70 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. X. No. 235 



facets on the pavilion or lower side of the stone, and 17 facets on 

 the girdle : total number, loi. Because of its deep color, this is a 

 finer stone than the historical Star of the South (125 carats), which 

 was purchased by the Mahratta, ruler of Baroda, for $400,000, at 

 the French Exposition, 1867. It also rivals the Florentine, which, 

 according to Schrauf's determination {Sitzb. d. k. Akad. d. IVz's- 

 sensch.. Band 54, Abtheil. i. Nov., 1866), weighed 133I- carats, and 

 was sold for 2,000,000 florins, but is only a long double rose or 

 drop, and not a brilliant. 



The Tiffany Company No. 2 (see Figs. 8, 9) weighs 77 carats, is 



Figs, s, 



of a light-yellowish color, is absolutely perfect, and is one of the 

 few large stones that have been cut for beauty and not for weight. 

 It is so evenly cut that it will stand on the culet, which is only of 

 the regular size. This stone was exposed to a strong blazing sun- 

 light for thirty minutes, two thermometers registering 1 10° to 1 20° F. 

 during the whole time of exposure ; and only a very faint, if any, 

 phosphorescence was obser\'ed, although the stone was placed in a 

 dark-room within thirty seconds after exposure. It had been laid 

 on a black velvet case during the whole time of the experiment. 



Fics. 8, 9. Figs. 10, 11. 



and nothing came in contact with it while it was being carried to a* 

 place of darkness. Its specific gravity is 3.523+ at 60° F. ; it 

 measures 26 mm. (i^inches) in length, 25 mm. (i inch) in width, 

 and 17 mm. (y-j of an inch) in thickness; there are 33 facets on the 

 crown or upper side of the stone, and 25 facets on the pavilion or 

 back; and, in addition, there are 55 small facets evenly distributed 

 around the girdle. 



Figs. 10 and 11 sjiowa fine yellow diamond, weighing 51^ carats, 

 also from South Africa, and recently recut by Tiffany & Co. in 

 New York City. It is absolutely perfect, and without flaws. It meas- 



ures 22 mm. (-J of an inch) in length, 22 mm. in width, 23.75 mm 

 {fj of an inch) at the corners, and 15.75 mm. (| of an inch) in 

 thickness ; there are 73 facets on the crown or upper side of the 

 stone, and 49 facets on the pavilion or back ; and the cutting, which 

 is that of a double-deck brilliant with some of the lower crown- 

 facets divided in two, is quite unique, forming a remarkably beauti- 

 ful gem. George F. Kunz. 



New York, Aug. i . 



Pars Propatagialis musculi cucuUaris. 



In a previous number of Science (ix. p. 623) Dr. Shufeldt pub- 

 lishes an account of his discovery of " another muscle in birds of 

 taxonomic value," — a muscle which he thinks unnamed, proposing 

 for it the name ' dermo-iejisor patagii,' and of which he says that 

 " Garrod, even if he knew of its existence, certainly overlooked " it. 



This muscle is by no means a new discovery, nor is it in want of 

 names. In the first place, it is Fiirbringer's and Gadow's "pars 

 propatagialis ni. cucuUaris." Slightly modified, it is Viallane's 

 " temporo-alaris." Gervais and Alix are said to have called this 

 muscle " tenseur de la membraiie axillaire," and other names might 

 also be quoted. That this muscle has not been " pressed into ser- 

 vice with telling effect in taxonomy of the class " is simply due to 

 the fact that Dr. Shufeldt's predecessors found that it did not have 

 the taxonomic value which he seems to attribute to it. He seems 

 to suppose that it is peculiar to the " true passerine birds," by 

 which term I suppose he means the " Oscines," since he excludes 

 Tyra7i7ius and the " typical Passeres mesoniyodi." ' This is not the 

 case, however, as the appended two figures demonstrate, which 

 show that it is typically developed in at least some woodpeckers and 

 parrots. 



Dr. Shufeldt, in the paper alluded to, does Garrod great injustice. 

 As I have already pointed out, the muscle is a well-known one, and 

 it is quite unwarrantable to suppose for one moment that Garrod 

 was ignorant of its existence (" even if he knew its existence"). When 

 Garrod wrote his paper on the wing-muscles of birds, he had dis- 

 sected about one hundred and fifty species of the most different groups 

 of Passeres and picarians ; and even if he was ignorant of the litera- 

 ture, which of course he was not, he could not possibly have over- 

 looked so conspicuous a muscle. But the fact is, that in the paper 

 in question he treats almost exclusively of the tensor patagii brevis, 

 and /. patagii longus is only mentioned by the way. The muscular 

 slip which inserts itself on the latter is therefore not at all men- 

 tioned, but that does not justify the conclusion that it was over- 

 looked. On the contrary, in the numerous figures which accompany 

 Garrod's paper, it is plainly shown in the only " true passerine bird" 

 (oscinine) figured by him ; viz., Icterus. And here Dr. Shufeldt 

 grossly misrepresents Garrod. He says, " Garrod chose the wing 

 of Rampliastos cuvieri to illustrate the arrangement of the patagial 

 muscles in the Passeres, but not a hint of this one is given " (Italics 

 mine).- Of course, Garrod did nothing of the kind: he was too 

 good an ornithologist to believe that Rhamphastos is one of the 

 Passeres. And in point of fact, Garrod expressly states that he 

 presents the figure as representative of a typical picarian bird. That 

 in this case " not a hint " of this muscle is given, should, then, no 

 longer surprise Dr. Shufeldt. 



The muscle in question is quite variable, but its true nature as a 

 slip of the deeper portion of m. cucuUaris (j)anniculus carnostis) 

 may be plainly seen when dissecting such a bird as the English 

 sparrow {Passer domesticus). In the free margin of the para- 

 patagium, as I call the duplicature of the skin between the neck 

 and the shoulder, which is only a continuation of Xh& propatagijim, 

 you find a well-developed muscle, which, by means of a tendon at 

 its distal end, inserts itself on the tensor propatagii longus at 

 about the middle of the latter. The portion of m. cticidlaris from 

 which this slip is given off, in its upper extremity corresponds 

 closely with Viallane's temporo-alaris, it being easily separated 

 from the skin, and inserts itself on the head above the temporal 

 muscle, while in its entire length it is separated from the dorso- 

 medial line by a considerable space. 



1 See also where he speaks of the " passerine affinities " of A mpelis in contradis- 

 tinction to the '' clamatorial ones." 



= That this is not a /a/i!« calami is evident both from the line italicized, and 

 from the fact that in the explanation of Fig. i Rampliastos cuvieri is again referred 

 : bird." 



