468 Scientific Intelligence. 



recently the Shawangunk formation was regarded as the same as 

 Medina, but now on the basis of both statigraphy and paleon- 

 tology it is shown to be an eastern facies of the Salina. Near 

 Otisville the grits alternate with thin beds of black shale, many 

 of which have remains of Earypterus of the same general devel- 

 opment as in the Pittsford shale (Lower Salina) of western New 

 York. In the grits are found burrows resembling Arthrophyeus. 



The fauna consists of 4 new species of Earypterus, 1 Hugh- 

 milleria, 1 Pterygotus, 1 Stylonurusf, and fragments of Phyllo- 

 carida. Of particular paleontologic interest is the presence of 

 very small individuals of Earypterus indicating the following 

 ontogenetic changes : 



" (1) Very early change from the scorpioid to the gently taper- 

 ing abdomen ; (2) gradual but irregular increase in segmentation ; 

 (3) gradual but irregular elongation of the head ; (4) highly 

 irregular variation in position of the eyes, but gradual travel 

 from the margins inward to their normal locus." c. s. 



13. ITeber " OrganbMdende /Substanzen" und Hire Bedeutung 

 fur die Vererbung. (JVach seiner am 21, Juni 1906 in der Aula 

 der Umversitat Leipzig gehaltenen Antrittsvorlesung) / von 

 Prof. Dr. Carl Rabl. Pp. 80. Leipzig, 1906 (Wilhelm Engel- 

 mann). — This address is a scholarly discussion of the discoveries 

 regarding the nature and localization of those substances in the 

 germ cells which have recently been shown to give rise to defi- 

 nite portions of the adult organism, together with a critical exam- 

 ination of the evidences as to the actual physical mechanism con- 

 cerned in inheritance. 



The conclusion from the evidence is that there exists in the 

 germ cells no one particular substance concerned in inheritance, 

 but that every one of the fundamental organs of the cell is neces- 

 sary in order that inheritance may be accomplished. The author 

 accepts the view that the development of the organism is but a 

 continual chain of chemical processes, all connected and regu- 

 lated by a definite anatomical substratum. In an appendix is 

 placed a brief discussion of the more important recent publi- 

 cations bearing on the subject. 



This address may be looked upon not only as a most able pre- 

 sentation of a subject of profound interest, but also as an indica- 

 tion of the advanced position reached by the most recent biolog- 

 ical work in cytology. w. E. c. 



1 4. ITeber die Vererbung emoorbener Eigenschaften / Hypothese 

 einer Zenlroepigenese ; by Eugenio Rignano. Pp. 399. Leip- 

 zig, 1907 (Wilhelm Engelmann). — There is probably no ques- 

 tion in biology of more general interest than that as to whether 

 characters acquired or accentuated during the lifetime of the 

 individual can under any circumstances be transmitted to descend- 

 ants. The author assumes that such characters can be thus transr 

 mitted and produces such documentary evidence in support of the 

 doctrine as can be found in the writings of a number of well-known 

 biologists of the last quarter century. He furthermore proposes 



