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REPORT ON OSTEOLOGY. 



By Dr. D. D. Slaue. 



The department of Osteology has received no additions since 

 the last Report, with the exception of the fossilized femur of a 

 huge undetermined Proboscidian, found beneath the alluvial 

 deposit in the bed of the Missouri River at Rulo, while sinking a 

 shaft, and forwarded to the Museum through the instrumentality 

 of Professor Shaler. Several mammals which have been pre- 

 served in alcohol have been sent to Professor Ward, to be 

 prepared as skeletons, but have not yet been returned. 



The collection is in excellent condition, and has been much 

 visited, especially by those who wished to avail themselves of the 

 opportunities offered for study and comparison. Among these 

 may be mentioned Professor Thomas D wight, who made careful 

 measurements of the scapulae of various skeletons, especially of 

 the Anthropoid Apes, the results of his observations being pub- 

 lished in the American Naturalist, for July, 1887, in a paper en- 

 titled, " The Range of Variation of the Human Shoulder-blade." 

 Portions of the disarticulated skeletons of Otaria juhata, Phoca 

 fcetida, and P. groenlandica were loaned to him for the purpose of 

 making sections, which are skilfully phototyped in his valuable 

 essay, " The Significance of Bone Structure," published in the 

 Memoirs of the Boston Society of Natural History, Vol. IV., 

 No. 1. 



Portions of the disarticulated bones of Cystophora cristata 

 were also loaned to Mr. J. A. Allen, Curator in the National 

 Museum, Central Park, N. Y., for examination and comparison 

 in the preparation of his paper on the West Indian Seal, Mo- 

 nachus tropicalis. For similar purposes, a cast of Zeuglodon 

 hydrarchus, from the collection of the Fossil Vertebrates under 

 my charge, was sent to him, and the results published in an ar- 

 ticle entitled "Note on Squalodont Remains from Charleston, 

 S. C." All of these loans have been returned in good condition. 



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