678 THE AMERICAN NATURALIST. [Vol. XXXVII L 



evidence is interpreted as demonstrating the extension of coral reefs 

 throughout the shallow sea covering Central Europe in late Jurassic 

 time, which was a period of oscillation. The fine calcareous sedi- 

 ment interbedded with lithographic stone, for which the district 

 about Solnhofen is famous, represents the infilling of a lagoon, out- 

 side of which the coral limestone carries a totally distinct fauna. 

 The peculiar mixture of land and marine organisms, the occurrence 

 of large trunks of trees and seaweed with roots, the interbedding of 

 apparently wind-blown material, and the tracks of undoubted air- 

 breathing animals, are among the facts which indicate that the 

 bottom of the lagoon was barely below tidewater, and probably was 

 even exposed at times. Creatures straying into the lagoon and 

 becoming entrapped there, or volant forms like insects, Pterodactyls 

 and Archaiopteryx, which met their death in the paste-like, rapidly 

 accumulating sediment, were covered before any injury had been 

 done to their bodies through decomposition or other causes, the 

 most delicate structures being perfectly preserved. Although the 

 variety of forms is large, yet Solnhofen fossils are surprisingly rare 

 as compared with the majority of horizons, and a great many species 

 are known only by one or two individuals; several important groups 

 are not represented at all, and on the other hand, a large percentage 

 of species is restricted to this locality. There appears to be no room 

 for doubting that the assemblage is an accidental one, and this vast 

 cemetery gives us a unique but by no means typical reconstruction 

 of the late Jurassic fauna. 



Karl Alfred von Zittel.— Of the numerous biographical sketches 

 which have appeared of the great master of palaeontology this recent 

 memorial of Pompeckj, pupil, associate and intimate friend of the 

 late Geheimrath, is the most complete, and most satisfactory. This 

 is not a eulogy of von Zittel, but a plain and sufficient account of 

 his career, with his achievements mentioned in such a way that they 

 speak for themselves, and with the light so distributed upon his 

 personal traits, his ambition, energy^ concentration — and above all 

 upon his aptitude as a teacher, helpful, inspiring and commanding of 

 respect,— that his character is revealed naturally before us without 

 addition or subtraction, as must be acknowledged by anyone who 

 had the good fortune to know him well. Dr. Pompeckj has told us 



1 Pompeckj, J. F. Karl Alfred von Zittel : Ein Nachruf. Palaontographica, 

 vol. L., 1904. 



