May 25, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



813 



coprolites, possibly referable to tbis animal, 

 bave been found along its margin, in wbicb 

 turtle remains occur. Dr. Wortman in- 

 dulges bere in an interesting speculation ; 

 " wben tbe lake disappeai'ed, it can be con- 

 jectured tbat Fatriofelis took to tbe open 

 sea, and finally came to feed upon fisb ex- 

 clusively. It is further conceivable tbat in 

 tbeir new habitat their swimming power 

 was gradually increased, and, owing to the 

 soft nature of tbeir food, tbe great strength 

 and power of tbe jaws were gradually lost, 

 and the teeth became gradually modified 

 into the simple degenerate organs which 

 constitute the dental equipment of the 

 modern seals." 



In this volume Mr. Chapman presented 

 a long paper on the Birds of the Island of 

 Trinidad; Dr. Allen furnished seven articles 

 on mammalogy ; Mr. Beutenmiiller a very 

 useful descriptive catalogue of the Orthop- 

 tera, found within fifty miles of ITew York 

 City, and Professor Whitfield an instructive 

 display of the resemblance to, and proba- 

 ble identity with, modern marine algce, of 

 Trenton age fossils, previously referred by 

 Hall to graptolites. 



Volume seven, in its contributions to 

 science, was most distinguished by the pa- 

 pers it contained on Vertebrate Paleontol- 

 ogy. These were the Fossil Mammals of 

 the Puerco Beds, of the Uinta Basin, Perris- 

 sodactyls of the Lower Miocene White 

 Eiver Beds, and tbe Osteology of Agriochae- 

 rus. Dr. Allen provided a careful analysis 

 of Eobert Kerr's English translation of 

 ' The Systema ISTaturfe of Linnaeus, as 

 lately published, by the learned Professor 

 Gmelin of the University of Gottingen ' is- 

 sued in 1792, which analysis afforded a 

 useful nomenclatural essay, and belonged 

 to that species of scientific work which may 

 be designated as ' bousecleaning. ' Kerr's 

 specific and generic names were standard- 

 ized, and tbeir relevancy or irrelevancy 

 considered. Mr. Beutenmiiller gave another 



of his useful catalogues of insects found 

 within fifty miles of New York City, this 

 being in this instance tbe Sphingidce or 

 Hawk-Moths. Dr. Hovey contributed 

 notes on New York Island minerals, and 

 Mr. Chapman ornithological notes on Trini- 

 dad Birds. Volume eight of the Bulletin 

 (1896) opened with three articles on changes 

 in the plumage of birds, two studies of the 

 Dunlin, Sanderling and Snowflake by Mr. 

 Chapman, and a short general discussion of 

 ' alleged changes of color in the feathers of 

 birds without moulting ' by Dr. Allen. 

 These were possibly occasioned by Gatke's 

 notable proposition tbat tbe plumage of 

 birds changed without moulting. Dr. Allen 

 and Mr. Chapman's conclusions constituted 

 a refutation of Gatke's heterodox thesis. 



The papers on vertebrate Paleontology 

 were continued, and amongst them Profes- 

 sor Osborn's ' Cranial Evolution of Titano- 

 therium' possesses extreme interest. This 

 paper forms a model of conciseness and defi- 

 nite aim. It reveals the accentuation and 

 disappearance of morphological characters, 

 and is a contribution to the demonstration 

 of the plasticity of animal forms. Dr. 

 Wortman, somewhat contrasting in treat- 

 ment, discusses the species of Hyracotherium 

 (fossil horse) and straightens out some of 

 the tangled synonomy of these perissodac- 

 tyls. A paper of critical interest was Beut- 

 enmiiller's review of the Sesiidce, or clear 

 winged moths, found in America, north of 

 Mexico, and which was a contribution pre- 

 liminary to his Memoirs, yet unpublished, 

 on this family. 



Archaeology appears for the first time in 

 three papers by A. E. Douglass, M. H. 

 Saville, and James Teit, the first being an 

 attempt at a table of geographical distribu- 

 tion of American Indian Eelics. 



Papers on Mammalogy, Ornithology, 

 Entomology, and invertebrate Paleontol- 

 ogy are continued, and the enumeration 

 and notes on Birds in Yucatan, by Mr. 



