1876.] Geology and Palæontology. 499 
secondary ; that such a force as has crowded together the strata of the 
Appalachians, whatever may have been its source, has acted in the 
` Basin Ranges on some portion ọf the earth’s crust beneath the immedi- 
ate surface ; and the upper strata, by continually adapting themselves, 
under gravity, to the inequalities of the lower, have assumed the forms 
we see. The geology of the Great Salt Lake is discussed at length, and 
in a way to excite fresh interest in the history of this wonderful lake. 
Meex’s INVERTEBRATE Fossits or THE Upper Missovurt. — This 
splendid quarto volume has just been issued as volume ix. of the final 
reports of Hayden’s United States Geological Survey of the Territories. 
It relates chiefly to fossil shells of the cretaceous and tertiary formations 
of the head-waters of the Missouri, which were largely collected by Dr. 
Hayden early in his explorations in the West. The different divisions 
of the cretaceous and tertiary formations of this region were originally 
established by the invertebrate remains herein described, and it therefore 
forms the basis of our knowledge of two of the most important forma- 
tions in the West. As one of the series of volumes issued by the sur- 
vey, and following those of Leidy and Cope on the fossil mammals, and 
of Lesquereux on the fossil plants, it contains a large mass of facts con- 
tributing» toward the solution of one of the most difficult problems in 
western geology, namely, “ the relations of the Lignitic group to the well- 
defined cretaceous formation immediately beneath it.” The discussions 
by Mr. Meek of this vexed question will interest geologists. The work is 
illustrated by forty-five plates, with six hundred and twenty-nine pages 
of text; and from the carefully elaborated introductory essay, the full dis- 
cussion of synonymy, the careful and detailed descriptions of the genera 
as well as species, it is evident that the work will add to the high repu- 
tation of the distinguished author, and be a classical contribution to 
American paleontology. 
Fossiz Skunk rrom tHe Bone Caves or PENNSYLVANIA. — In 
* recent paper on the Dental and Cranial Chafacters ? of Mephitis, 
Dr. Coues has described a supposed new species of fossil Mephitis from 
bone caves of Pennsylvania, and has given detailed descriptions of 
skulls and dentition of the different genera of this group. The 
hitine, embracing the “skunks,” is, as is well known, restricted in 
distribution to the two Americas, and its representatives are also 
own to be among the most variable, both in osteological and exter- 
aa characters, of American mammals. In speaking of the common 
skunk (Mephitis mephitica), Dr. Coues says that he is acquainted with 
no animal that varies more than this, and few that exhibit such remark- 
able differences, independently of age and sex. “Some specimens,” he 
me ‘ are a fourth larger than others, and twice as heavy; and there is 
ig Cranial and Dental Characters of aioe T oper n 
Vogical A n. sp. foss. By Dr. Elliott Coues, ee ae aa ‘ pe 4 
a ae, eographical Survey of the Territories, Second Series, No. 1, pp 
ashington ; Government Printing Office. 1875. 
the 
its 
