768 The American Naturalist. [August, 
The fourth metatarsal is the longest and stoutest bone of the series. 
The fifth does not join to the tarsus, but articulates with the outer 
under side of the base of the fourth. It could hardly have the skele- 
ton of the foot in so many respects like that of the beaver, and not 
have been web-footed. The entire length of the foot must have 
.been fully twelve inches. 
The general size and character of the skeleton sustain the conclu- 
sions of Dr. Wyman and others that the animal was ‘‘as large as a 
black bear.’’—JosEPH Moore, Richmond, Ind. — 
Geological News.—General.—H. A. Wasmuth maintains that 
in “bedded "" mineral deposits no ** inversion ’’ or ** overlapping ’’ of 
the strata can take place without fracture and more or less dislocation ; 
and that, in general, the dislocations of the strata take place in one 
of two ways: either the portion of a mineral deposit on the hanging 
wall of the fracture or fault is in a lower position than the portion on 
the foot wall, or it is in a higher position. Occurrences of the former 
sort are called **transverse faults; " of the id ** longitudinal 
faults," or overlaps. (Jour. Franklin Insti., Aug. 1887. 
Prof. N. S. Shaler suggests that the origin of the Florida uplift is in 
all probability the same as that.of the ** Cincinnati anticlinal," and 
that the peculiar sand-ridges found in the lake district have been 
shaped beneath ocean waters affected by strong currents. If this 
latter theory is true, then we are compelled to believe that the eleva- 
tion of the area above the sea level took place with extreme sudden- 
ness. The problem in this field is substantially like that which we 
have in the Kame districts along the southern shore of New Eng- 
land. (Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., Vol. XVI., No. 7. 
It is proposed by F. H. Knowlton (Proc. Nat. Mus., Vol XII., pp. 
601—617), in his revision of the Araucarioxylon, to separate Cordaites 
from the other Paleozoic woods; and, in accordance with Felix's sug- 
gestion, to adopt Endlicher's name Dadoxylon for the remainder, and to 
restrict the use of Araucarioxylon to the Mesozoic and Tertiary forms. 
Cretaceous.—R. T. Hill has published an annotated check-list of 
the Invertebrate Fossils from the Cretaceous Formations of Texas. It 
comprises 2 species of Protozoa, 8 Coelenterata, 16 Echinodermata, 5 
Bryozoa, and 59 Lamellibranchiata. 
J. S. Diller has discovered a number of sandstone dikes in the Sac- 
ramento valley in California. Their position and the peculiar way in 
which they intersect the Cretaceous sandstones and shales, their band- 
ing and the appearance and position of the biotite in the dike rock, 
