158 Scientific Intelligence. 



saurus. A similar arrangement is seen in Palceohatteria, Hype- 

 radapedon and Mesosaurns (Stereosternum). Each of these three 

 genera forms a distinct family of which the Paloeo hatter idee is 

 the most generalized ; the Hyperadapedontidm is a highly spec- 

 ialized family, which probably, or certainly did not leave any 

 descendants ; the same I may say of the Mesosauridas which I 

 consider as aquatic forms of the Proganosauria. The Protero- 

 sauridae and Rhynchosauridse are in the line of the Rhyncho- 

 cephalia. 



The chronological order of the different families is probably the 

 following; : 



Palceohatteriidce : " Mittel Rothliegendes" (Lower Permian). 



Kadaliosauridce : " Mittel Rothliegendes " (Lower Permian) a little higher than 



the Palseohatteriidas 

 Proterosauridce : " Kupferschiefer " (Upper Permian). 



Mesosauridce:* Karoo-system (position not sure, but probably older than 



Upper Triassic). 

 Hyperadapedontidce : Upper Triassic. 

 Rhynchosauridce : Upper Triassic. 



Prof. Huxley has placed Rhyncho saurus together with Hyper- 

 adapedon in one family Rhynchosauridse; the structure of the 

 abdominal ossicles, so different in both,f leads to a different 

 opinion. I consider JHyperadepedon as the representative of a 

 distinct family Hyperadapedontidse, related to the Proganosauria, 

 forming a highly specialized branch of this primitive order. The 

 RynchosauridaB are nearly related to the Sphenodontidse and 

 form a family of the Rhynchocephalia. The Proterosauridge seem 

 to connect the Rhynchocephalia with the Proganosauria. 



3. American Geological Society. — The American Geological 

 Society held its first annual meeting on the 26th to the 28th of 

 December, at the American Museum of Natural History, New 

 York. The meeting was a very large one, and comprised geolo- 

 gists from all parts of the country and from Canada, and in this 

 respect, in the value of the many papers presented and the spirit 

 of the discussions, it was a great success. The number of papers 

 presented was nearly forty, and over a sixth of them were by 

 Canadian geologists. The authors included Sir William Dawson, 

 D. P. Penhallow, R. Bell, A. C. Lawson, R. G. McConnell, J. 

 B. Tyrrell, R. W. Ells, P. McKellar, T. C. Chamberlain, James 

 Hall, J. S. Newberry, S. F. Emmons, J. S. Diller, G. H. Williams, 

 I C. Russell, E. Orton, Wm. B. Clark, Wm. M. Davis, G. F. 

 Wright, W. J. McGee, C. D. Walcott, E. Brainard, H. M. Seely, 



R. P. Whitfield, C. D. White, A. S. Bickmore, A. Winchell, C. 



*• 



* Stereosternum Cope, from Brazil, which had been considered as of probable 

 Carboniferous age is not distinguishable from Mesosaurus from the Karoo-system 

 of South Africa. The South American strata represent the Karoo-system of 

 South Africa. 



f The abdominal ossicles of Rhynchosaurus are of the same structure as those 

 in Sphenodon. In a specimen in the British Museum I have counted thirty-two ab- 

 dominal bones. 



New Haven, Conn., Dec. 10, 1889. 



