476 Scientific Intelligence. 



may have originated from the worms. He also believes that 

 Dawson was correct in ascribing the plant remains near St. John 

 to the Devonian. 



9. Ostracoda of the basal Cambrian rocks in Gape Breton ; 

 by G. F. Matthew. Can. Record Sci., vol. viii, No. 7, pp. 437- 

 468. 



10. Fossil Mammals of 'the Tertiary of Northeastern Colorado; 

 by W. D. Matthew. Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. i, Part 

 vii, pp. 355-447, 1901. — This extensive memoir upon the fossil 

 mammals of the Oligocene and Loup Fork beds of Colorado con- 

 tains much that is new, interesting, and important to the student 

 of paleontology, and is a notable contribution to the extinct 

 mammalian fauna of this country. That which is perhaps the 

 most novel feature of the paper, however, is the conclusion that 

 the unlaminated clays of these beds are of eolian origin, and that 

 the sandstones and laminated clays represent river deposits accu- 

 mulated upon a flood plain. The old view of the lacustrine 

 origin of these sediments which has been held by all the leading 

 geologists of this country for many years past, is regarded as 

 untenable and is rejected. The evidence which the author 

 regards as in favor of this hypothesis is classified and considered 

 as follows: (A) The Stratigraphic Evidence, under which are 

 grouped (1) objections to the lacustrine hypothesis on account of 

 the size of the supposed lake, and the absence of distinct terraces ; 

 (2) great thickness in the west near the mountains, with gradual 

 thinning out to the eastward, is thought to be evidence in favor 

 of flood plain action rather than deposition in a lake ; (3) the 

 manner in which coarse beds are intercalated among the fine 

 sediments, if lacustrine would indicate "frequent, spasmodic, 

 and extensive changes in the level of the lake"; (4) the absence 

 of thick marginal deposits and the character of the erosion of 

 the sediments are opposed to their lacustrine origin ; (5) absence 

 of conglomerate beds at the base of the formation ; and (6) lack 

 of lamination of much of the clays, are all thought to be opposed 

 to their disposition in a lake. (B) Paleontological Evidences. 

 These are held by the author to be much more convincing than 

 those derived from the stratisjraphic arguments, and he does not 

 hesitate to affirm that, " The burden of proof that climatic and 

 geologic conditions were so widely different from modern times 

 as to sustain a huge inland sea of fresh water in the now arid 

 Plains, lies not with the opponent but with the exponent of the 

 lake theory." The argument derived from the paleontological 

 evidence consists, according to the author, of the fact that the 

 fauna of the clays is a strictly terrestrial fauna, and different 

 from that contained in the sandstones. The fact that there are 

 no aquatic invertebrates, fish, aquatic reptiles or mammals, but 

 large numbers of land tortoises, together with peculiarities of 

 occurrence and preservation of the fossils contained in the sedi- 

 ments, are believed to place insuperable difficulties in the way of 

 a belief in the lacustrine origin of these deposits. 





