilla for the 

 third molar is complete; the fourth cusp 

 (hypocone), while rudimentary, is distinct. 

 In the chimpanzee, according to Owen, the 

 third molar is tritubercular, but in a speci- 

 men in the Academy of liatural Sciences of 

 Philadelphia, it shows distinctly the rudi- 

 ment of a hypocone. In the orang the third 

 molar is distinctly quintitubercular, the 

 fifth cusp being developed in the commissure 

 between the mesocone and the hypocone. 



The tooth of Pithecanthropus is larger than 

 any human tooth with which I am famil- 

 ilar. The following table will place its 

 measurements in harmony with ape and 

 human teeth. 



Length. Width. 



Pithecanthropus, 11.3 mm. 15.3 mm. 



Gorilla, 14.1 " 13.5 " 



Orang, , IS " 13 " 



Cliimpanzee, 10 " 10 " 



Native of Australia, ( 1 ) 10 " 13 " 



" " " (2) 10 " 14 



" " Sandv^ach Islands, 10" " 13.5 " 



In Owen's Odontography the gibbon is 

 seen to possess a molar of length 6 mm. and 



width 7. .5 mm.; but even here the form of the 

 tooth is quite unlike that of Pithecanthropus^ 

 being tritubercular with a rudimental hj'po- 

 cone. The tooth, unlike that of any anthro- 

 poid ape examined, is wider than long. The"^ 

 proportion of the width in comparison to 

 the length is much the same as in the third 

 molar of the human subject. The great 

 size of the tooth and the possession of three 

 roots, forming two diverging root-stems are 

 distinguishing characters, but thej' are not 

 simian. Some allowance must be made for 

 the great variability in the shape of the 

 third upper human molar. 



Respecting the calvarium, I note in the 

 view of the vertex a median elevation ap- 

 parently over the interfrontal suture. This 

 is often met with in the human skull, but 

 so far as I know is never seen in the skull 

 of the ape. The recession back of the exter- 

 nal orbital process differs only in degree fi'om 

 that seen in man. The femur is indubi- 

 tably human. Haeeison Allen. 



Philadelphia, Feb. 14, 1895. 



THE ELIHU THOMSON PEIZE. 



The Editoe of Science : Your trans- 

 atlantic contemporarj', Nature, has from its 

 beginning enjoj^'ed a large support among 

 scientific men of the United States. It is 

 so well conducted, and combines in so un- 

 usual a degree freshness and reUability, that 

 it it iS' almost indispensable, and Americans 

 continue to renew theii" subscriptions an- 

 nually, in spite of the very general feeling 

 and not inft-equently expressed opinion that, 

 on the whole, it is not now and never has 

 been quite fair or just in its treatment of 

 American science and scientific men. 



An illustration of this is to be found in a 

 recent number (January 31, 1895) which 

 is so striking as to deserve attention. On 

 page 324 will be found a note in reference 

 to the recently announced award of the 

 Eliliu Thomson Prize (see this journal, 

 page 190). It is a most ingeniously con- 



