516 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. V., No. 125. 



A complete fibula in an adult living carinate- 

 bird. 



In reference to the important anatomical point con- 

 tained in the letter of Dr. G. Baur to Science (No. 

 118) in regard to the fibula of Pandion, I would like 

 to invite your correspondent's attention to the con- 

 dition of the fibula in the adult Colymbus septen- 

 trionalis. 1 have in my temporary possession a 

 complete skeleton of an adult individual of this diver, 

 kindly lent me by the Smithsonian institution (spec. 

 13,646) for another purpose. In it the fibula is found, 

 as I have drawn the specimen in the accompanying 

 cut, for the right limb, though it is seen equally well 

 in both. The fibula has been 

 drawn in black for its entire 

 length, so that its exact form 

 and relation to the tibio-tarsus 

 may be properly appreciated. 

 From the point a to b it, an- 

 chyloses with the shaft of the 

 other leg-bone, though it 

 stands out quite prominently 

 from it, leaving no doubt as to 

 its identity. Knowing as we 

 do that the part indicated in 

 the cut by c represents one of 

 the tarsal elements, it is no 

 more than we should expect 

 to have a complete fibula ter- 

 minate, as it does in this bird, 

 at b ; and this part, in com- 

 mon with Pandion, is found 

 upon the antero-lateral aspect 

 rather than in front of the 

 tibio-tarsus, as in the Jurassic 

 Aichaeopteryx. 



BONES OF RIGHT THIGH AND LEG 

 OF ADULT COLYMBUS 8EPTENTRIO- 

 NALIS. REDUCED ONE-HALF. 



F, femur; P, patella; Fb, fibula (in 

 black); T, tibio-tarsus; a, point 

 wbere anchylosis commences; b, 

 distal extremity of fibula; c, the 

 united tarsal element; d, a fibrous 

 loop for tendon; e, the large ob- 

 lique fibrous loop for extensor tendons; / indicates the posi- 

 tion of the bony bridge that confines the deep extensors. 



Dr. R. W. Shufeldt. 

 Fort Wingate, N. Mex., June 8. 



The classification and paleontology of the 

 U.S. tertiary deposits. 



Under this head a note was published in the num- 

 ber of June 12 of this journal, on the first part of my 

 article, ' The genealogy and the age of the species in 

 the southern old tertiary,' in the American journal of 

 science for June. I refer those readers of Science 

 who are interested in this matter to the second part 

 of this article, which will appear in the July number 

 of the same journal. De. Otto Meyer. 



New Haven, Conn., June 15. 



HOW TO REACH THE GRAND CANON. 



Although the Grand Canon of the Colorado 

 was a good while ago made famous as to its 

 lower part by Ives and Newberry, and the 

 upper by Powell, and although most inter- 

 esting parts of it are nearly approached by one 

 of the great transcontinental railways, yet very 



few people seem to know how easy it is to visit 

 it, — easy, that is, to one who is crossing the 

 continent by the Atlantic and Pacific railroad. 

 It was almost by accident that we came to 

 know of this accessibility, and to take advan- 

 tage of it. 



We know not what facilities there may be 

 for reaching the lower end of the canon from 

 ' The Needles,' where the road crosses the 

 Rio Colorado ; but the Peach-Spring station, 

 where this road approaches within twenty- 

 three miles of the river, at its strong southern 

 bend, is about six hours east of ' The Needles,' 

 and on the plateau about five thousand feet 

 higher. From this point a rapid and easily 

 traversed descent leads down to the river, and 

 into as majestic and peculiar canon scenes as 

 is an}- where to be seen. Unfortunately the 

 trains, both from the east and the west, at 

 present arrive at this little watering-station 

 between two and three o'clock in the morning ; 

 and intending visitors will find it well, if not 

 exactly necessaiy, to notify the station-master 

 or the ' stage proprietor ' in advance, so as to 

 secure lodgings for the remainder of the night. 

 Mr. Farlee, the stage proprietor, into whose 

 hands they will fall, provides three or four 

 comfortable beds ; the restaurant of the sta- 

 tion, which supplies the employees of the rail- 

 road, will furnish a tolerable breakfast ; and a 

 three-seated wagon, upon the buckboard prin- 

 ciple, drawn by four experienced horses, makes 

 a realty comfortable conveyance. All that the 

 traveller needs to provide is a sun-umbrella, — 

 an article which will probably be needed at any 

 season. A quick descent of four thousand feet 

 into a narrow ravine is sure to be attended by 

 a corresponding rise in temperature ; and shade 

 during the journey is not abundant. 



Dr. Newberry and his exploring party were 

 the first white people to make this trip, in 

 April, 1858 ; and his account of it in Ives's 

 report upon the Colorado River of the west, 

 along with the woodcut on p. 99 and the an- 

 nexed plate vi., and plate i. of the geological 

 part, opposite p. 54, will give a fair idea of 

 what is to be seen. Nothing is changed, ex- 

 cept that the Indian trail, over which his pack- 

 mules made their way with much difficulty, is 

 now replaced with a passable wagon-road of 

 Mr. Farlee's making. Very enterprising and 

 hurried people make the trip in a single day, 

 especially in the long days of spring, and so 

 resume the railroad b} r the next (daily) train, 

 the journey back and forth being made in the 

 early morning and in the evening hours. But, 

 indeed, two days should be given to it, even 

 by the transient sight-seer, lodging in the 



