28 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXI. Xo. 523. 



SOCIETIES AXD ACADEMIES. 



XEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. SECTION OF 

 BIOLOGY. 



The December meeting was held at the 

 American Museum of Natural History, Pro- 

 fessor Underwood presiding. Papers were 

 presented by Professor H. P. Osborn and 

 Professor F. B. Sumner. 



Professor Osborn exhibited newly prepared 

 skulls of Diplodocus, Morosaurus and Creo- 

 saurus, from Wyoming. The skull of Moro- 

 saurus is new to science. 



Under the title ' Recent Discoveries of Ex- 

 tinct Animals in the Rocky Mountain Region 

 and their Bearings on the Present Problems 

 of Evolution,' Professor Osborn exhibited a 

 series of skulls of the Eocene ancestors of the 

 Oligocene Titanothcres, stating as a result of 

 recent investigations that the Oligocene Ti- 

 tanotheres wei'e found to represent four dis- 

 tinct lines of descent in each of which horns 

 independently developed, and that the Eocene 

 forms also represented four distinct lines of 

 descent, two of which became extinct, while 

 the others gave rise to Oligocene forms. As 

 bearing upon the general problem of evolution, 

 it was pointed out that the paleontologist 

 enjoys the peculiar advantage of following a 

 series through the origin and development of 

 organs to their subsequent progression or de- 

 cline. As early as 1888 the speaker had taken 

 the ground that various paleontological series 

 demonstrate the definite or determinate varia- 

 tions of certain kinds. In 1892 he connected 

 with this the idea that certain series of ani- 

 mals related by descent from a common stem 

 form exhibit the potential of similar evolution, 

 describing this as a law of latent or potential 

 homology. It is now found in this series of 

 Titanotheres that there is more than a poten- 

 tial of similar evolution ; there is evidence of 

 a predisposition to similar evolution as shown 

 in the wholly independent development in two 

 distinct series of horns from hornless types at 

 exactly similar points on the skull, namely, at 

 the lateral junction of the frontals with the 

 nasals. (The communication had been in 

 part presented before the Brooklyn Institute 



of Arts and Sciences, and before the Zoolog- 

 ical Congress at Berne.) 



Professor Sumner's paper was a prelim- 

 inary note on ' Experimental Studies of Elim- 

 ination and Selective Adaptation in Fishes.' 

 Many experiments with the three common 

 species of Fundulus tested the relative effect 

 of asphyxiation and of gradual and abrupt 

 changes of density in transferring from sea 

 to fresh water and vice versa. Extended 

 biometric studies point to the following con- 

 clusions: (1) the more and the less resisting 

 individuals of a given species are different in 

 type and in variability; (2) different methods 

 of elimination result in selection with refer- 

 ence to different characters; (3) two closely 

 related species were selected with reference to 

 the same characters; (4) Fundulus hetero- 

 clifus from brackish water -differ in all meas- 

 ured characters from those taken from the 

 sea ; (5) the differences of type in the three 

 species of Fundulus are not due to natural 

 selection acting with reference to the par- 

 ticular conditions which they are fitted to 

 withstand. 



M. A. BiGELOW, 



Secretary. 



DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 



STYLE IN SCIENTIFIC COMPOSITION. 



Professor Eastman has recently (Science, 

 XX., 807) criticized certain new terms in 

 physiography, saying they are not in good 

 taste. This, being interpreted, means that his 

 esthetic judgments are different from those of 

 the inventors of the terms ; and I find too that 

 my own judgments have individual peculiar- 

 ities. Such discordance is surely regrettable; 

 except for the entertainment of his graceful 

 fault-finding we should all be happier if we 

 thrilled or shuddered in unison. But how can 

 harmony be attained? I question the efficacy 

 of ridicule, which tends to strengthen rather 

 than remove prejudices. The late Colonel 

 Tngersoll, who made great use of ridicule, held 

 that it had no power to convince, but could 

 only confirm ; and it was a favorite saying 

 that he ' came not to convert sinners, but to 

 comfort the faithful.' Is there not some 

 way in which reason may be brought to bear 



