628 SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY. 



The mode of development of deers' antlers formed the subject of a val- 

 uable essay, delivered by Professor Theodore Gill, before the National 

 Academy of Sciences at its recent meeting. The following Avere the chief 

 conclusions reached: Antlers are horn -like appendages of frontal processes, 

 peculiar to the deer, developed periodically and concomitantly with the 

 sexual organs, chiefly in the males, either as simple spikes or with a ten- 

 dency to bifurcation, especially (but not exclusively) in the direction of 

 jjreatest or axial growth. The modification of the antlers and their con- 

 tour in the various forms of the family, are chiefly dependent on and de- 

 termined by the diverse exhibitions of this tendency, and examples of sev- 

 eral kinds are furnished by the general Cervus, Cariacus, (also Eusa, Pudua,) 

 and Elaphurus. As is generally known, in all the deer the antlers of the 

 first year, at least, are simple spikes. In Pudua, the antlers remain simple 

 and never bifurcate. In Cervus, the direction of growth is continuously 

 upward and backward, and dichotomization takes place from the hindmost 

 prong of the preceding year, the antlers being differentiated, however, into 

 posterior " beams " and anterior " brow-antlers." In Oariacus, the direction 

 of greatest growth is deflected and the main axis continues sub-spirally 

 forward into the homologues of the anterior upper prongs of the fourth 

 year. Eusa exhibits a similar tendency. In Elaphurus, the direction of 

 principal growth is upward from the base and forward, and the antlers are 

 differentiated into two elements, (1) the anterior being homologous with 

 the brow antlers of Cervus and functionally usui-ping the place of the main 

 ones, and (2) the posterior being correspondingly reduced and thrown back- 

 ward. — N. Y. Tribune. 



The postponement of the Woodruff Scientific Expedition till next May 

 seems tD have been resolved upon rather suddenly. Within a few days 

 previous to the announcement of the change of plan, the expectation of de- 

 parture during the present month was encouraged. 



Brazilian Meteoric Iron. — A meteorite from Brazil has been analysed, 

 and found to contain 64 per cent, of iron, and 36 per cent, of nickel, corres- 

 ponding thus nearly to the formula FcaJ^i. It is remarkable for its richness 

 in the latter metal. — Boston Journal of Chemistry. 



Canajoharie, in this State, boasts the possession of a stone relic, recent- 

 ly found below the surface in making an excavation. Its size, strange to 

 .say, is not given in the newspaper accounts. The stone is believed to be 

 very ancient, and is carved in a shape that is said to bear close resemblance 

 to the Egyptian Sphynx. Perhaps, too, it may present a perpetual riddle. 



