54 The American Naturalist (January, 
“Tt is strongly insisted upon, generally, that ‘low’ organization in 
Mammalia is by no means always synonymous with ‘ primitive’ or- 
ganization, and that retrogressive evolution is more frequently to be 
to be met with amongst Mammalia than is generally admitted. 
“As,regards the geological age of Megaladapis and its associated 
fauna, one of whose members the Crocodilus robustus, is still living in 
the lakes of the interior, evidences of various kinds goes far to prove 
that these sub-fossil remains represent a fauna which was living at a 
comparatively very recent period, and that man himself was contempo- 
rary with it, and in part responsible for its destruction. 
“The author adduced evidence in support of the proposition that an 
older Tertiary vertebrate fauna will ere long be forthcoming in Mada- 
gascar.” 
Geological News. General.—In a brief report on the organic 
remains obtained from a deep well near Galveston, Texas, Mr. G. D. 
Harris compares the fossil shells wlth the recent ones of the Atlantic 
and Pacific shores of America and the fossil faunæ of the Atlantic 
slope, including that of the West Indies. The relationshi ps are shown 
in a bathymetric table. The collection comprises 77 species, of which 
20 are new. In addition to the marine forms enumerated in the table, 
the following fresh water'species were obtained: Polygyra hindsii Pfr., 
Amnicola, not distinguishable from peracuta, and a Planorbis allied to 
- vermicularis from the Lake of the Woods. (Fourth Ann. Rept., 
1892, Geol. Surv., Texas.) 
Paleozoic.—A new gasteropod, Loxonema winnipegense from the 
Trenton limestone of Manitoba is described and figured by Mr. J. F. 
Whiteaves. The author considers it of interest on account of its 
strikingly close similarity to some of the most typical Jurassic species 
of Pseudomelanie. (Canadian Ree. Sci., 1893.) 
In regard to the use of the term “ Catskill,” Mr. J. J. Stevenson 
avers that, in nine-tenths of the area in which this series is exposed 
within the Appalachian Basin, the Chemung is the important portion of 
the series. Catskill is simply epochal but “ Chemung” carries with it 
the conception of those physical and biological characteristics which 
mark the closing period of the Devonian. For which reasons, Che- 
mung should be used to designate the whole group, retaining Catskill 
pee ieee and local signification only. (Amer. Journ. Sci., Nov» 
of 
er Betty alt he 
AAEREN 
Mesozoic.—In a contribution to the “Invertebrate Paleontology | 
the Texas Cretaceous,” Mr. F. W. Cragin describes 168 species dis- 
Mat oe asta a a ioe ne 
SS 
