266 O. C. Marsh —Vertebree of Recent Birds. 
proposing a Bigelowia on Solea concolor, of our own New Eng- 
land, as the Prodromus records, when he found that he had to 
refer it to Noisettia. ra in 1836, DeCandolle bestowed 
the name of Bigelowia upon some golden- rare Composite 
of the Southern United St et, which had borne the name of 
an Old World genus, Chrysocoma (Anglice, Golden tuft), and 
he added the complimentary ‘phrase: “ hrysocoma sepa- 
ratum dicavi cl. J. Bigelow qui florea Americane auream 
coronam flora Bostoniensi et medica addidit.” Although this 
genus was founded upon*only two or three species, it has been 
vastly extended by the exploration of the western regions 0 
our country, where it forms a conspicuous and characteristic 
portion of the low shrubby vegetation. More than_ thirty 
North American species of wg besides one of Mexico 
and two of the Andes of South America, now commemorate 
our venerable late associate. Most of them were scab hin 
to the genus by the present writer. . G 
Art. XXXIIL—The Vertebree of Recent Birds ; by Professor 
O.C, MarsH. 
One of the most marked features in the skeleton of 
modern birds is the form of their vertebrae. This is so peculiar 
and so constant that it is considered by many anatomists to be 
the best distinctive character for the class. In no other group 
of animals known is there an approach to the paddies nore 
articulation of the centra seen in the vertebra o 
Not only do the presacral vertebre of all existing birds 
exhibit this structure, but the many extinct forms now known 
from the whole series of Tertiary deposits have the same 
articulation. If we ms gute these fossil forms, in addition 
fortunately, however, a few Cretaceous birds have been die 
covered which throw much light on this point, ae virtually 
explain the difficulty. 
In the toothed birds Ichthyornis and ee. rnis, we have 
articulation in these tw © genera is seen in the figures below, 
which show a characteristic cervical vertebra in each form. 
