462 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 
mals. These gentlemen have discovered the remains of the ancestor of the rhi- 
noceros group, — an ancestry from which it is found that both the rhinoceros and 
the tapir groups are descended. This animal has been named Orthocynodon. 
A somewhat detailed account of the anatomy of the skull and form of dentition 
was given, bearing out the authors' views. 
The committee on Meteoric Dust state that Mr. Pope Hennessy had ob- 
tained a quantity of ice and snow from the Himalayas. After being melted and 
boiled down the residue was sent to England for examination. In most speci- 
mens of the dust are a number of small spherical bodies of magnetic matter, the 
surfaces of which are generally highly polished. Dr. Schuster showed several of 
these particles, the largest being perhaps one-twentieth of a millimetre in diame- 
ter, which had been obtained from a spot in the Himalayas about 3,400 feet high 
and fourteen miles from any human habitation. 
Sir R. W. Rawson stated that, according to the observations of the Anthro- 
pometric Committee it appeared that from the top of the social scale to the bot- 
tom there was a gradual descent in stature, weight, chest-girth, and all the ele- 
ments of strength. It was therefore of the utmost importance that by nature and 
improvement of sanitary conditions the lowest should be raised to the level of the 
highest. 
Dr. Schuster read an interesting paper on the motion of the Swiss glaciers. 
It has been known for some time that there are long periods of time during 
which the Swiss glaciers advance down or recede up their beds. Thus, in 1741, 
they were advancing, but it was reported that in 1700 it was possible to walk 
from Chamounix to Courmeyer over the Col de Geant without touching ice. 
They advanced all last century as far as is known and up to 181 7, then went 
back until 1840, advanced till 1859, and have since been receding till the present 
year, when many, including the Mer de Glace and the Rosenlaui glacier, have 
begun to advance. Dr. Schuster has made observations this summer on the 
Glacier des Boissons, at Chamounix, and has arrived at the important conclusion 
that the rate of motion of the same point on a glacier changes greatly from day 
to day. Thus he showed that while during the day the hourly rate of motion of 
one point observed was only .6 centimetres, during the next night it advanced at 
the rate of 5*5 centimetres per hour. The rate of other points examined varied, 
but not so greatly. Dr. Schuster also noticed the change occurring at the foot 
of the glacier when it comes into the valley. The downward motion of this point 
is determined by the fact that the parts above advanced more quickly than the 
ice at the foot melts away. He found that on one side of the glacier, where it 
rested against a boulder, there was no apparent change in the outline of the ice 
or in the position of the boulder during the day, while at the other side the end 
had moved in the same time four or five feet. 
A paper was read by Mr. E. B. Poulton on heredity in cats with an abnormal 
number of toes. The peculiarity appeared in the third generation and in succeed- 
ing generations. All varieties between the normal four and the extreme seven 
toes had been observed. The females most frequently possessed the abnormal 
