656 : The American Naturalist. [August, 
back to the setiparous gland of the annelid; yes further, the hairy bodies 
of the Solpugids and Mygalide are direct inheritances from the annelid 
set. Scorpio is not primitive but rather a specialized form. In some 
of his statements of fact he also seems to be in error. Thus hesays (p. 
398) “ What actual evidence we have as to the character of the abdom- 
inal limbs [in the primitive Arachnid] shows that they were filamentous 
jointed appendages like those on the cephalothorax.” On the contrary 
in Scorpions (cf. Brauer, Patten) which, with all deference to Mr. Ber- 
nard, we continue to regard the most primitive of existing Arachnids, 
they appear in the embryo as flat lamellate limbs. Again (same page) 
he says that the sensory plates on the pectines of the scorpion are on 
the ventral and not on the posterior face of the limb. On the contrary 
they are on the posterior side as the figures of both Patten and Brauer 
show. But what we have most to criticise is the failure to refer to 
opposing views or corrections of previous statements. Thus he refers 
to “stigmatic scars” along the whole length of the abdomen of the 
Pseudoscorpions, scars which bear another interpretation. He speaks 
of the entostemite as ectodermal, without stating that a portion of it is 
mesodermal (Schimkewitsch), while we have referred to other cases 
above.—J. S. K. 
The Bears of North America.’—A new classification of the 
bears of North America is proposed by Dr. Merriam. This classifica- 
tion is based on the study of more than 200 skulls, including about 35 
skulls of the huge bears of the Alaska coast region. The number 
of full species recognized by Dr. Merriam is ten : 4 of the Black Bear 
group; 2 of the Grizzly group; 3 of the big brown bears of Alaska, 
and the Polar bear. Four of these species are new; (1) the gigantic 
fish-eating bear of Kadiak Island and the Alaskan Peninsula, Ursus 
middendorfii Merr.; (2) the large brown bear of Yakutat Bay and the 
coastal slope of the St. Elias Alps, Ursus dallit Merr. ; (3) the large 
brown bear of Sitka and theneighboring islands, Ursus sitkensis Merr. ; 
and (4) the Florida Black bear, Ursus floridanus Merr. The Sonoran 
Grizzly and the Norton Sound Grizzly are considered as subspecies 
only. The Alaskan bears fall into 2 distinct groups. (1) U. sitkensis 
and U. dallii, which resemble the Grizzlies in the flatness of their 
skulls, but are larger and differ from them in color and dentition ; and 
(2) U. middendorffii which differs markedly from all other American 
types, and closely resembles the Great Brown Bear of Kamschatka. 
Merriam’s synopsis is illustrated by figures of the skulls of the different 
species. 
l (Proceeds, Biol, Soc., Washington, April, 1896.) 
