1895.] Editor’s Table. 985 
same care asin America and Europe. From the studies of 
Mr. C. D. Walcott and others, it seems clear that the continent 
of North America in Cambrian time had essentially the same 
outline it now has, although it was considerably less in extent. 
In brief, it has been ascertained that there was a depression 
along the margin of what is now the Appalachian chain from 
Newfoundland to Alabama, protected from the open sea, the 
primitive Atlantic, by a fringe of islands. Along the western 
slope of the site of the Rocky Mountain chain the same con- 
ditions prevailed, and in these two troughs the fauna lived and 
flourished. During Middle and Upper Cambrian time, condi- 
tions became modified so as to allow the fauna to exist in 
other localities, notably in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Texas. 
Where the faunas originated, and how they spread from 
place to place, so as to become so widely scattered over the 
globe, are questions it is not, at present, possible to answer. 
That we know as much as we do about the life on the earth at 
so distant a period in its history, is owing to the patient work 
of a few enthusiastic students, among whom Mr. C. D. Wal- 
cott must always occupy a prominent position. 
EDITOR’S TABLE. 
—TxHE public is acquainted with the results of Peary’s last expedi- 
tion from which he has just returned. He was not able to discover his 
principal caches of food, and this, with the treachery of some of his 
Esquimaux, prevented him from reaching the coast which he discov- 
ered on his first expedition. He turned back in time to permit his 
reaching his camp of departure just as his provisions were exhausted. 
A heavy storm at the end might have ended his career at no great 
distance from his base of supplies. This season and the last were un- 
favorable for arctic exploration, and it is quite possible that some one 
may yet utilize Peary’s supplies and reach higher latitudes in Green- 
land. It is, however, certain that Greenland does not lie in the most 
available route to the pole, which is by way of the islands north of 
Siberia. Science awaits with interest the results of Nansen’s bold 
