MISCELLANY, 



633 



Moresby's vessel mixed freely with them. 

 They practise several useful arts, such as 

 pottery, and possess extensive well-fenced 

 plantations. 



Several attempts were made to reach 

 the mDuntainous interior, by ascending the 

 rivers emptying into Redscar Bay, but the 

 boats were in every case brought to a stand 

 by the increasing velocity of the current, 

 after the first thirteen or fourteen miles. 

 Farther east a fine port and inner harbor 

 were discovered, and named Port Moresby 

 and Fairfax Harbor. The southeastern ex- 

 tremity of New Guinea was found to have 

 the form of a fork, off the lower tine of 

 which lies a group of islands, but leaving a 

 deep navigable channel between them and 

 the main-land. Captain Moresby doubled 

 the northern extremity of the fork, and 

 found the northern coast of New Guinea 

 washed by a grand, clear, reefless sea. The 

 natives here were of the same Malayan or 

 Polynesian race as those of Redscar Bay, 

 and the hill-slopes near their villages were 

 terraced and cultivated to a great height, in 

 a manner that even a Chinaman might envy. 

 With these people the intercourse of Cap- 

 tain Moresby's men was of a most satisfac- 

 tory, pleasant nature. Pieces of hoop-iron 

 were the medium of exchange, with which 

 the crew purchased food and curiosities, 

 including specimens of their handsome stone 

 hatchets. 



Prof. E. L. Youmam— 



My dear Sir: Be so kind as to allow 

 me room for a word in relation to the ar- 

 ticle " The Great Cemetery in Colorado," in 

 the last number of this magazine. It was 

 already in print when my attention was 

 called to Prof. 0. C. Marsh's article in the 

 American Journal of Science and the Arts, 

 "On the Structure and Affinities of the 

 Brontotheridse," in which the professor says 

 of Symborodon and Miobasileus : " Both 

 names should be regarded as synonyms of 

 JBrontotherium." While I would avoid as 

 sheer officiousness the intrusion of one word 

 as arbiter, yet I cannot permit the apparent 

 discourtesy to rest upon me of even so 

 much as seeming to ignore the professor's 

 statement. I suppose that Prof. Marsh is 

 entitled to be regarded as the discoverer, in 

 1870 — and pioneer explorer then and in 1872 

 — of that wonderful burial-place, whose dry 



bones you did me the honor to assign the 

 task of imbuing with enough of life to make 

 them presentable to your many readers. 

 Hence any thing from Prof. Marsh on that 

 theme is worthy of far more than ordinary 

 consideration. 



Let me here correct a typographical 

 error. In my article, on page 475, the first 

 word in line twelve from the bottom of the 

 page, " Eobasileus " should read " Mioba- 

 sileus." 



Very respectfully yours, 



Samuel Lockwood. 

 January 24, 1874. 



Autopsy of Agassiz. — Autopsy by Drs. 

 R. H. Fitz and J. J. Putnam ; present, Drs. 

 J. B. S. Jackson, J. Wyman, C. Ellis, M. 

 Wyman, S. G. Webber. 



Frame large. Fatty tissue abundant. 

 Cranium, brachycephalic, falling off abrupt- 

 ly from the middle of the sagittal suture. 

 Greatest antero - posterior diameter, 197 

 millimetres; greatest lateral diameter, 163 

 millimetres — these measurements made be- 

 fore the removal of the skin. Depth of 

 frontal bone, measured externally at the 

 median line, 5£ inches — 135 millimetres ; 

 length of sagittal suture, 5 inches = 128 

 millimetres. The walls of the skull were 

 thick and heavy ; the dura mater exceed- 

 ingly adherent to the bone and remarkably 

 thick. The pia mater moderately transpar- 

 ent. Along the arachnoid veins were white 

 lines indicating chronic thickening ; the 

 veins themselves rather more injected than 

 usual. The cerebral sulci were deep and 

 wide. On each side of the median line, 

 near the anterior ascending convolution on 

 the left, and the posterior ascending convo- 

 lution on the right, was a depression which 

 might have held a prune-stone or a little 

 more. The brain-tissue around was dimin- 

 ished without evidence of disease. The ar- 

 teries at the base of the brain showed evi- 

 dence of extensive chronic disease of their 

 lining membrane, with narrowing of the 

 calibre of the carotids. The basilar artery 

 was apparently a continuation of the left 

 vertebral alone, the right vertebral being 

 represented by an exceedingly small vessel 

 which united the basilar with the inferior 

 cerebellar, the latter being merely the pro- 

 longation of the exceedingly small right 

 vertebral. The left vertebral v/as larger 



