No. 506] 



NOTES A XI) LITERATURE 



119 



Here are then three various points of view offered for study- 

 one, of Broili. that the form is a lacertian ; two, that of Williston 

 and Broom, that the form is a member of the true Caudata; three, 



the suggestion offered here that the form may ho oi I the 



Gymnophiona. In further support of the view of the gym- 



of it preserved ami Dr. Williston remarked to the writer of 

 the same fact which he had observed in the field while in Texas 



against the idea of the form being a member of the Gymnophiona. 

 at least so far as we know the palate; further knowledge of this 

 strueture will undoubtedly solve the problem. 



Further study of the form will also reveal other facts as to its 

 anatomy and we are hoping to hear much from the recent collec- 

 tions of Drs. Williston and Case from the Texas Permian. 



Stegocephala. — In an endeavor to reach some definite conclu- 



Amphibia. investigators all over the world are issuing contribu- 

 tions on various phases of the subject. One of the more recent 

 advances is a study of the vertebra* of the Carboniferous forms 

 by Hugo Schwa rz, 1 of Griefswald. Germany. He has studied 

 the exact characters of the vertebra- of forms' from the coal mines 

 of Linton. Ohio, of which there are specimens preserved in 

 Berlin and in Griefswald, and also specimens from Niirschan 

 bei Pilsen. The work was done under the advice of Dr. Otto 

 Jaekel and the paper shows a strong bias of Jaekel's views. 



The methods of study adopted by Schwarz are the same as 

 those proposed by Jaekel five years ago. The specimen is re- 

 moved from the soft coal, in which if is imbedded, by chemicals 

 and by mechanical means and an impression is made of the 

 mold by wax. plaster or guttapercha. While most of Jaekel's 

 results show that the methods have some advantages, yet it is 

 to be doubted if they are the best in all cases. The interpretation 

 of the material is a puzzle at the best, and when the elements 

 are disturbed it is often very difficult to form any idea of their 

 nature. Jaekel experienced this especially in his discovery of 

 the "perisquamosal" in Diceratosaurus, a structure which does 

 not exist in other species of this genus and was probably due 



