No. 555] NOTES AND LITERATURE 



The section on the temnospondylous Amphibia is taken up 

 with descriptions of the osteotome characters of the various 

 species with little or no attempt at phylogenetic conclusions. 

 This will make the present monograph the central point, a base 

 of supply, from which future discussions must radiate. Dr. 

 Case's work is reviewed more in detail by Mr. Mehl in Science, 

 September 27, 1912, p. 408. 



The second volume of Dr. Case's series of monographic studies 

 on the American Permian vertebrates was issued October 25, 

 1911, as Publication No. 145 of the Carnegie Institution of Wash- 

 ington. In this volume Dr. Case has brought together all of the 

 important facts concerning the « ' Cotylosauria of North Amer- 

 ica" Avith many notes on foreign genera. The volume has 121 

 pages, 14 plates, 52 text-figures and 71 bibliographic references. 

 As in his previous volume on the " Pelycosauria " the author has 

 divided this volume into the following sections: "Historical Re- 

 view," "Classification." "Systematic Revision," "Morpholog- 

 ical Revision" and "Conclusion." 



The reptilian order Cotylosauria of Cope at present has as- 

 sigyd to it by paleontologists thirty genera, distributed in ten 

 families and placed by Dr. Case in five suborders. Each species 

 has the original description and a "revised description" so that 

 later workers on these Permian reptiles will have at hand ready 

 information concerning all the Cotylosauria known up to the end 

 of the year 1911. 



The members of the group are known mostly from fragmen- 

 tary remains. Only in one case, that of Diadechs phaseolitnts 

 Cope, was the author able to restore the approximate skeleton of 

 the species. Other forms have, however, been restored, notably, 

 Sclerosmirus from Europe by von Huene, Telerpeton from Scot- 

 land by Boulenger, Captorhinus and Seymourm from Texas by 

 Williston and Labidosaunis from Texas by Broili and Williston. 

 Much still remains to be determined as to the structure of nearly 

 all the species. 



The facts of most general interest are the structure of the skull 

 of these reptiles and the description of a brain cast of Diadectes, 

 figured on Plate 7, Figs. 2 and 3. The structure of the skull allies 

 the group with the stegocephalous Amphibia. The former no- 

 tions of the Cotylosauria allied the group with the Stegocephala. 

 Further study, however, has convinced Dr. Case that the group 

 is "very far from occupying the primitive position assigned to it 



