518 The American Naturalist. [June, 
“T think we have before us all the essential elements of 
Daemonelix, and that accordingly we are justified in viewing 
these strange fossils as nothing else in reality than the under- 
ground homes of Miocene rodents, apparently of the family 
Geomyide.? Thereby it is very easy to explain why these 
spirals are found invariably in upright positions; why they 
are never prostrate, bent or broken. Also why, in spite of their 
massive size, no organic substance is present. But further the 
nature of the deposit in which these strange bodies occur 
sheds unexpected light. 
“According to the representations and drawings of the author, 
these Daemonelix are in the Miocene deposits of the Bad 
Lands, and are not confined to one stratum but they occur in 
the entire mass of these layers, and one very frequently sees 
sides of the hills more than one hundred feet high, from bottom 
to top, studded with the screws, but especially with the root- 
stalk which projects everywhere on the sides of the hills. 
“ Under such circumstances these Miocene deposits can not 
possibly be those of an inland sea, but we must regard them 
as essentially continental formations for the most part of sub- 
äerial origin ; the same as our Loess, as the pampas formation, 
and many similar ones. 
“The assertion of the author, that the rock in which Daan 
nelix occurs is a very homogeneous fine sandstone, agrees very 
well with the above conception”? 
he same conception of Daemonelix could have been found in the American 
Naturalist for June, 1893 as proposed by Dr. E. D. Cope. 
3 Ich glaube, dass wir heir alle wesentlichen Elemente eines Daimonelix vor 
uns haben, und dass wir demnach berechtigt sind, in diesen sonderbaren Fossilien 
wirklich nichts Anderes als die unterirdischen Wohnungen miociiner Nagethiere, 
warscheinlich aus der Verwandtschaft von Geomys zu sehen 
Hiedurch erklirt sich ganz einfach, warum man diese Saanbao käpa ausna- 
hmslos in verticaler aufrechter Stellung findet, warum sie niemals umgefallen, 
umgebogen oder zerbrochen erscheinen, ebenso auch warum trotz ihres maemneey 
Aber auch auf die Natur der Ablagerungen, in welchen se sonderbaren 
Körper auftreten, wird hierdurch ein unerwartetes Licht gewo 
Nach der Darstellung und den Zeichnungen des Verfassers sind diese hlas 
nelix in den Miocänbildungen der Bad Lands durchaus nicht auf eine bestimmte 
Schicht beschränkt, sondern sie kommen durch die. ganze Masse dieser Ablager- 
