Miscellaneous Intelligence. 425 



Theo. Gill : The Characteristics of the Order and Sub-orders of Fishes. 



F. W. Putnam : The Serpent Mound and its Surroundings. 



C. V. Riley : The Systematic Relations of Platypsyllus as determined by the 

 Larva. 



C. H. F. Peters: On the Position of the Nova of 1572, as determined byTycho 

 Brahe. 



J. S. Newberry : Some Notes on the Laramie Group. On the Structure and 

 Relations of Placoderm Fishes. 



At the meeting the Draper Astronomical Medal was presented 

 to Professor E. C. Pickering, of Cambridge, and the Lawrence 

 Smith Medal, for original work upon the subject of Meteorites, to 

 Professor H. A. Newton, of New Haven. 



The American Anthropologist, published under the auspices of the Anthropologi- 

 cal Society of "Washington, vol. i, No. 1, January, 1888, 96 pp. 8vo. "Washing- 

 ton, D. O, 1888. — This new Quarterly Journal, which has all the commendation 

 it needs in the fact of its being the continuation of the Transactions of the An- 

 thropological Society of Washington, comprises iu its editorial Committee : Prof. 

 J. Howard Gore, Mr. Thomas Hampson, Mr. H. W. Henshaw, Prof. 0. T. 

 Mason, Dr. Washington Matthews, S. V. Proudfit and Col. F. A. Seely. 

 It desires to extend the range of its contributions and of the usefulness of the 

 "Washington Society. The present number contains papers by Dr. J. C. "Welling 

 on the Law of Malthns ; Col. Seely on the development of time-keeping in Greece 

 and Rome ; Dr. Frank Baker, anthropological notes on the human hand ; and 

 Dr. D. G. Brinton, on the Chane-abai (four-language) tribe and dialect of Chiapas. 

 Other papers are to appear on the nephrite question, by Dr. A. B. Meyer of 

 Dresden; on the subject " From barbarism to civilization," by Major Powell; on 

 Discontinuities in Nature's methods, by H. H. Bates of the U. S. Patent Office. 

 The subscription price of the Journal is three dollars a year. Communications 

 should be addressed to Mr. Thomas Hampson, Washington, D. C. 



OBITUARY. 



Oscar Harger, whose death was announced in the December 

 number, was born in Oxford, Conn., January 12, 1843. From 

 his father, a farmer and land surveyor, he inherited great phy- 

 sical endurance, remarkable mathematical talents and the salient 

 points of his strong character. By almost unaided exertions he 

 prepared himself for college, and, entering Yale, maintained 

 himself during the four years of undergraduate study by teach- 

 ing and mathematical work, and was graduated with high stand- 

 ing in the Class of 1868. During his college course he developed 

 great mathematical capacity and ever after took special delight 

 in abstruse mathematical work, often resorting to it for recreation. 

 It is probable that the bent of his mind was mathematical but, 

 while a boy, he had studied botany and become familiar with the 

 native plants about his home, although his time was so occupied 

 with farm labor during the proper time for botanizing that he 

 commenced the study of grasses and sedges in winter, collecting 

 and identifying many species from the hay stored in barns. His 

 success in botany undoubtedly led him to turn his attention to 

 other departments of natural history, and after graduation from 

 college he abandoned the mathematical career open to him and 

 began the study of zoology with Professor Verrill. In his 



