382 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XVI. No. 407 



separated from those of the living ones; not only separated in 

 different rooms or parts of the building, but separated in different 

 departments. The bones of the living animals we generally find 

 with the skins or near them. The bones of the fossil forms we 

 find either in a special department or in the geological department. 

 It is absolutely necessary to exhibit the bones of fossil and living 

 animals together in one section. 



The morphologist will not waste his time and that of others in 

 giving new names to every miserable fragment of a skull, or a 

 vertebra, or a limb- bone: he will study the fossil forms exactly 

 as the living ones, with the greatest detail. He will take the ut- 

 most care to work the bones out of the rock, not leave them to 

 show people how nicely they were embedded in the matrix. How 

 can a man study the bones of living forms if he does not remove 

 the muscles ? By treating the fossil bones exactly as the living 

 < nes, it is possible to make a direct comparison with the greatest 

 minuteness; and thus alone can we get satisfactory results. How 

 many important extinct forms exist, of the osteology of which we 

 know but little, simply because they have not been worked out 

 sufficiently! I may mention, that, of the triassic Aetosauria, a 

 group of two dozen specimens is preserved in a splendid condi- 

 tion; but about this very remarkable order of reptiles we know 

 very little, simply because it has not been worked sufficiently 

 -out of the rock. 



I stated above, that a man, if he should study all forms of liv- 

 ing animals, would get no clear results without paleontology; but 

 very often we tind living forms for which we receive no help even 

 through paleontology, the ancestors of which are not yet found. 

 In this case the third branch of osteology comes in, — embryology, 

 or evolution of the skeleton. Of course, in very rare cases only, 

 we can study the evolution of the skeleton of an extinct form; 

 £uch a rare case is offered, for instance, by the Permian batrachian 

 Branchiosaiinis, of which Professor Credner has given the devel- 

 opment. The evolution of the skeleton of living forms is of the 

 greatest importance for comparative osteology, and I will demon- 

 strate it by a few examples. 



We know little about the ancestors of the BovidcB; but by 

 studying the evolution of their limbs we find that the earliest 

 embryos show four well-developed metapodials, distinct from each 

 other. Gradually the side metapodials become reduced, and the 

 median ones unite. We can safely say that the ancestoi-s of the 

 Bovidce had at a former period four distinct metapodials, which 

 became modified from time to time until the conditions were 

 reached which we see to-day. Another very instructive example 

 is offered by the Carnivora, dogs, cats, and so on. In the carpus 

 of the living animals we find thac the radial, intermedial, and 

 central are represented by a single bone, but in the embryo we 

 find three distinct cartilages which unite later to form this one 

 bone. Ibis we knew long ago, before we had any idea of these 

 parts in the ancestors of the Carnivora; and we could say with 

 confidence that these ancestors must have three distinct bones in 

 the carpus, in the place of one. The limb-bones of some of the 

 Creodonta, the ancestors of the Carnivora, were discovered sub- 

 sequently, and showed the three bones. 



We know the whole paleontological history of tlie horse, down 

 to the pentadactyl Phenacodus from the lower eocene, but we 

 hardly know any thing about the embryological history of this 

 nnimal. This, when known, will Aow the gradual evolution of 

 the peculiar monodactyl foot. Of course, it will not represent 

 the early Phenacodus in the earliest embryo (too many genera- 

 tions have gone since the lower eocene, and the embryological 

 history is obscured), but it will doubtless show three well and 

 more, equally developed metapodials, and possibly the representa- 

 tive of a fourth one. Here a man could do great service to sci- 

 ence by collecting the necessary material in one ot^ the places 

 where the horse has become wild. 



But the embryologist has to be sceptical with his conclu- 

 sions also in osteology. He must never forget that the em- 

 bryological history is very much abbreviated, and that only the 

 later stages will be indicated in the skeleton of the embryo. But 

 this study is very rewarding, and, in connection with osteology of 

 living and fossil forms, gives splendid views of the origin and evo- 

 ution of vertebrates. This branch of osteology, I am sorry to 



say, has not been treated with the interest it deserves. Embry- 

 ologists generally stop after they have found out about the forma- 

 tion of the germ-layers. Very seldom an animal is studied up to 

 its adult stage. It is true, the late Professor W. K. Parker has 

 published numerous works on the evolution of the skull of differ- 

 ent vertebrates, and these we find cited very often as examples of 

 such a kind of study ; but these researches suffer very much from 

 the lack of paleontological knowledge, a number of the state- 

 ments brought forward are unreliable, and the general conclu- 

 sions are usually too vague. In these numerous papers we miss 

 the true phylogenetic sense, which alone can lead to true results. 

 Had he, with his great diligence, considered more the results of 

 paleontology and taxonomy, he would have done very much more 

 for the phylogeny of vertebrates. 



I can only repeat here, what I said eight years ago in my paper 

 on the " Tarsus of Birds and Dinosaurs:"' " Palaeontologie und 

 Entwicklungsgeschichte des Skeletsy stems miissen Hand in Hand 

 gehen. Wenn wir palaeontologische Reste studiren wollen, so 

 miissen wir die Skeletogenese des Thieres, welches ihm am nachs- 

 ten verwandt ist, zuvor kennen. Ich halte daher die Genese des 

 Sbeletsystems der Wirbelthiere von eben so boher Bedeutung, 

 wie die ersten Vorgange am Ei und die Entstehung der Keimi- 

 blatter." 



Osteology of living forms, osteology of fossil forms, evolution 

 of the skeleton, must go hand in hand. No one of these branches 

 is sufficient in itself: it becomes complete only by the assistance 

 of the two others. So osteology of living forms is deficient with- 

 out paleontology and embryology of the skeleton; so paleontology 

 is deficient without osteology and embryology of the living forms; so 

 embryology is deficient without osteology of living and fossil forms. 

 All three equally and harmoniously united are able to explain and 

 to unriddle that complicated genealogical tree of vertebrates, with 

 its numerous branches and branchlets, and to conceive the origin 

 of man. 



REPORT OF THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY 

 AT WOOD'S HOLL. 



The trustees have the pleasure of reporting to the corporation 

 another year of prosperity to the laboratory. 



During the last summer those working in the laboratory num- 

 bered no less than forty-five, and the tuition-fees amounted to 

 $959, as against $845 during 1889, and $363 during 1888. 



During the last summer the laboratory offered greater advan- 

 tages for study and collecting than ever before, and it may be 

 confidently expected that in the future the receipts from tuition- 

 fees will be even larger. The trustees learn with pleasure that the 

 gentlemen in charge of the department of instruction report that 

 the quality of the elementary students and the work done by them 

 is decidedly better than in previous years. 



The two Lucretia Crocker scholarships, of fifty dollars each, 

 were held by Miss A. F. Armes and Miss Nellie L Shaw, both 

 teachers in the Boston public schools. 



During the summer of 1889 the need of a lecture-room was 

 keenly felt. Every available place in the laboratory being occu- 

 pied by a work-table, it was impossible for students to gather 

 around the lecturer without completely disarranging the labora- 

 tory. Experience had also shown that some more advanced stu- 

 dents did not need to attend every lecture given, but could spend 

 the time allotted to certain lectures to greater advantage if al- 

 lowed to continue their laboratory work. This could not be done 

 conveniently while lectures were in progress. Further, in accord- 

 ance with the plan adopted by the director, evening lectures of a 

 more advanced character were given from time to time. These 

 were attended by both students and investigators, an aggregate of 

 over forty persons. The interest in and instructiveness of these 

 lectures were much marred by the discomforts of the surround- 

 ings. The library had also outgrown the quarters to which it 

 was originally assigned, and during the summer of 1889 the num- 

 ber of rooms for investigators was less than the number of appli- 

 cants. 



In view of remedying these defects, the trustees have added an 

 L to the present building. This addition contains a comfortable 

 and convenient lecture-room, a pleasant library, and six investi- 



