926 The American Naturalist. [October, 
forms of Chelles and of Saint-Acheul. M. Boule states that in addition 
to the usual almond forms, there are discs, scrapers, small carefully 
made, and even plates skillfully cut, things one would hardly except 
to find in a deposit of this sort. It is the first time, adds the author, 
that indisputable objects of human industry have been found contem- 
porary with an elephant of which the species has, heretofore, been char- 
acteristic of the Pliocene age. (Revue Scientifique, Août, 1895). 
The Latest Connection between the Atlantic and Pacific 
Oceans.—Before the Geological Section of the American Association 
for the Advancement of Sciences assembled in Springfield, Dr. J. W. 
Spencer presented a short abstract of some investigations of no small 
interest to biologists, under the title of “ Geological Canals between 
the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.” In extending his researches on the 
great changes of level of land and sea and the evolution of the present 
continental reliefs, the author carried his explorations to the Tehuante- 
pec Isthmus, In that region he found that late in the Pleistocene 
period there were shallow straits connecting the Atlantic and Pacific 
Oceans, in a region now elevated about 1000 feet above sea level. The 
deeper parts of these straits evidently formed canals, now elevated 800 
feet. These discoveries show for the first time the very late Pleistocene 
connection between the two oceans, and the occurrence of shallow 
waters which have permitted considerable intermingling of littoral 
fishes and invertebrates, while excluding from the Gulf of Mexico all 
deep sea fishes, and thus explaining in part the distribution of modern 
marine life in the waters adjacent to Central America. 
BOTANY. 
Notes on Recent Botanical Publications.—In the Contribu- 
tions from the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (New Series, 
No. IX), B. L. Robinson and J. M. Greenman publish papers on (1) 
The flora of the Galapagos Islands, as shown by the collections of Dr. 
G. Baur; (2) New and noteworthy plants chiefly from Oaxaca, collec- 
ted by Messrs. C. G. Pringle, L. C. Smith and E. W. Nelson; (3) A 
synoptic revision of the genus Lamourouxia; (4) Miscellaneous New 
Species.—The List of plants obtained on the Peary Auxiliary Expedi- 
