1877 *] 
Scientific Notes . 
563 
Geology, Paleontology, &c.— Dr. F. V. Hayden has issued further valu- 
able Reports on the progress of the U.S. Geological Survey of the Territories. 
The “ Preliminary Report of the Survey of Montana and Portions of Adjacent 
Territories, being a Fifth Annual Report of Progress,” contains, among its 
more important features, Dr. Peale’s report on the minerals, rocks, and ther- 
mal springs of the region ; Prof. Thomas’s remarks on its agricultural 
resources ; palaeontological notices, by Messrs. Lesquereux and Cope ; and an 
account of the present zoology and botany of the territory, by Messrs. Leidy, 
Horn, Uhler, and Porter. Turning first to the last-mentioned subjedt, we find 
it recorded by Dr. Horn that, in the Coleoptera at least, the higher the eleva- 
tion and the colder the climate the more deeply sculptured is the species. 
“ Species appear to be distributed on lines of country presenting as nearly as 
possible similar meteorological conditions. Thus many Oregon forms extend 
southward into California, gradually seeking a higher mountain habitat as the 
region becomes warmer.” The catalogue of Coleoptera will prove suggestive 
to all who are interested in zoological geography. As regards the classifica- 
tion adopted we cannot but protest against the group “ Scarabseidae,” made to 
include all the Lamellicornes except the Lucanidae, and forming thus a divi- 
sion of a very different rank from the “ Scarabasidae ” of MacLeay. The 
well-known potato- beetle, Dovyphova decemlineata, is indeed mentioned in the 
catalogue, but the curious fadt is noticed that its progress is not westwards. 
The Hemiptera of the territory are not merely catalogued, but described sys- 
tematically. The Orthoptera, which here include many species formidable to 
the agriculturist, are also described at length. The palaeontological report is 
exceedingly interesting. Among the conclusions drawn from the fossil botany 
of the region is that the “ Tertiary flora of North America is by its types inti- 
mately related to the Cretaceous flora of the same region. All the essential 
types of our present arborescent flora are already marked in the Cretaceous 
of our continent, and become more distindt and more numerous in the Ter- 
tiary ; therefore the origin of our present flora is, like its facies, truly North 
American. The relation of the North American Tertiary flora with that of 
the same formation of Europe is marked out for North American types, but 
does not exist at all for those which are not represented in the living flora of 
this continent ; therefore the European Tertiary flora partly originates from 
North American types, either diredtly from this continent or from the Ardtic 
regions. The species of plants common to the Cretaceous and Tertiary 
formations of the Ardtic regions and of our continent indicate in the mean 
temperature influencing geographical distribution of vegetation a difference 
in +, equal to about 5 0 of latitude for the Tertiary and Cretaceous epochs.” 
The paper on the geology and palaeontology of the Cretaceous strata of 
Kansas opens with a forcibly-written general sketch of the ancient life. In 
the remains of huge reptiles the distridt is exceedingly rich. “ If the explorer 
searches the bottom of the rain-washes and ravines he will doubtless come 
upon the fragment of a tooth or jaw, and will generally find a line of such 
pieces leading to an elevated position on the bank or bluff where lies the 
skeleton of some monster of the ancient sea. He may find the vertebral 
column running far into the limestone that locks him in his last prison, or a 
paddle extended on the slope as though entreating aid ; or a pair of jaws lined 
with horrid teeth, which grin despair on enemies they are helpless to resist.” 
Twenty-four species of fossil reptiles have been found in Kansas, varying from 
10 to 80 feet in length, and representing six orders. Two only were terres- 
trial, two were winged, and the remainder were oceanic. The rulers of the 
waters of ancient America were the Pythonomorphas — creatures much resem- 
bling monstrous serpents, but furnished with two pairs of paddles like the 
flippers of a whale. One of the species, Liodon dyspelor , appears to have 
reached the length of 75 feet. Among the flying saurians the most formidable 
was Ovnithocheiras umbrosus, which measured nearly 25 feet across its wings. 
Among the illustrations will be found a map of the great national Yellowstone 
Park, and plans, and views of the geysers which appear to surpass those of 
Iceland. 
