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VoL. XXI. JULY isäz. No; 7.47

THE MILKWEEDS.

BY JOSEPH F. JAMES, M.S."

Were is there that has not noticed the sticky, whitish juice

which exudes on the breaking of the stem of the large

and common Milkweed growing so plentifully_in waste places —

and along roadsides? Who has not also noticed that neither

horses nor cattle ever touch the plant? While the herbage

all around will be closely cropped, often not a blade of grass

left more than half an inch high, the Milkweed rears its head

aloft in conscious pride of vantage. It well knows, apparently,

that it is not acceptable to the animals grazing about it, and

finds itself left to perfect its seed in peace and at leisure. It

has, perhaps, seemed strange to observe that the plant is so

‘little molested by cattle. It is, to be sure, rank and robust;

but that is not a sufficient reason for being rejected. The

_ great Horseweed grows higher and ranker, but is greedily

_ eaten by horses; and many weeds, apparently as little palatable,

are devoured. What is there about the Milkweed which gives

it an advantage over the other plants of the field? In this, as

in other cases, the common name tells the story; but it does

not tell why the milky juice, from which it has received its

name, is so abun:

In spite of the E about the. peacefulness of nature,

as contrasted with the warfare of mankind; no one can wander

through woods and fields without coming, in a short time, to

* Professor of Botany ang Geology} in i Miami University.

VOL. XXI.—NO. 7. 41

606 not The Milkweeds. ` > uya

the conclusion that the warfare there is even more severe than

it is with the human race, He will find that carnivorous animals

devour others weaker than themselves; birds feed on grass- |

hoppers and other insects; these again prey on others; and so |

the warfare continues down to the minute animalcule which can 4

be seen only under the microscope, and which swallows other —

creatures only a little smaller than itself. Not only so, but he

will find the Carnivora disputing with their own kind; wolves —

fighting with other wolves; birds contending with other birds

for the insects they need; and these in their turn fighting their i

own kind for nearly every mouthful of food. Everywhere he ~

will find war being waged continually; so that he must finally

come to the conclusion that nature is far sterner than man in :

the struggle for the means of living.

Perhaps he may think that in the animal world alone this war-

fare is going on; but if he turns to the vegetable kingdom with

the idea that here there can be no such struggle, a short time

will convince him of his mistake. He will not, indeed, as a

rule, see one plant devouring another in a literal sense; but he

will find one sort of tree crowding and pushing another, or

overshadowing smaller plants so that they cannot live; he will

see them in the fields so close together that he soon concludes —

they must take more or less moisture and nutriment from each

other; he will find the roots so crowded and matted together

that the soil is a mass of them; that here one plant has fastened ;

itself on another and is sucking its life away; and he will be

forced at last to give a reluctant assent to the assertion that

there is warfare among plants as there is among animals, and

that the difference is one not of kind, but of degree. This con-

stant, continual, fierce fight is the struggle for existence, in the —

course of which the fittest will survive. In other words, that —

plant or animal will be the most likely.to live and continue to _

propagate its species which can best succeed in crowding out —

some of its competitors, and in taking the Sorria they

need to itself.

It is for the purpose of carrying on this continual kata 4

that many structures have become developed. For instance,

the lion has had his strength increased and his retractile claws

a sharpened by the constant effort he is obliged to make to con- _

quer and carry off his prey. There can be no doubt but that —

a ee ae ae ee

ae

1887] The Milkweeds. 607

these claws have been acquired in the course of‘ ages, being

developed more and more fully as time went on. Neither can

there be any doubt but that they are now necessary for his

existence. So it is with all other weapons of defence or offence

that have been developed by use. Their principal purpose has

been to enable their possessor to live, and, as the strongest and

the one best provided with good weapons is the one most likely

to continue his kind, improvement goes on until-a certain degree

of perfection is attained, and the animal is fitted to a place which

it holds against all competitors.

_ While adaptations of one kind arise among animals to nasii

ther to compete with each other in this struggle, adaptations

of another kind are developed in the plant world. These take

the form of hairs on the stems and leaves; stronger modes of

growth; climbing propensities ; parasitic habits ; the development

of prickles or thorns; the formation of deleterious juices, un-

pleasant odors, or aromatic qualities. Others, again, place their

chief reliance for continuing their species on the hard shell en-

casing their nuts or fruits, and, by producing these in enormous

numbers, have an excellent chance of perpetuating themselves.

All these have, it should be understood, been acquired by plants

so they can hold their ground in the battle for life; and, conse-

quently, those species best provided with means to -resist the

attacks of animals, either by being more unpalatable through.

disagreeable odors or tastes, or by having tougher or harder

‘shells to the seeds, or by being aromatic, or in some other way,

will stand the best chance of living long enough to perfect seed,

and thus be the means of continuing their kind.

Each one of the many ways of resisting the attacks of ani-

= mals has been only gradually acquired. From a small begin-

_ ning, the importance of which is not at first to be perceived, the

features have increased in usefulness and attained perfection only

after many severely fought battles with hardy antagonists.

Perhaps one of the most effectual of all the modes of protec-

tion acquired by plants is to be found in the presence of a milky — :

or colored juice. This is a character which is shared in com-

mon by a great number of species of widely different orders;

but there is no species in which the milky juice is more con- _

spicuous than in the Milkweed. While in various species of : the -

: pemposte, such as the Dandelion, the Wild a out oe

} Be

[July

Sow-Thistle, this juice is plainly seen; while in the Buttercup it |

is acrid, and in the Blood-root it is red, yet in none of these

does it seem to serve the purpose so well as in the Milkweeds. |

It is not, either, confined to any one species, but is characteristic

of most members of the order. The species number over thir- —

teen hundred, are widely scattered over the world, and are most

diversified in form and habit. Some of them are climbers, some

creepers, some herbs of upright growth, some shrubs, and some

_trees. Two features which are found in many of them are the

milky juice and the peculiar flowers. In the common Milkweed

of this country (Asclepias cornuti) these peculiarities are seen”

better than in almost any other species. It is also well known

that the plant will thrive in nearly every sort of situation; con-

sequently it must possess some quality that gives it a better

chance to grow than many other plants. The reason for its

dominance is no other than the possession of its sticky, milky

juice.

The sap of plants, though varying in different species, serves.

the same purpose in all. While primarily it is useful in one

way, secondarily it may be beneficial in another; yet, not every

608 The Milkweeds.

possess a milky sap, only not so well developed as in the Milk

weeds, it is only necessary to carry the imagination back to

progenitor which possessed the slightest traces of this, and there

is sufficient reason to look for its future perfection. In the fierce

struggle which goes on constantly among plants, anything which

is advantageous in the slightest degree is sure to be preserved;

and as it is transmitted to the progeny, and by them sent 01 :

downwards, it will improve at every step. If, for example, the

_ plant becomes disagreeable to the animal grazing in its vicini

1887] The Milkweeds. 609

it will be left alone just as long as there is anything else to'be

found. Should there come a favorable season, with an abundant

vegetation and good grazing, such plants will then have an ex-

cellent chance of perfecting seed. Even during a season when

. plant-life must struggle for water, and when herbivorous animals

greedily devour everything they can find, the milky-juiced plant

will succeed better than any other, because it will be the last one

to be touched. Thus from generation to generation the devel-

opment will go on, until it reaches a state which requires no

further change, and it then remains quiescent. Having, how-

ever, Once acquired a feature, it will be a long time, indeed,

before it will lose it. In the present instance the flowers seem

to have been developing in their way, while the juice pursued its

own.

The flowers of the common species are produced in large

clusters, are pink in color, and have quite a perceptible odor.

They are visited by insects in great numbers, as many as thirty-

one different species having been counted; and this fact shows

they possess considerable attractive qualities. If we examine

an individual flower of a cluster, a peculiarly complicated mech-

anism will be revealed. e two floral en-

velopes, calyx and corolla, are folded back or

reflexed on the stem. Inside of these is a

column made up of five sac-like bodies, each

FIG. 2.—-Sac in

9, which ;

_ Fic. 1.—Flower of pollinium is Fic. 3.—Hood,

Asclepias enlarged. Steed: with horn.

_ crowned by a horn-like process. These seem to be nectaries,

where honey is secreted. Between the nectaries there is found, —

on examination, a peculiar slit, wider below than above. Atthe

_ upper end is a hard, thin lamina, or blade, with the sides bent _

_ inwards so that the edges are close together. In swollen sacs

610 . The Milkweeds. Dey

on wih side of the slit the pollen-grains are found. The pe-

culiar feature of these grains is that they are united into masses

nye a masses

Asclepias hanging

twisted appendages

and fastened to the

gland above.

or clusters, the individual grains

held together by sticky threads,

—a feature found in only one

other family. The stigma sur-

mounts the two ovaries like a

7 ; Fic. 5. iora with hoods cut away

large cap, and is placed imme- showing ovaries (0), the pollinia ( P

and the m — (g) uniting two

of the pollin

arranged around the outside. To enable the pollen to reach the

stigma the pollinium must be taken out of the sac where it hangs |

and be inserted into the slit between the nectaries. This can only

be effected through the agency of insects, and these perform the

service in the following manner :

The visitor, attracted by the odor, alights to suck the nectar a

secreted in the hoods. In its progress over the blossom some

one of the hairs of its legs is sure to slide into the slit between

the hoods. Pursuing his way by drawing up his leg, the hair:

will be guided by two flanges at the sides into the upper and

narrower part of the slit, and there become fast. Feeling a de-

tention, the captive will pull to release himself, and, if possessed

of sufficient force, will bring out of the sacs at the sides two

pear-shaped pollinia, each fastened to the lamina, or gland, by a

short appendage (see figure). When they are first withdrawn

the pollinia are divergent. In a comparatively short space of

time the appendages begin to twist, and then the pollen-masses

are brought close together; not, however, before the insect to —

1887] The Milkweeds. 611

which they are attached: has had time to fly to another flower.

On reaching this new flower the hair bearing the pollen will be

guided into the slit, and, too large to be drawn through, will be

detached, and so left in the exact position to send the pollen-

tubes into the stigma. |

Insects visiting the flowers often have cause to rue the visit.

Honey-bees have often been found. dead, with many pairs of

glands or pollen-masses attached to them; for, visiting the

flowers and extracting numbers of the masses, they become

entangled, and finally perish of starvation. One entomologist,

having found a beetle with many pairs of

stalks and pollinia upon the hairs of its

tarsi, sent a drawing of it to a scientific

journal, and referred to it as possessing

peculiar appendages, the like of which he

had not before seen, and which he sup-

posed to belong really to the hairs to

which they adhered. But it was soon

pointed out that, instead of natural append-

ages, they were those acquired in pere-

grinations over clusters of Milkweed blos-

” soms. Fic 6.—Leg of beetle

Notwithstanding the numbers of insects vets $30 parag attached

frequenting the flowers, it is noticeable

that only a few of them produce seed; for the pollen-masses

must be removed from the sacs and must be inserted into the

slits before the stigma can be fertilized. Sometimes, it is true,

the grains, while yet in the sacs, send tubes into the stigmas;

but these tubes are inoperative, and do not enable the flower to

‘seta pod. It is quite rare to find more than two pods produced

out of a bunch of, perhaps, fifty flowers; and often there will be

only one or two pods on the whole plant. But what the plant

lacks in the number of pods it makes up in the number of seeds

found in each one. These seeds are packed so closely and

tightly together that a single pod contains an immense number.

They are provided, po, with such an admirable appendage for

being wafted through the air, and this serves its purpose so

effectually, that even a few pods are sufficient to stock a large a

_ tract of country. ar

-The peepiiar arrangement of the pallescarsise i in masses A

r

61 2 The Milkweeds. [July ;

Orchid family. In this order the peculiarity has been more

fully developed than in the first one, and the

differentiation is greater. Ordinarily in the Or- —

chids the caudicle, or stem, contracts and bends

the pollinium forward; in the Asclepiads the i

appendage twists in drying, and the two pollinia p

are then brought close together. In both cases |

the pollen-grains are only then in a position to ©

reach the stigma. Darwin has demonstrated that —

the contraction of the caudicle of the Orchid pola

linium is necessary to prevent its being put back 1

Fic. 7.—-Pollin. into a cell similar to the one from which it was

ium of Orchis. taken. In the Asclepiads the twisting of the ap-

ndage brings the two pendent pollen-masses

together, and enables them to slip into the slit between the hoods, —

and be thus in a position to reach the stigma.

The appendage to the seed of the Milkweed is of the same —

‘something which is found in but one other family. This is the |

ae

character as that found in the Dandelion, the Thistle, and many a

other plants. In all it serves the same end. Butin some species

of the family the coma has the peculiarity of expanding very —

rapidly on exposure to the air. In one of these (Gonolobus —

obliquus) it is recorded by Mr. Meehan that the expansion of :

the coma is so rapid as to be compared to a stroke of lightning. —

He says it is followed by the eye with difficulty. While one ©

instant it is enclosed in the capsule closely packed away, as soon —

as it is exposed the hairs of the coma fly round and form a per-

to the parent plant, and the purpose of the development of the

feathery appendage would be defeated; but, drying so rapidly,

they are in a condition to be carried by the pica wind to

great distances.

_ fect hemisphere. This is a necessity, because if it did not so —

occur, the seeds, being heavy, would fall to the ground close

While in the common Milkweed the milky juice of the stem

is so abundantly developed, it is a little remarkable’ that in an-

other species (the Pleurisy Root) it is entirely wanting. The-

flowers are similar, and the sap is so acrid as to cause the plant

to be rejected by all animals. It grows in very poor soil, and

has but few plants to contend with; so that the acridity serves —

t

-to protect it in much the same way as if it had a milky juice.

į

1887] The Mülkweeds: - 613

The sixty or more species of Asclepias are, with two exceptions,

confined to the American continent, and the amount of milk

juice varies in the different species. The acridity of those species

which have no milky juice is a sufficient protection, however,

from the attacks of herbivorous animals.

Other genera of the order present, in their turn, various fea-

tures of interest. S/apelia is a genus of about one hundred

species, all of them found in the Cape of Good Hope region.

hey are peculiar in having thick, fleshy stems, generally with

small scales in place of leaves borne on the angles of the stems.

The flowers are mainly star-shaped, starting out at various points

on the stem, and are remarkable for their disagreeable, carrion-

like odor. This is so marked in certain species that it attracts

large numbers of flies. These sometimes lay their eggs in the

flowers, but the progeny, when hatched, die for want of food.

The main object of the odor of the flower is to attract insects

' for the purpose of fertilizing it by the transfer of pollen from

one plant to another. About the centre of the flower are cer-

tain black spots, which are peculiarly attractive to insects. In

one species (S. asterias) flies have been observed to feed greedily

about these spots, and it is found that the fly’s tongue often gets

caught in a trap situated hereabouts. When thus caught it

struggles violently to escape, and, if successful, goes away with

a pair of pollinia attached to its tongue, drawn from their en-

closing sacs. The apparatus which catches the tongue is a

veritable spring-trap, closing with a snap on the intrusion of

any disturbing object. The insect, laden with the pair of pollen-

masses, flies to another flower, and there places them in a po-

sition where the pollen-tubes can penetrate the stigma. Here,

then, there are three interesting features to be noted,—first, the

thick, succulent, leafless stems, which enable the plants to exist

in dry, sandy soil, and, at the same time, furnish no inducement

to any stray animal to feed upon; second, the carrion-scented

- flowers, which attract flies, necessary for the fertilization of the

stigma; and, third, a veritable spring-trap, which catches the

tongue of the little carrier, so that it flies away with a aes

to another flower, and effects cross-fertilization.

The succulent stem may be regarded as developed because

of the necessity to retain a supply of moisture in the dry, arid

a mons, whither the E have probably. been driven from an

614 The Milkweeds. [July

“inability to cope with more vigorous forms of vegetation. Th

the presence of the plant at a distance, while the spring-trap was

a necessary contrivance to certainly secure the transferrence of

the pollen from one’plant to another.

sense. The species of the genus Hoya have climbing stems, ~

thick, succulent leaves, and clusters of waxy flowers. Hence

the common name of wax-plant. Various species are cultivated, —

and are great favorites because of their fragrance and beauty.

It is stated that the young leaves are used by the natives O

Ceylon in their curries; and one curious feature of the plant is

that the flowers come from the same bud year after year.

Fic. 8.—Flower of Hoya. S, naa D, disks a ER ge z

of Pollinia, pendage; D, disk. ‘a

‘The fertilization of hy globulosa possesses points of need a

the mechanism being much the same as in Asclepias. It has

been described in the Gardeners’ Chronicle for April 29, 1882, by

Mr. W. G. Smith, as follows: The flowers are regular, grow in

clusters, and are very fragrant. The pollen-grains are united in

clusters and enclosed in pouches, five in number. The glutinous,

dark-colored disks of the pollinia are the only parts of the sta-

mens visible in an open flower. If an insect, attracted by the —

“fragrance, alights on a flower, it almost invariably happens that

- one foot slips and is caught by one of the sticky disks. Some

1887] The Milkweeds. 615

times four feet are entangled, and then ensues a struggle to

escape. If strong enough, the fly tears itself away, but in the

effort takes the pollinia attached to its feet along with it. “The

basal appendages of each pair of pollen-masses,” says Mr. Smith,

“are elastic, and when in the pouch they are like an extended

spring, but the instant the masses are drawn out by the insect’s

foot the spring closes, the two pollen-masses quickly cross each

other and hold tightly on to the insect’s little claws.” The

stigmas of the flower are exposed in the centre of the parts

forming the apex of stamens and pistils, and these are not ripe

at the same time as the pollen. It is therefore necessary for the

pollinia to be withdrawn from the pouches and conveyed by the

insect to another flower in which the stigmas are ripe before

fertilization can take place.

Other species of the family are noted for their medicinal

properties. For example, one known as Tylophora asthmatica,

or Indian Ipecacuanha, is largely used in cases of dysentery.

Others are valued for their fibre. One of these is Calotropidis

(Asclepias) gigantea, This is spun into the finest thread for

sewing or weaving. Handkerchiefs made from it were shown

in one of the Paris exhibitions. A species in our own country,

very common in wet or damp places (Asclepias incarnata), pro-

duces a long, tough fibre which could be used for many pur-

poses. Another species (Marsdenia tenacissima) produces fibre

so strong that the natives of some parts of India use it for bow-

strings. The stems are dried in the sun, and the milky juice

which exudes hardens into a substance like india-rubber; and

_ there are other species in which this juice could be used for

many of the purposes to which caoutchouc is now applied.

It is thus seen that the family of Milkweeds is useful prac-

tically, as well as interesting botanieally. We use the sap in

our way as the plant uses it in its own. The same tough fibre

which makes the plant disagreeable to animals the human race

finds useful to itself. The same sweet-scented flowers which `

attract swarms of insects delight us in our greenhouses; and

the same curious forms of stems adapted to a plant’s existence

in dry and arid regions form curious features in the homes of

civilized man.

616 _ Methods of Instruction in General Geology. [July

METHODS OF INSTRUCTION IN GENERAL

GEOLOGY.:

BY H., S. WILLIAMS:

Wes I can offer on this subject must be confined to a few ~

suggestions upon points in which I see need of improve-

ment, and some account of the various ways in which I am

attempting to apply scientific method to the teaching of geology

at Cornell University.

_ The science of geology, like the earth, from which it derives —

its name, bears a kind of maternal relation to the kindred sciences. ©

As the materials discussed by physics, chemistry, and even —

biology come out of the earth, so the sciences treating of them —

have their springs of origin, and have been separated off from —

that more general science now represented by geology alone. —

As the more exact sciences have become organized they have

set up their own standards and their own more precise methods,

while geology has not become quite freed from some of the ©

‘ancient crudities and myths. 2

This peculiar relation borne by geology to kindred sciences —

has much to do with the peculiarities of the methods in teaching _

it. Geology is less exact; there are more unsolved problems, or.

problems the solution of which is recognized as tentative; there i

are more points of contact with the dark regions of the unknown ~

an are found in the other more specialized sciences. a

This doubtless arises from the fact that as human knowledge

has grown and the problems have become more scientifically —

‘interpreted, and the ultimate laws have been discovered, the —

principles involved have been relegated to their more special |

branches,—to physics, to chemistry, to astronomy, or to biology.

On the other hand, when these more precise sciences come —

-across vexatious questions too complex for either alone to handle,

they toss them into the broad lap of geology, so that we are left —

with the more mysterious and inexplicable phenomena of nature

to wrestle with as best we ma

This broad and fudamental nature of the subject-matter of

* Delivered at the meeting of the American Society of TIRE at a

. December 29, 1886.

ES.

1887] Methods of Instruction in General Geology. 617

geology tempts a superficial treatment, and the teacher of geology

needs to be specially on his guard lest he fall into the discussion

of mere generalities. When we discuss the principles of geology

we must generalize more or less. The facts are so many and so

various that it is necessary to state in condensed form the laws

which may best express the characteristics common to a great

number of facts or phenomena. But when the geologist general-

izes he is in greater’ danger than teachers of other sciences of

being tempted to sacrifice science to the popular interest in

wonders and curiosities.

The intimate relation borne by geology to the other sciences

demands a broader knowledge than is required in them.

The geologist must apply to the solution of his riddles the

laws of physics, astronomy, chemistry, biology, and mineralogy,

and this brings with it the temptation to confine his instruction

to the announcement of the theories, while referring the student

to the special science concerned for the real solution of his

problems.

Again, we may observe that geology, lying between the more

thoroughly specialized sciences of modern times and the phi-

losophies and purer literary branches of learning, has not alto-

gether lost the effects of the scholastic methods of the literary

school, nor has it fully attained the perfections of the scientific

school.

Literary scholarship has for its ideals the skilful use of lan-

guage as a means of expressing thought, of thinking and of in-

terpreting thought. The subject-matter of this scholarship, as

we scientists look at it, is language; and therefore the learning or —

mere memorizing of words and forms of verbal expression, in- -

cluding terse formulas and abstract statements, is valuable in itself,

and is directly in the line of attainment of that kind of skill sought

after i in literary study.. But verbal expression and definition is of

_ secondary importance to the scientific scholar. To know simply

names and definitions, laws, and, I may add, statistics, without the

discriminative power of the eye, or ear, or touch, does not make

a scientist. This acquirement bears no closer relation to scientific

knowledge than the reading of an English translation of Czsar’s

Commentaries bears to a knowledge of Latin. We would never

~ think of calling him a classical scholar who was unable to read

the original text. No more should we regard him a geologist,

618 — Methods of Instruction in General Geology. (July —

however well he might remember the text-book definition, who

is unable to recognize and interpret geological phenomena in

nature,—in the field and laboratory. Hence, in teaching geology

the mere ability to talk about geology, to say that Paradoxides is

characteristic of the Cambrian, that Ichthyosaurus is a Mesozoic ©

reptile, and a thousand other similar items of geological informa-

tion, is of little or no practical use unless the student is taught to

recognize an unlabelled Paradoxides when he sees it, and would

know how to distinguish Cambrian rocks in the field. The sub-

ject-matter for the scientific scholar to acquire is found in the

things and phenomena named and described, and not in the

names or definitions.

In other words, the methods of literary instruction are of but

limited value in teaching geology, and although we may begin

with these methods, the teacher should not deceive himself with |

supposing that he is teaching science, or that the student is learn-

ing science, unless the lectures and text-book work are supple- |

mented by drill in the laboratory and field. It may seem more

dignified to stand up in a lecture-room before a lot of students —

and read off a lecture on geology, but the best results will come

from the tramps and the hammerings in the ravines and railroad

cuts and the study of hand specimens in the laboratory.

Our lectures may inspire the students to study, but most of

what they learn will come by other methods.

We are obliged to use the lecture method, although not the

ideal way of teaching science, on account of the large size of

classes in our universities. Quizzes, and these written after

every five or six lectures, I find of value in calling out study _

and thought upon the topics discussed in the lectures, and —

these I believe should always supplement the lecture for the best :

results. 1

i

EE EEA i T F E E E EER EE a E ih SE SA Se ie o ee EAE EES eee a a aa ai ene ee ee

In the lecture method there is one danger not met with shan

a good text-book is made the basis of recitations. Unless the

clear understanding of the topics under discussion. These

details, when crowded by the multitude of topics he is tempted . l

to consider, will be omitted by the EFE because they seem

to him so familiar.

To ward against this evil I give references to the pages in

ah

1887] a Methods of Instruction in General Geology. 619

the more common text-books on geology, where the student may

-study more explicitly the subject lectured upon. I expect, too,

that the student, who will acquire any exact knowledge of the

science, must give some time both to this. kind of book study

and to the examination of specimens arranged and labelled

specially to illustrate the facts discussed.

Again, it is important to so accentuate the lectures that the

grand and important lessons shall not be smothered and quite

lost to sight by the innumerable names and definitions and topics

with which the lecture is necessarily filléd. For I hold that, in

teaching a class of ordinary college students general geology, it

is far more important to teach them how to treat geological

problems, what the grand questions are which the geologist

meets, and the right methods of attacking, of thinking about,

of interpreting them, than to teach definitions, technical formulas,

or lists of associated facts.

The latter are all essential for the real geologist to master, but

-not in the lecture-room. They must be acquired by patient

-study of the more exhaustive manuals and original reports, and

by actual laboratory and field practice.

The work for the lecturer upon general geology is to clearly

present the principles of geology, to illustrate and explain the

grand features of the science. He must teach what the science

treats about, what and where the problems are exhibited, how

they are explained, and what laws underlie the phenomena.

While the student gathers enough to excite his interest and

~ enthusiasm, if possible, the method of stating the facts and

_ theories should be such as to enable him to appreciate what

there is to learn, rather than to convey any notion that he is

a anne from the lectures a knowledge of all the essential facts

ogy.

i ors be able in our lectures to teach the student the al- —

phabet, so to speak, of the science, or even to teach him how to

spe]l or frame sentences in terms of the geological language.

‘We may succeed in showing him how to investigate and inter- -

‘pret geological problems. But I take it to be of essential im-

portance to impress upon the student that the lectures are but an —

‘introduction, that the true place to learn geology is in the field ae

- and laboratory, and the true method, that of maying over in

S Jera individual —, and parts.

y Fae i

620 — Methods of Instruction in General Geology. oo

maa

= This is not generalizing or popularizing the subject;

making the lectures a means of scientific training, instead

allowing them to degenerate into a glowing account of tl

wonders of geology. i

© Geology may truly be a popular subject, because of t

many remarkable events and phenomena it reveals, but it is n

the remarkable, the unique, and the impressive facts of geolog

that are the most instructive.

The awful eruption that throws out lava and ashes from

volcanic vent, or tears” off the top of a volcanic cone, is not

direct an illustration of the peculiarity of vulcanism as

little bubbles which puff up the cooling lava and testify to

presence of expansive vapors or gases in association with |

molten condition of the rock.

The grand cajions of the plateau district are not so vale

as illustrations of the laws of river erosion as a simple rock

— of the length of actual time with which the —

has to

topics.

` In our standard text-books we frequently find what I maj

call the scholastic method followed,—a method which proceeds

tions to the descriptions or illustrations of facts from which th

have been drawn. oe

As an illustration the following may be taken from chapt

second of Dana’s Manual. The subject is lithological geolog

First we are given a brief classification of the subject, then the

definition of rock; then follow three sections in the followi

order: Ist, the elègients constituting rocks; 2d, the mine!

materials constituting rocks; 3d, the kinds of rocks,

1887] Methods of Instruction in General Geology. 621

For a geologist familiar with the general subject, and as a

book of information arranged for ready reference, this is as good

an arrangement as could be desired. But when the science is

presented for the first time to the student, is this the order in

which he must grasp the details of the subject for clear compre-

hension? I think not.

And why is it unnatural? Because the student is asked to take

the results of an analysis before he is presented with the concep-

tion of the thing analyzed. He is led to form a synthetic concep-

tion of the objects studied, built up of definitions, rather than by

analysis to increase his knowledge of the object by narng it in

new relations.

Rocks are at first parts of the earth, and among themselves

they first differ in their physical relations of position, structure,

form, and composition. The chemical and mineral properties are

secondary in order of analysis; and the microscopic appearances

presented by separate mineral species constitute a tertiary set of

characters.

The teacher should have regard to this order of acquisition,

although, after having named and briefly described the terms,

they may become for his purposes mere definitive terms with

-which to describe the more comprehensive laws of the earth’s

formation.

For this. reason ‘there is propriety in uniting physiographic,

structural, and dynamical geology as a first division of the

general treatment of geology, following with the stratigraphical

and palzontological part as a second division,

This plan, substantially, is followed in several of the more

widely used text-books, as Phillip’s, Credner’s, Geikie’s, Le-

conte’s, and others.

ae determining the order of presentation of the facts for par-

ticular cases, I examine the order in which the facts naturally

develop in the process of investigation. As a general statement

of what this order is, I find it to be from the more conspicuous,

the more easily grasped, and the simpler, to the less evident, the

intricate, and the fundamental. This same regard to the order

of acquisition of ideas is applicable to the methods of illustration,

Every teacher of natural history has more or less use for

. diagrams, but I have thought that blackboard sketches, although

Ee = made while the sapanotion is. going on, are inc, mpe :

3 —NO. 7 42

622 Methods of Instruction in General Geology. (July

effective in imparting the information desired than the more

finished ready-made diagrams. The value of the blackboard

sketch is in the fact that it emphasizes your words, makes them

more vivid and expressive; with crayon in hand as you talk, thi f

lines of the sketch become a kind of lineal gesture. l

This result is particularly seen when the relations of two or

more objects are expressed, or when serial or gradual changes or

developments are -considered, as in explaining Darwin’s theory

of the formation of coral reefs and islands, or the structure and

growth of a common volcanic cone, or the effects of erosion in

_ cutting through a series of hard and soft stratified rocks, and the

relation of dykes to eruptive sheets, to volcanic lava-beds or

fissure lava-fields.

All such phenomena are more vividly expressed to the

ginner by blackboard sketches than by the more perfect dia-

gram, and the reasons seem to lie in the fact that the student

out variations and the relations of one form to another, I fi

the blackboard a great assistance. :

_ A method specially successful of late in the teaching 0

geology, The method I refer to may be called the exhausti

study of types, and such a book as Huxley’s “Crayfish” m

illustrate its application.

familiar and typical example of all the principles involved in its

structure, function, or other relations, Afterwards, the wideni

of one’s knowledge becomes a simple and also a systematt

mental noting of likenesses and differences. The knowled

thus acquired, instead of being vague and general, becom

positive and precise. “

In applying this method to a geology, l select a fe

1887] Methods of Instruction in General Geology. 62 3

characteristic phenomena, describe them particularly, noticing

the individual details, and endeavor to make the one case

thoroughly understood in all its important relations, so that it

becomes the illustration of the several principles involved.

Thus, in explaining volcanoes, instead of spending the time |

with an enumeration of statistics and formule, crowding the

lecture with all the information possible about volcanoes, the

whole lecture may be spent upon Vesuvius, its environs and

history, making vivid impression of one or two typical eruptions,

and, by the aid of maps of the region, pointing out the precise

phenomena in the locality, sequence and results in building

a cone and making volcanic deposits. With a-clear notion of

one such typical volcano, it is a simple matter to classify and

point out the kinds of volcanoes,—the pure tufa eruption, as

at Monte Nuova, the continuous lava flow, as in the Sandwich

Islands,—and by means of the grand eruptions recorded of Skap-

tar Jokul, to gain a conception of fissure eruptions and the nature

of the vast lava-fields covering now such large tracts of the sur-

face, but without the conical mountain peaks which we naturally

associate with igneous eruptions.

In the same way in treating of river dynamics, instead of brief

descriptions of the great rivers of the globe, the amount of their

erosion and sedimentation, the volume and rate of their water-

flow, etc., presenting a great number of condensed statistics

. about many rivers, a better way is to spend the time in explain-

ing the facts and their interrelations for a single typical river.

No better example can be found for us than our great river

Mississippi, so thoroughly studied and reported upon in Hum-

d phrey and Abbott's monograph. For illustration of the principles

: of erosion a familiar ravine, near by, is better than a large river-

gorge at a distance. Niagara may well serve to illustrate the rate

of erosion and as a short measure of geologic time. The cafions

of the plateau district are illustrative of the laws of continuous

depositions, of slow but great elevation, and furnish a longer but

conceivable measure of time for geologic events.

in all cases, where it is possible, selection should be made

of a familiar and typical example, and around it should be

gathered the details of facts and phenomena which will illus- _

- trate the principles discussed. By communicating a clear, de-

tailed conception of the one example, the- indistinctness and

a species; using the local facts, because I find better results fromt

624 .— Methods of Instruction in General Geology. [July ;

often aioi arising from the array of a multitude of

statistics in regard to many examples is avoided. 5

At first sight this method may appear like a mere populariz- 4

ing of a science, and—the aspect which might be so called, — |

the attempt to make comprehensible and therefore interest 3

what is generally not so, is worth seeking after. : 4

Is it not this very element of exciting interest, of BE ie the

hearers or readers, that made the writings of Lyell and the lec- _ |

tures of Louis Agassiz so attractive and also so instructive?

The boys in college learn the principles of geology in the same —

way that we learn new laws and principles in our deeper investi- ; |

gations. Itis facts and phenomena first, afterwards their inter-

pretation ; and unless they gain a vivid impression of the former, -

they will come short of grasping the latter. The other method

of memorizing the statements of the laws and principles of the —

science, without any clear conception of the facts to which they —

apply, is only a knowledge of words; it is not science; and sucha

knowledge has no scientific value.

_ In feld and laboratory work the main point is to teach the

student to observe, to record, and properly to interpret facts as

they occur in nature. This is not accomplished by simply walk-

ing over the ground and pointing out the phenomena to the

class. In one way and another they must be led to see for them-

selves ; they must gather the facts, study and arrange them.

The ache may show them how to make sections, and how to 4

gather facts and specimens. Section after section may be made |

through similar series; geographical localities, altitude, thick

ness, dip, lithological esau and fossils should be observed, —

and notes and materials brought in for study. After numerous

sections are thus in hand, my plan is to call fora report upon ~

the region or formations examined, asking for detailed answers

to t the questions, What are the faunas? What are the differences 4

to perfect himself in paleontology, I set him at work on the

local palzontology and stratigraphy, causing him to make com:

parison of sections, of association of species and individual vari

ations, as well as drilling him in the identifying of genera and

+a

1887] Methods of Instruction in General Geology. . 625

deep and exhaustive study of what is at hand and is capable

of such exhaustive treatment than is possible by the method of

discursive rambling over a greater number of facts.

The materials ready at hand for us at Cornell University are

Devonian ; but the student who has learned accurately to identify

species of a Devonian fauna has learned the relative importance

of characters for classification; has learned the nature of varia-

bility, the relation of species to geological horizon, the modifi-

cation of specific types with retention of generic features on

passing from zone to zone; has studied the range and distribu- _

tion of the species; has gained a conception of what faunal as-

sociation is and how it is related to the lithological character of

‘the deposits; I say the man who has grasped these details of

the science by the use of Devonian material alone is ready to

undertake investigations in any geological period, from the

Cambrian to the Tertiary. The facts may differ, but the methods

of research will be the same; and this method and skill cannot

be attained by any amount of the mere memorizing of the names

of a labelled collection of fossils.

It is a mistaken view to imagine that that kind of acquirement

which only removes the Megatherium, the Ichthyosaurus, the Tri-

: lobite, and the Palzoniscus from the region of wonderland to a

place among the things we have seen, is geology. So long as- :

- we use our museums as curiosity-shops and cover our ignorance

with Latin nomenclature, we cannot expect to lift our science out —

of the region of crudities.

_ There is, however, some value to be derived from studying

over labelled collections, but this must not be without the study

. of: the fossils as they occur in the rocks, and the determining of

the characters, the names, and the horizon, each man for himself.

And if the rocks are crystalline and not fossiliferous, this de-

termines beforehand that there are not present the best facilities

for the study of paleontology, although great museums may have

been accumulated,

ie natural’ rock foundations of the region in which a uni- =

versity is built thus decide the particular part of geological

_ science which may be there taught most successfully. —

To this fact may be traced the explanation why Harvard, Yale,

and Amherst have been so prolific in physical geologists and

erop; why New York State has given us so — r >

Aj

CR

D

ontologists; why the geologists of Pennsylvania have taught u

so much about stratigraphy and the structure and products below

the surface.

In each institution the natural advantages found in the acces-

sible rock exposures of the region should be not only carefully

‘studied, but should be made a prominent feature in all the

advanced work of the college. 3

In conclusion, I would remark that (a) the fundamental natu

of the subject-matter of geology, with its many still unsolved

~ 626 Methods of Instruction in General Geology.

the evident, the general, to the special, the hidden, the individua

tion from the concrete, the typical, the illustrative, to the princ

and accuracy in his modes of nd cf by applying the simp!

; rule of teaching much about a few things, instead of arenes

ie to say a little about a great many things,

1887 | Variation of the Human Shoulder-Blade. 627

THE RANGE OF VARIATION OF THE HUMAN

SHOULDER-BLADE.

BY THOMAS DWIGHT, M.D."

HE late Professor Broca read a paper before La Société

d’Anthropologie in 1878? in which he described the scapular

and the infra-spinous indices, and proposed them ase methods of

ethnological research. Briefly stated, the scapular index is the

proportion of the breadth of the scapula, measured along the

base of the spine, to the length, the latter being considered one

hundred. The infra-spinous index is the proportion of the

breadth to the length of the infra-spinous fossa, the latter being

considered one hundred.

The human scapula being the starting-point, Broca under-

stands by “length” the line connecting the highest and lowest

points, although in almost all mammals this is not the longest

dimension. The line showing the breadth being called AB and

that of the length CD, the index is obtained by calculating

100 X AB

CD

border of the scapula, but runs some distance before it. The

line AD. representing the infra-spinous length runs from the

posterior end of AB to the lower end of CD. The infra-

‘ x - ` 100X AB

spinous index is represented by the fraction x . Professor

The length very rarely coincides with the posterior

Broca used these indices both in comparative anatomy and in

the study of characteristics of race, sex, and age in man.

- In all orders of mammals, with one exception, the scapular

index is greater than in man. In quadrupeds it is evident that

the long diameter of the bone should at least approximately

coincide with the line of pressure, and consequently we find the -

‘breadth—z.c, the line along the base of the spine—the longer. In

erect man, with his great range of movement of the anterior ex-

tremities, there is need of greater leverage for the movements of 7

the scapula, and less need of resistance to pressure, so we find a

long and narrow scapula. This condition is approached in the

- anthropoid apes, and even surpassed in the bats, who have a —

‘z Parkman Professor of Anatomy at Harvard University.

7 2 Bulletins de la Société ď’Anthropologie de Paris, série 3, tome i. a

_ 3 By a most unfortunate oversight the AB and AD are transposed in Broca’s paper.

6o Variation of the Human Shoulder-Blade.

lower scapular index than man. Broca’s observations on t

characteristics of sex and race of human scapulz are by |

means satisfactory, owing to the small number of observatio

The indices of adult Frenchmen were obtained from twen

three individuals, of which nine were female; and those

African negroes from twenty-five individuals, of which five we

female. Apparently one scapula was measured in each case.

The next year Professor Flower and Dr. Garson measur

two hundred scapule of Europeans. They admit that it is quite

was unknown. They counted every scapula measured as

whether or not its fellow came under observation. They m

ured also a few scapulz of other races, but the series were fi

the most part very small. The largest were twenty-one Andam

scapulz and twelve Australian.

M. Marius Livon also studied this subject at about the sa

time, and gave his results in his “Thèse pour le Doctoral

which appeared in 1879. I have never seen his essay,

know it only by references to it by Sir William Turner? and

M. Manouvrier2 He measured the bones of seventy-

_ Frenchmen and fifty-one Frenchwomen,

Negroes, Andamanese, and Australians have higher ind

which means broader scapulz, and consequently of a lower

Broca points out, however, in his remarks about negroes, t

this is true only of the mean, and that individuals of both cla

are found to vary very much from it, Indeed, the anthro

makes their infra-spinous angle more characteristic.

Broca claimed that, in spite of the great individual variati

this method is of value when applied to groups.

I began a series of measurements of human and of anthropo

166 Challenger” Reports, vol, xvi. : eee

° Revue d’Anthropologie, zme série, tome iii., 1889. -

+

1887] Variation of the Human Shoulder-Blade. 629

the indices do not necessarily indicate the shape of the bone, and

that they are worthless to determine the race of any single bone.

The one hundred and thirteen bones which I have called Cau-

casian are, like those used by Flower and Garson, rather a heter-

ogeneous collection. They for the most part belong to the

Harvard Medical School and to the Boston Society of Natural

History. More than a few of them came from France. While

they, no doubt, are in the main Caucasian, it is probable that

there are some negro bones among them. Indeed, I know that

two of the scapulæ came from the body of a negro. These are

remarkable as presenting very low (instead of high) indices.

Through the kindness of Professor Putnam, who most gener-

ously put all the stores of the Peabody Museum of Archeology

at my disposition, I had hoped to be able to present a large col-

lection of figures from the bones of the mound-builders, and per-

haps to make observations on many individuals of a race which _

was less mixed'than most of those whose bones are easily ob-

tained to-day. I was, however, disappointed, and from a cause

that is easy to foresee, namely, the great fragility of the scapula.

I could have had long bones in abundance, but the shoulder-

blades were for the most part either in fragments, or so injured

that the necessary measurements could not be made. I have the

records of six scapulz from California which are probably Indian,

and of eighteen from the Kentucky mounds, The mean of the

Californians is 67.25 for the scapular index and 91.05 for the .

_ infra-spinous. The mound-builders have a mean scapular index

of 69.29 and an infra-spinous one of 93.75.

The following table shows the indices of Caucasian bones ob-

tained by my predecessors and myself. Livon is the only one

who has a tolerably large series showing the difference between the

sexes. Broca, with a much smaller series, had different results:

TABLE I.

Broca. a — Dwight.

s Male. Female.

Scapular index...... 65.91 65.2 63.0 67.4 | 63.5,

. nee de: 87.79 89.4 85.4 88.8 85.8

To understand the significance of figures something more io

needed than an average, which gives no hint of the range of ©

Paeon, and — I have arranged the ae of ibe in-

60 : : Varikon of the Human Shoulder-Blade,

| dices of the Caucasians and mound-builders in groups. The fi

row of figures shows the index, and opposite each is placed-

for an index. The six Californians showed no extreme figures.

ae a

-A

number of scapulæ having that figure (or that figure and a fractio

TABLE II.

Scapular Index. ` Infra-spinous Index.

Index. Caucasians, eet ae Index, Caucasians. a

55 ee i 72 2 ms

56 3 x 73 oot ee

57 5 te 74 aii J4

r ; es 7 5 I ses

9 os 7 2 a

60 9 ive 77 4 č

61 8 bee 78 | 4 stn

62 12 eee 79 8 oe

63 13 I 80 7 eos

64 6 ove 81 4 Per

65 II 2 82 6 šis

Io i 8 ove

67 8 : H $ 4

68 I 3 85 10 ded

69 4 I 86 7 “a

7° 3 I 87 10 pe

7I 3 I 88 5 3

72 I I 89 3

73 sey i = go $ 3

74 eee whe gI I daoth

75 ons ae 92 6 2i

76 I I 93 2 1

77 pan I 94 5 iw

78 aS eek 95 2 I

“797 oes wee 96 3 I

ans eee eee 97 I I

I coe tee 98 I aoe

82 ... I 99 H ee

100 oe

IOI s. oe

103 aoe iat

104 i ie

105. i I

106 eu I

i 2 f 107 wes Ton

: Total nseni 113 ; 18 Total ....s00 113 13

mean 2 OB 60 foor ag -| Means 85.83 3.

oa question that in measurements the e “ personal equation on” has

"eled oubt the discrepancies would have been 1 if all th measu

hates made by one man. The v: ig ?

Hi

qin

Hel

ults of coe ee

1887] Variation of the Human Shoulder-Blade. 631

The scapule from Kentucky have a decidedly higher index

than the Caucasians, and this is evidently not due to individual

peculiarities, for though three specimens with remarkably high

indices have their effect on the average, yet the scapular index

is only once, and the infra- -spinous never, as low as the Cau-

casian mean.

Broca gives some of his extreme figures, which are very inter-

esting. The bone with the lowest indices belonged to a Turk

from Smyrna; the next lowest scapular index was furnished by a

Frenchwoman, and the next lowest infra-spinous by an Arab.

The highest indices belonged to an African negro, by name

Tom Blaise, and the next to a black from Hindoostan.

Flower and Garson, unfortunately, make no mention of their

extreme cases. For more convenient comparison I put my ex-

tremes below Broca’s in the following tables :

TABLE III:

MINIMA.

Scap. Infra-spin.

: Index Index,

Broca. Turk from Smyrna 57.47 75-19

Broca. Frencł 6O27 -ira

POG. ARAN E RE EET A E E RA SA 78.57

Dwight. Caucasian (Fig. 4) 55.1 72.8

Dwight. Negro (Fig. 10).....s..se.. 58.8 42.3

MAXIMA,

Scap Infra-spin

Index Index, |

Broca. Tom Blaise 76.64 111.95

Broca. Black from Hindoostan 76.61 104.39 `

Dwight. Kentucky Mound-builder (Fig. 5 82.2 107.3

_ Dwight. - Kentucky Mound-builder........ 77.1 106.9

Dwight. Highest scapular index among Caucasians...........0 76.3 98.2

Dwight. ee infra-spinous index among Ciiciian: 71.8 102.0

“Broca thought it likely (assez probable) that his limits would

be but rarely passed. Table II. shows, however, that I have

measured no less than twenty-two bones with a scapular index

below sixty, and that five of them were below fifty-seven. The

two given in Table III. are, however, the only ones in which

the infra-spinous index falls below seventy-five. Turning to the

maxima, I have no equal to Tom Blaise in both indices, which is .

_ due to the great obliquity of the spine of his scapula, an ape-

o T feature which the mound-builders cannot ages One a

Ey

#

632 . Variation of the Human Shoulder-Blade.

them has a scapular index which is decidedly higher, and they

‘both exceed the black from Hindoostan in both respects. a

Sir William Turner states in his “ Challenger” report that, ex-

cluding the scapulæ of one Hottentot, the mean scapular ind

the Andaman Islanders. This includes the results of so

other observers. It would appear, however, that for some reason

he has omitted also his four Ohauan (Pacific Islands) scapula

index and 117 for the infra-spinous. He found the variati

in the scapular index of African blacks, male and female,

range from 57 to 81, and the infra-spinous index from 30 to I

Apart from the range of individual variation in the indices, t

method is open to at least two criticisms: first, that there

various forms of scapule, which may not be without their ethm

logical significance, to which these indices give no clue; ane

secondly, that the length of the scapula—which is of primary im

portance in determining the more important index, the scapular-

depends in part on the development of the superior angle of.

bone. In support of the first criticism I would call attention ti

two scapula (Figs. 6 and 7) whose indices are almost identical,

which in shape differ enough to be bones of different species. —

shall return to these points in the course of the discussion

the variation of different parts of the bone.

Length—In the one hundred and thirteen Caucasian$,

adits, the mean length is 16.22 cm., the extremes being 13. 2i

20.1. There are six under 14 cm. and ten of 18 or more. |

mean of the six Californian Indians is 13.62, and of the eight

from the Kentucky mounds 14.07. The range of variation

these two series is very small. The shortest bone is 12.4, and t

longest 15.8, both from Kentucky. These old bones, both i

size and shape, constitute a well-marked series.

Professor Mivart, in his well-known paper on the “ Apper

dicular Skeleton of the Primates,”* takes several parts of ti

A scapula for comparison. We shall consider the variation th

some of these present in man alone. 4

-< The inferior angle (Fig. 1); which Professor Mivart p

* Philosophical Transactions, London, vol. clvii, s = 2, 1867. |

2 In Figures 1, 2, and 3 the partial outlines are drawn as though taken

bone of the right side in every case. This is ice convenience,

1887] Variation of the Human Shoulder-Blade. 633

35° or 40° in man, presents great differences, as is shown by the

appended wood-cuts. I give no measurements, as the difficulty

of making accurate ones is quite out of proportion to their value.

The difference is in part, but not wholly, due to the development

of the surface at the lower part

of the axillary margin for the

teres major.*. This muscle arises

from the dorsal surface of the

bone, but there is almost always

a slight projection at this point

from the anterior border, and

occasionally it is developed into F:

a projection of considerable size. ;

_ Broca states that this is more

common in negroes. I have no i

opinion to offer on this. point,

but I believe that this process

does not stand in direct ratio to

the size of the muscle. It is

well marked on a very delicate .

scapula (Fig. 5), and on the other Hei

hand there is a large surface to

this muscle with hardly any projection on a remarkably sharp

bone (Fig. 4). An analogous: case is the third trochanter, the

_occufrence of which, in my opinion, is quite uninfluenced by

muscular development. The surface for the ¢eres major projects

out very strongly in the lower Simiidz, Cebas, and Chrisothrix,

according to Mivart. Its occurrence in man is probably (as in

the case of the third trochanter) the appearance of a peculiarity

of lower forms. The lower angle, however, varies considerably

apart from the influence of this process.

~ The vertebral border (Fig. 2).—The most common form of

scapula presents a line slightly curved at the lower part, and .

then straight as far as the root of the spine, from which point it

inclines slightly forward till it ends at the upper angle. The for-

__ward inclination of the upper part, though varying in degree, is,

so far as I know, constant, but the rest of the line varies much.

Sometimes it is almost straight, sometimes the whole border of _

_ the bone is convex, sometimes the border below the spine is con- __

: ae

an, 5 te > ve 3}. We thet. s Ad P, iy Oo) Cores s

+ By another g y t “ Te petit ja

2 i i ee IEN

E MELAS MUGIS eg err

w

634 3 Variation of the Human Shoulder-Blade. [Jv ie

cave. The different types are seen in the annexed diagram, but,

better still, in some of the figures of the entire bone. 4

The superior border (Fig. 3) is also of uncertain shape. '

superior angle cannot be considered apart from the posterior

border. The diagrams show its variations so well as to makea

description unnecessary. One of these is remarkable as showing

the point truncated. None of these, however, show it rounded off _

in a way that equals the Boschiman scapula figured by Mi

The variations of this angle are important, because they sh

that the length of the scapula, as used according to Broca’s pl

is liable to vary according to the development of this angle.

v 4

a

me

a

Fic, 2,

that I know of is in Humphry’s “ Human Skeleton.”

Variations in the concavity of the body of the bone s

also be mentioned. If a scapula be laid on a table with the.

: ticular shape of the bone.

1887] Variation of the Human Shoulder-Blade. ` 635

tral surface downward, it will usually rest on three points,—the

coracoid, and the superior and inferior angles. The vertebral

border, as a rule, forms an arch, the highest point of which is

sometimes about 2 cm. from the table. In other cases this border

barely leaves the table, and sometimes one or both of the angles

mentioned are bent dorsally, so as no longer to be points of

support.

On the dorsum the course of the spine and acromion deserve

attention. By comparing the scapular and infra-spinous indices

we get some idea of its obliquity. A high infra-spinous index

with a moderate scapular index shows, of course, a greater

obliquity, which is an ape-like peculiarity. When both are very

high it shows simply a short, broad scapula. I called attention to

the fact that one of the Kentucky mound-builders had a higher

scapular index but a lower infra-spinous one than Broca’s negro,

Tom Blaise, which means that the former had the relatively broader

scapula, but the latter the more oblique spine. A study of the one

hundred and thirteen Caucasian shoulder-blades shows that the

two indices present no great discrepancies. The average scapular

index being 63.50 and the infra-spinous 85.83, I find but three

with a scapular index of between 64 and 65 which have an infra- _

spinous index below 85, and of these the lowest was 82.5. I find

none at all with a scapular index above 65 and an infra-spinous

below 85. Conversely, only seven having an infra-spinous index

above 86 have a scapular index below 63. The lowest of these

“S61

Professor Mivart states that when the bone is so held that the

long axis of the glenoid cavity is vertical, and that cavity is op-

posite the eye of the observer, the acromion is almost always

higher than the coracoid in man, troglodytes, and hylobates. I

do not remember any exception to this rule in man, but I find a

good deal of variation in the direction of the line formed by the

projecting edge of the acromion when the bone is thus held. It

is not easy to determine what angle it forms with the horizon,

and I shall give the mean very vaguely, as probably in the neigh-

- borhood of 45°, but I have seen it reach at least 65° on one

hand and fall to 30° or less on the other. These two extremes

are shown in Figs. 12 and 13. I have been unable to find that

either of these degrees of inclination is assed with i! ee -

ee

_ leads one to the conclusion that very remarkable scapulæ could —

‘make more remarkable ones than actually occur. I shall now P,

markable specimen, and is among those having the lowest in-

dices. The scapular index is 56.5, and the infra-spinous 76.3.

_ collection shows no such range. Even the scapula of the bear

6 36 Variation of the Human Shoulder-Blade. [July

The study of the range of variation in these separate parts :

be constructed by a judicious selection and union of the most

striking individual parts; but it would, I think, be difficult to —

call attention to some of the most curious specimens. Figs. 4 —

and 5 show respectively the lowest and the ‘highest indices. —

The breadth is the same in each, but the.length of the latter is —

little more than two-thirds of that of the former. The process ~

for the teres major, though small, is clearly shown on the scap- —

ula of the mound-builder, but the other bone has a larger surface —

for the origin of the muscle, though there is but a slight pro- —

jection at the anterior edge, which is confirmatory of the views —

expressed above. Figs. 6 and 7 have already been alluded to as _

widely different forms, having almost identical indices. Each is

a peculiar bone, but the sharp one is the more uncommon. F igs. ©

8 and g are also in strong contrast to each other. The posterior —

borders have been figured, but the striking effect is shown in the —

figures of the whole bones. Each is very peculiar and in a dif-

ferent way, though „neither has a remarkable index. Fig. 10 |

represents a wonderfully long bone, being 20 cm. It is a re- |

The original of Fig. 11 (scapula index 58.8 and infra-spinous —

72.3) is figured. because it belonged to a negro and yet had in-

dices far below the mean of Caucasian bones. A comparison —

differs no more from that of the tiger than some of these from

one another. A few notes on the anthropoid apes will be found

in the appendix.

What influence the height, the muscular development, the

health, and the occupation of the individual may have on the

ape of the scapula, and indeed on the skeleton in general,

= The mate to this bone is the longest I have measured, exceeding it by more tl

I mm,, but it has, unfortunately, been injuréd.

1887] — Variation of the Human Shoulder-Blade. a: 37

cannot as yet be much more than guessed at. The question

suggests a field for inquiry, which has as yet hardly been opened,

but which in the course of years may bear a rich crop. Some-

thing has been done in this direction by Mr. W. Arbuthnot

Lane, of London."

Livon found that in women both indices were higher than in

men, while, as above stated, Broca found the reverse, but in very

small series, I do not feel convinced that Livon’s are large

enough to put the fact beyond question, and cértainly it would

be rash to draw any conclusion as regards a single individual.

Probably the actual size of the bone, and more particularly that

of the glenoid cavity, are the best indications of the sex that

the bone offers, and these are of but little value.

It must be remembered that the great range of individual

variation does not necessarily destroy the value of Broca’s in-

dices, but it shows that the method must be applied to large

series of bones from well-marked races. It is gratifying to find

this view supported by no less an authority than Sir William

Turner, who writes, “ For I gather from my own measurements

and those of other observers, that the range of variation in the

relative length and breadth of the scapula is very considerable in

the same race, so that it needs a large number of bones to enable

one to obtain an accurate idea of the mean of any race.” *

APPENDIX.

THE INDICES OF ANTHROPOID APES,

Both Broca and Flower and Garson published the indices of

-anthropoid apes in their papers, which have been referred to

so often. As the number of observations is necessarily small, I

am glad to be able to offer a few additional ones. Broca gives

the indices of ten gorilla skeletons, of five chimpanzees, of one

orang, and of seven gibbons. Flower and Garson give the in- _ :

_ dices of sixteen bones of the gorilla, of twenty-one of the chim- |

; _ panzee, of seventeen of the orang, and of eight of the gibbon. —

o * The Pathology of Changes produced by Pressure in the Bony Skeleton of the

_ Trunk, Guy’s Hospital Reports, vol. xliii., 1886 ;

2 It is proper to mention that this paper had been written and sent to the NAT-

i URALIST before I had seen Professor Turner’s remarks on the scapula in the“ Chal-

lenger” Reports. Through the courtesy of the editors I have had an opportunity to is

mor if ' my paper here and there by quoting from his work. ee a

‘638 Variation of the Human Shoulder-Blade. [July

4

To these I can add the indices of thirteen shoulder-blades of the |

gorilla, eight of the chimpanzee, and two of the orang."

Ba ¥

Broca. Flower and Garson. Dwight.

Scap.Ind. _TnEspin. | Soap, tnd. —MSBIA-| Soap, ind, ag

Gorilla. sisest: | 70.38 126.05 | 72.2 132.5 | 70.1 130.7 &

Chimpanzee... | 68.52 130.23 69.9 133.8 68.4 129.1 _

Orang. sesso 69.27 97-461 77.6 103.8 73.6 89.7

Gibbon ......... 96.97 198.56 96.5 201.2

_ Below are the highest and lowest indices that I found in gorilla —

and chimpanzee: |

AD ES epee PR rt hye eT ae ilar ee SSS aiin SRN

Scapular Index. Infra-spinous Index.

í Highest........ 76.

Gorilla asss

a f Lowest. s.s... 66.1 116.0

5 $ Highest........ 72.8 136.0

. Chiimpaszes.. f Lowest......... 66.1 117.5

These figures show that the highest scapular index of the —

gorilla and chimpanzee is sometimes, though very rarely, sur- _

passed in human bones. I say nothing of the orang, having

measured the bones of only one adult skeleton. The case is

different, however, with the infra-spinous index, as the lowest ¢

the gorilla and chimpanzee exceeds the highest human one.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATES.

The views of the dorsum of the scapula are all on the same scale. Figures 12

and 13 are not on precisely the same scale as the others. a 6 and 13 are from

the same hone, All but 5 and 11 are presumably Caucas

Scapular Index. Infra-spinous Index.

Fig. 4. $5.1 ‘ 72.8

sy 4 From Kentucky mounds......... 82.2 107.3 ra

a 7-8 91.4

c is 67. 8 x 90.6 :

“ 8.4: is 69. 4 2 3

F opposit fi iS ceteisnenek 97

E a} a penae { 61.5 91.4

=. 40. A ha long bone 56.5 i 76.3 me

“ on 58.3 res o o o

à Sm extreme degrees of inclination of the acromion. a :

1 In spite of a foot-note on p. 75 of Broca’s paper, I confess to some doubt as to” .

whether his figures of ape measurements refer to the number of skeletons or to be

the number of scapulæ. I have followed Flower and Garson, who r ce his

table, in stating it as I have in the text. My own figures, like theirs, refer to ind

> vidual bones. i 2

PLATE XX..

—

eS Pera i

1887] Lncised Boulders in the Upper Minnesota Valley. 639

INCISED BOULDERS IN THE UPPER MINNE-

SOTA VALLEY.

BY T. H. LEWIS.

HERE are other inscribed. rocks in the same region besides

those of the Thunder Bird’s Track described in the AMER-

- ICAN NATURALIST for May, 1886, which, like them, should be

DIAGRAM N?!

oe

a 3

<< SP

Of

D A

8

Oy»

i 3 : : fr kas

| . ean PS ks eS

Zz, 30 4a So Centimetres

_ preserved jen oian The accompanying diagrams and k

verbal descriptions will account for three.

E SE ESE SE AENA D ee ee,

: « 2 ?

_very slight. In 1883, when they were traced, the pictogré

_ boulder has a flat surface with a western exposure; is irregu

_and the plateau is also called “Sacred;”’ but the name has

significance as regards the markings, for two lovers named

eee without Paving that there were any pictogr: aphs

: of the existence of the inscriptions until after their discovery

the whites, although the plateau was for many years a ge

a stated that twelye hundred feet to the eastward of this ro

+ boulder was situated an ancient enclosure or fort of the

: - builders, of about four acres, with a ‘customary outlying

— One is oi justified, te in speculating, P

640 Incised Boulders in the Upper Minnesota Valley,

This boulder is in the edge of the public park, on the no

end of the plateau at Brown’s Valley, Minnesota. The plat

is about forty feet above the Minnesota River there.

in outline, and is about five feet eight inches in diameter, andi i

firmly imbedded in the terrace.

Fig. 1 is the central figure, and undoubtedly represents a man,

although the form is somewhat conventional.

Fig. 2 represents a bird.

Fig. 3 represents a tortoise.

Fig. 4 is a cross and circle combined, but the circle has a groove

extending out from it. :

Figs. 5, 6, and 7, although somewhat in the shape of crosses,

probably represent bird-tracks. ye

Figs. 8 and 9 are nondescript in character

must be some meaning attached to them.

2

were very plain; but during my last visit to this region, in

summer of 1886, the moss was gradually encroaching upon t

and it will be only a matter of a few years before they are en

tirely covered up.

The people of the place call this boulder “the Sacred Ro

Snie as it may seem, the Indians of this region have |

beatin connected with this boulder, and, in fact, did not km

rendezvous for them as a sporting-ground.

_ Asa matter of incidental antiquarian interest here, it may

1887]. Zncised Boulders in the Upper Minnesota Valley. 641

on possible relationship between these two interesting classes of

relics of the very old times.

D/ACRAM N°2

o 6 2 % Inches

to 20 3e 4o Centimetres

This boulder is on a high terrace on the west side of the

- Minnesota River, one and a half miles south of Brown’s Valley,

and is in Roberts County, Dak. It is oblong in form, being

three and a half feet in length, two feet in width, and is firmly

imbedded in the ground. :

Figs. 1 and 2 are undoubtedly tortoises.

Fig. 3 is probably intended to represent a bird-track.

Fig. 4 represents a man, and is similar to the one at Brown’s

Valley.

Fig. 5 is a nondescript of unusual form.

Fig, 6 is apparently intended to represent a headless bird:

that respect greatly resembling certain earthen effigies in ie

_ regions to the southeast.

The figures are about one-fourth of an inch in depth, and very

smooth, excepting along their edges, which roughness is caused

by aslight unevenness of the surface of the boulder.

This boulder is only a short’ distance from one previously de-

scribed as “ Thunder Bird’s Track’s Brother,” some four miles

_ northwest of Brown’s Valley, and, like No. 2, is in Roberts :

County, Dak.

The figures here represented are roughly pecked into the

y one and were never finished; for the grooves that form the

a ts on other boulders in this region have been rubbed

642 Incised Boulders in the Upper Minnesota Valley, [July

until they are perfectly smooth. The face of the boulder upon :

which these occur is about two feet long and one and a half feet 7

in width. l

DIAGRAM NES

P R 2 % Inches

o see zo 30 Ao Cantimectryes

There is a Dakota tradition relating to these incised boulders r

about as follows: ` :

In olden times there used to be an object that marked the ©

boulders at night. It could be seen, but its exact shape was in-

_ distinct. It would work, making sounds like hammering, and

occasionally emit a light similar to that of a fire-fly. After

nishing its work it would give one hearty laugh, like a woman

laughing, and then disappear. The next morning the Indians

would find another pictured boulder in the vicinity where the

object had been seen the night previous. 2

a The above is only given to show how the Indians account for.

_ these incised boulders, s

St. PAUL, MINN., April 6, 1887.

Fe:

1887] Editors’ Table. i 643

EDITORS’ TABLE.

EDITORS: E. D, COPE AND J. S. KINGSLEY.

THE principal object of the International Congress of Geol-

ogists is the unification of geological methods. This means the

adoption of a general system of nomenclature for formations

and a system of coloration for maps. The utility of such a

project cannot be questioned. Diversity in the practices of dif-

ferent countries on these points is as inconvenient as it is unsci-

entific. It is not a matter of prime importance what names or

what colors are used, but it is important that these should be

uniform for the world. Two objections have been made to this

project. One of these is that there is not identity, properly so

called, between the geological formations of the different con-

tinents. The other is, that no system adopted under our present

knowledge is adapted to express discoveries yet to be made in

unexplored regions.

o the first of these so-called objections it may be replied

that, since time is one, so geological ages are one for all parts

of the earth. Vast tracts of sediments and intrusions have been

produced contemporaneously in the past, as they are being now

produced in the present. When these formations are identified

as contemporaneous they should receive identical names, and be ©

identically colored on geological maps. Of course, the begin-

nings and ends of the processes of deposition have not been

always contemporaneous ; so that we have, in variations of this

kind, ground for subdivisions of minor extent and importance.

But the great “time boundaries’—as they are well termed by

Professor Dana—are identical in their central features for the

whole earth. The parallelism may be even traced to a lesser

- grade of divisions, as is well known. It is only in what might

be termed the third grade of time divisions based on stratig-

raphy, that we begin to find identifications impossible. So, Os

course; the work of the Congress can proceed no further in this —

direction.

It can, however, digest and codify the results of geological

research in all countries to its lowest subdivisions. It can cata-

~ logue and compile. Thus an invaluable index to all the forma-

a tions of all countries may be produced. Such a list, like all

ie ee een ee

_ system (that in use by the United States Geological Survey) is 1

the antithesis of that in common use (and represented by the

_ nized elements forms a complete and symmetric whole. In view |

644 ; : Editors’ Table. ft y

others of the kind, would have to be continually enlarged by

new accessions, as in all other departments of science. Thus is

answered the second of the objections above referred to. À

The above remarks apply ‘both to a system of nomenclature

and to a system of coloration. Major J. W. Powell, of the

United States Geological Survey, has entered a protest against f

the adoption of the system of colors generally in use, and has E

endeavored to secure the adoption of one of his own devising. |

The following is an extract from a letter which was presented to :

the last Congress—that of Berlin'—by Major Powell : x

g

z;

ie

“Tt will be observed that in’ its fundamental principles this |

European map). With the evolution of geologic science there |

of the manner in which scientific classification is effected, it

involves conference among geologists concerning obscure and

discovery. Though natural and simple in its inception, the fully

_festingson a partly artificial basis, it is simple and natural in its

application.

“The old system is ideographic, connotative, and analyt!

_ the new is alphabetic, denotative, and synthetic; the old system |

trammels the observer by prescribing rules to which his obse

_ +The Work of the International Congress of Get gists, and of its Committees»

Ss by Dr. P. Frazer, Secretary of the American Committee, 1886, p.. 107-

Re

1887] : Recent Literature. . 645

vation must conform, while the new encourages originality by

allowing the utmost latitude in expressing the results of obser-

vation; the old system tends to retard the development of geo-

logic science, and to restrict its practical application by explicitly

postulating its completeness, while the new promotes geology

and extends its useful applications by providing the means of

expressing discoveries in new as well as in old lines of investi-

gations.”

This letter, so far as we understand it, postulates both the ob-

jections we have mentioned above, and which we have shown to

be groundless.

The Congress of Berlin did not think it advisable to change

the system of coloration which had been, in its main features, in

use for half a century, and the American Committee has accepted

its decision. In this the committee has adopted the views of

utility generally entertained in Europe. The committee, at its

lbany meeting, however, expressly insisted on the necessity of

incorporating into the general system all new and additional

details to be derived from the explorations conducted in non-

European countries, thus providing for the contingency referred

to by Major Powell in the letter above quoted.

A great deal of labor devolves on the Congress and its com-

_mittees. Their only reward is the belief that their work is a

w

useful one, and the confidence that, if well done, it will endure,

so far as it goes, as a permanent standard of estimation for the

entire world, and for all time.

RECENT LITERATURE.

ings of the American Society of Microscopists.'— `

Proceedings of the American Society of Microscopists, Ninth Annual Meeting,

N. Y., August 10, 11, 12, and 13, 1886. Buffalo, N. Y., 1886, -

?

646 Recent Literature, [July

tation of the part played by bacteria in disease, and gives many

facts which fully support his conclusions, Dr. Smith’s elaborately |

illustrated paper is better than most of the American diatom lit-

erature, as it deals with structure rather than with “ resolution.” ©

e papers upon the detection of adulterated butter seem con- |

clusive that the microscope alone is not sufficient to decide in all

cases, or, at least, until new tests are discovered. a

There can be no doubt that this society is doing a good work,

_and while it is the means of publishing much that is crude, and

which might better be left in manuscript, it still serves as a centre E

for many who otherwise would not belong to any scientific asso-

ciation. To the charge that sufficient censorship is not exer- f

cised in the acceptation of papers for publication, the much larget E

American Association for the Advancement of Science is equally |

open. Indeed, such criticism applies with much more force to the |

latter than to the former association, for with a total of about |

three hundred and seventy-five members the Microscopical So-

ciety have a very substantial financial balance on hand, while

the larger American Association, with a membership of eighteen

_ hundred and eighty-six, are several thousand dollars in debt.

The Fourth Report of the Bureau of Ethnology.: —The

present volume keeps up the high standard of the series and

r

ie

p

pina

is able to form his own conclusions unwarped by any theory ¢

; riter. The impression the article creates in the present

reviewer is that the simplest explanation of any pictograph

most likely to be the right one, and any forced or symboli

i ome

i

interpretation is apt to violate the nature of at least the Indians

of North America. The other articles of the volume relate

pottery. Three by Mr. William H. Holmes deal respectively W

— Annual pon seg of ig fgg of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smi

sontan institution, 1882-83, by J. W. Powell, Dir os ë 3

Wana 16 Coley nim Be irector. gto, pp Sr

1887] Recent Literature. 647

the “ Pottery of the Ancient Pueblos,” the “ Ancient Pottery of

the Mississippi Valley,” and as a corollary thereto the “Origin and

Development of Ornament in Ceramic Art.” Mr. F. H. Cushing

gives a study of Pueblo pottery as illustrative of Zuñi culture-

rowth. These papers afford ample illustrations of the laws

already laid down of the development of the ceramic art, an

are to be regarded as proving and confirming the gradual evolu-

tion of the potter’s trade, rather than as advancing new ideas.

This, however, must not be taken as adverse criticism,,but, on

the contrary, as a recognition of an important point in the

articles. In connection with them the reader should refer to

Professor F. W. Putnam’s recent paper on “ Conventionalism in

Ancient American Art” (Bulletin Essex Inst, xviii, 1887), to

which we shall have occasion to refer again. ;

_ Beal’s Grasses of North America.'—This volume is, in fact,

Part I. of a large work the second part of which, we are informed

in the preface, is in preparation. When completed it will be the

most important work on grasses ever brought out in this country.

The part before us includes seventeen chapters devoted to the

following subjects,—viz., structure, form, and development of

grasses; the power of motion in plants; plant-growth ; classify-

ing, naming, describing, collecting, studying; native grazing-

lands; grasses for cultivation; early attempts to cultivate

grasses; testing seeds; some common weeds; grasses for pas-

It will thus be seen that the range of topics is much wider

than that which we usually find in books designed for popular

use. In fact, it is doubtful whether many farmers will care much

for the first three or four chapters ; but, for all that, it is a hopeful

sign when an author who is as well acquainted with the farming

classes as Dr. Beal is, will deliberately open his book with a sci-

entific discussion of structure, form, and development. Many a

farm boy, in consulting this book, will be inspired with a desire

to learn more about the methods of scientific study.

-In the first chapter there are many matters touched upon which

are interesting to the scientific botanist. The closed sheaths of

-~ some grasses and the partially-closed ones of many others are

+3 re i 4 a

Pe A

1 to, and some interesting figures are given. The mech-

Grasses of North America, fòr Farmers and Students, comprising chapters on

their physiology, composition, selection, improving, cultivation, ment of-

also chapters injuri i

_ M.A., M.Sc., Ph.D., Professor of Botany and Forestry in Michigan Agricultural

.

pyrighted by the author. Agricultural College, Mich., -

$

Woodward, A. S-—Notes on some Post-Liassic Species of Acrodus. Geol.

648. ee Recent Literature.

some length, and amply illustrated. Many a botanist will He

find a fuller account of the curious “ bulliform cells” of the grass-

The ant of the ater | is well adapted to the purpose of t

book, and no farmer need hesitate to purchase it for fear of i

being too technical. The mechanical execution of the book is —

good, the illustrations are accurate, and the printing is fede: done a

upon good paper. Some typographical errors mar the pages

here and there; but these can easily be corrected in a seco

edition, which will certainly be demanded. The author is to

congratulated upon the successful completion of this valuab

book. The second part will be looked for with keen interest.

Charles E. Bessey.

RECENT BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS.

Smithsonian Institution. —Annual Report of the Board of Regents for 1604

Part II. Report on the U, S. National Museum, by G. B. sone with papers

on the oo $y DTT Mason, J. Murdoch, E We True

White, F. E —Hygiene as a Basis of Ra oan a tad Popu

alte inthe, 1887. Pok the author, '

Stone, G. H. Iien kenek in Maine. From the author. 1887.

Giard, M. A.—Sur on parasitaire chez Z’ Eupagurus bernhardus

: et chez Ja oo ferrin Montagu. —Sur un Copepode paras asite

l’ Amphiura squamata. 1887. Both Pisa the author

Boulenger, G. A.—On New Batrachians fro om Malac ou T ks on Dr.

Strauch’s Catalogue of the Geckos in the Zoological Museum of St. Pete

—Description of a New Tailed Batrachian aoe Corea.—On New Fishes

the Lower Congo.—On a New Calamaria fro rom Borneo.—A Synopsis of

Snakesvof South Alsicay--Desarigtionob. x of a ie Megalophrys. All from

Mag. Nat. History, 1887.

Halsted, B. D. aen of the a Agricultural College, 1886. From the author

saan, 7: F— cological connoissance_of Bland, Giles, Wythe,

ns of Kidi me ontgo mone Counties, Va. 1887. From the author.

Lisle, w. D.—Sketch of a New Utilitarianism. Montreal, 1887. From

PR Cok C H—Anwaa Rap ofthe Sate Gest (N. J.) for 1886, From

Mark, E. L.—Si le Eyes in Bull. . Zool. Hi

Mi a Ta age Arthropods, ull, Mus. Comp

~ 1887. From ?

: McCaltey, H—On the Warrior Coalfield. Geol. Surv. of Ala. From the aut

Minot, C. S—Researches « Biological P

< Both fom on aera Diak.. 1884.—Biologi :

1887] _ Recent Literature. ~ 649

— G. M —The Canadian Rocky Mountains. Reprinted from Canadian Rec-

of eds 1886, From the author

eee j e Texture of Massive Rocks Am. Jour. Sci., January, 1887.—

egies $ Saini of Cinnabar, Gold, and Associated ‘Sulphides. Both from

uthor

aaia F. rS Leg in a Male Frog. From the author.

Eigenmann, C. H. Review of he Emira of North America. Ext. Ann.

Horning, F. E., oie N. Y. A Sci., January, 1887. From the authors.

Warring, C. B.—Certain Laws of id, Bodies, 1887. From the author.

Torre, v. Dalla, Te as dukes aus der Vogelwelt

Rice, W. N.—On rites and Sandstone in the Gorge of Fecal yp a River, Tariff-

ville, Conn. Am. Jour. Sci., December, 1886. From the a

Vetter, B So ray atalak vor dem Roagite der Sa petro From

the au

Lydekker, 5 —Desr iption of a Jaw of Hyotherium from the Pliocene of India

The Cetacea of the “tel bi’ Both from Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc., Febru-

ary, 188704 nd from the a

i sad A. W. R Waiee Hei of North Cornwall, nied descriptions of six

spec

ies. Mita Micros. Soc., 1887. From the a

a EC n some Rare Minerals of the aah Bull. Washburn

y College, Tiy 1886. From the author

< Baur, G.—Ueber das Quadratum der Spusethiere, From the author.

spay ihe th —tList of Anthropological and Mammalian Literature. Munich.

om t

author.

Se i E ia ashes tion st po, the poi Origin of the Segmental

Duct.—On the Arrangement of the Mesenteries in the Parasitic Larva of Hal-

notre chrysanthellum. Both from Proc. Roy. Dublin Soc., 1887. From the

Soran —Le petit Ursus Speleeus de Gargas. Comptes Rendus, 1887.—La

Grotte de Montgawdier. Comptes Rendus, 1886. Both from the author.

Marsh, O. C-—Dinocerata, a Monograph of an Extinct Order of Gigantic Mimanals.

1886. Washington. U. S. Geol. Surv. From the poren

Huni, T. P —Mineral Perei? and Physiography. Boston. S. E. Cassino.

1886.— A New Basis of Chemistry, a Chemical baitesophy: 1887. Boston.

S. E. Cassino. Both from the author.

Bastin, E. S.—Elements of Botany. 1887. yE P. Engelhard & Co., Chicago.

; From the publishers

Weber, M.—Ueber La enorhynchus iba Brak —Ueber Hermaphroditismus

bei Fry ischen. Both from Tijdschrift d. Med. Dier. Ver., 1887. From the

aut

Newton, E. T—A Classification of a with especial reference to fossil for

London, 1887.—Note on some Recent Additions to the Vertebrate Fauna vat :

ep the Norfolk Forest-Bed, Ext. Geek Mad ., 1887. Both from the author

Schmathausen, F—Ueber tertiare Pflanzen am Fusse des Altaigebirges. “ : Pala-

ont ete tid rt, 1

sy

iu

Da

sere]

>

3

a

ae

io

a

J

r,

se

ri

H

P,

ee Pathan, E W. and Æ. ar UN Observations on the Special Senses of Wasps.

ree Bat Proc, Nat. Hist. Soc. Wisconsin, 1887. From the authors. .

vo Gadow, H.—Bronn’s Thier-reichs, - Vögel. 1887.

, Cook, A. soe and the Sugar-Bush. Means, Ous 1887. From the

ds R 0 R. 0.—Minor —_ Loraine 18387. Swan, Sonnenschein & Co. Pe s

t

650 _ General Notes.

Leconte, Fos.—The Relation of Evolution to Religious Thought. From the au

See i P.—Annual Report of the Director of the Mint. 1886. From

rahe sonst of Washington .—Proceedings, vol. iii.’ July 1, 1884, to F ebruary

6, 1886. From the Societ

Rothpletz, ee haa ae Monographie der Vilser Alpen.

gear th agp Ammonites de la zone 4 Aspidoceras Acanthi Mém. |

é Géologique St. Petersbourg, 1886.—Sur Phistoire de a ‘faune K

meridiei de la Russe.—Les Ammonites du groupe Olcostephanus versicolor,

Moscow, 1886. All from the author

Leche, W. wheres die Sinige thinceyaliniis Galeopithecus. Stockholm, 1886. Fre

the au

fleiiprin, A sede ah tl of the West Coast of Florida, 1886, From the author

Dugès, A.—El Trombidium dubrueilli, nov. sp. From the author.

Wright, R. R.—On the es eps hoe Organ of Hypophthalmus.

Roy. Soc. iea ape ot. : ee

Yoram } DS Vite collected at Beaufort, S. C.—Fishes collected at Havana,

; Cuba. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. From the author

GENERAL NOTES.

GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVELS.

General.—It is pointed out by Ed. Heawood, in a re

number of the Proc. Roy. Geog. Sey that the relations of len

of the eight principal rivers given ' by General Tillo would

greatly altered were the general course taken, and the mini

tortuosities left out. The Nile would Chi astionabiy then

the longest river (3100 miles), the Yang-tse-Kiang (2750)

i

cises for memory than ascertained ob. yet we er pres

that oe is —) bringing the mountains at least

i has

great reduction by or ita Once “roughly” estimat

17

t. Elias has by similar Processes been elevated from D'A

'

1887] Geography and Travels. 651

estimate of 12,672 feet to 19,500, according to the triangulation of

Mr. Baker. This may yet undergo some change, but from the

account of Mr. Seton Karr it appears that the breadth of its

form and the high mountains behind it caused Mount St. Elias

to be underestimated, while the isolated position of Mount Hood

caused the reverse. It is now stated that Mount Wrangel, some

_ distance to the north of Mount St. Elias, rises 18,400 feet above

the forks of Copper River, which are 2000 feet above the sea. If

this estimate, made by Lieutenant Allen, is correct, Mount Wran-

gel is 1000 feet higher than Mount St. Elias, so that after all the

United States possesses the highest peak on the North American

continent.

LASKA GLACIERS.—The country that intervenes between the

St. Elias Alps and the sea, from Cross Sound to the Copper River

(Alaska), with the exception of small areas of flat land east of

Yakatat Bay, and east of Icy Bay, consists entirely of glaciers,

the terminal moraines of which are so extensive that the ice lies

buried under millions of tons and hundreds of square miles o

loose rocks which it has carried down from the mountains. The

Agassiz Glacier is probably about six hundred square miles in

extents while the Great Guyot Glacier, west of it, is of quite

unknown area. e early navigators mistook the nature of the

country. Vancouver describes it as “a barren country, com-

posed of loose stones,” and La Perouse mistook the protruding

ice for snow lying on the ground.

_ the Welle at Ali Kobos in Bassange Land (in a straight line

_ With the Ngala) was so wide that Dr. Junker could not deter-

J J

652 ae General Notes.

Asia. THE Saraswati—The importance ascribed in the

Vedas to the river Saraswati, there called the “chief and purest

of rivers,’ points, as stated by Mr. R. D. S. Oldham (Pro

Asiatic Soc. of Bengal), to some change in the hydrography

the region, since the stream now called the Saraswati is qui

insignificant. Mr. Oldham is of opinion that the Jumna, with

the recent period of geology, flowed towards the Punjab, and

gives reasons for identifying it with the Sutlej.

PREJEVALSKY’s EXPLORATIONS.—Prejevalsky’s journeys in C

tral Asia have probably done more towards the elucidation of t

orography, hydrography, and ethnography of the regign that

those of any other traveller. His first journey (1871-73) W

across the Gobi Desert, between Kiachta and Kalgan, and then

westward to Kansu in Western China. He visited Lake Koko Ni

a

'hasa,

from

Lake Uliunghar, and along its feeder, the Urungu, across tl

»

Desert of Dzungaria, to that of Gobi. The Dzungarian Dese

| ae packings but yields excellent fuel. ‘The wild horse is

~ met with in a corner of the desert of Dzungaria, the wild ©

1887] Geography and Travels. 653

ally-important Chinese town of Hami, our traveller crossed

- the desert at its narrowest place to An-si-chau, and then rested

awhile at the fine oasis of Shachau, at the foot of the Nan-shan

range. Crossing the ‘Nan-shan, he made his way, in spite of

much quiet opposition from the Chinese, to the Mur-ussu, the

head-waters of the Yang-tse-Kiang. An uninterrupted gigantic

mountain wall stretches from the Hoang-Ho to.the Pamir, di-

viding the great plateau of Central Asia into two parts,—the

Mongolian Desert on the north and Tibet on the south. Tsaidam,

or Zaidam, may be considered a part of the Tibetan plateau, but

is enclosed all around by mountains; southward by the Kuen-

luin, which under various names extends from the sources of the

arkand River far into China proper, and to the north by the

Altyn-tagh and Nan-shan. The wild yak, which appears to be

found in herds as numerous as once those of the bison in North

America, never utters a sound, while the domestic one grunts

like a pig.

- The pass over the Tang-la range is sixteen thousand seven

hundred feet high, but only two thousand one hundred feet

above the Mur-ussu, and two thousand above that of the Sang-

chu, which is believed to join the Salwin. The chain of lakes,

from Urga crossed the Gobito Ala-shan. Leaving a depot at the

the Odontala, or thousand springs. Crossing to the Bhu River,

.the Di-chu of the Tangutans, the upper course of the Yang-

times the caravan route between Khoten and China. The Kuen-

Lun was found to culminate in the snowy group of Jing-ri oe

Nor

~ Test of the party is made up of pony-drivers and servants.

oe Without any armed escort, but provided with a passport from

VOL, Xx1.—no. 7. nae

654 _ General Notes. [Ju

Peking, he has made his way quietly among people with wh

the plains of Turkestan, near Kiria. From Kuchar the Tarim :

was followed to Lake Lob. From thence the intention was to go.

over the Altyn-tagh, but nothing has since been heard from him,

_ Mancuuria.—Since their journey to the Peishan Mountain —

and the sources of the Sangari, Messrs. James, Younghusband,

and Fulford have visited some other parts of Manchuria. C l

nists were perpetually arriving in Northern Manchuria, but brig-

andage is rife, and for the most part goes on unpunished, as the

Manchu semi-military administration is most effete. The count

is very fertile, and only needs good government and. security

- life and property. l

GEOLOGY AND PALÆONTOLOGY.

by the professor of geology in Denison University. In a mot

complete form this paper appears in the laboratory bulletin of

on McFarlane’s description of these contacts, Wadsworth says

(“ Azoic System,” p. 346), “His observations show clearly thi

both formations here are eruptive and of the same geological age

ontact between the great dyke of “dense basaltic green-

stone, having the peculiar dolerytic glitter” ( a typical coars

diabase), and the series of (here hornblendic) schists which are

at places greatly contorted by the influence of the granite ane

the diabases. The schists can everywhere be easily distinguls

m the penetrating dykes, which lie in strike or dip. They

prevailingly chloritic, containing large quantities of calcite. /

_ mor ar i s are beds of schist-conglomera

which are regarded by the writers as true basement conglo

ates. he pebbles are sometimes very large, and consist ©

188 7] Geology and Paleontology. 655

interesting instance of the formation of a porphyry from the

fusion of the schist-conglomerate by contact action of a diabase-

aphanite or porphyrite is noted. In what may be assumed to

be the centre of the fold are great beds of calcareous gneiss,

often with sillimanite (?) needles. These are the only stratified

granitic rocks seen, and form an integral part of the schist series.

Dykes of diorite are very frequent in the schist, and in every

case assimilate the adjacent schist to them very closely in

general appearance, though the microscopic character may be

quite markedly different. The method of occurrence suggests

that the diorites are really but fused portions of the schists

pressed up through the pasty yielding schist, which thus is

greatly affected by the contact. The diabases, on the other

hand, are of a much later origin, and perforate the granite as

well as the schist. The felsite-porphyries are thought possibly

to have been formed from the injection of matter from the

granite below at the same time at which the diorites were formed

and before some subsequent metamorphism, which involves the

schist and all its intrusives except the diabases. A curious mod-

, ification of some of the diorites is described, by which the long

twins of actinolite have lost their pleochroism completely,

although still preserving the normal angle of the optical to the

crystallographic axis. The hornblende becomes exceedingly like

augite in appearance and polarization. Much that has been

called diorite-slate and diabase-schist, when carefully studied,

can be analyzed into various intrusive diorites, closely assimilated

to intervening beds of mica, and hornblendic-schist or a cherty

Keweenaw series, which laps upon the eastern shore of Michi-

picoten Bay, is thought to occupy an original synclinal, though

great erosion must have preceded the formation of the con-

glomerates which are the lowest members visible. On the island

of Michipicoten these conglomerates are well exposed, and a

careful study of their pebbles shows that they can all be referred

to some one or other of the formations now visible along the

north shore of the lake. The same granites, felsites, schists,

and diorites can be identified. Chemical analysis does not detect

copper in any part of the conglomerate studied, but everything

seems to point to its origin from the amygdaloids, which every-

_ where cap the conglomerate and have in some places greatly

metamorphosed the latter. Indeed, the writers of the paper in-

cline to believe that some or all of the peculiar ferrugineous

quartz-porphyry, forming the only acid eruptive seen upon the

island, may be the result of ‘such metamorphism of the conglo-

-Merate, Space does not permit a more extended reference to

the interesting intrusives of the Keweenaw series, which deserve

a careful and critical study. Microscopic sections of the rocks

_. described are offered for exchange. © . :

656 General Notes. [July

DESCRIPTION OF PLATES.

PLATE XXII.

Fics. 1-3. Modified chloritic schist at contact with a diorite to which it e asini

pa f

e an ia

a large corroded crystal of calcite iş shown as appearing between

crossed nicols.

FIG. 4. A section of the large dyke of coarse diabase northeast from Michipicoten

Island, at the western limit of the bay. The section shows only augite and labradorite i

in iaig ary light.

G. 5. Pseudomorphs of chlorite after mic

re 6. A estes twin of orthoclase — a Torana |

Fic. 7. Diabase-aphanite toping the c onglomerate on EET Island. A

fine pag of lag lase is sae red in a cryptocrystalline

Gc. 8. T augite passing to uralite, from dyke of Ma at Dog Riv

Fi E 9. View of the schist a l apni at Dog River. Greatly reduced pa

a raph. }

he 10. ee north and south section of the Lake Saperiot basin, partly

ter Irving.

_ PLATE XXIII,

Fic. 1. Section of quartz-porphyry from apo! ns alae Island.

Fic, 2. Altered mica-schist from a boulder in the conglomerate.

Fics. 3 and 4. Pseud

F :

system

ue F will give a synopsis of the description of this group, : such

as has been given by Cope.

` “3. I will analyze the opinions expressed by Messrs. Wortman

and Schlosser as to this grou

“4. Iwill study the principles developed by the investigation t

"of this group, in order to show that its different memod a an

P obably 5 or ?) of certain orders of mamn

“i 5. I will finally inquire aia the European fauna does

* Etudes sur P Histoire Paléontologique des Ongulés en Améri ue et a P

I. Groupe Primitive de l’Eocéne i celica. Par Marie Pavlow, jtor

PLATE XXII.

PLATE XXIII.

ane la srodek i cient AARC TET

1887] Geology and Paleontology. 657

not present us with certain forms which should be placed with

those which form the group Condylarthra.”

These objects are realized with much fidelity, and the text is

illustrated by a number of engravings, mostly from the casts

made by Kowalevsky. The only exception to be noted in, carry-

ing out of Proposition 1 is the omission of reference to the

opinion that the Condylarthra are ancestral to the lemuroids as

well as to the other Ungulata? The authoress gives a compre-

hensive review of the important paper of Dr. Schlosser (reviewed

in these pages 1886, p. 719), discussing especially the genus

Hyracotherium. :

M. Pavlow concludes her review with the following proposi-

tions :

1. The Condylarthra is a mixed group, of which the forms

present characters of Ungulata and Unguiculata, and that it

should be regarded as occupying the base of the genetic tree of

both ungulates and carnivores.

2. That Phenacodus primevus and P. puercensis are probably

the ancestors of the Equidz.

3. That Phenacodus wortmani should be excluded from this

genus, and with Protogonia, which includes Hyopsodus paulus

Leidy, should be placed among the Phenacodontide.

4. That Anisonchus, Haploconus, and Hemithlaus are rather

the ancestors of the Cs nivora; that their teeth separate them

from other Condylarth.

s. That Meniscotheriu ould belong to the group Propalz-

otheriidz, and is perhaps synonymous with Propalzotherium.

6. That Hyracotherium Ù sorinum should perhaps be regarded

and second are in accord with current views on the respective

subjects. As regards No. 2, the difference between Phenacodus

wortmani and the P. primevus is not so great as might be sup-

posed from my figure of the superior molar teeth. The anterior

intermediate tubercles of the superior molars are present, but, as

they are somewhat worn in the specimen, the artist did not rep-'

~ resent them nearly distinctly enough. Nothing but the teeth of

Hyopsodus are yet known, so that its position is uncertain. It.

may be a lemuroid-or an artiodactyle. (4) The genera mentioned

z Cope, Amer. Nat., 1884, 347; Origin of the Fittest, 1886, p. 343- I take

occasion to remark that the omission of the Marsupialia from the direct line of

ylogeny of the Condylarthra, which is justly commented on by M. Pavlow, is a

pure inadvert be inferred from the text (p. 351) The error is correc

t yuan nce, a

at the second reference.

658 General Notes.

the horse line. I wish to repeat here what I have already stated)

that this character does not exist in the American species, and is

probably wanting in the Æ. /eporinum. It exists in some of the

American species of Pliolophus, but I do not regard it as a cot

the reason why I der

(7) The existence of

* Naturalist, 1886, August, $

- - 2 Kowalevsky, Pal A toy

3 Pliolophus vin

1887] Geology and Paleontology. 659

Barrier-reefs, says our authority, always stand upon a conti-

nental border composed of rock fragments, and the want of such

Camsprian—Dr. G. Bornemann has recently described the

fossils of the Cambrian of Sardinia. Many of the forms are

closely similar to those recorded by Billings from the calciferous

rocks of the Mingan Islands and other localities bordering on

the St. Lawrence. Archgocyathus Bill. is very abundant. This

fossil has also lately been discovered in the Durness limestones

_ of Scotland.

studied was that described by Credner as Branchiosaurus ambly- |

stomus, and by Gaudry as Protriton petrolet. As no less than

seventy-six examples were studied, a good idea of the life-course

of the creature was obtained, and it was found that in its early

stages it was aquatic, breathing by gills supported by four pairs

of branchial arches. By the time Protriton reached a length of

to 70 mm. it cast its branchiz and -became an air-breather,

its development being somewhat analogous to that of the Sala-

Professor Fritsch, of Prague, has discovered a species of thero-

morphous reptile of the genus Naosaurus in the Permian beds

of Bohemia. This genus has been found hitherto only in Texas,

and was described in this journal, 1886. í E

_ Trias.—Professor Cope has presented to the American Philo- —

- sophical Society a description and figure of the cast of the brain-

*

_ face, and in many points showing apian affinities.

~ from the surrounding rock-mass their angles can be measu!

with a contact goniometer. Most of them are twinned accord

2 ; 1886, p. 33. _

660 General Notes. [j

case of Belodon buceros* Although there is no parietal fora

of the skull, the epiphysis is so enormous as to lead to the b

that the pineal eye was present. It had communication with-

orbit by a canal on each side, which Professor Cope calls t

orbitopineal canal.

Tertiary.—Lydekker recently described Scelidotherium ¢

lense, from Tarapaca, Chili. It is characterized by extreme

short nasals. He also described as new S. dravardi, from

Argentine Republic, a form which had previously been inclu

by Owen with the typical S. /eptocephalum. :

MINERALOGY AND PETROGRAPHY:'

Be aphical News.—In the August number of the Ge

ical Magazine Mr. J. J. H. Teall? describes an interesting suite

hornblende rocks which occur as intrusive sheets and bosses "i

the limestones and quartzites of the Assynt district in Scotland. l

From the description which the author gives of them, these roc% :

appear to be somewhat similar to the camptonite of Dr. Hawes i

Three types are distinguished,—viz., hornblende porphyrites,

diorites, and porphyrite diorites. In the last two classes hor!

blende is abundant in well-formed porphyritic crystals, bount

by the planes œP, «Pa, —P and oP. Some of the larger

these crystals are so perfectly developed that when separal

ing to the ordinary law, and many present fine instances of 2

1 Edited by Dr. W. S. BAYLEY, Madison, Wisconsin.

? Geol. Magazine, August, 1886, p. 346. Gesteiner

n ar New Hampshire, p. 160, ef seg.; Rcsenbusch’s Massige

1887] Mineralogy and Petrography. | 661

growths. In the hornblende porphyrites the hornblende crys-

tals are less abundant. Thisclass is characterized by the presence

of feldspar in two generations. The porphyritic crystals are

sharply outlined, and are developed in thick tables parallel to the

clinopinacoid. They often show zonal banding, due to the vari-

ations in the optical characteristics of successive layers. The

feldspar of the second consolidation occurs in grains, often form-

ing the greater part of the ground-mass in which the crystals of

hornblende and feldspar are found. In addition to these min-

erals,a very light-colored pyroxene is present in those sheets

which are intrusive between limestone-——The same author * men-

tions another instance of the development in eruptive rocks of a

schistose structure, accompanied, at the same time, by a change

in mineralogical composition.2, The normal gabbro of the Lizard

peninsula in Cornwall is intrusive in serpentine and other rocks,

and is itself penetrated by dykes of epidiorite. It is composed of

diallage, hornblende, and saussuritized plagioclase, with here and

there a little fresh olivine. The hornblende is secondary and of

three varieties,—a compact brown, a uralitic, and an actinolitic

variety. The saussuritization of the plagioclase and the altera-

tion of the original augite into hornblende appear to increase as

the pressure to which the rock-mass was subjected is seen to

have been greater. Generally, though not always, the alteration

in the composition of the rock is accompanied by.a change in its

Structure. The massive character of the normal rock is lost, and

a secondary schistose structure takes its place. These schistose

rocks the author calls flaser-gabbros, augen-gabbros, and gabbro-

schists. In the first the parallel arrangement of the constituents

is distinct, but not so marked as to give rise to that perfect fis-

sility characteristic of the third class. The augen-gabbros are

Similar in structure to the well-known augen-gneisses. These

different types of structure, as well as the alteration in the orig-

inal composition of the rock, the author regards as results of

the action of pressure, which in some cases was so great as to

give rise to faults—The hyperesthene crystals from the hy-

peresthene andesite of Pokhausz, Hungary, have been isolated

and examined by A. Schmidt.3 The rock in which they occur

consists of a dark gray isotropic ground-mass, in which the hy-

peresthene and plagioclase are scattered in porphyritic crystals.

the grass-green augite of the amphibole-andesite from near

Kremnitz has likewise been isolated and examined. e

igneous rocks of the Warwickshire coal-field, according to Pro-

ce essor Rutley,* are syenites, andesites (English), quartzites, dio- |

rites (both augitic and olivenitic), and tufas. .

* Geol. Magazine, November, 1886, p. 481.

2 Cf. American Naturalist, December, 1886, p. 1049.

3 Zeits. f. Krystall., xii. p. 97.

4 Geol, Magazine, December, 1886, p. 557-

ad on seem to show that the diopsides among the pyro

tion

crystals have heretofore been described. In the

662 General Notes.

Mineralogical News.—In 1871, Tschermak discovered that

optical characteristics of the various pyroxenes depended in great

measure upon the proportion of their iron constituent. He found

that with increase-of iron there was a corresponding increase in i

the size of the optical angle, and also in the inclination of the ©

acute bisectrix to the vertical axis of the monoclinic varietit

In later years Wiik, Herwig, and Doelter examined monoclinic |

pyroxenes with the view of deciding as to whether Tschermak’s”

observations would be found to apply generally. Their results,

however, were not conclusive. Very recently G. Flink* of Stock-

holm, declares, as the result of investigations made on diopsidi,

schefferite, and rhodonite, that the crystallographic angle varies

with variation in the percentage of iron, increasing with the in-

crease of this constituent and decreasing with its decrease, but

within very small limits (22’). The morphotropic action of man- f

ganese is to diminish the size of the angle and to carry the erys- 1

tallization of the pyroxene over to the triclinic system. „E

value of this angle for different proportions of manganese is given

as follows: if

Diopside (Mn = free). Schefferite (MnO = 8.32 %). Rhodonite (MnO = 41.88 fi

74° 11/ 73° 53’ 71° 15%”

A

B ‘

E

Z

The optical angle and the angle of extinction in the plane of

symmetry both increase with the rise in the percentage either of

iron or manganese. The geometrical, optical, and chemič

orm a continuous series analagous to the plagioclase series am

the feldspars——In the course of the above investigation Fli

i following new forms: P3, P7, P=, —2Pa, — $P and

_ Schefferite is the name given by Mikaelson to a ma

rich diopside from Långban. According to Flink its co

is:

SiO, CaO MgO MnO

52.28 19.62 15.17 8.32

_ of the pyroxenes. The axial ratio is: a:b : c = 1.1006: 1:0.

Zeitschrift f. Kryst., xi. p. 449.

1 887] Mineralogy and Petrography. 663

discussion Flink mentions the fact that he has become possessed

of a large collection of good crystals from Pajsberg and Langban.

These he examines, and finds on them nineteen forms new to the

species. The axial ratio as calculated from his measurement is:

a:b:c=1.0727:1:0.52!104. The inclinations of the axes to

each other are a = 76° 41’ 52/7, 8==71° 15’ 15”",7 =81° 30’ 16”.

The plane of the optical axes is inclined to oP and œP at 63°

and 384° respectively. It corresponds to $,P1%,3,P1®. The acute

bisectrix is perpendicular to the plane PTT and is probably

negative. 2Va= 76° 12’ for sodium light and p < v absorption

b>a>c—. The intergrowth of minerals of analogous com-

position has within the past few years been proven to be very

much more common than was formerly supposed. The micro- .

scope has revealed the fact that very many rock-forming minerals,

as, for instance, the pyroxenes and the feldspars, very frequently

occur intergrown with lamellz of analogous but slightly different

composition. The method of etched figures has shown the same

statements to hold good in regard to minerals which occur only

in massive form. By the latter means Baumhauer* has succeeded

in detecting irregular intergrowth of various substances in

cloanthite and smaltite. The occurrence of thin lamelle of

ittle Journonite3 crystals cover the cubic faces of galena

from Pribram. Their long axes are either parallel to the com-

bination edge between «Ox and O, or they are inclined to this

at an angle of 45°.

Crystallographic News.—The twinning law. of /epidolite + from

Schiittenhofen, in Bohemia, is the same as that for the more

common micas,—z.¢., the twinning plane is œP. The dispersion

of the axes is very similar to that in the hemihedral crystals of

the orthorhombic system. Intergrowths of muscovite and lepi-

dolite take place parallel to the twinning position of micas of the

Several brief communications on the crys-

*Zeits. f. Kryst., xii. p. 18. 2 Ib., p. 40.

C. Hintze, Ib., xi. kk. 4 R. Scharizer, ìb., xii. p. 1.

[b., pp. 424 and 451. ; :

f also Des Cloizeaux, Bull. d. 1. Soc. franç. de Min., 1886, p. 135.

eits. f. Kryst., xii. p. 434- : i i

4

3

mel

6

oe 4

i

, 664 : General Notes.

© crystals of different minerals from various localities. Gehmacher

ives a series of measurements on the faces of colorless zire

crystals from the Pfitschgrund, in the Tyrol. e axial ratio

of datholite from the Seisser Alps, as calculated by Riechelmann,

is a:b:c=0.63584:1:0.6329. The angle 2 = 89° 54’. The

„new forms 4P, z,P, 4P?, 4;P;, $P3, and $P2(?) have been added —

to the list of planes occurring on anatase 3 by Seligmann.——The 1

same investigator has measured pyrrhotite from the druses of ©

basalt from the Cyclopean Islands. The results indicate that €

the mineral crystallizes in the hexagonal system with the axial |

ratio: 1: 1: 1: 1.65022,——In the same article Seligmann de f

scribes a wolframite crystal from the Sierra Almagrera in Spain, —

on which are the two new forms —2P? and —3P3. The mi

gium.

crystals from Vernasca, Italy, for the prismatic and end faces

converge towards the free end of the axis to which they are par-

allel, and along which the crystals have their greatest develop-

; ment. É

”

| of the lava (with heat and pressure) on the carbonaceous S

~ In contact with and enveloped by them. A study of the oc

== tence of diamonds in other regions seems to indicate the

_ rectness of this conclusion, as Mr. Diller? points out the fact

Anson a oy xii. p. 50. -= Tb., p. 436.

ee Dy ET 4Ib., p. 352. s Ib., .

SH. C. Lewis, Geol. Magazine, January, 1887, p. 22, Ear ee

n7 Science, Oct., OE i also Geol. Survey of Kentucky; Report ©

1887] Botany. 665

diamonds of the Brazilian fields. In the lower greensands at

Flitwick and Sandy, in Bedfordshire, England, Mr. A. G. Camero*

has found ironstone nodules filled with water, which they lose by

evaporation when left exposed to the action of dry air.

BOTANY.?

The Growth of Tulostoma mammosum.—This odd puff-ball,

which is found upon a stalk varying from one to five inches in

length, occurs in abundance in the vicinity of Lincoln. I have

been much interested in watching its development,—a thing by

no means as easy as for many other puff-balls. One usually

finds it in the Spring, in ground which had been cultivated the

previous year. It often grows in clusters or groups of from half

a dozen to a dozen or more, and, upon the bare ground, in the -

early part of the season, just after the disappearance of the snow,

they are easily found. In the summer and autumn they are much

more difficult to find. Last summer I was fortunate enough to

discover a few clusters just as they were developing, and noted

some facts which appear to be new. The ball forms under

Spore-bearing part occupying most of the interior, and (2) a

sterile base composed of tissue which does not produce spores.

Now, in Lycoperdon, if one makes a vertical section of a young

ball which has nearly ripened its spores, the two parts may be

very easily distinguished. In some species the sterile base is

quite small, occurring merely as a greater or less thickening of

the boundary tissues at the base of the ball, while in others it is

well developed, notably so in Lycoperdon calatum.

In Tulostoma a portion of the tissue of this sterile base re-

mains living until after the ripening of the spores in the ball.

At this time the tissue begins a rapid growth, and, as a conse-

quence, a cylindrical stalk is quickly produced. This forces the

ball through the overlying earth, and sometimes carries it up

Several inches. This sudden formation of the stalk reminds one

of the similar growth of the stalk in the Phalloidez, to which,

indeed, as is well known to mycologists, Tulostoma is distantly

relate

The stalk of Tulostoma (of this species, at least) never de-

velops while the ball is immature. One never finds young bal

upon a stalk. In fact, I have, as yet, not succeeded in finding

any balls in which the spores were not well developed. This, of

course, is due to their subterranean habit. I doubt not, however,

that the details of their early development are essentially like

1 Geol. Magazine, August, 1886, p. 381.

2 Edited by Prof. Cones E. Raka Lincoln, Nebraska,

ra

~ ness of the work of our great authority, Tuckerman.”

; 666 | General Notes.

by a large class of efficient student collectors. It is difficult to

of what threatened in 1885 to be a very serious pest to the Green —

_ Ash

about the Ist of July, while on a visit of a few days to the city.

June 3, 1887

_ of genera and species; (4) the vast synonymy, which renders i

those of other puff-balls. Their greatest difference is that just

pointed out, whereby the sterile base develops a stalk after the —

ball has matured its spores.— Charles E. Bessey. ee

Ash-Rust again.—It will be remembered that I called atten- ©

tion, two years ago, to the great abundance of the Ash-Rust —

(dcidium fraxini Schwein) upon the Green Ash (Fraxinus viridis) —

in Lincoln. Last year I noted the fact that this rust was very —

rare in the same locality. This year the rust is, if anything, —

still more rare than last year. I have seen scarcely any leaves —

affected by it, and have had but few specimens brought to me —

suggest an adequate explanation of the sudden disappearance - ;

ish. The trees were badly affected in 1884 also, as I noticed

I have no data earlier than that year. The record thus far isas —

follows: 1884 and 1885, ash-rust abundant; 1886 and 1887, ash-

rust rare.— Charles E. Bessey.

Vitality of Buried Seeds.—On May 25, 1886, I buried the —

following seeds five feet deep in light, sandy soil, at Grand

Rapids, Mich.: white oats, common white beans, Stowell’s”

evergreen sweet-corn, Hathaway dent-corn, and buckwheat.

All were grown in 1885, and had percentages of germinati

in good, sandy garden-soil varying from 87 to 94. One hu

dred seeds of each were mixed with sand and placed in separa

open, tin cans, with the openings downward. On May 22

this year (1887) I had them examined. All were dead. A little

of the sweet-corn had sprouted; most of the dent-corn had

grown about three inches in length, having roots that fi

the can. The other seeds had decayed without germinating.

A. A, sine Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.

—

—

often difficult to decide as to the proper name of a plant; (5) thé

extent and variety of our own lichen-flora, and the inco

4

1887] ; Botany. 667

The foregoing quotation is from an interesting little work,

entitled “ An Introduction to the Study of Lichens,” by Henry

Willey, of New Bedford, Mass., which is intended to help the

beginner over some of the above-mentioned difficulties, as well

as to lay a broad foundation for good work. Five pages of the

book are devoted to the collecting and preservation of lichens,

Ten pages are given to the structure and organs of lichens; two

and a half to the distribution of North American lichens; four

to the history of lichens; two to bibliography ; and twenty-eight

to their systematic arrangement. The ten plates which are

added will be very helpful to the student. ;

A slip of the pen, which can easily be corrected, occurs on

page 11, where a lichen is said to be “a cryptogamic plant of

the order [sic] Thallophytes.” Class, or Branch, was evidently

intended. In the fifth chapter it would have been well, perhaps,

to have referred to a distribution of sets of New England lichens

begun eight or ten years ago by Dr. Halsted, but soon aban-

oned,. Reference should also have been made to the excellent

introduction to the study of the structure and development of

lichens in Sach’s “ Text-Book of Botany,” Goebel’s “ Classifica-

tion of Plants,” and the article “ Lichens,” by the Rev. James M.

Crombie, in the fourteenth volume of the ninth edition of the

“Encyclopedia Britannica.”

Cannot the botanists of the country prevail upon Mr. Willey

to undertake the task of preparing sets of North American

lichens? There can be little doubt as to the success of such

an undertaking —Charles E. Bessey.

_ Botanical News.—The “ List of Works on North American

Fungi,” published in the Harvard University Bullctin, No. 37, by.

Professors Farlow and Trelease, is a most valuable aid to the

student of the fungi. The list extends from A to H, and already

includes three hundred and thirty-eight entries. The remainder

i A book which will prove useful in the

rog: ; a

about six hundred and fifty pages. The subscription-price is

_ twenty francs.

A new journal, the Annals of Botany, is an-

r tG

by Dr. C. ©

Professor E. L.

->

and retains this homaxon form in the majority of spea —

or Acia with four orders

668 ` General Notes. [July

Greene, entitled “ Spot in the Botany of California and Parts

djacent.” Halsted’s Bulletin of the Iowa Agricultural

College, from the Botanical Department, contains many things of -

interest, from methods of work and study in the class-room and |

laboratory to scientific descriptions of species. Dr. Vasey has |

recently issued a pamphlet of sixty-three pages on the “ Grasses

of the South.” It forms Bulletin No. 3 of the Botanical Division

of the Department of Agriculture at Washington. Aside from

its high value to the agriculturists of the South, it possesses &

good ‘deal of botanical interest. The weeds of Southwestern

Wisconsin have been listed and discussed by L. H. Pammel ina ©

twenty-page pamphlet, which has just appeared.

ZOOLOGY.

Radiolaria.—By far the most important contribution to ouf i

knowledge of the Protozoa within recent years is the report on

the Radiolaria of the “ Challenger” expedition, just published by

Professor Ernst Haeckel, of Jena. A summary of these nearly two Ș

thousand pages and one hundred and forty quarto plates is impos

sible. We can but indicate something of their scope. Professor 1

Haeckel now restricts the limits of the Radiolaria more than for ©

merly. As he now defines them they are “ Rhizopoda with cen-

tral capsule and calymma,” for, as he says, their most impo

character is the fact that the unicellular body is always in two

main portions, an inner central nucleated capsular and an extra-

capsular non-nucleated portion, the calymma, the two being sep?

rated by a capsule-membrane. The majority have a skeleton,

usually of silica, but frequently of organic substance (acant

and this may take the most beautiful shapes imagina :

present report embraces not only the Radiolaria alee by the

= Challenger” collections, but is a complete monograph, of all

ee a iaiia i iida ainiai iaaa

ten years. The classification now adopted varies consider a ;

Paes |

Sub-Class I—Porulosa. Central capsule pricittivdly: a sphere,

1, Peripylea, or reas Teas with six orders, and, 2; Asipa ql

Sub-Class Il —Osculosa. Central capsule originally monaxot

a or spheroidal), retaining this condition in mos species

rane of central capsule with a single large osculum a

the bees ofi its vertical main axis. Pseudopodia radiani frot

the sarcode streaming from the osculum. - This also

1887] Zoology. 669

two legions,—1, Monopylea, or Nassellaria, with six orders, and,

2, Cannopylea, or Phzodaria, with four orders.

The immense amount contained in this work can be readily

seen from the fact that these twenty orders are in turn subdivided

into eighty-five families, seven hundred and thirty-nine genera,

and four thousand three hundred and eighteen species; but

large as these numbers are, Professor Haeckel doubts if they

include half of the recent species. The ancestral group from

which all the others are probably derived is the spherical Actissa,

the most ancient stem form of the Spumellaria. The literature

of the Radiolaria is not very extensive, only sixty titles being

catalogued from 1834 until the present date. In the bibliography

isa “ Phaulographic Appendix,” a division which embraces “ abso-

lutely worthless literature,” a feature which might well be adopted

in other bibliographies. The beautiful plates which illustrate the

volume show what a field there is in these minute forms for the

artist,

Ctenodrilus parvulus.—Under this name Dr. Robert Scharf

describes* a new species of Oligochete worm, probably from

some part of the British coast, though the exact locality is un-

known. The species differs from the two species (Ct. pardalis

and Cz. monostylos) in its smaller size, having but from seven to

ten segments, and a total length of about 4 mm. It has but one

kind of seta, which are not pectinated, and it differs from mono-

stylos further in lacking the peculiar tentacle found in that form.

harf concludes that the number of sete in a bunch is not a

good diagnostic character. There is but a single pair of ne-

Phridia, which lie in the head. As in the other species the

nervous system lies entirely in the ectoderm, and in some regions

it is difficult to say where epidermal cells end and nerve-cells

egin. No traces of reproductive organs were found, the only

mode of reproduction being that by fission, which took place much

as described by Kennel in Ct. pardalis. A bud is formed between

two segments, and, in contradistinction to the Naidæ, these buds

-are formed in the same order that the new segments are formed,

—+¢., from in front backward. The first three segments never

Show any signs of budding, nor do the last two or three. The

buds appear on the anterior dorsal margin of each segment, the

Segmentation of the body becomes deeper, and soon the body

divides, the resulting portions developing the parts necessary to

‘make them perfect worms. The process occupies about forty-

eight hours.

_ Balanoglossus Larvee.—Mr. W. F. R. Weldon gives a pre-

liminary account of two Balanoglossus larvae (Proc. Roy. SaCy-s

No. 253) which he obtained in the Bahamas, and which differ

es cody 1 Quarterly Jour. Micros. Sci., xxvii., March, 1887.

_ VOL, XXL—No. 7. 45

670 _ General Notes. [July :

considerably in their later development from those described by

Bateson (vide Am. Nat.). The earliest stage had but a single

transverse groove, but the later stages seem readily homologous —

with Bateson’s form up to the time of the appearance of a pair —

of rudimentary gills. From this point the majority of the speci-

mens undergo a gradual process of degeneration, accompanied

by considerable increase in size. The proboscis itself becomes —

grooved on either side, each groove being provided with short,

broad tentacles, while the circular post-proboscidean groove —

nearly disappears. Internal changes also occur, involving the

disappearance of both notched and gill cavities, and an extensive —

degeneration occurs in the nervous system. The conclusions

drawn are, “that there is fair ground for the belief that the or- _

ganisms described are Balanoglossus larvæ, which for some cause

` or other have been unable to develop adult characters, and have —

therefore varied,” a probable cause being the drifting of the |

` larvæ into deep water by the action of currents and winds. If

this be true, it follows: 1, that in some cases at least heredity

can work only on the application of stimuli’ afforded by particu- —

lar surroundings ; 2, that some larvz without stimuli are highly

variable; 3, that variations produced by a given change may be

uniform and definite in character; and, 4, these changes may —

produce not the modification of ancestral characters, but &

hypertrophy of those which are purely larval.

__ The Glands in the Foot of Nudibranch Molluscs.—Dr. Jus

H. List gives the result of his studies of the foot of Tethys fim- —

briata (Zeit, wiss. Zool.,xlv.). After a few remarks upon the his- —

tological structure of connective tissue, muscles, and epidermis, —

he gives a detailed account of the glands. He recognizes in the ©

upper surface, I, unicellular mucous glands; 2, unicellular glands 3

with fat-like contents (phosphorescent in function ?); 3, Uni

cellular glands with peculiar, frequently laminated contents; —

and, 4, unicellular glands with coarsely granular contents. On

the under surface occur, besides beaker-cells and Nos. 1, 2,and 4

of the upper surface, polynuclear glands, resembling those de-,

scribed by Leydig as pigment and calcareous glands in the feet

of terrestrial gasteropods, As in those cases, these latter glands —

‘Fresh-Water Crustacea.—Mention should have been made

before of Professor L. M. Underwood’s “List of the Descri

Species of Fresh-Water Crustacea from America, north of Mex-

ico,” which appears in the second volume of the Bulletin of te

Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History. It is more than 18

“name implies, for it includes the Oniscidz, which are terrestrial,

‘as well. The total number of species enumerated is nominally

1887] Zoilo, 671

three hundred and thirteen, but doubtless many of these will be

found to be synonymes, while there are some omissions to be ex-

pected in the pages. A tolerably complete bibliography com-

pletes the article. At a casual glance, however, the following

titles are noted as not occurring in the list, and are mentioned

here so as to make it more complete. All have references to

terrestrial or fresh-water forms in the region embraced in the

er:

Abbott, C. C., “ Notes on the Habits of Certain Crawfish,” Am.

Nar., vii., 1873

Cooper, J. (ce “ Tepe on the Crustacea,” “ Pacific R. R. Sur-

vey,’ Oi xii. , pt. ii., 1860.

_ Faxon, W, “On the so-called Dimorphism in the Genus

D” Am. Four. Sci., January, 1 1878.

Haldeman, S. S., “ Crustacea in Baird’s Translation of Hoeck’s

Iconographic Encyclopædia.”

Harford, W. 'G. W., “ Description of a New Genus and Three

re Speciés of Sessile-Eyed Crustacea,” Proc. Cal. Acad., vii.,

1876.

Hay, O. P., “ Description of a New Species of Crangonyx."

Printed for the author, June 2, 1878.

‘Harlan, Richard, ‘ ‘ Description Pr gs Species of the Genus

Astacus, ” Am. Phil. Trans., 0. S.

Herrick, C. L., “ Habits of F bdr Crustacea,” Am. NAT;

October, 1882.

Herrick, C. L., “ Types of Animal Life, Pt. I., Arthropoda.”

Minneapolis, 1883. i

Ingersoll, Ernst, in “ per Report U. S. Geol. Geog. Survey

of navon for 1874,” p 87, 388.

Vy Oa Sips of North os Species of

Alpheus,” 4 "Rudlletin U. S. Geol. Survey, vo

„Kingsley, J. S., “ Carcinological Notes, V, a ” Bulletin Essex Inst.,

Lockin ngton, W.N,“ Thalassinidæa and knä of the Pacific .

Coast,” Annals and Mag. Nat. Hist., October, a

Lamarck, Pi Fist Nat. Animaux sans Vertébre

pper ‘A. cm “ Structure of the Brain of Seile Eyed Crus-

tea, Memoirs Nat. Acad. Sci.,” iii.

Ba h R., “Shrimp and Prawn Fisheries of the U. S.,

Bulletin Fish Commission, 1882.

__ Rathbun, R., “ Collection of Economic Crustaceans, ¢tc., at

Fisheries Exhibition, Washington, 1883.” l

Ryder, J. A., “ Successive Kepiaranee of Chirocephalus and

ocephalus, ” Am. NAT, p. 703, aces 3

Stuxberg, ay. Line ge Onis » Ofversigt. Vet. Akad.

‘Forh. , Stockholm, 1872, No. 9.

Dr. Q. E. Imhof, after a careful collection of the piicyostontt

fauna of the e Alpine lakes of Europe, states. that the e u

s ; a.

672 General Notes. [July

jority of the fresh-water basins up to two thousand metres har-

bor a pelagic fauna very rich in individuals. Some of the lakes

at higher elevations are also well supplied. From seven to six-

teen species appear usually in each lake up to seventeen hundred

and ninety-six metres, The most widely and generally distrib-

uted genera are Daphnia, Cyclops, and Diaptomus.

_ Tropidonotus clarkii B. G., in Southern Louisiana.—Early

in June, 1886, the writer had occasion to collect on the salt

marshes at Grand Isle, Louisiana. This island is on the Gulf

coast at the entrance of Barataria Bay, about forty miles west of

the mouth of the Mississippi. Here Clark’s water-snake (Tropi

donotus clarkii) was not uncommon, as several were seen daily,

and one or two were secured for identification.—A. K. Fisher,

M.D., Washington, D. C., June 7, 1887.

Spelerpes bilineatus, Spelerpes ruber, Plethadon erythronotus, and

hus fusca—A. K. Fisher, M.D., Washington, D. bn

pecially interesting when taken in connection with the presence

of such birds as the Large-billed Water-thrush (Seiurus motacilla)

F t

ern species in this locality is €%

shells ,

s the least, though the flesh had evidently

1887] Zoology. 673

m

AK. Fisher, M.D., Washington, D. C., June 7, 1887.

Zoological News.—CŒLENTERATES.—Fewkes has described a

new medusa from New Haven, under the name Nectopilema

verrillit. This jelly-fish belongs to the Pilemidæ, and its nearest

relatives are Pilema and Rhopilema, with affinities pointing ,

towards Polyrhiza. It is about eighteen inches in diameter,

rich, deep brown in the oval cylinder and frills, the umbrella

translucent bluish-white.

© Crustacea.—H. L. Osborn begins in the May number of the

Amer, Mo, Micros. Four. a series of articles on the histology of

the crayfish, the first dealing with the green gland.

t a recent meeting of the Linnzan Society of London, Mr.

A. O. Walker gave an account of a large collection of Crusta-

cea obtained at Singapore during the years 1879-1883. Sev-

eral new species of Decapods are described.

Professor H. L. Osborn’s article on the Osphradium of Crepi-

dula, to which reference was recently made, has been reprinted

inthe Amer, Mo. Micros. Four., viii., pp. 60-64, with illustrations

which render the description more readily followed.

Worms.— Messrs. Gibson and Chalmers, of Liverpool, have

come to the conclusion that the so-called hepatic cells of Lum-

bricus are digestive glands rather than “ vasifactive tissue,” as

has been suggested.

Fisnes—From the Andes of the United States of Colombia

G. A. Boulenger describes three new Siluroid fishes.

- C. H. Eigenmann and Jennie E. Honing, in their review of

the Chætodontidæ of North America, published in the Annals

and Magazine of the New York Academy of Sciences, admit three

genera—Prognathodes, Chzetodon, Pomacanthus—and fourteen

.

species of the family.

Pa

È. rius, to the Neilgherries, ll d other range?

OF Southern tates gherries, Anamallays, and o -

_ The

considerabl

A Wea Be versity of Peat

pylvenit, Philadelphia, Tc nOWeel Department, University E E

:

674 Gencral Notes, ‘Duly t

Nat. Hist, a new Rana, three Bufos, and Phrynclla pulchra, all

from Malacca.

`. Mammats.—According to Dr. J. B. Sutton, animals are not |

free from certain diseases thought to be referable in man to his

erect position, One-fourth of the female monkeys dying in the

dorsal fin, more slender head, and more rounded snout. The

color is dark gray-blue, except that the belly is more or less

white as far as the genitalia. Both sexes seem to attain about

_ the same size; if there is any difference it is in favor of the

female. The flippers are slender and pointed, and relatively

shorter than in any other species. A new species of Echino-

paigieg (E. ruber) usually infests the intestines in great num-

rs, the copepod (Balenopterus unisetus) occasionally infests —

the baleen-plates, and a true ecto-parasite (undescribed) is also

occasional. The stomachs of the specimens examined were

filled with the remains of the copepod Colarius finmarchicus.

_ The species of Capra, according to Mr. P. L. Sclater, are com

fined to the following localities: C. pyrenaica, to the Pyrenees,

Central Spain, and the higher ranges of Andalusia and Portugal;

EMBRYOLOGY.: AA

Development of Spiders.—The Arachnids are receiving

¢ attention recently at the hands of embryologist®

Edited by Prof. Joun

1887] | Embryology. 673

The latest paper to be recorded is that of Schimkewitsch,' on

the development of several species of spiders, the main features

of which were outlined ina preliminary paper in the Zoologischer

Anzeiger for 1884. After describing the envelopes of the egg

and the composition of the yelk (of which he recognizes three

kinds), he proceeds to the segmentation. In this he is inclined

to follow Ludwig rather than other observers in the recognition

of a central segmentation and a migration of some of the cells

to the surface to form the blastoderm, while others remain be-

hind in the yelk, where, in the shape of polynuclear yelk-masses,

they represent and finally result in the endoderm. After the

formation of the blastoderm, three processes occur nearly simul-

taneously,—the breaking down of the yelk-pyramids, the con-

centration of the primary ectoderm, and the formation of the

mesoderm, these being individual variations in the species

studied. The concentration of the primary ectoderm consists

in a flattening and consequent expansion: of the cells on one —

side of the yelk, while on the other they become thicker and

more cylindrical, thus giving rise to the germinal area. Although

Schimkewitsch appears to be unaware of this fact, this process is

paralleled in many Arthropods, and was commented upon at

some length by Mayer (¥enaische Zeitschrift, xi., 1877). Ac-

cording to Schimkewitsch, the mesoderm arises, in some species,

from the blastoderm, in others by budding from the entoderm.

His figures, however, all seem reconcilable. with the view that

they all arise from the blastoderm. The primitive cumulus is,

according to Schimkewitsch, the anal lobe, while the “ white

spot” of the “ comet-stage” forms the cephalic lobes,—conclu-

sions somewhat at variance with those of Morin? and Locy, the

latter reversing the ends of the embryo.

The account of the external development adds but little to

our previous knowledge, the principal points being that the

mandibular segment is budded from the cephalic one, that Crone-

berg’s antennz are the rudiments of the upper lip, and that no

appendages are developed at any stage upon the first abdominal

segment, ‘

~ In the internal development there are more points to be

noticed. The splitting of the mesoderm begins in the fifth seg-

ment of the body. At first the resulting coelomatic cavities are

distinct, but soon they run together in the thoracic segments.

At about this stage begins the formation of a secondary ento-

derm, composed of cells budded from the polynuclear yelk-

Masses, and taking a peripheral position in the yelk. These,

thinks Schimkewitsch, may possibly be the yelk-mesoderm of

Balfour; but our author does not make it clear how they then

_ Pass through the splanchnopleure and take a position in the body

* Archives de Biologie, vi. pp. 515-584, pls. xviii.—xxiii., 1887.

° Of Am. Nat:, xxi. p. 294, 1887. i Ba + eee

‘ 676 à General Notes. [July

cavity ; nor do his statements seem conclusive that they give rise

to the blood-corpuscles and the fat-bodies. The fact that the

cells which he finds in the pericardium may originate from the

entoderm and may form blood-corpuscles is.not so doubtful

From the somatopleure he derives (1) all the muscles of the body _

except those of the mid-gut si elle existe ; (2) the aponeurotic

layer of the cephalothorax; (3) the membranes of the fore and

hind guts, of the tracheæ and glands, and of a portion of the

genital ducts,—that is, of all organs derived from an ectoderm

invagination ; and (4):the sarcolemma and neurilemma. | From

the splanchnopleure are developed (1) the envelopes of the mid-

gut, (2) the genital organs, (3) the pericardium and the pulmo

nary veins, while the dorsal mesentery gives rise to (1) the heart,

(2) the lateral arteries, and (3) the suspensors of the heart.

s will be seen, Schimkewitsch accepts the idea of Bütschli,

that the cavity of the heart corresponds to the segmentation

cavity, and that its walls are derived from the two moities of

the mesentery,—facts which explain the communication of this

organ with the yelk. The splanchnic mesoderm encroaches |

upon the yelk, dividing it into lobes, which persist in the lobes

_ of the liver. The epithelium of the mid-gut begins to form first

behind, that of the liver being at first formed of two kinds of

cells, —one representing the true hepatic, the other ferment, cells.

At the time of hatching no genital openings are developed, but

the genital glands bend downwards at their anterior extremities,

and this decurved portion represents the mesodermic portion of

the genital duct. s

Of the ectodermal structures we need only to say that the

with the branchiz of Limulus, our author seems as much at sea

He

at first distinct from each other, and from those of the ventral

m ros o

mandibular, and maxillary, one pair each, while the pedal ganglia

18387] — _ Microscopy. 677

in the adult. The cephalic ganglia give rise to the optic nerves ;

the rostral ganglia, which occupy a place on the supero-lateral

face of the supra-cesophageal ganglia, are compared with the

labial ganglia described by Tichomiroff in Bombyx, while the

mandibular ganglia, which also enter into the composition of

the brain, give rise to the sympathetic nerve.

The speculations which conclude the article, as to the homol-

ogies of the nervous system in various Metazoa, are not equal to

the rest of the paper.—/. S. K.

MICROSCOPY.:

Method of Staining and Fixing the Elements of Blood.?—

Recent discoveries af morphological elements in the blood hitherto

unknown, as well as the newly published facts concerning its Co-

agulation, have aroused an interest in the subject which calls for

an acquaintance with the methods with which it is possible to

follow those results. Accordingly, I would like to describe the

method employed in this laboratory; for, although it has been

mentioned by Professor Gaule in his lectures for several years,

it has not as yet been published. oe

The methods formerly used were that of examining fresh

blood and that, perfected by Ehrlich, which consisted in stain-

ing dried blood. fe

= Our method consists in a series of manipulations requiring

only thirty-five minutes for their completion.

The following is a list of the reagents, together with the

length of time and the order in which each is to be used:

Min.

I. Corrosive sublimate (concentrated solution) . 6

2. Distilled water . j ; : : . r

3. Absolute alcohol . ; i . . 5

4. Distilled water . j 2 . rites ; :

5. Hematoxylin (14 per cent. alum solution to

which, for every 100 c.cm. employed, 20 drops

5 per cent. alcoholic solution have been added) 6

6. Distilled water . ‘ . . . Hoge

7. Nigrosin (14 per cent. water solution) . I

I Dadada o ad a ao a Oe

9. Eosin (1 gr. eosin dissolved in 60 c.cm. alcohol ;

140 c.cm. distilled water) . . . . . 2

10. Alcohol; pe ues 5

It. Oil of cloves $ : : : . : me

12. Xylol.

13. Canada balsam (diluted with xylol until it readily

flows). To

As receptacles for these fluids, each person has upon his table

Edited by C. O. WHITMAN, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

? From the Physiological Laboratory at Zurich.

678 General Notes. [July

three shallow glass dishes with flat bottoms, so large that a slide

may be easily put in and taken out of them. Into the first of

these we pour corrosive sublimate, into the second distilled water,

and into the third absolute alcohol. It is necessary either to

label the dishes or to place the two not at the moment in use at

one side. For the coloring fluids we use bottles whose stoppers

serve at the same time as droppers or pipettes. The most con-

a lip whose opening is closed by a rubber membrane. A slight

pressure upon the membrane causes, upon the removal of the

finger, a rise of fluid in the funnel, which, upon the removal of

the stopper from the bottle, can be at pleasure dropped upon the

slide. For oil of cloves, xylol, and Canada balsam wide-mouthed |

bottles are used. In the first two bottles are brushes; in the

dtring the moment that it remains in the water, we next p

| dry the slide by resting it upon filter-paper before dropp”

into the alcohol bath. The slide, which has remained in al

1887] ~ Microscopy. 679

six minutes, is brought again into distilled water for half a minute,

since our coloring fluids are water solutions. The hematoxylin

is then dropped upon the slide, and removed again at the end of

six minutes by resting’ the edge of the slide upon filter-paper,

and afterwards washing with distilled water for one minute. The

same process follows with the nigrosin and eosin, the first re-

maining upon the slide for one minute, the second two minutes.

From the eosin we bring the preparation directly into alcohol,

since the eosin is partially an alcohol solution. At the end of

five minutes the slide is taken out of the alcohol, and, in order

to be quite sure that there is no water still clinging to the

preparation, we incline the slide at a slight angle to the rag

with which we are holding it, and pour a few drops of alcohol

from the small bottle over it. If upon dropping oil of clovés—

on the preparation it should be dark upon a dark sleeve or

other dark background, we may remove the oil of cloves with

, a few drops of xylol. Having quickly cleaned the slide close

up to the preparation, we place a drop of Canada balsam upon

it, which must be allowed to spread out before the cover-slip is

lowered upon it.

are also generally homogeneous, though occasionally granulated

like the nuclei of other cells.

-Second kind

Sparely surrounded with protoplasma, colored blue with nigrosin.

: The form of the cell, according to the position in which we see

M iS spindle-shaped, with an oval nucleus in which the granules

PI

=

_ between “amcebocytes” and “ hematoblasts,” but what the

680 : General Notes.

are distinct, and seem to be arranged in lines parallel to

long axis of the nucleus, or it is quite round with a ro

nucleus. The name “ hamatoblasts” was given them by Ha

3. Another variety has, like the “eosinophilous cells,”

nuclei. Its protoplasma is, however, blue like that of

»

account of their form “endotheloid cells.” With further sl

of the preparation other forms are found, which may be looktt_

upon as intermediate between “ haematoblasts” and “ amcebocytes, £

for in some cases the corpuscles have nuclei like “ haematoblasts i

whereas the protoplasm has increased in amount and sent ol

projections like the pseudopodia of an amceba; in others

nucleus is round instead of oval; in others still the nucleus s€

to be in the act of falling into two parts.

These latter forms suggest the idea that a relation may ei

tion may be, whether the change is from “amcebocyte” to “h

I The moist ch.

Big « k h > +. : str ucted b co . at bottom of a flat-

dish with wet fil : 4 s ; y covering tne as

edges should sey nab —* ground-edged cover upon the

1887] Microscopy. 681

contain a small nucleus, a clump of yellow pigment, or a bod

closely resembling a small red blood-corpuscle. To control this

experiment we may make use of another one,—that is, we may

cover a fresh drop of blood with a cover-slip and seal it from

the air Thus the blood coagulates slowly, and we may study

directly the changes the forms undergo during coagulation.

The granules of the “ eosinophilous cells” may be seen to become

larger, less distinct, and disappear. The “eosinophilous cell” has

eveloped into the “‘amcebocyte.” The “hzmatoblasts’” assume

the forms mentioned above, the nucleus and cell as a whole be-

come round, and at length send out pseudopodia in every di-

rection, so that it is impossible to distinguish them from “ amce-

bocytes.” The “amcebocytes,” in their turn, at first stretch out

their pseudopodia in a lively manner, then gradually attach

themselves to the cover-slip, where they spread themselves over

a large surface, and resemble the “endotheloid cells” with their

broad borders of hyaline substance and the granulated proto-

plasma about the nucleus. If we now bring together the facts

we have observed,—1, in instantly fixed blood; 2, in blood fixed

after intervals; 3, in fresh blood,—we find that the: first three

kinds of white blood-corpuscles may at length become “ endo-

theloid cells,”

velopment of the red blood-corpuscles. In the course of his

vations of a series of frogs he noticed that the “ ammenzel-

"The edges of the cover-slip must be thoro hly free from moisture, a bit of

‘ a wax dropped upon Eri Sorat: and the wax then diwi along the edges of

ver-slip with a heated iro wire.

X»

ALTIN

OB? e : General Notes.

len” which lie in groups similar to the follicles of the ani

spleen, between the arteries entering and the veins leavin

spleen on the periphery, undergo significant changes, norma

in the course of the winter, under the influence of pilocarpin

a few hours, The result in both cases was the same. The“

menzellen,” at first rich in pigment, lose their pigment as the

ber of undeveloped corpuscles increases. At the same time

number of corpuscles in the circulating blood was counted,

result showing that as the pigment of the “ammenzel

remains to be considered. The blood-vessels of the em

have their origin, as the embryologists have taught us, in

mesoderm in chains of endothelial cells which contain C

1887] Psychology. ? 683

as such, are wanting in human blood, but since we have had our

attention directed by Hayem to the fact that the “ hamatoblasts”

play an important part in the coagulation of the frog’s blood, it

is possible to think that some element is present in mammalian

blood which also acts as a factor in coagulation, The coagula-

tion of the frog's blood begins with the grouping of the “ hama-

toblasts” into-a rosette form. ` The red corpuscles then arrange

themselves radially about this point as a centre. o we find an

analogous process at the commencement of the coagulation of

mammalian blood? The blood of mammals coagulates very rap-

idly, whereas that of the frog changes very slowly; hence, if we

would study the blood of mammals before coagulation, we must

prevent this process by means of some reagent. Such an ex-

periment cannot be tried with a human being, but is easily made

with a dog. The reagent usually employed is peptone, which

is injected in solution into the jugular vein of the dog, the

amount injected being 0.3 grain peptone for every kilogramme

weight of the dog. The microscopical examination of blood

in which coagulation has thus been prevented shows that there

exist in the blood, aside from the other elements, tiny tablet-

like granules which tend to cling together in clumps. These

_ Not only the possibility to distinguish the different elements of

the blood, but through it, it has been possible to discover ele-

ments which, like the “hamatoblasts,” accompany the phe- -

nomenon of coagulation, and also to’ determine in part the rela-

tion that exists between the elements. It would flot agree with

‘the general plan of nature if every form did not play a different

‘Tole in the organism, and after all that has been discovered it is

not improbable that we shall one day be able, through watching

: the changes which the different elements undergo in the blood,

to discover the disturbances caused by different ferments and

Organisms in the blood. Thus we think that the hope of clever

_ Physicians may one day be verified, that the analysis of a drop

Of blood may give a clue to the pathological changes in the

‘Dody.— Alice Leonard Gaule.

shi. ‘PSYCHOLOGY. |

os Intelligence of Echinoderms.—The experiments of Professor

Be -Preyer upon starfish and ophiurids tend to prove that they are

Mel

684 coe Scientific News.

not entirely devoid of intelligence. In one series of experiments

a piece of tubing was placed over one of the rays of ee i

star, so as to enclose it from its base nearly to its apex. OF

ferent individuals adopted different modes of ridding then i F

of the tube, and one failing, would try another. pe A

they rubbed the tube off by friction on the ground; if e

useless, they. would hold down the tube with the onma

while drawing the imprisoned ray through it, or they i

push the tube off with the serrated edges of the two —

rays, or, as a last resource, would cast off the imprisone $

SCIENTIFIC NEWS.

—The meeting of the German Naturalists’ Association "a q

held this year at Wiesbaden, from the 18th ta the 24th wre

tember. Herr Dreyfuss, 44 Frankfurter-strasse, Wiesba :

the secretary of the local committee. ee

—The San Diego Natural H istory Society have had mi ik 4

of a valuable lot of land, and propose soon to erect a buil =

—Dr. R. W. Shufeldt criticises—and deservedly <7 “a 4

erinary service of the United States army. He would e J

by placing it on much the same basis as the regular me ;

corps.

a

—John Sang, a British entomologist of note, died March 4

1887, of valvular disease of the heart, at the age of fifty-nim®

e€ was especially interested in the moths, and was a 200

artist of no mean wers.

— Dr. J. S. Poljakow, the Siberian explorer and conservato!

the Zoological Museum of the University of St. Petersburg,

in that city April 1 7, 1887.

—The latesMiss Lucretia Crocker, of the school: board 0

ton, was influential i

from the year of its fo ye

-the teaching of the biological sciences in the public sch

ca season by two teachers of the Boston

schools. Twenty-five hundred dollars are necessary

rpose, E Bh

—Princeton College is to have a new biological laboratory

the early future. Pt:

—The new building for the Zoological Museum at i

completed, excepting the internal finishing. This, it is €

will take until April 1, 1888, and then the collections

1887] Scientific News: 685

transposed from their present location in the university building

to their future home. On the rst of May of this year Karl

Mobius, formerly ordinary professor of zoology in Kiel, entered

upon the duties of director of the Berlin Museum, being thus

associated with Professor Dr. Edouard von Martens.

—Johns Hopkins University is to publish, as a memorial

volume, the researches of the late Dr. Adam T. Bruce on the

Embryology of Insects.

teria and septicaemia should have been known for hundreds of

ears

— Science has canonized one of the living African explorers,

On a map of the African continent given in the issue of May 27

appears “ St. Stanley's Falls.”

—Professor Prestwich, who for thirteen years has held the

chair of geology at Oxford, England, has resigned.

_ —Dr. Eugene Korschelt, formerly privatdocent and assistant

in the Zoological Museum at Freiburg, Bavaria, has taken a

similar place at Berlin, while his former position is now occupied

by Dr. E. Ziegler.

— The professorship of zoology in the Zoological Institute at

Kiel will not be filled until Easter, 1888. Dr. Karl Brandt,

et aera in Königsberg, has been appointed the interim

rector,

__—Bronn’s valuable “ Klassen und Ordnungen des Thierreichs”

drags its slow length along. The last parts published are Nos.

56 of the Reptiles, by C. K. Hoffmann; 16 and 17 of the Birds,

by Hans Gadow; and 29 of the Mammals, by W. Leche.

_—Dr. J. S. Kingsley, the junior editor of this magazine,. has

accepted the professorship of biology in Indiana University.

_ After September 1 his address will be Bloomington, Indiana,

VOL, XXI,—No, 7, 46

#

Ss

686 _ Scientific News. [July a

—Professor J. C. Branner, of Indiana University, has been ap- _

pointed director of the geological survey of Arkansas, with head- —

quarters at Little Rock. The university has granted him a two

years’ leave of absence.

—The trustees of the Elizabeth Thompson fund have awarded

the following sums for the advancement of science: The Natural

History Society of Montreal, two hundred dollars, for the investi-

gation of underground temperatures under the direction of a`

committee of the society; Drs. T. Elsler and H. Geitel, of the

Gymnasium of Wolfenbüttel, Germany, two hundred and ten

dollars, for researches on the electrization of gases by glowing

bodies; Professor E. D. Cope, of Philadelphia, five hundred dol-

_ lars, for the employment of a preparateur in connection with his

researches on fossil vertebrates; E. E. Prince, of St. Andrews,

Scotland, one hundred and twenty-five dollars, for studies on the 4

morphology and development of the limbs of teleosts.

St. Andrew’s, Scotland, December, 1886; Dr. John M. Wheaton,

professor of anatomy and ornithologist, in Columbus, Ohio, Janu-

ary 28, 1887; Robert Gray, ornithologist and vice-president of the _

Royal Society of Edinburgh, in that city, February 18, 1887; Dr

® Nathaniel Lieberkuhn, professor of anatomy and student of it

vertebrates, at Marburg, April 14, 1887, in his sixty-fifth year.

—DeatH oF Proressor WILLIAM AsHBURNER.—Professof

Ashburner, mining engineer and geologist, died in San Frat

‘cisco, April 20, at the age of fifty-six. He studied for his pro:

fession at the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard University, _

and afterwards at the Ecole des Mines, Paris, Returning to this 3

country in 1854, he visited the mineral region of Lake Superior

with the late Professor Rivot, for the purpose of investigating —

the geology and mineral veins of said country, and subsequent!

explored a part of the island of Newfoundland, and in 1860 went

to California as one of the staff of the geological survey of which

Professor J. D. Whitney was director. In pursuance of his pro

fession he travelled extensively through the mining districts ©

the United States, British Columbia, Mexico, and portions °

Asia. He was one of the State commissioners of the Yoset

Valley and the Mariposa Big-Tree Grove from 1864 till 18°

and professor of mining in the University of California, having

been appointed in 1874. In 1880 he was made a regent of the

university, and was named by the late James Lick as one of the

trustees of the California School of Mechanical Arts (one of.

Lick’s bequests), and was also selected by Mr. Stanford as í

1887] Proceedings of Scientific Societies. 687

bearing and qualities greatly endeared him to many. The death

of such a man is a public misfortune.—A. E. C. S., Washington,

D. C., May 10, 1887.

PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. `

Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences.—February I,

1887.—Dr. Leidy stated that the prevalent opinion that bed-bugs

might be introduced by bats and swallows seemed improbable.

The insect found on the swallow is related to, yet different from,

None on the limbs and sides, Dr. H. Allen said that he had

noted that moles on the human face occupied the same positions

as the sensitive hairs of the lower animals. Dr. Allen also

Sertion. He suggested a formula, consisting of the use of arrows

in different positions, indicating origin, insertion, direction, etc.,

= Soas to save labor in recording details. Professor Heilprin put

On record the stranding of a specimen of the Mediterranean

\ _ Suggested that the eyes of Onchidium were phosphorescent

Organs, similar to those he had before described as existing ™

688 Proceedings of Scientific Societies. [July, 1887

Pecten, especially since the snail has no locomotive powers _

which would enable it to escape from a foe seen by such eyes, _

March 15.—A couple of copper coins, taken from the stomach

of an ostrich which recently died in the Zoological Garden, were -

which partly filled the gizzard. It was evident from the con-

dition of the bolus that the muscular fibres of the stomach had

not kept up such a spiral movement as is found in the crop of

the pigeon or the stomach of the cow. .

New York Academy of Sciences.—April 4, 1887—Drn

Henry H. Rusby read some notes of recent travel on a journey

from La Paz to Para through the Bolivian Andes and the Beni

and Madeira Rivers.

March 27, 1886, near Cabin Creek, Johnson County, Ark. E

Biological Society of Washington.—April 16, 1887—Dr

William H. Dall presented some notes on a recent exploring

trip to Florida. Dr. H. G. Beyer spoke of the action of caffeine

upon the kidneys. Dr. C. H. Merriam referred to the depreda-_

tions of the bobolink, or rice-bird, in the rice-fields of the South,

. Mr. F. A. Lucas presented some notes on the os prominens in birds.

Middlesex Institute.—May 11, 1887.—Mr. Sylvester Baxter

read a paper descriptive of his second visit to Zuñi, describing -

one of the dances. Mr. Clarence Pullen made some remarsi |

upon the various Pueblo Indians. a

Essex Institute.—May 16, 1887—Annual meeting. The fol

lowing officers were elected: President, Henry Wheatland ; Vic

Presidents, A. C. Goodell, Jr., F. W. Putnam, D. B. Hagar, and

Robert S. Rantoul; Secretary, George M. Whipple; Treasureh

George D. Phippen ; Librarian, William P. Upham. The annual

reports which were read show a very substantial prosperi

ty ok

the part of this institution. The ordinary income was thou

sand two hundred and five dollars and eighteen cents, while tW

bequests amounted to fourteen thousand dollars. The a

THE

AMERICAN NATURALIST.

VOL, XXI. AUGUST, 1887; No. 8.

NOTES ON THE ETHNOLOGY OF THE CONGO.

BY WALTER HOUGH.

pe Congo ranks among the mightiest rivers of the earth.

Above the limit of the tide it floods over cataracts and

miles of rapids bristling with rocks in its descent from the high

African uplands. Indeed, it was a revelation to indomitable

Stanley to find, after these obstacles were passed, navigable

water flowing from the far interior.

Along its stretches of turbulent or placid water dwell many

tribes of negroes. Cannibals and fierce savages are numerous,

and, altogether, it is a dark and dangerous country drained by

this river, from where its waters begin, on the common water-

shed between it and the Nile, to its mouth on the west coast.

The great wealth of ivory, dye-wood, rubber, palm-oil, and other

‘products makes it profitable to establish many stations for traffic.

The “ Congo Free State,” governed by Leopold, of Belgium,

embraces a large territory gradually being explored and opened

up to commerce.

Up to one year or so ago the National Museum possessed

Very few ethnological specimens from Africa, at which time

Mr. W. P, Tisdel, agent of the United States to the Free States,

= brought home the first collection from that unknown region.

Recently Lieutenant*E. H. Taunt, U.S.N., visited the Upper

Congo, and sent to the museum a large collection of barbaric

Weapons, ornaments, and various other objects made by the

Congo tribes. These collections, with the one lately acquired

from the Bureau of Arts in Paris, enable us to speak with some

: VOL, XXI,—no. 8, 47 a

690 Notes on the Ethnology of the Congo. ` [Aug

degree of confidence about the customs and arts of these Afri i

cans. The collections are, as one would reason, rich in weapons i

and poor in clothing, coming from the region of perpetual feud €

and almost utter nakedness. It is interesting to remark that

nearly all the African tribes know the art of smelting iron, ani

make a fine quality of metal by the rudest sort of apparatus; it

fact, they are in the Iron Age. It is unknown how these savages

of low grade became acquainted with the iron-smelting process,

—an art which indicates a great step in civilization. Thougha |

matter of conjecture, it is highly probable that from that ancient

and mysterious mother of arts and sciences, Egypt, came this |

knowledge of the use and manufacture of iron throughout the

entire “ Dark Continent.” |

Africa is very rich in iron. Travellers have noted great beds ol

highly-oxidized ore of a kind particularly fitted for these simple

operations. The usual method of smelting iron is to pile layer

of ore and charred wood in a small mud furnace. A continuolé

current of air is blown in by two bellows working alternately,

or, among the Bongo, there are simply four or five draught-holes

at the bottom of the furnace. When the ore has been smelt

the furnace is allowed to cool, and the cake of ashes is wash |

the lumps of iron collected, reheated, and pounded into a

herent mass with a stone hammer ona stone anvil. The irot

thus made is very tenacious and remarkably rust-proof. te

preferred by the natives to steel or foreign iron, because if ie

assagai-head is bent into an interrogation-point the warrior :

calmly beats it into shape with a stone. The iron also holds

good edge; in fact, a sharp assagai-head is the razor of the o

civilized barber. The weapons, which are hammered out Wit

a stone, are, despite the fact, finely finished, and are as creditable

specimens of smith-work as can be found. The common 1%.

that conventionality and repetition in art argues a low degre? €

civilization is met by the fact that the aboriginal workman cannot

make two things alike. He does not work by pattern ; he follows,

for instance, the shape of his iron or the suggestion of a chatti

blow. This is the reason of the so-called “ originality” of pi

peoples not practising division of labor or using machine

Among the forty-five specimens of assagais every one is differ

ent, although they can be separated into several groups Y

-general likenesses. sA

g si

PS

1887] Notes on the Ethnology of the Congo. 691

Travellers say that there is rivalry among smiths to produce

different and bizarre forms, and, as a result of this, many weapons

are made which are of no use, being merely chef d'œuvres of the

blacksmith. The typical assagai and javelin has a leaf-shaped

blade, which is double curved; that is, a horizontal section of

the blade would show a curve like a thin §, or like Hogarth’s

line of beauty. This feature has no special use, as the assagai

does not whirl in its flight. At the base of the blade is a socket

into which sets the long, slender shaft, usually wound with brass,

copper, or iron tape. At the bottom is an iron spud, though not

found on those for hurling. It is said that in the act of throw-

ing the weapon the negro gives it a vibratory motion, so that it

passes through the air with a whistling sound. Arrows are

made with uncomfortable-looking barbed, points. Knives are

merely assagai-heads fitted into handles. The shields are among

the finest specimens of basket-work in the world. They are

models of lightness and strength besides. Professor Mason de-

- scribes the mode of construction, and compares it with the sim-

ilar work done by the Clallam Indians and the Japanese. He

calls it the “fish-trap” style of basketry, and states that “the

oblong oval shields of bamboo made by the Bateke negroes of

the Lower Congo imitate this structure exactly. The frame of

the shield is an oblong hoop on which are stretched splints of

rattan running longitudinally on one side and transversely om

the other, crossing at right angles except at the plano-convex

space at the ends.” 1

Just mentioning the short swords and bill-knives, some of

them highly decorated with nut-shell fringe and leopard-skin,

we note the executioner’s sword. Its blade is short, broad, and

heavy, and it is sharp on both sides. It is really in bad taste to

describe an execution, but life there is so cheap and the Congo-

African way of relieving a man of his head so unique that it will-

bear description. In order to give an éclat suitable to African

taste, and to render the feat of decapitating with the weapon

Possible, the*victim is secured to a seat and a strong sapling

bent down and fastened by means of cords and a collar around

his neck; then, while his neck is taut the high executioner de-

pema blow, and the severed head is thrown into the air like

= ;

* Aboriginal Basket-Work, Smithsonian Rept., 1884, ii. p- 298..

692 Notes on the Ethnology of the Congo. [Aug)

The Nyam-Nyam and several Congo tribes have a very pect-

liar knife-boomerang. It is a weapon sharp on all edges of its

blades, —it might be called a collection of knife-blades. Ite

kept concealed in the shield, and is thrown with a whirling

motion, and its wide path and the accuracy and force with which

it is thrown make it a dangerous weapon. |

At the Stanley Falls Station, now held by the Arabs, a B

kind of money is current, called, from its shape, “ spade money, |

being pieces of iron used as a medium of exchange. The relative

to silver. Cloth is a very common barter medium, and its mets

mostly not for dress, but the custom is to wrap the dead it

‘many folds of cotton goods. Cotton grows abundantly, andé :

coarse, narrow cloth is made. A

A stuff exactly similar to Mocha coffee-sacking is woven, and

highly valued. It is grass-cloth, as it is commonly called; but

sometimes it is made of the tough outer bark of some kind of

shrub, and it is woven by men. The staple food of the Cong?

region is manioc, or cassava roots, which are pounded in mortars

with large pestles of ivory. Peanuts are also cultivated. Severi

spoons in the Taunt collection are said to have been used in the

cannibal feasts of the Arrhuimi River tribes. Pipes’ are madec

horns, and the bowl is placed on one side. The horn is a

with water, and the smoke is inhaled by suction at the open ¢™

Travellers speak of the extremely intoxicating effect of the p

bacco and hemp mixture, which is brought out more powert

by being drawn through water. we

The customs and beliefs of these Africans with regard to the

spirit-world are very crude. A belief in evil spirits, witches, 8°"

and bad luck comprises nearly all of the religious elements f°”

negro-life. The “doctor” is the interpreter of religion, and tit

fetish is a safeguard against all harm. There are many Mohal

medans, who practise a debased form of that worship. It “a

that no form of religion can withstand the brutalizing effect

the African nature and the childishness of his temperament. —

What will be the future of this section of Africa, its relat

to the world of commerce, and the extent to which it will ii

fected by modern civilization are difficult problems. While #

capable of supporting a large population, the climate is malarie™

and utterly unfit for Europeans. The African seems tO b

1887] Notes on Classification and Nomenclature. 693

gained an immunity or idiosyncrasy to miasmatic influences by

generations of adaptation. He has made little progress in civ-

ilization. This is due to the lack of inherent capability of the

negro type more than any other cause. The lack of harbors on

the coasts of Africa has always and will in the future militate

against the settlement and growth by advanced races. It looks

now as if this continent, vast in wealth and area, is becoming

overrun by the fierce disciples of Islam, the most undesirable

settlers possible, and in whose hands it will be lost in an irre-

claimable darkness. Another great bane to the Congo and all

Africa is the accursed slave-trade. For over three thousand

years she has bartered her children to be slaves over the whole

earth. Livingstone, Schweinfurth, Stanley, and many other dis-

tinguished explorers have seen, with anguish, this comprehensive

atrocity in all its phases, and have tried to perfect plans for put-

ting it down. The Congo Free State, through Henry Stanley,

has done much to suppress this evil. That recent brilliant

master-stroke of enlisting Tippo Tib, the prince of slave-traders,

against the slave-trade cannot receive too much praise, and it is

to be hoped that, as another laurel in Stanley’s crown, he may

Successfully rescue Emin Bey, the soldier-scientist, from his

perilous position in the heart of Africa, and restore him, with

his large collections, to the civilized world.

j

NOTES ON CLASSIFICATION AND NOMENCLA-

TURE FOR THE AMERICAN COMMITTEE OF

THE INTERNATIONAL GEOLOGICAL CON-

GRESS, MARCH, 1887.

BY N. H. WINCHELL.

HE PaLæozorc.—In the light of recent work done in the

classic region of American geology, Eastern New York,

by Messrs. Ford and Walcott, reviving some of the old ques-

tions that separated the geologists of forty years ago into widely

_ Variant schools, it becomes appropriate for this committee to

: _— and justly weigh the facts so far as they bear on the

of names for recommendation to the next congress.

It will have to be admitted that the scheme of stratigraphy

we

694 Notes on Classification and Nomenclature. [Ang

which was erected by Mr. Emmons, including formations that

extended eastward into Massachusetts and Vermont, and west |

ward to the Hudson River, covering a series of strata from the |

gabbros of the Adirondacks to the top of the Lorraine shales,

has been overthrown by the researches of Dana and his col-

leagues,—in other words, that the “Taconic System,” as con-

structed by Dr. Emmons, cannot be maintained.

On the other hand, the Taconic rocks, in which Emmons f

found primordial fossils, and to which he extended the name f

which he applied to his system, have been found to have a wide f

extension and a great thickness, as well as a characteristic fauna

` The initial point of divergence between him and his colleagues

on the New York survey was as to the existence of such pre

Potsdam strata. From this initial point he built up a system

without warrant. He laid a true foundation, but his super

structure was not well built. In consequence of a poor supèr

structure, the tendency has been strong to sweep away also his

foundation, denying to both of them the right to existence it

geological nomenclature.

The question that comes before this committee is to determint

by what designation the strata shall be known that contain thè

foundation-rocks of the “ Taconic System” of Emmons,—thos

that really are stratigraphically pre-Potsdam. |

Recent palzontological researches and work in the field show

that the pre-Potsdam fauna pervades a belt of rocks that extends

from Northern Vermont southward, by way of Georgia, ve"

mont, Bald Mountain, New York, Schodack Landing, to Stock l

port, Columbia County, east of the Hudson River, comprising

a thickness of strata amounting to about four thousand feet. 7

is also reasonable to suppose that it constitutes the basal portion

of the range of the Taconic Mountains, and perhaps a large par

of the range in some places. It is therefore not inappropriate bad

consider the claim of Dr. Emmons to give name to this belt

(a) Taconic versus PRIMORDIAL.

The term primordial, adopted by Barrande for the first faun®

is more comprehensive than the fauna that was discoveree by

Emmons in these Taconic strata. But Barrande distinctly &

knowledges that Dr. Emmons antedated him in the discov

and advocacy of a fossil horizon belonging in the primom’™

-

i

3

4

1887] Notes on Classification and Nomenclature. 695

zone, There can be no question, when the author of the term

primordial makes such an admission, that, other things being

equal, the term first used should be perpetuated. But it may be

stated that other things were not equal. They were not equal

in the thoroughness with which the fauna was investigated, nor

the correctness with which the stratigraphic relationships were

stated, nor in the limitations which were placed on its extent.

They were not equal in the comprehensive, uninterrupted prog-

ress with which the respective investigations were carried on

on different sides of the Atlantic, nor the completeness and

costliness of publication. But it may be doubted whether any

of these differences, or all of them, would warrant the unquali-

fied adoption of the European term, to the exclusion of the

American, against the right of priority for the American geol-

ogist. Emmons did, it seems to me, all that was required, or

that is now required, to establish his claim to the discovery of a

new formation. He defined it geographically, stratigraphically,

and palzontologically. No one else in America has applied any

new name to it. It came in conflict, it is true, with another

American designation, but no one now will urge the correctness

of that opposing term. As between Taconic and primordial,

both authors may be recognized and honored by confining the

term Taconic to the identical horizon, or sub-fauna, in which it

was described by Dr. Emmons, allowing the term primordial to

embrace, as intended by Barrande, all the sub-faunas of the first

una.

The first (oldest) sub-fauna is characterized by the genus

Paradoxides. :

The second sub-fauna is characterized by Olenellus.

The third sub-fauna is characterized by Dicelocephalus.

(4). Taconic versus CAMBRIAN.

But we cannot overlook the fact that ‘in Europe, and also in

America, the term Cambrian is very generally applied to this

fauna and the formation in which it is embraced, to the exclu-

D of both Taconic and primordial. This is a very singular

circumstance. The reaction which set in to do justice to Sedg-

wick had such momentum that it swept over its own bounds and

became itself an agent of injustice. .

If the question of the relative dates at which the terms Taconic

696 Notes on Classification and Nomenclature, [Ang

and Cambrian were first used be brought to bear on this investi-

gation, the facts will be-found to be about as follows : E

_ Murchison says the term Cambrian was first used in print in

1836, but Sedgwick says he had been at work on the formation 1

since 1831, his first description being made and published in

brief in the Proceedings of the British Association for the Advant- |

ment of Science in 1832. In 1855 he also says he had made no

material changes in the Cambrian since 1832, except some minor

transpositions of stratigraphy. All this time the lower portion £

of these rocks was considered non-fossiliferous, Sedgwick not

being willing even to admit the verity of fossils belonging t9

the primordial fauna in any of the rocks of his series. It is@ f

singular fact that, although Mr. E. Davis discovered fossils it

the rocks of the Cambrian in 1845, and had re-examined the

locality with Mr. Sedgwick in 1846, and announcement of the |

discovery was made the same year, yet the English geologists 4

did not know, or would not admit, that the primordial fauna de

Barrande was contained in the rocks of the Cambrian till 185%

when Barrande visited the Woodwardian Museum, and exami

also the collections of the survey; and even then they would not

admit it till they had sent some of their own officers over the :

ground which they had considered finally examined, and these

had returned with a convincing collection of primordial fossils. .

Barrande’s notice preliminaire of the primordial fauna of Bey

hemia was issued in 1846, two or three years after the discovery

of primordial fossils in the Taconic, and five years before the

discovery of primordial fossils in the Cambrian. — -

It appears, therefore, that as a formation of rocks, without

reference to geological age or relation to other formations, the

Cambrian was studied by Sedgwick four years before Emmons

began official work on the New York survey; that the term 3

Cambrian was used as a designation for the formation WEY

Sedgwick was engaged on in 1836; and that Emmons used the ;

"term Taconic officially first in his volume dated 1842. Emmons

was, however, at work incidentally on the Taconic rocks much

earlier, Professor Dewey mentions a mineral found by him 3

analyzed in 1820 (Am. Four., (i.) ii. 249). Professor Dewey *

the Taconic range asa geological entity, and the rocks of the

range as a starting-point, in his “ Geological Section from V”

liamstown to the City of Troy,” published in 1820. Thet?

H

1887] Notes on Classification and Nomenclature. 1 0oy

was first used by him in a geological article dated January 27,

1819. Lee, Hitchcock, Emmons, Dewey, Barnes, Briggs, and

Eaton, between 1819 and 1842, frequently use the term in their

geological papers. They considered the rocks extending from

the western towns of Vermont and Massachusetts westward to

the Hudson River as constituting a group different from those

farther east, and set off by geological distinctions so markedly

that they could not be confounded. Sometimes these rocks

were referred to as the rocks of the Taconic range, sometimes as

transition rocks, and sometimes as the metamorphic group, But

that they were a single group, e» masse, was not questioned,

either by the friends or the opponents of the Taconic system, as

late as 1844, Eaton having gone so far as to place them below

the strata of the New York system.

Used, then, as a datum of geological reckoning, “ the rocks of

the Taconic range” date from 1819, but it was not till 1842 that

Dr. Emmons erected these into a geological group and formally

announced the “ Taconic System.”

The foregoing facts may be tabulated as below :

Used asa Faunal Used in Geological Used as Name ofa

ature. Zo

Designation. Liter: ne or System.

aA O Sie oss kas 1846 1846 1846

x Cambrian 1853 .1836 1836

Taconic 1844 1819 1842

In thus calling attention to the use of the term Taconic in

geological literature as early as 1819, the objection will naturally

arise in the minds: of some of the committee that the term was

used wholly as a geographic and not as a geological one, and

hence that it has no claim in geological nomenclature. While

ere is some force in this objection, yet, if the nature of the

Papers written by the earlier geologists be examined into, it will

be Seen at once that the term was used both in a geographic and

‘Ma geological sense. Professor Dewey, in 1820, giving his

Seological section from the Taconic range to Troy, N. Y., says dis-

tinctly that the same rock-formation which constitutes the range

at Williamstown extends to the Hoosac Valley, and gives place

to a chlorite slate, which, since it is also found in the Taconic

_ Tange, “ ought to be considered as belonging to the range, and ©

as the rock into which the talcose slate passes.” From here he

Continues the section through graywacke rising into the hills at

698 Notes on Ciassification and Nomenclature. [Aug

Petersburg, constituting the mountains of Grafton, and extend

ing as a general rock to Troy, where it is succeeded by a stratum

of argillaceous slate, which extends to the banks of the Hudson

In a general way this group of rocks is referred to as the

“metamorphic series,” or “transition series,” as well as tke rocks

of the Taconic range, by other geologists up to 1842. As ager

logical designation it had no more force than the terms used by

Sedgwick when he referred to the rocks of the Malvern Hills

or of the Longmynd Hills, or the term that was at first used to

express the formation of the Helderberg Mountains in New

York. In those early days of the century geologists made

their designations refer to mineralogical and lithological char

acters rather than to systematic stratigraphy. Geographic des-

ignations had not yet been introduced with the authoritative

endorsement of Murchison. There was but imperfect knowledge

of systematic stratigraphy ; but geographic terms were converted,

by an easy scale of varying terminology, into geological terms

The “ rocks of the Longmynd” became thus the Longmynd rocks.

The rocks of the Helderberg Mountains became thus the upper

and lower Helderberg rocks; and Mr. Emmons sagaciously

chose to erect the rocks of the Taconic range into the Taconic

system. |

It is customary to date the “Taconic System” from the ya

1842, when it was officially announced by Dr. Emmons, and it

is just to give the term Taconic its full right as a distinct term

in geological nomenclature only after that date, parallel witha

similar use of the term Cambrian; but it cannot be questi pe

that the term Taconic was a semi-geologic term for at least

twenty years before. 7

It may next be asked, What was the intent of the authors of

these names? In the absence of perfectly conclusive evidenc

as to the historic priority of one, in all respects, over the others,

when the facts seem to have a divided and variant significance

this may be the only way in which a just conclusion can ©

reached. It is not necessary to enter upon the citation of facts

or quotation of authorities. The following conclusion, SO ae ;

Mr. Barrande is concerned, will hardly be questioned. wee ;

to elaborate a fauna, and when that was established he denomina

the strata the primordial zone. In doing this he went no farther

back than 1846. t

N

1887] Notes on Classification and Nomenclature. 699

In respect to Mr. Sedgwick, he worked on a series of rocks

which he thought pertained to a single system, and illustrated

it by fossils. These proved to be, for the most part, species of

the Bala group, consisting of the second fauna. What few pri-

mordial fossils he found he placed within the same fauna. He

claimed this fauna and this system of rocks as his Cambrian.

This was named in 1836. It was no error of his that subse-

quently his term was crowded downward and removed from the

rocks of the second fauna, and made to cover only a fauna of

which he knew nothing. In other words, the author of the

Cambrian intended to include in his system only the rocks contain-

ing the second fauna. Still, his stratigraphic scheme embraced

lower beds.

In respect to the intention of Mr. Emmons, he worked on

a series of rocks which he claimed was lower than the New

York system. He announced a fauna which he intended to

illustrate his system. The strata which he included in his sys-

tem have been proved to contain his alleged fossils, and they

pertain to a horizon below the New York system. All rocks

known by him to contain fossils of the second fauna occurring

within the general Taconic area were exempted by him from the

Taconic system. His main intention, both stratigraphic and pala-

ontologic, therefore, was to include the rocks of the primordial fauna

in his system.

On the question of priority, therefore, the inquiry is reduced

to the conflict between Cambrian and Taconic, with the Taconic

having two counts to the Cambrian one.

On the question of the relative validity of those counts, the

Taconic has that of correctness of palzontological identification

and that of use in geological literature, which are very strong,

While the Cambrian has that of formal announcement as a

System.

On the question of the intention and claim of the author, the

Taconic was correct in stratigraphy and paleontology when ap- |

Plied to the frst fauna, and incorrect when applied by its adver-

saries to the second fauna. The Cambrian was correct in palæ-

Ontology, and was not corrected by its author in stratigraphy ~

when applied to the second fauna, and is incorrect in both re-

Spects when applied by its friends to the first fauna. |

If the errors be eliminated, on each side, the first fauna should

.

700 Notes on Classification and Nomenclature, [Aug

be assigned to the Taconic and the second to the Cambrian.

This will, of course, require the restriction of the term Silurian

to the rocks of the ¿ird fauna, or to as much of it as was a |

first covered by that term, as argued by Hunt, Marcou, Rogers,

Dawson, Jukes, and others,

The weight of authority and of usage has been in favor of

covering the rocks in dispute between Murchison and Sedgwick,

so far as they both claim strata holding the second fauna, by the

Murchisonian term. Of the merits of this controversy I have

nothing to say. It may fairly be left to the English geologists

to decide. It would be an easy adjustment of all the conflicting

claims, however, to assign, pro honoris causa, the first fauna to |

Emmons, the second to Sedgwick, and the third to Murchison. —

Tue ArcH@an.—lt is my individual opinion that no sub-

divisions of the Archean can be made, with an approach to

probable acceptance and long-continued usefulness, at the pres

enttime. It would be judicious to introduce some indeterminate

non-descriptive terms, such as Archean No. r and Archean No. 46

or Archean No. 3, which could be interpreted by each locality, |

and applied by the geologists of each country, according t0

individual preference. In the Northwest, including Wisconstt,

Minnesota, and Manitoba, much is. now being done on the:

tematic study in the field of these rocks, and, without say!

that the recognized, usual subdivision into Huronian and Lae

rentian is not valid in very large areas, it is true that, as a ge

eral scheme, this simple nomenclature is not applicable. 1 sp

of these rocks as “ Archean” because of the general use of

designation. The terms azoic and cozoic may have prior rights,

and, perhaps, ought to be used instead.

i

1887] History of Garden Vegetables. 701

HISTORY OF GARDEN VEGETABLES.

BY E. LEWIS STURTEVANT, A.M., M.D."

(Continued from page 532.)

CATERPILLARS. Scorpiurus sp.

STRANGE taste causes various species of Scorpiurus to be

included among our garden vegetables, the caterpillar-like

forms of the seed-pods being used as salad-garnishing by those

fond of practical jokes. As a vegetable their flavor is very in-

different. The species enumerated by Vilmorin are Scorpiurus

vermiculatus L., the common caterpillar; S. muricatus L the

prickly caterpillar; S. sulcatus L., the furrowed caterpillar; and

S. subvillosus L., the hairy caterpillar. This latter species is

figured by Dodonzeus in 1616, and is said even then to be

sometimes grown in gardens. They are all native to Southern

Europe.

Catnir. Nepeta cataria L.

It is hardly worth while to notice this plant of insignificant

use, yet still holding a place in the herb-garden, and, in France,

grown for use of the leaves as a condiment.? In 1726, Town-

send? says it is used by some in England to give a high relish in

sauces. It is a native of Europe, and is now common through-

out Eastern America. It is mentioned among the plants of Vir-

ginia by Gronovius,‘ as collected by Clayton preceding 1739.

Catnip (called also Nepp) has for name, in France, menthe dé

chat, herbe aux chats ; in Germany, gemeines Katzenmunze 5 Nepte ;

-in Holland, £attekruid, nept ; in Denmark, katteurt, sisembrandt ;

in Sweden, kattmynta; in Italy, gattaria ; in Spain, gatera ; in

Portugal, neveda dos gatos ; in Russia, koschitza mehta®

CAULIFLOWER. Brassica oleracea botrytis cauliflora DeC.

I am unable to recognize the cauliflower in any of the cabbage

tribe described by the ancient authors, although the perfected

condition of our present vegetable would lead us to assign to it

a great antiquity. Its not being mentioned by Ruellius (1536),

4 Director of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva.

2 Vilmorin, Les. Pl. Pot., 1883, 354. 3 Townsend, Seedsman, 1726, 36-

4 Gronovins, Fl. Virg., 1762, 89... 8 Vilmorin, Le. 1:4 Mill. Dicty 1807-

702 History of Garden Vegetables. [Ang

and others would lead us to infer that it had not yet entered into

general European culture. According to Bauhin it is mentioned |

"in the French edition of Dodonzus, 1553 or 1559. The raceof |

cauliflowers owe their peculiarity to a suppression of the floral ©

organs and an abnormal development of the pedicels of the in-

florescence. This peculiarity finds recognition in the majority

of the names applied in the various languages, as will be ob-

served in the following synonymy :

Fuchsius (1542), Roszlin (1550), Tragus (1552), Matthiolus (1558), |

Brassica florida, Adv., 1570, Or: Ger., 1597, 246, fig.

B. florida botrytis. Lob., Obs., 1576, 123, cum ic.; Lob, ity

1591, i. 245. . :

“B. cauliflora. Cam., Epit., 1586, 252, cum ic.; Matth., 1598,

367, cum ic.; Dod., 1616, 624, cum ic.; Bauh., Pin., 1623, il;

Bodzus a Stapel, 1644, 776, cum ic.

B. pompeiana, B. cypria. Lyte’s Dod., 1586, 636.

B. pompeiana aut cypria, B. Jorida dodo. Lugd., 1587, 524

cum ic. a

B. cypria sive pompeiana, vulgo caulifiori. Cam., Hort., 1588,29.

B. cauliflora, pompeiana plinio, Bauh., Phytopin., 1596, 177+

Bradica florida. Cast., Dur., 1617, ap. cum tc. |

B. multiflora. J. Bauh., 1651, ii. 829, cum ic.; Chabr., 1677,

269, cum tc. a

_ The vernacular names earliest recorded are mostly founded

upon the bloom, and may be translated flowering-cabbage. " :

the English name used by Lyte in 1586 we have a source d

origin indicated, as Cypress coleworts. Dalechampius likewity:

in 1587, gives one French name as Chou de Cypre. Pierres

Pompes, a French author of 1694, is quoted by Phillips as say"

ing about the cauliflower, “It comes to us in Paris, by way

Marseilles, from the isle of Cyprus, which is the only place

know of where it seeds.” Strange, indeed, it is to find, at 4 date

as remote as 1565, the cauliflower to be reported as abounding

at Hayti, in the New World, at a date preceding nearly all 0

recorded mentionings. It was, however, a well-known and cafe —

-fully-cultivated plant in France in 1612, if we may trust “ Le J

dinier Solitaire.” Rauwolf? who travelled through the Orient

1573-75, found the Caulifiore at Aleppo. In England it is Agu"

by de in 1597, and must have been known to Lyte in 15

* Benzoni, Hist. of the New World, Hak. Soc. Ed., 91.

* Gronovius, Fl, Orient., 1755, 81.

See he ae es

:

=

1887] History of Garden Vegetables. + yO

as he gives an English name,—flowrie cole, or Cypress coleworts ;

but, according to Parkinson, it was rare in 1629. In 1683, Wor-

lidge praises them greatly. According to Heuze, three varieties

of cauliflowers were described by Ibn-al-awan for the Nabathean

agriculture in Spain in the twelfth century.

In 1778, Mawe? mentions for varieties only the early and the

late, scarcely differing. In 1806, in America, McMahon; knew

the same only, and but two varieties are named by Bridgeman‘

in 1832. In France, in 1824, three varieties—/e dur, le demi-dur,

and de tendre—are named, and the same in 1829.6 In 1883, Vil-

morin? describes sixteen sorts; and Burr® describes ten sorts for

America in 1863.

The varieties of the cauliflower are essentially of one type,

although some are more highly improved than others; and there

are differences in size, height, and season, one kind even being

purplish in the head. The distinctions are, however, not highly

constant, and variations found in the growing serve to bridge

whatever chasms may appear; and hence we may conclude that

the varieties are but due to seminal variation carefully selected.

he names given to the cauliflower in various countries are:

in France, Choux-fleurs; in Germany, Blumenkohl, Carfofil; in

Flanders and Holland, dloemkool; in Denmark, d/omkaal; in

Italy, cavol-fiore; in Spain, Coliflor; in Portugal, Couve flor ;°

at Constantinople, Zarnaditi ; in India, phool kobee.™

CeLerrac.? Apium graveolens L., var. rapaceum DeC.

This vegetable is described by Gray” as a state of the common

celery in which the root is enlarged and eatable. It presents but

à

* Heuze, Les Pl. Alimen., i. p. iv. 2 Mawe, Gard., 1778.

3 McMahon, Am. Gard. Kal., 1806.

* Bridgeman, Young. Gard. Assist., 1832.

5 L'Hort: Fran., 1824. 6 Noisette, Man., 1829.

7 Vilmorin, Les Pl. Pot., 1883. 8 Burr, Field and Gard. Veg., 1863.

9 Vilmorin, Les Pl. Pot., 1883, 144. 10 Forskal, FI. ZEgypt.-Arab., xxix.

1592, and on speaks of the Apium capitatum as found in the garde:

of St. Agatha, Theano, and elsewhere in Apulia, taken from nature, and as unno-

zE | by the ancients, He describes the bulb as being of the size of

8 Gray, Field, Forest, and Gard. Bot., 165. -

704 History of Garden Vegetables, [Aug

few varieties,—one with a rough root, one with a globular, smooth £

root, one with variegated leaves, and a fourth which is very much

dwarfed. Other varieties are named, but the differences are vey)

unessential. In French works on gardening of 1826 and 1829/7

the white and the red, the latter described as with the bulb

veined with red or violet, are mentioned, together with a sub

variety with a round root.

In 1536, Ruellius? in treating of the ache or uncultivatel

smallage, as would appear from the context, says the root ii

eaten, both raw and cooked. Rauwolf3 who travelled in the

East (1573-75), speaks of Eppich, whose roots are eaten as deli

cacies, with salt and pepper, at Tripoli and Aleppo; and J

Bauhin, who died in 1613, mentions a Selinum tuberosum, sit

Buselini speciem, as named by Honor. Bellus, which seems tobe

the first mention of the true celeriac that I find, as the earlier.

references quoted may possibly refer to the root of the ordinar

sort; although I think not, for at this date the true celery ;

scarcely been sufficiently developed. In 1 729, Switzers describ

the plant in a book devoted to this and other novelties, but adds

that he had never seen it ; and this indicates it was little knor

in England at this date, for he adds that the gentleman, who hat

long been an importer of curious seeds, furnished him with ¢

supply from Alexandria. Itis again named in England in 175 2

1765, and by succeeding writers, but is little known even at the

Present time. It is described by McMahon? for American gaf

dens in 1806. In France and Germany it is commonly empl )

as a vegetable and as a salad. It is even cultivated in the Ma

ritius 4

Celeriac, or turnip-rooted celery, is called, in France, celere

rave; in Germany, Knoll-Sellerie ; in Flanders and Holial®

Knoll-Selderii ; in Denmark, Kuold-Selleri ; in Italy, sedano-rapt.

in Spain, apio-nabo, apio-rabano, '

36, 708.

p rs ng baii, dim 3 Celeriac, etc; 1729, 9.

6 Mill. Dict., 1752; ex, Mill. Dict., 1807. Ge 1806: ;

7 Stevenson, Gard, Kal., 1765,30. 8 McMahon, Am. Gard. Kal, t7

9 Bojer, Hort. Maur., 1837, 158, 1 Vilmorin, Les PI. Pot., 75 -

1887] PN Stor of Garden Vegetables, 705

CELERY. Apium graveolens L.

I have previously given the history of celery in the AMERICAN

NaturaLIsT for July, 1886. I can add only a few references to

‘those therein given. “ Le Jardinier Solitaire” (1612) gives direc-

tions for the cultivation of “Celery” in France, and Mentzel*

“gives the word “Sellerrey” in Belgium, and “Sellerey oder

Aeppich” in Germany, with “ Tabernemontanus” as a reference.

Now, one edition of “ Tabernemontanus” was published in 1588,

and if this reference be correct we are able to carry the use of

the word celery into the sixteenth century. Albertus Magnus,’

who lived in the thirteenth century, evidently speaks of the wild

plant when he calls it aquatic, but describes characters which

apply to the smallage by adding that it has a concave foot-stalk,

recumbent and white.

‘In China, at the present time, the name of celery is Ch'in ts'ai3

ees CHARD. Seta vulgaris L.

The chard was the Beta of the ancients and of the middle ages.

The red chard was noticed by Aristotle* about 350 B.C.. Theo-

phrastus’ knew two kinds,—the white, called Sicula, and the

black (or dark green), the most esteemed.: Dioscorides® also

records two kinds. ‘Eudemus, quoted by Athenzus7 (the second

century), names four,—the sessile, the white, the common, and

the dark, or swarthy. Among the Romans the chard finds fre-

quent mention, as by Columella, Pliny,? Palladius,” Apicius,™ etc.

In China it was noticed i in writings of the seventh or eighth cen-

tury, the fourteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries ; A

- Europe, by all the ancient herbalists.

he chard has no Sanscrit name. The ancient Greeks called

æ

* Mentzel, Index Nominum, 1682, 30.

2 Albertus Magnus, De Veg., Jessen ed., 1867, 480.

3 Gard. Chron., July 10, 1886, 41. i

; 4 Aristoteles, Scaliger’s ed., 1566, 69.

; 5 Theophrastus, Bodzeus a Stapel ed., 1644, 778. :

ey - § Matthiolus, serene 1558, 248. Se

Bes 7 Quoted from Turre, Dryadum, etc., 1685, 442. ge es

An 8 Columella, i x. 452; ib. Zi. Cc. a etc. U i as

9 Pliny, lib. xix. c. 40. = 23 n

t0 Palladius, lib. iii. c. 24; iv. 9; v. 33 Vi. 4; viii. 2. Oe

™ Apicius, lib. iii. c. 2, ii. |

12 Bretschneider, Bot. Sin., 53, 59, 79, 83.

—No. 8. © 48

706 History of Garden Vegetables. f

the species zeutlion; the Romans, beta; the Arabs, selg; th

Nabathean, s7/g."_ Albertus Magnus; in the thirteenth centur,

uses the word acelga,—the present name in Portugal and Spain.

The modern names are : French, poirée ; German, Beisskohl, Bedi,

Mangold ; Flanders and Holland, snij beet; Denmark, blad bedt;

Italy, die¢a befitola ; Spain, bleda and acelga ;3 in China, tien isa!

The wild form—Befa maritima L.—is found in the Canay

Isles, the whole of the Mediterranean region as far as the Cae

pian, Persia, and Babylon; perhaps even in Western Indiaj#)

also about the sea-coasts of Britain. It has been sparingly! ‘ |

troduced into kitchen-gardens for use as a chard.?

The red, white, and yellow forms are named from quite eatly

times; the red by Aristotle, the white and dark green by Ther

phrästus and Dioscorides. In 1596, Bauhin® names the dark,

the red, the white, the yellow, the beet with a broad stalk, até

the sea-beet. These forms, while the types can be yet recog

nized, yet have changed their appearance in our cultivated

plants, a greater compactness and development being noted #

arising from the selection and cultivation which has been 97

generally accorded in recent times.

Vilmorin describes for varieties the white, the Swiss, the silve,

the curled Swiss, and the Chilian chards. To this we may ail

Gx improved forms, such as the sea-beet. -

SEA-BEET. `

Beta sylvestris spontanea marina. Lob., Obs., per e

B. sylyestris-maritima. parag ny topin., I 596, I

Sea-Beet. Ray, Hist., 1686, i. 204.

The leaves form an excellent chard, and in Ireland are ©

lected from the wild plant and used for food and in Er gla

the plant is sometimes cultivated in gardens. This form h

been ennobled by careful culture, continued until a ma!

was obtained."

* De Candolle, aie Des PL Cult., 47.

* Albertus Magnus, De Veg., Jaik ed., 1867, 8.

3 Vilmorin, Les Pl. Pot., 1883, 420, 4 Gard. Chron., July 10, i 2

5 De Candolle, 1. c., 46. 6 Lindley, Morton’s Cyc. of Ag Ags! :

7 Targioni Tozetti, Hort. biez 1854, 147.

8 Bauhin, Phytopin., 1596, 1

? Johnson, Useful Pl. of Gt. Brit., 214. ' 1 Lindley, Morton’s Cyc. of Agi

= Agr. Gazette, September 8, 1879, 218.

1887] History of Garden Vegetables. 707

WHITE, OR Common BEET. r

Beta alba lactuce & rumicis folio, etc. Adv., 1570, 93.

B. alba vel pallescens, quam Cicla officin. Bauh., Pin., 1623,

118

White Beet. Ray, 1686, 204.

Beta cicla.. L., Sp., 1774, 322.

Common White-Leaved. Mawe, 1778.

White-Leaved. McMahon, 1806, 187.

Spinach-Beet. Loudon, 1860.

Poirée blonde ou commune. Vilm., 1883, 421.

#

This beet, a native of Sicily, near the sea-coast, as well as the

shores of Spain and Portugal, was introduced into England in

1570" It seems closely allied to the Swiss chard.

Swiss CHARD.

Beta alba? 3. Gerarde, 1597, 251. i

Tj he Sicilian Broad-Leaved Beet: Ray, 1686, 205.

White Beet. Townsend, 1 726.

Chard, or Great White Swiss Beet. Mawe, 1778.

Swiss, or Chard Beet. Mill. Dict., 1807.

Swiss Chard, or Silver Beet. Buist, 1851.

Silver-Leaf Beet. Burr, 1863, 292.

Poirée à carde blanche, Wilm., 1883, 421.

This is deemed by Ray to have been known to Gerarde (1597),

for Gerarde, in his “ Herbal,” indicates the sportive character of

the seed as to color, and mentions a height which is only at-

tained by this plant. He calls it“ 3 .. . another sort hereof

_ that was brought unto me from beyonde the seas,” and particu-

4 larly Notices the great breadth of the stalk; but the color par-

ticularly noticed is the red sort. Ray gives as a synonyme Beta

Walica Parkinson, 1629 or 1640. It is quite variable in the stalks,

= according to the culture received.

Sitver-LeaF BEET.

Poirée blonde @ carde blanche. Nil., 1883.

-__ A lighter green form of the Swiss chard, as described by Vil-

_ Morin, but with shorter and much broader stalk. Itseemstobe =

_ = Variety within the changes which can be effected by selection =

‘nd culture, and perhaps can be referred to the Chilian type. ae

" Booth, Treas. of Bot.; Loudon, Hort.; McIntosh, Book of the Gard, fi. 139. pee

seit

| 708 History of Garden Vegetables.

~ blistered and curled.

_ they are very efficient. The stalks are often very b

` with red. The forms now found are described by their nat

-Crimson-Veined Brazilian, Golden-Veined Brazilian, 9@

-is the parent of the broad-stalked forms, and, judging from

CURLED Swiss CHARD.

Curled-Leaf Beet. Burr, 1863, 291.

Beck's Seakale Beet. Gard. Chron., 1865.

Potrée à carde blanche frisée. Vilm., 1883.

Evidently a form of the Swiss, the stalks broader, the le e aes

Cuitan BEET. E

This form is usually grown for ornamental purposes, or ic l

twisted, and the colors very clear and distinct, the leaf pucke i l

and blistered as in the Curled Swiss.. In the Gardeners’ Chron

(1844) it is said that thesé ornamental plants were introduced t l

Belgium some ten or twelve years previously. “It is yellow ,

red, and varies in all the shades of these two colors.” In 19%

J. Bauhin? speaks of two kinds of chard as novelties, —the

white, with broad ribs; the other, red. He also speaks |

_yellow form, differing from the kind with a boxwood-yellow t

In 1655, Lobel? describes a chard with yellowish stems, VA

` Ribbed =r Scarlet-Veined Brazilian, Yellow-Ribbed Ch

-Red-Stalked,

The sce Di are the broad- leaved ones, and all

instances, but some seed. Bash an experience y ”

which Gerarde records. It seems plausible that B. mari

is the parent form of the narrow-ribbed varieties, aid B.

ogy, as well as by the descriptions of the wild plant,

types of all the colors, and the smooth and bliste!

leaves, probably can be found in nature.

* Gard. Chron., 1844, 59:

Lobel, 2 J. Bauhin, Hist. 1651, ile

Pamela anor 1655, 8, aS

?

1887] History of Garden Vegetables. 709

CHERVIL. Scandix cerefolium L.

The leaves of chervil are aromatic, and are much used in

England for seasoning and in salads.” It was mentioned as cul-

tivated by Columella, Pliny, and Palladius, Roman authors of

the first and third centuries. It also finds description as a culti-

vated plant in the botanies of the sixteenth century. It was in

American gardens in 1806.2. But two varieties are now in use,

—the plain-leaved and the curled,—and these are mentioned by

Petit? in France in 1826; and yet chervil is noted as one of the

most widely diffused and best known of all pottage plants.‘

Chervil is called, in France, Cerfeuil; in Germany, Kerbel; in

Flanders and Holland, Kervel; in Denmark, Aavekjowel; in

Italy, cerfoglio ; in Spain, perifollo ; in Portugal, cerefolio.

Cuick-Pea. Cicer arietinum L.

This vegetable is a favorite with southern nations, and finds

occasional culture among the recent emigrants to the United

_ States, or by their descendants. While not grown on a large

scale in the United States, it forms an article of extended culture

in the Iberian peninsula, and in India,® Egypt, Greece, etc.? The

Shape of the seed, singularly resembling a ram’s head while in

an unripe state, may account for its being regarded as unclean

by the Egyptians of the time of Herodotus.2 It was in common

use in ancient Rome, and varieties are mentioned by Columella?

_ and Pliny,” the latter naming the white and the black, the Dove,

or Venus pea, and many kinds differing from each other in size.

Albertus Magnus," in the thirteenth century, mentions the red,

the white, and the black sorts, and this mention of colors is con-

tinued by the herbalists of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eigh-

| teenth centuries. The white chick-pea is the sort now generally

grown in France, where the dried seed find large use in soups.

The red variety is now exterisively grown in the Eastern countries,

_ and the black sort is described as more curious than useful.

-* Vilmorin, The Veg. Gard., 1885, 192. ? McMahon, Am. Gard. Kal., 1806,

m piri Dict. du Jard., 1826. 4 Vilmorin, Les PI. Pot., 78. a

tie , Cours d’Agr., iii. 796. 6 Elliot, Bot. Soc. of Edinb., vii. 294.

a

Paaa Grog Dist af Ak and Pi 46

* Abers i lib. ix. c. 1. 10 ee lib. xviii. fog

Albertus Magnus, De Veg., Jessen ed., 1867, 490.

$

Under the hot climate of India the plant secretes an acid, which |

_the following names: in Arabic, the green-seeded sort, the ph

7 Decaisne and Naudin, Man., iv. 316. 8 Heuze, Les Pl. Alim., Îi. gih

e aee, lib. iv, c. 6, . % Dodonæus, Frument., 15

710 | History of Garden Vegetables.

the natives collect by spreading a cloth overnight on the plant .

and wringing out the dew in the morning; this they use br

vinegar or for forming a cooling drink. 7

The multitude of the vernacular names of the chickpea

their distribution, indicate the presence of numerous varieties |

and an extended use. The European names are, in English,

chick-pea, Egyptian pea, horse-gram, [in India] Bengal grami

in France, pois chiche, garvance, café français, ceseron, ciceroll, ,

ciseran, garvane, pisette, pois becu, pois blanc, pois ciche, pois cort p

pois de brebis, pois gris, pois pointu, pois de Malaga, téte de bélier;

in Germany, Kitchererbse ; in Italy, cece; in Spain, garbani

in Portugal, chicaro, grao de bico; in Greece, hrobithi.

In the extra European countries it has received, among othe

malaneh; the dry seed, komos; hims? al-koular ;3 in e

chala, boot, chuna-batoola? boot-kaley ;+ in Egypt, homos ;*

Hebrew, etsech;3 in Hindustani, but, hurbury, chenna ;* =

Malay, kadala;* in Persia, nakhuda;5 in Sanscrit, cham

sanakha, harimanthaka ;5 in Tamil, cadalie? kadalai;’ in Tele

senegaloo,' senegalu, senaga ;5 in Burmah, kaduda’

CHICKLING Verc. Lathyrus sativus L.

This in many regions is rather a forage-plant than a vege

but in the south and southwest parts of Europe, as in Italy

Spain, and also in Turkey® and India, as well as elsewhere,

grown for the use of the seed in soups, etc., ° as well as m

manner of green peas.* It has been cultivated in Sout

Europe from a remote period, and finds mention by Columella

and Palladius.? According to Heuze, it came from S

France in 1640; but this must refer to some variety,

appears to have been well known to the herbalists of the

teenth century, as by Dodonzus* in 1556, and others. It

included among American vegetables by Burr in 1863,

* Delile, Fl. Ægypt, illust. 2 Birdwood, Veg. Pr

Revs AT A E 4 Drury, Useful Pl. of Tnd., 134

Elliot, Bot. of Ed., vii. 6 Pickering, Ch. Hist., 183

aoon » Veg. Prod. of Bomb., 120. 1° Bon Jardinier, 1832, 603.

= Noisette, Man., 1860, ii. 377. 12 Columella, lib. ii. c. 1i.

1887] - History of Garden Vegetables. 711

- mentions two varieties,—the one with dun, the other with white,

seeds. This latter form was mentioned by Bauhin in 1623.

The European names are, in France, gesse cultivée, gesse

blanche, lentille d’Espagne, dent-de-brebis, pois breton, pois carre ;

in Germany, essbare Platterbse, weisse Platterbse, deutsche Kicher ;

in Flanders, p/atte erwt; in Holland, peul erwt, wiken; in Spain,

arveji; in Spanish America, muelas ;* in Italy, cicerchia cichero.?

In extra European languages: in Bengali, £hesaree, teora ;

_ in Egypt, gilban; in Guzerat, Jang; in Hindustani, £ussoor ;

in Persian, masang ; in Sindh, matar3

Cuicory. Cichorium intybus L.

The wild chicory has been used for time immemorial as a

salad-plant, and, forced in darkness, affords the highly-esteemed

vegetable in France known as barbe-de-capuchin. It has also

large-rooted varieties, and these, when treated in like manner,

form the vegetable known in Belgium as w¢loof.

Whether the chicory was cultivated by the ancients I think

there is reason to doubt, although they knew the wild plant and

its uses as a vegetable. It is not mentioned in the descriptive

list of garden vegetables in use in the thirteenth century, as

given by Albertus Magnus,¢ Ruellius,’ in 1536, mentions two

kinds, but does not imply cultivation; nor does Fuchsius,° in

1542, who likewise names two kinds, one of which is our dande-

lion. It is treated of by Tragus, in 1552; Matthiolus,’ 1558;

the “Adversaria,”9 1570; Lobel, 1576; Camerarius,* 1586;

Dalechampius, 1587; Gerarde,” 1597; but no mention of cultiva-

tion. Althou gh not mentioned in Lyte’s translation of Dodonzus

> (1586) as cultivated, yet in Dodonzus’s “ Pemptades” (1616) it is

;

nd not only to occur wild throughout all Germany, þut to be

_ cultivated in gardens; and this is the first mention of culture

that I note. In 1686, Ray™ says it is sown in gardens and

eurs wild in England, and the seed occurs among seedsmen’s

Supplies in 1726.5

a

- * Vilmorin, Les Pl. Pot., 1883, 241. » 2 Birdwood, I. c. 3 Heuze, L c.

NS = - Magnus, lib. vii. tract ii. c. 2. 5 Ruellius, De Nat. Stirp., 1536, 495-

-» 1542, 679. 7 Tragus, 1552, 272.

-» 1558, 258. : 9 Pena and Lobel, Adv., 1570, 82.

icone Obs., 1576, 114. 11 Camerarius, Epitome, 1586, 285.

e Tag Ty Lugd., 1587, 557. 13 Gerarde, Herbal, 1597, 235-

3 Ray, Hist., 1686, i. 255. 15 Townsend, Seedsman, 1726, 33-

a

At the. irekit time chicory i is grown for the use of its leaves

in salads, and for its root to be used as an adulterant for coffe. 1

The smooth, tapering root, which seems such an improved fom)

_ in our modern varieties, is beautifully figured by Camerarius in f

1586. The common chicory grown for salads js but the will :

plant little changed, and with the divided leaves as figured by)

the herbalists. The entire leaved form, with also a tendency to

a red midrib, also occurs in nature, and may be considered & :

the near prototype of the Madgeburg large-rooted, and of the

red Italian sorts. The variegated chicory, the curled-leavel, 7

and the broad-leaved may have their prototypes found in nature .

if sought for, but at present must remain unexplained. wE

may remark, however, that variation in nature is of very ar i

mon occurrence, and quote from Vilmorin: that M. Jacquin ha

fixed from the wild sort varieties, which he has named the deni-

fine; demi-fine à feuilles jaunes ; demi-blonde, forme de laiit

(Cae brune, forme de laitue pommee. These varieties are not

now, however, in gardens. The common, the spotted-leare ed

and the large-rooted were in French culture in 1826.”

The chicory, or succory, is called, in France, chichoree sane

chicorée amère, chicorée barbe de capucin ; in Germany, T

bittere Cichorie ; zm Denmark, Sichorie ; in Italy, cicoria saa

radicchio radicia ; in Spain, Achicoria amarga o agreste; in

tugal, chicoria ; in Arabic, hinduba, Shikorieh3 Chikourich ;'

Persia, Kasnee ;3 at Constantinople, korla’ by the Greeks;

- Japan, 4io, tsisa§

1 Vilmorin, , Les Pl. Po .

ge Dict, du — x et os es ie cues seta: Prod. of Bont

Š 35; 12. $ Forskal, Fl. Egypt.-Arab.

.

(To be continued.)

.

1887] Conventionalism in Ancient American Art. ' 713

CONVENTIONALISM IN ANCIENT AMERICAN

A

BY J. S. KINGSLEY.

3 es paper recently published by Prof. F. W. Putnam, under

the above title," is a nice piece of archeological and artistic

research. The complete paper is a short one, the points being

brought out by the illustrations rather than by the description in

the text, of which the following is a rather full abstract.. Jt is,

however, but just to say that the full series of illustrations eluci-

date the points far more completely than the few which are

reproduced here.

The evolution of the ceramic art itself is an oft-told tale——

first, the clay-lined basket, and, last, the potter’s wheel. The

ordinary savage ornament is also well known; but occasionally

one runs across, even in the pottery of the American aborigines,

examples where the potter has the true artistic spirit. He has

first taken a realistic representation of some familiar form, and

adapted it to the vessel in hand. In course of time, as Professor

Putnam says, as art increased power of expression, it progressed

beyond mere realism and led to the representation of an object

: by certain conventional characters, without that close adherence

to nature which was at first necessary to a clear understanding

of the idea which was intended to be conveyed. Our author

was led toa study of this conventionalism by the long series of

_ pottery contained in the Museum of American Archzology and

Ethnology at Cambridge, from the stone graves of the Cumber-

land Valley, in Tennessee, and the burial mounds of Missouri _

and Arkansas. The extent of these collections can be realized

when it is said that they were derived from over six thousand of

the stone graves and almost innumerable mounds, all examined

in the most thorough and scientific manner. This study led to

an examination of the other pottery in the museum, and it was

found that a similar conventionalism was wide-spread, though not

= universal, and that similar artistic results by no means implied

_ Community of descent or even contact of the tribes.

To illustrate the points involved, we would first call attention

* Bulletin of the Essex Institute, vol. xviii., 1887.

714 Conventionalism in Ancient American Art. [Aug,

to the three-legged kettles or tripods from the ancient graves

in Chiriqui, Panama, of which the museum possesses an ex-

tensive series, two of which are represented in Plate XXIV. Itis

well known that the primitive clay pot had a round bottom, and,

to prevent this from overturning, it was propped up on stones.

It marked a step in advance when the support was transferred to

Fic. r. Fic. 2.

the kettle itself by the addition of legs, as represented in the

right-hand figure of the plate referred to. Here was 4 chanet

for the artist, and, realizing the adaptability of these legs tat

reproduction of the form of a fish, he availed himself of i& s

shown in the figure at the left. On each of the feet of the 1#

we see the wide and projecting mouth, the eyes, the per

ral

ee ee

PLATE XXIV.

1887] Conventionalism in Ancient American Art. 715

fins, and a forked tail. The place where the dorsal fin would

naturally come was cut away before baking, so as to prevent

cracking. It is noticeable that in all the specimens there is no

attempt to represent the anal fin, which normally should be on

the opposite or inner side of the leg.

In Figs. 1 to 4 four legs from similar pots are represented in

order to show the development of the conventional idea of a fish,

and especially of the dorsal fin, from a realistic representation.

It should be said that a fuller series of illustrations would make

the transitions less marked. In Fig. 1 we have a highly realistic

representation of a fish, in which mouth, eyes, pectoral fins, and

tail are well showin, while the dorsal fin is crowded to a position

in front of the eyes,—a conventional position adopted from the

_ necessities of those legs where the slit was in the position where

716 Conventionalism in Ancient American Art. ‘(Aug

the fin really would be. Here, too, the tail has become conver

tionalized, while the ventrals are wanting. In Fig. 2 the ventral f

are shown, and the mouth, with its armature of teeth. Her,

Fic. 5. Fic. 6.

in its proper place, the conventionalism has gone further, s

only a rude mouth remains to show the fish. The series te go

its extreme in Fig. 4, where all but the dorsal fin have al

sieket and yet the fact is evident, from a comparison, of al

Series, that a fish was meant, though reduced to its simpl”? |

conventional form.

1887] Conventionalism in Ancient American Art. 717

In the series represented in Figs. 5 to 8 the conventional evo-

lution of the mouth is shown. In Fig. 1 we have the realistic

mouth, but in Fig. 5 a second, beak-like mouth has been inserted

in advance of the regular mouth, with its armature of teeth,

Behind the true mouth are deep lines cut in the clay, as if to

Y

hiiu l ri

Fic. 8.

give emphasis to the jaws. The pectoral and ventral fins are

Still of a realistic type, but the caudal is represented by a rounded

knob. In Fig. 6 the mouth is represented by a projecting mass

of clay above the opening in the foot, in which are deep lines

Corresponding to those of the last figure, while the grooved.

Patch on either side of the opening represents the pectoral fins.

718 Conventionalism in Ancient American Art.

All other features have disappeared. In the next figure th

pointed jaw alone is retained in the mass of clay above the

opening, and in the last figure (Fig. 8) the climax of this cor)

ventionalism is reached, where all that remains of the fish con |

sists in two pairs of oblique lines representing the jaws. f

These prehistoric people of Chiriqui carved in stone as wel

as in clay, and were remarkable for their work in copper and |

gold. In all these materials similar realism and a similar devel.

opment of the conventional can be traced. Other animals, evel

the human form, are thus treated ; but in the museum collections

the series of fish forms is the largest and most perfect, and hence |

was selected for illustration. tf

In the stone graves of Tennessee a similar evolution is ob

servable. First, we have a rudely realistic representation of at |

animal-head upon the sides of the pot; but this has resulted it |

an unsymmetrical form. This was improved by the addition of

knobs, which mjght be called nose and tail, and afterwards by

handles. In the mean time conventionalism steps in, and te p

features, which once were highly realistic, become represented |

by six round knobs of equal size, and realistic work has entirely £

given way to symmetry, and a common cooking-pot has becom

chaste in style as a result of a development of artistic feeling.

A somewhat similar development is traced in the ancient potter!

of Nicaragua, and the result is much the same. In specimen

pot itself, and either the head and tail or the dorsal and anal fi

alone remain as handles, Again, the frog was similarly treat

as were the bird, human figure, and squash. From an examine

tion of the collections in the museum it would be easy to met |

clude that the jars in the shape of a woman were evolved fi

the squash-like form, were it not, as Professor Putnam says, t

€ realistic precedes the conventional in every instance.

As was said above, this conventionalism does not occur among

all the peoples of ancient America. In ancient Mexico, ag

: Sunce, the higher ceramic art was symbolical rather than ®

* Yentioual. So, too, the ancient Peruvians west of the

_ influenced by the Aymaras, or their predecessors in the

of Lake Titicaca, were lacking in conventionalism,

highest art was a realistic one, in which was often added

— Septeasion of action. In the region of Lake Titicaca 4

eg

1887] Comparative Chemistry of Higher and Lower Plants, 719

type of art-expression existed, which seems to show a remark-

able resemblance to those Old-World forms which reached its

culmination in the classical type of the Mediterranean peoples.

A study of these features of ceramic art enables us to draw

many interesting and important conclusions. At times, as in

the case of the reappearance of the same forms similarly treated

in the stone graves of Tennessee and the mounds of Missouri

and Arkansas, we are led to the view that they had, at least, a

point of contact. In other instances we have evidence of mi-

grations, while, again, in other cases, where both contact and

migration are out of the question, we are able to trace the de-

velopment of that innate principle of the human mind which,

among all peoples, finds its expression in ornament and art. We

see that the artistic powers of man, like the languages, were

developed in distinct centres, and from primitive forms of ex-

pression, which, of necessity, had principles in common; and

this will amply account for the reappearance of the same forms

in widely-separated regions. The early methods of ornamenta-

tion of pottery were by finger-marks, scratches, cross-lines, and

the impression of cords and fabrics, and these are found almost

the whole world over. It is only when steps in advance are

taken that the art of each nation receives its distinctive impress.

COMPARATIVE CHEMISTRY OF HIGHER AND

LOWER PLANTS:

BY HELEN C. DE S. ABBOTT.

pa coming before a popular audience to present a special sub-

ject like Plant Chemistry, I do so in hopes perhaps of

showing some of the less familiar sides of plant-life. The chief

idea of the remarks I am about to make is one that has not

Occupied to any great extent the minds of botanists and chemists,

_ and if it be not true, at least, no other hypothesis has been sug-

_ ested than the one I will indicate to account for the chemical

compounds of the vegetable kingdom.

_* Lecture delivered in the course given under the auspices of the Philosophical,

Anthropological, and Biological Societies in the United States National Museum,

__ Washington, April 23, 1887. : |

z BY se 25

Ons

720 Comparative Chemistry of Higher and Lower Plants,

_ On past occasions? I have spoken of certain chemical com

ponds in relation to plant morphology and evolution. The fats

then advanced tended to show a chemical progression in plants, |

and a mutual dependence between chemical constituents and |

change of vegetable form, and in the following pages I vil

this idea prominently before you. i

_ Certain condensations of force on our planet are known a l

chemical bodies. By usual methods they cannot be split up into |

‘component parts, hence are denominated elements. However, |

we have reason to believe that these so-called elements are it

reality compounds themselves, formed in the cosmic laborator

from still simpler aggregations of matter.

In mineralogy the series of chemical formations are doubtless |

the result of evolution, from the more simple elements to the :

complex structure of the crystalline rocks.” |

The plant kingdom may be considered as a third and higher

stage; it contains in its structure combinations of the element

carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, sulphur, phosphorus, @ a i

compounds derived from the mineral world. K]

The essence which underlies all force and life may be tracei !

through these three planes as a law of progression, little

in its general course, though ever giving wee involved pro”

for solution, accor ding t to thei itv , from element

and minerals to plants, and even to attimals.

The line separating each of these conditions of matter is i

distinct, “the individual of the one encroaches upon the oe

of the other ;”3 as a spiral coil is of a single thread, so “

in all her manifestations constitutes a unity,” 4 and the ro

the spiral present each stage parallel, but in reality a contin

~ Analogies should not be given too much weight, but from

merous facts the above statenients seem theoretically reas

-and may be provisionally accepted. The possibility of €

evolution of the elements, in itself, is not only one of ihe

T. Ceitein of Plants considered in Relation to their Morph

Evolution.” Riattl bė Chem. Sec. of the A. A. r S. at Buffalo, T

__ Stract published in the Botanical Gazette, vol. xi., October, 1886. “The

Basis of Plant Forms,” Lecture delivered before the Frais Institute, $7

pia, 1887. Franklin Institute al.

2 Mineral Physi Physiography. By T. S Hunt. Boston,

3 The Chemical Basis of Plant Forms. By Helen C. De S. Abbott.

*T. Sterry Hunt, page 13,

1887] Comparative Chemistry of Higher and Lower Plants, 721

absorbing questions of the moment for investigation, but the

evolution of compounds from these elements and their possible

influence upon the external forms of plants is of equal interest.

That directive force which controls the different groupings of

atoms in a molecule under the solid, liquid, or gaseous forms of

matter, manifests itself in still more complicated conditions in

each grade of the chemical compounds of living cells, and thus

from the single cell to the highest of plants is ever active.

- It is not my wish to claim for plant chemistry more than the

facts at my disposal will allow; though in the past, and this

should not be overlooked, without the aid of the imagination to

penetrate the avenues of the unknown, many of our well-estab-

lished scientific facts would still be buried from sight.

The chemical analysis of the dead plant and the study of the

chemical changes occurring in the living plant are among our

means for some of these investigations; and much of all the

knowledge derived from each field of chemical research may be

utilized in aiding to unravel the mystery of these changes in the

vegetable cell.

in the mineral kingdom certain elements are invariably asso-

ciated with others, as nickel with cobalt; and in plants we find

not only two or more compounds invariably present together,—

îe., tannin and starch in the tannin groups, lime and saponin in

the pink family, Caryophyllacez,’ resins and saponin in all of

the saponin-containing groups, and sugar and silica in the

grasses, Gramineze,—but also in certain plant groups we notice

the predominance of special compounds, and their absence in

other groups. The grouping of these compounds in definite

association must bear some relation to their respective sequence

and formation, and cannot be the result of accident. That the

; finchona plant does not manufacture the alkaloids of the poppy, |

t each its own particular series of compounds, illustrates this. `

I have said, elsewhere, “ the chemical compounds of plants

do not occur at random. Each stage of growth and develop-

_ Ment has its own particular chemistry. . . . The result of ex-

_ Periment shows that the presence of certain compounds is es-

-sential to the vigor and development of all plants, and particular `

r ži Die Pfanzenstoffe, by Hilger and Husemann, p. 532; E. v. Wolff, J. pr- Chem.,

A. 24; lii. 86; Wolf, Panien a 1881, 144, 145-

? *The Chemical Basis of Plant Fi

_ TOL XX1—No, 8. ee

4

_ for its intellectual attainments, although its members woul”

722 Comparative Chemustry of Higher and Lower Plants.. f

compounds to the development of certain plants.” It maybe

inferred that “plant chemistry and morphology are ‘elated

Future investigation will demonstrate this relation.” te

The theory of evolution, which underlies all mineral ani

organic forms, comprises the evolution of the component parts

of the whole, and, since the structural bases of minerals ani

plants are chemical compounds, their evolution must necessarily

be included in a study of plant-life. Whether this life reveal

itself in the perfume of sweet flowers, or in the manifold forms

of vegetation, from the simple mass of plant-jelly to the majestic

forest-tree, its dependence upon matter invokes the most eagt

desire to acquaint ourselves with its various manifestations. 7

When matter, through chemical change, exhibits propertie

of absorption, metabolism, excretion, reproduction, contractility,

automatism, and irritability, it is said to be living. In this cot

dition it is called protoplasm. This substance is very complet

and of undetermined composition, though its proximate const

tution is known? It is always present where life, as defined,

found, apparently the same in the lower as in the higher plants.

The lowest forms of plants, plasmodia, are irregular-shap%

masses of jelly, undifferentiated in form, function, and chemi

composition. This living jelly is described “as a coto

albuminoid united with more or less water.”? ,

tion, and lying in contact with a firm elastic membrane CaF

the cell-wall ; also, like it, closed on all sides, and consisting

cellulose, water, and inorganic matter. Some of the Alg®

all higher plants are congregations of these cells grou

tissues and organs, and their albuminoid contents are

going continual change; in life it is a building-up process

food being supplied from the gases, water, and inorgamle

stances of the surroundings, and elaborated in the plant's °

laboratory to meet its needs, Mee

The vegetable kingdom does not usually claim our 4

z Reinke and Rodewald, Berlin, 1881; Physiological Botany, by Gut

-1885, p. 197.

+

Lo

1887] Comparative Chemistry of Higher and Lower Plants. 723

tainly seem to possess greater chemical skill than a higher race

of beings exhibit in their laboratories. Some few of this higher

race are “ going to take lessons” how to construct proteids and

carbo-hydrates as we are told our now automatic cousins were

once taught to do; though man fails to consider that it may be

a lost art, and the secret has died with the plants in a “ catage-

netic” decline.

All plants and their products are composed. of two general

classes of compounds,—volatile and fixed. The former, on in-

cineration of the plant, is transformed into gases, leaving the

_last as so-called ash-constituents.

I will very briefly refer to the sources of the substances which

go to the building of the plant structure. Green plants derive

their carbon from the carbon dioxide of the atmosphere, and

even from complex organic compounds, since Darwin’ has

shown that insectivorous plants, by means of their modified

leaves, are able to absorb flies and other small insects.

Plants which do not contain chlorophyll, as fungi, take their

carbon from complex compounds of decaying organic matter.

. Not only do all the so-called organic compounds of plants con-

tain carbon, but it is found also in the form of carbonates.”

Hydrogen is absorbed by all plants in the form of water, or

ammonia and its compounds, or in complex substances, as

Mentioned above, Oxygen is taken up by plants free or in

combination in water or in salts, and there are six possible

Sources of nitrogen supply; but I will not delay by going into

this subject.3

- Sulphur and phosphorus are constituents of proteids, and are

derived from inorganic compounds. In addition to these the

elements essential to the nutrition and maintenance of the life

of all plants are potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron in the case

; of green plants, its absence producing the condition of etiola- -

tion; and, in certain cases, chlorine. Silicon, fluorine, manga-

_ ‘Rese, sodium, lithium, rubidium, cæsium, barium, strontium,

_ aluminium, zinc, copper, arsenic, titanium, iodine, and bromine

- have also been found among the ash-ingredients of certain

* Insectivorous Plants. * Adm Phys, et Chim., Berthelot.

The Economical Aspect of Agr. Chem., by H. W. Wiley, Proc. A. A. A. S.,

= XXXyv,, 1886, ; ;

at,

owe

_ insoluble salts exist in the tissues of plants.

-general agreement in the composition of their ashes, while p!

_ and the penny cress, in zinc soils.4 In the leaves of the

: essential inorganic constituents will depend upon their

to the changes in the vegetable cell. a

Ward to the leaves, the largest percentage being found 1

_ younger portions of the growing plant, and I have observed

Same principle on a more general scale running throug”

` | entire plant kingdom, for the largest ash-percentages

724 Comparative Chemistry of Higher and Lower Plants,

These ash-ingredients are usually present in each plantei

in the cell-wall, imbedded in the cellulose and partly in the cot

tents of the cell. The salts of the alkaline metals, sulphatsy

chlorides of magnesium and calcium, also soluble silicic adi

as in Equisetum hiemale, occur in solution in the cell-sap, "i

The differences in the composition of the ash of plants shor ,

that each plant is endowed with a specific absorbent capacity ;

thus a gramineous plant? is able to withdraw relatively lag

quantities of silica from the soil than a leguminous plant. be |

latter can only do so to a very slight extent. $

he absorbent capacities of allied species are very differ |

Again, individuals of the same species yield different asi”

stituents, depending upon their vigor, and at different periods 0

growth the ash-composition varies, In a summary of ep

mental results it has been stated that? “similar kinds of peg

and especially the same parts of similar plants, exhibit =

which are unlike in their botanical characters are also unlike”

the proportions of their fixed ingredients.” au

-ertain marked varieties of plants appear to be peculiar *

and developed by certain soils, as the violet, var. cam

of their use or harmfulness to the plant, but the absorpti

< othe ash-constituents of a plant increase from the roo?

co

among those plants lower in the evolutionary scale, w

; Estee, Ber. d. deut, chem., Ges. xi. 2 Wolff, Aschenana’j

Uo Crops Grow, by S. W. Johnson, London, p. 145- 3

: raum and Risse, Sachs, Exp. Physiologie, 153.

Amer, Phil. Soc, Trans., H. C. De S. Abbott.

1 887] Comparative Chemistry of Higher and Lower Plants. 725

correspond to the larger ash-percentage of younger, or for-

mative, parts of the growing plants. Some of these lower groups,

as the diatoms of the Algz and the vascular cryptogams,’ con-

tain enormously large ash-percentages; in the Horse-Tail,

Equisetum,? 60 per cent. alone of silicic acid. The Lycopodium

in addition to 14 per cent. of silicic acid, contains 27 per cent. of

alumina and 2.5 per cent. of manganese. Among comparatively

lower plants the willow and‘poplar* are rich in ash-constituents ;

the formers contains 1.53 per cent. of manganese. Members of

the sedge order.and grasses contain large quantities of silica;

the rice-hull, 98 per cent. Various species of apetalous plants

on the same evolutionary plane with these groups also contain a

large percentage of ash-constituents, as the Salicornia, Salsola,

Chenopodium, and Atriplex, also the Sugar-Beet.

I have stated what chemical elements are essential for the life

of the lower, as well as the higher, plants; also those which may

occur in certain plants; and I have spoken of the two general

classes of compounds of which plants are built as the volatile

and ash constituents. The four elements carbon, hydrogen,

oxygen, and nitrogen enter into the composition of the first

class of compounds, and the grouping of these elements with

each other and to the ash-elements constitute what is called

plant chemistry. :

-As certain chemical elements are always present in plants, so

Certain changes occur and compounds are found generally, more

especially among the albuminous constituents. However, even

this statement should be restricted to saying that the first chem-

ical reactions between these elements are probably identical at

the start, the subsequent compounds formed depending upon the

evolutionary stage.

The infinite variety of these compounds is only equalled by

the numerous genera and species of the vegetable kingdom ;

though certain compounds frequently occur, as starch, sugar, .

MERK and other bodies, correlated in special groups of plants

wW .

and distinct properties. For example, the true

* Die Pflanzensenstoffe, p. 323, W. Lange; Bil. Ver., xi. 822.

* Ann. Chim. Phys., xi. 62, 208; Ann. Chim. Pharm., 77, 295.

3 Flückiger, Pharmacognosie, Kamp; Ann. Chim. Pharm., 100, 300.

* Durocher and Lalaguti, Liebig’s agric. Chemie, 8 Aufl. 371.

5 E, Riechardt, Chem. pharm. Centralbl., 268, 567-

-

- _ crystalline form,

Has present in

726 Comparative Chemistry of Higher and Lower Plants, [Aug

starch of the cryptogams will be found gelatinous in Alge,

replaced in Fungi as glycogen, and only in the lowest of the

flowering plants does it occur in the simplest stratified form;

from this stage to the highest of plants, the Composite, in which —

it occurs as a crystalline substance called inulin, it may be

from plane to plane of plant-group development in a succession |

of stratification until it reaches its highest point in our most

evolved plants. So strongly marked-are these varieties of starch-

forms that some investigators, notably Nägeli, have proposed

this means for the identification of many plant families.

The many kinds of vegetable sugars known to chemists also

have their locations, not only during different stages of the indi-

vidual plant-growth and in different parts of the plant, as synat- |

throse,* the especial sugar of the unripe grain of rye and wheat

but also in certain families, some one kind of sugar will prè

dominate in many of the individuals. The tannins of the oak,

beech, and poplar are not those of the higher plants.

t a certain stage of plant evolution, glucosides, substances

capable of splitting up and yielding, among other products,

sugar, appear. I have observed in those plants where large pê% |

centages of such substances are found a diminished re

of starch and sugar,? or their absence, notably in soap-bark am

species of the Yucca.

` The waxes, oils, camphors, resins, acids, and other a :

Seontable compounds might be similarly cited as offering chat

acteristic properties in various plants in which they appea! but

the examples given are ample to illustrate my point, that |

chemical compounds of plants should be considered from ne

sides, viz.:

I. In their own development through many plant group al

from a gelatinous or undifferentiated compound to a po lymet, q

a substance of the same chemical formula having a $0

2. In their succession of changes which may be observei

* Ri Of Senda, bp A, Muni Ana. A 4003 Jove :

Soe F Feb. pag 4 173. F untz, Ann, Agronom., xii. 399 !

Eigse

- Soc., Yucca angustifolia,

+

1887] Comparative Chemistry of Higher and Lower Plants. 727

3. The location as predominant of some one or associated

compounds only in certain plants on similar evolutionary planes.

These three conditions correspond to what was stated at the

beginning, that a law of universal progression may be traced

wherever matter or force exists.

` Tiftreis no absolutely certain knowledge of the precise character

of the chemical changes which these plant compounds undergo,

though we have some information about them. Investigations

are being vigorously pushed in this department of plant-life, and

it may be reasonably inferred that definite facts will be obtained

on many of these subjects.

It would seem from the latest researches that the albuminous

or proteid compounds to which: life is essentially linked are

ed from a compound containing nitrogen, called an amide, |

and some carbo-hydrate; its sulphur and phosphorus supply

being derived from inorganic sources. This amide is probably

asparagine or a related body. Various suggestions have been

offered to explain its formation in the plant, from the breaking

down of protoplasm to its construction from simple nitrogenous

and carbon compounds, and among the latest investigations,

the results show that the formation of asparagine is independent

of carbo-hydrates, and that the amide formed is not a by-product

of the interchange of matter within the plant. The author of

these experiments considers that asparagine is formed by the

_ WMoñ of inorganic nitrogen compounds and malic acid within

_ the plant, the acid being derived from the carbo-hydrates.

7 Other nitrogenous compounds, as the alkaloids, for example,

; are probably formed from the complex albuminoids, and in fungus

: plants which are especially rich in nitrogenous compounds alka-

' sare common. ; ;

S It has been generally held that alkaloids with resins and some

: her compounds occurring in plants are waste products, but

p Sannot be accepted as final. The researches? of Selmi,

Gautier, Etard, Brieger, and others have broken down an imagin-

ey distinction between plants and animals which is of in-

terest in this connection. They show that the production of

Uk tül

Jassy Landw. Versuch. Stat., 1886, 326-335; Jour. Chem. Soc., p. 70,

1 FS J a |

et gee @origine Animale, Par Dr. L. Huhowneng, Paris; Chem. News,

E

by M. Edouard Heckel,3 and which is represented in the table. ;

i x

‘ See . Stat., 1886, 370, 380; Jour. Chem. Soc., Jan. 1887; P- fe i

T. On the variations of Sucrose in Sorghum Saccharatum, by H. Wee

Botanical Gazette, vol. xii., March, 1887. :

~ 7 Revue Scientifique, 13 Mars, 1886,

- My time will not allow a discussion of the changes of starch

; few years from former views held in plant chemistry, I will mer -

_ tion that sugar is not, in all plants, a reserve or plastic body, 31% _

_ centage after the maturity of growth marks the decay an l

prepare for a consideration of the compounds which are sor

dom. In treating of this subject I shall have so frequent 0%

728 Comparative Chemistry of Higher and Lower Plants, [Aug

alkaloids is a general function common to all living cells,

whether they be Bacteria or the cells of living animals. ,

In the animals with their excretory functions these poisonous —

substances would be readily eliminated from the system, but it

seems to me that in the absence ‘of homologous organs in plast ;

these compounds might be used again for the building up d

tissue and prevent the accumulation of products detrimental to

plants, and the recent investigations of Kellner? on the composi-

tion of tea-leaves show that this view is not unlikely, for he |

states that the non-albuminoid nitrogen is almost wholly absent

during the latter stages of growth, being found as theine; in thè

seeds the albumen has increased, but no theine is found, thus the :

author believes that positive ptoof is afforded that the alkaloids

are a decomposition product of albumen, and capable of agait |

forming albumen like asparagine and glutamine. oa

It will not be possible in this place to ènter more fully into

the details of the chemical changes going on within the plant

into “sugar, and conversely, nor a review of the many steps "

the transformation of protoplasm into the simpler products %

cellulose, chlorophyll, and other substances; and it may be We" |

to say that the ideas of physiologists in regard to these chang? |

are unstable, since the acquisition of new facts seems to unset’ ]

former-opinions. But, to illustrate the revolution within the lat |

in some few (for example, the sorghum-cane?) it must be ea

garded rather as a waste product, and its advent in larger P

plant and attends its euthanasia. oe

I have desired, by entering into all of the above particulars. * |

by these chemical successions and occur through the plant king

sion to speak of the different plant families that, for convenient

I shall use the order of evolution for flowering plants prop% oe

nN

a

oR: SCH

EME

5 a E OF PLANT EVOLUTION

x Apetalous. By M. Epova 4

8 y £g [ Casmarine RD HECKEL ~

x 35 pS dex, Sali Myriceæ, Juglan- $ Monocotyledons.

nE < jo alicinex, Carylacese, = 2 Lemnacezx, . Di ;

S Eg Eei Gopra, Beeulaceee, y 2 $] Naiadew, d Cupulifior icotyledons.

pind r 1 eS. 7

Š as 5 > 7 Pi ux, Plantaneæ, Potameæ, Thalamiflores,

oe 2 8 iperaceæ C

SBE GE] Cioran iori a} Fea

g AJEL Naa Ai Jugeginem, Aroidem, Pan

N r , Nepentheæ, n= ne Cyclantheæ, Pal

, ~

$ S g { Monimiaceæ, Urticeæ, Cyn PERTEN

8 os 5a crambeæ, Ce A O- eG. ©, i è

S g TE] mien “etic, Norem a [ Operen, Graminem, Reti- ç R

sg ÈB] Polygonee, Ama Moeis A1 sides Pace. oai Fieoide P

l ES Sca BS | Dasellei Ai marantacer, f | Je ex, Junceæ, Counce icoids, { tril

: D E nE -ia tocarpez. enopodex, Ar- at 3 ydropeltideæ,

Po rog y

> RUY

“tS Sia A Phytolacceze I *

S = 64 3 latices „` Laurineæ, My-

- 3 ceæ Lil

PEP 7) mice ‘Gmc i ! ae Te ee

A ano ; pas a ’ ydroch A

Š Â Buus Geek TH | £ Arkote emaa See: : a ng MA. Pari

È a mèle, Nycta ee Thy -a sae? m Tillandsiæ, Ma ales, Tilio- Malvales Dani -

S 4 d HS gineæ, ae ingiberacem, Can- f Legumi petelous-Isogynes, s o-

A & of g sarineæ. : { minous slani

a, $28 338 ‘ .8 Rhamnal ; ere tal

A Š 3 § 3 as { Aristolochiaceze. Ae { Apostasiacese | als, Bicarpels, allies ous-Anisogynes, Labi-

S 238 7 3 A Orchideæ, A i

$ Isr pocynezx, 5

m ozs i Asclepiadsss.

: ER -

A i 3 : 2; Corysanthérie. E Ca te EPEE |

: aces,

: 8 : areara, De

s * o $, Synanthérie. : Se Be

TA

f y

E

K hae

730 ` : Hornless Ruminants, {Ag

The author classes all these plants under three main parali |

divisions, from the lowest of the apetalous,' mono- and dicoty-

ledonous groups to their respective highest plants. These three

main columns are divided at the same point into three gener

planes. On plane 1 are all plants of simplicity of floral elemens

or parts; for example, the black walnut with the simple flow:

contained in a catkin, On plane 2 are plants of multiplécity 0

floral elements, as the many petals and stamens of the ros;

and, finally, the higher plants, as the orchids among the mon

cotyledons, and the Composite among the dicotyledonous plants

come upon the third plane, or the division of condensation

floral parts.

These three characteristics, simplicity, multiplicity, and ~

densation of floral elements, are correspondingly repeated 1

_ each of the three horizontal planes, and even in individual ords

in their lowest and highest plants.? To facilitate the compreh

sion of this classification I have assembled a sufficient nu

of the plants themselves, so arranged as to place before yout

living representation of this complicated diagram.

(To be concluded.) tf

HORNLESS RUMINANTS.

hes group of mammals known as Ruminants exhibits

BY R. C. AULD.

tain characters more or less dependent and highly ast

Among these is the possession of horns. The Rumit

* Heckel’s division of apetalous plants from mono- and dicotyledonous r

has been criticised by some botanists as an artificial method of classificatio™ sgt

sed praeter classifications have been declared, on botanical authority, be <

A ota „the bh a Pt 12.4 ry pologize for introducing r BSS

She has found his scheme to answer hee Jirjis provisionally, Mor per so

oher classifications, atid she is indebted to him for a means of pon pot e

ject, f which would be otherwise impracticable. Further than this she 1 wid

Ty re ble for advocating the classification, M. Heckel’s table is PU sient

his paper, “Les plantes et la théorie de evolution,” in the evs? ee

* Plate XXV. illustrates this principle for the three horizontal planes, which LA

_ applicable to the orders, es

7

Monorotyledons

Apetalous

PLATE XXV.

Condensation o Floral Ef\ements

Muiiplicity

Floral Ehan

"E

Floral irma

PLATE 1.

Condensed form

Multiple farm

Simple form

1887] i Hornless Ruminants. 731.

frontal bones, to which may be attached, or round which may be

sheathed, horny appendages or coverings. But all of the group

do not possess these; camels, etc., and two tribes of deer are nor-

mally hornless. And among the others, as it is our object to

show, the horns are by no means -constant, or even necessary.

In reference to their horns, Ruminants may be thus arranged:

a, Camels (including Llamas, etc.) . i . Without horns.

6, Giraffes, horns persistent.

¢. Deer (including the hornless deer), hors Solid horns.

deciduous.

d. Antelope, Goats, Sheep, Oxen, horns per- __

sistent? ; : : ; ; Sheathed horns.

In reference to the particular character that is to engage

attention, the group may be divided in two divisions :

I. Normal hornless Ruminants.

II. Special hornless Ruminants.

t n a a ee ee eee

I. Normat Horniess RUMINANTS.

Camels, llamas, alpacas, guanacos, chevrotains, water, and

musk-deer are the normal hornless Ruminants, in both sexes.

-All these have, however, efficient canine teeth.

II. Specrat HORNLESS RUMINANTS.

Under this division come all those instances, among others

than those just named, which it has been the object to investigate.

Giraffes Though the giraffe seems normally to be horned in

both Sexes, a description of the horris is necessary. The head

_ ‘adorned with three prolongations of the bone, two of which,

_ inthe usual place of horns, are generally described as such,

_ “fey are covered with a velvety skin similar to those of the

a deciduous-horned deer at their first growth, but which does not

fll off; and at the tip they are surmounted by strong bristly

z: irs. In the adult the internal structure is hard and solid, but

R the young there has been observed an appearance of a cellular

Sentre, nourished by vessels. The third protuberance is in the

centre of the skull, and appears as a rounded knob, and is of a

__ {SY spongy texture (Fardine). Both sexes are born with the

Om of a certain distinct development; they are persistent

7 * I know of exceptions to this. :

y

3 Wyvis, Inverness-shire, Scotland, shot a hornless stag in

_ autumn of 1880. Mr. Ross then wrote: “ When I tell yo

_I never before saw a similar stag dead, you see that it must

_ this great forest seen hummelied stags,—that is, full-grow?

Be : k. The stag killed the other day is a splendid animal, W

Ing 16 stones, perfectly clean.” ` 2

d

732 ; Flornless Ruminants.

throughout life. I have not discovered any instances of teff

absence of these peculiar horns. But their structure im ther)

earlier stages seems somewhat similar to some developments it .

hornless deer, etc. , $

- Deer—In deer the hornseare solid. They have a peculiar

manner of growth familiar to most. After the third year, whe)

their horns are named “antlers,” they are annually shed and

annually reproduced in a more and more complex manner til |

they attain their limit of “royalty” and maturity. This proces)

as will soon appear, it is of the utmost interest to notice. t

may be termed the individual-life development, and this it wil |

be of importance to compare with the species-life developmet |

With a single exception of the Arctic reindeer, all female)

are normally hornless. The exception in this case must prove

of advantage to the female of this species. It may enable bi

by the shovel-like processes that overhang the brow, to procu

access to food in her snow-bound home. Abortive or ru¢ wg:

tary horns occasionally appear in female deer. The male also

Srequently without them. jt

Lord Walsingham and Sir Ralph Payne-Gallway, Bart, in t

book on “Shooting” (Badminton Library) give some inter pH

notes on Deer by Lord Lovat, who says, “ Sometimes stags ™ K

no horns. These are called humle stags. If naturally th T

otherwise perfect, they will thrash any other stags of their o"

Ae

“4

ie

ier

.

Tare specimen. It is a ‘ hummelled’® stag. I have frequen

without horns. I once shot a stag of that description pi

_ Ina note in the “ Naturalist” department of Zhe Field (I £

I made reference to one of the hornless stags of Ben wy

to that note Mr. Edward Ross, son of the gentleman ee

tioned, writes thus, March 1, from The Rounds, Wimble

M a a

a T

: 1887 ] Hornless Ruminants. 733

“ Allow me to say that hornless or ‘hummel’ stags, as they

are termed in the Highlands, although seldom shot, are not quite

so rare as is often supposed. When a herd of stags is found the

telescopes of the sportsmen are usually directed towards those

with the finest horns, and thus the ‘hummels’ are apt to escape

notice in the crowd; but whenever a herd of several hundred

stags is collected together, it will be found, oftener than not, if

carefully examined with the, glass, to contain one or more ‘ hum-

mels? The stag whose head your correspondent refers to was

shot by me six years ago in Ben Wyvis Forest, Ross-shire,

where it had been known for several years. At the time I shot

it it was in company with about three hundred and fifty other

stags,among which I observed two other ‘hummels’ younger

than the one which I killed.

“In point of size and condition, these stags are in no respect

inferior to their horned brethren. The stag referred to weighed

over sixteen stones, and I recollect seeing another, shot by the

Duke of Westminster in the Reay Forest, Sutherlandshire, which

also exceeded sixteen stones weight, both of these being weighed

‘clean,’—that is, without heart, liver, or entrails. :

“Strange as it may seem, a full-grown ‘hummel’ is sometimes

very formidable in fight. I have seen one during the rutting

season in possession of a large herd of hinds, who succeeded in

driving off all his horned rivals.

“Although devoid of horns, the heads of those which I have

seen have had slight excrescences, concealed by hair and covered

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: B von Nathusius, Altaldensleben, province of Saxony, sup-

Plies the following interesting notes : !

. Hornless stags are of no rare occurrence in some parts of

: ny. I know of their occurrence in a wild state in the

= M untains and in the royal deer-forests of the Gorde oe

734 , Flornless Ruminants.

the province of Hanover, and Letzlingen in this neighborhood

(province of Saxony). They are called by the people “büfe

*flattkopfe’ (flatheads), ‘hermits,’ and perhaps by other populari

names. The last name is derived from the former opinion ti

know them from my own experience, these hornless deer at

battue in the forest of Letzlingen on November 13, 1874 g

was rising three years, judging by the teeth, but badly develope! |

and very poor in venison; he had evidently been rutting, a |

‘I preserved the skull. The“ Hornzapfen’—7.z., the bony

cence on which the horns had to grow—in this case

=

Fic, 1.—Head of Hornless Stag.

_ Pierced the skin, but were covered by hair. This varies,

_ ever, in hornless Stags. I have another skull where the

Most about hornless stags is the Koniglicher Forster

p. Sh aaa aks. | gucner Oe

Forsthaus Rothen, Gorde, province of Hanover. :

1 1887] Hornless Ruminants. 735

“In the Mustrirte Zeitung, published in Leipzig, October 2,

:

= English illustrated papers. This picture confirms the opinion

;

;

;

1

One of these skulls is now in the Museum of the University

_ of Cambridge.

`

Fic, 2—Skull of adult Hornless Roebuck (life-size) shot, July 7, at the halduishle,

province of Saxony, Prussia.

X “Since the above was written,” Herr von Nathusius writes me,

have got notice of a hornless roebuck (Cervus capreolus) that

had been shot some years ago in this neighborhood. I enclose a

sketch” (Fig. 2). The following notes are from Ludwig Beckman:

pi

laving long been familiar with hornless stags as annual vis-

tS to the Göhrde Forest, perhaps the following notes on the

Subject may be of interest: Ag

5 In the German sporting literature both hornless and single-

-omed stags are mentioned since the seventeenth century. Thè —

mer were regarded as unfertile, and called ‘monks’ ; the latter

known as ‘murderers,’ because they were suspected to be

=

_ Stags, nor single-horned stags, are rare, I found, in 1883, am

736 — Hornless Ruminants.

generally soon „destroyed. In Behlen’s Forst und Jagdstih

Subsequently the destruction of the hornless stags at Goll®

Culiar variety, but then so are stags with only one horn,—in #7

devel

Shedding of the horns. Some hornless stags have only

dangerous to the normally horned stags in fighting. In none |

the deer-forests were they found in any number, but appes

here and there singly, seldom leaving any progeny, as they w

for the year 1831 there is the following notice: ‘ Remark

stags in Gohrde.—There have been observed of late years s

with only one horn. The keepers and foresters assert that thsi

single horns are shed annually, and that the animals show®)

signs of infirmity.’ In the same year (1831) a hornless stag Wy

killed in another forest (Evensen) near Hanover, which had ey

dently been rutting hard. In July, 1832, a hornless stag, weg® ©

ing nearly two hundred kilogrammes, was killed in the shoot}

of Graf Bernstorf, Gartow. This stag was first observed in tg

rutting season 1829, with a herd of fifteen to eighteen hinds

chasing the horned stags by striking at them with the fore

In 1850 I found skulls of single-horned stags in several cole

tions at Hanover, and heard from the royal foresters that tegi

were more in Gohrde, and that this variety would be present

was often contemplated, but, to my knowledge, was never“

estly carried out, for it was evident that the experiment WE

not be of much use. Hornless stags are often regarded as 4

there are so many individual variations of this kind, that

impossible to draw a line between stags with and without

in places where hornless stags have long existed.

“In the Göhrde Forest, where neither ‘flat-heads,’ or hor

A

the forty-five stags killed at the royal battue, perhaps five “a

warrantable stags, with fully-developed horns; twenty -five Oe

sized and small, but with rather regularly-shaped horns; ee

stag with only one fully-developed antler on one side ane í

boss* on the other side; some heads with an antler of

eveloped, and one boss projecting, more or less, throug:

skin of the forehead. Then followed two perfect hornless #

with bosses, but, of course, covered entirely with skin. ;

other deer killed that day were several young stags W!

flat r udiments of bosses, which are not visible until the §

stripped of its skin. ove

: In German, Hornzapfen or Rosenstads

Horniess Ruminants. 737

Fic. 4.—Skull of a Horned Stag, after

shedding the horns.

from Mecklenburg, across the Elbe. In the royal forest

ja deer have been breeding in and in for forty years,

Jesa OS pave nevertheless well-developed horns, and Oberforster `

se, of Springe, told me that nota single hornless stag had

tved during all that time.”

penn musk deer, smaller than the roebuck, differ from the

on character of deer in having no horns in either sex. “To

Pensate the want of horns” the males have two long and

~~ canine teeth, which project from the jaw like elephants’

istera oP that they curve inwards, In this tribe the canines,

a being arrested in their embryo stage, as in the other

nits Ruminants, gain full development. The musk-deer

$ moschiferus) are natives of Thibet and Nepaul.

XXIL—No, 8, 50

738 | Hornless Ruminants.

The water-deer (Hydropotes inermis) is a singular deer with-

out horns, and with large projecting canine teeth. It is found in

China in the low meadows and scrubs bordering the rivers, and

is remarkable for its excessive fertility, the female being said to

produce six or seven young at a birth.

“In the large riverine islands of the Yangtsze, above Chin-

kiang,” Mr. Swinhoe tells us, “these animals occur in large t

numbers, living among the tall rushes that are there grown for f

thatching and other purposes. The rushes are cut down in tit

spring; and the deer then swim away to the main shore and te

tire to the cover of the hills. G

“In autumn, after the floods, when the rushes are again grown,

they return with their young, and stay the winter through.

‘They are said to feed on the rush-sprouts and coarse grasses,

and they doubtless often finish off with a dessert from the sweet-

potatoes, cabbages, etc., which the villagers cultivate on the

islands during winter. BEO

“ Fortunately for the deer, the Chinese have an extraordinary

dislike for their flesh. They are therefore only killed for the

European markets, and sold at a low price. The venison ®

coarse and without much taste, but is considered tolerable or

want of better; it is the only venison procurable in Shanghai:

Specimens of the latter are to be seen in the Zoological So ;

ety’s Garden, London. i ;

Passing from living to extinct forms of deer, there has 7 s

noted the discovery of polled or hornless skulls of ‘the. extinct

Irish elk. But some much more remarkable discoveries have

been made in the history of the species-life or development. "i

is found that the horn-development, in complexity, is

parallel to that seen in the development of horns in the individual

Of to-day. Professor Boyd-Dawkins? states that in the lower :

meiocene “no member of the family is possessed of astien

They are hornless, —polled. In the mid-meiocene strata Pe

fessor Gaudry notes small branching erect antlers persist

throughout life, and characterized by the absence of à p

This is considered by Professor Leidy as a form interm® It

between the antlers of deer and the horns of the antelope: w

may fairly claim to be the most rudimentary form of antler p

longing to a type no longer represented. The true starting P

of the antlered deer of the post-meiocene age is presented ion

the simple forked crown of the C. dicroceros of the mid-m™

: 7 "Early Man in Britain.

VO Savings a eee

as

ps

6 `

1887] _ Hornless Ruminants. 739°

cene. The cervine antler of the upper meiocene becomes more

complex, but is still small and erect, like that of the roe. In the

pleiocene it becomes longer and longer, and altogether more -

complex and differentiated, some forms, such as the C. dicranios,

being the most complicated known either in the living or fossil

state. These successive changes are analogous to those which

are to be observed in the development of the living deer,—which

begins with a single point, and increases the number of tines till

the limit is reached. It is obvious from the progressive diminu-

tion in size, and complexity of the antlers in tracing them back

from the pleiocene into the mid-meiocene of Europe, that in the

latter period we are approaching the zero of antler development.

; In the lower meiocene Professor Boyd-Dawkins has failed to

l

;

meet with evidence that the deer possėssed any antlers.

Thus in deer the polled head was the condition of the family

during its embryo age of development; as it is in the living in-

dividual to-day. This was during the upper eocene period,

“when generalized or ancestral forms of deer and antelope” were

universally of the hornless type, whose associates were, also,

tuskless Suidæ and hornless. Rhinoceri.

_ Antelopes—The indications, as just pointed out, of the earliest

forms of antelopes are that in such stage they were unpossessed

of horns, Darwin notes that, “with the antelopes a graduated

Series can. be formed, beginning with the species the females

= which are completely destitute of horns, passing to those

having small rudimentary to those which have fairly well-

biek horns, to those in which they are of equal size in both

Ras. :

T A form between the deciduous solid-horned and the non-

q deciduous hollow-horned has been pointed out by Professor

Gaudy,

oh Position from which the horns spring is a chief point to

_, 1 antelopes, as also that the bony nuclei of the horns are

“sand solid, while in the other Ruminants to be noticed they

are cellular and communicate with the frontal sinuses.

3 would be interesting to make an anatomical comparisom

the og horns of the giraffes, the rosenstock of hornless deer,

diment “stock of antelopes, and the subcutaneous osseous ru-

Permit Sometimes felt in hornless cattle, but space does not

740 ~ Hornless Ruminants. i [Ag q

_ Goats.—Goats, which have been domesticated from the earliest f

times, occur hornless in both sexes. | Jardine’s description is,

“ Horns common to both sexes; rarely wanting in the i.

in domesticated races occasionally absent in both.” Describing £

several species of “common goat,” he says, “ As among the

sheep, we have also a breed, white, and without horns, and here

the distinction of the two forms is’ very close indeed, ant

scarcely to be distinguished, except by the hairy fleece and it-

dication of a beard.” He also describes and figures “two mom

grotesque-looking goats, which have been generally placed 3

varieties of the domestic breeds, and are represented on the next

plate, taken also from the figures of Fred. Cuvier. They are the

Nepaul goat and the goat of Upper Egypt. These two animals |

would almost seem not to be varieties, but distinct species

though, perhaps, there is not so much difference as w€ see 1

some of the races of dogs; and this is one of those points if

natural history which is extremely difficult to prove, eve 3i

the most extensive menageries and most favorable situations

The most marked character in the black figure, the N

goat, is its high and slender figure. The arched form of e ;

nose, occasioned by the convexity of the nasal bones; and tů tf

long and pendulous ears, generally of a white color, OF m p

than the tint of the body. The other figure on the plate,

goat of Upper Egypt, is generally of a brown color, E

high, and somewhat of the form of the Nepaul goat. ker ,

longer and more shaggy, the bones of the nose very much ae

and the appearance of the chin and face, with the exh

the teeth, putting one in mind of the pugs among dor

ears are also ample and pendent; from the neck there is frequ"

hanging two fleshy tubercles, an accessory which is alsa a

times seen in some breeds of sheep. In the female, the age

always very pendent, sometimes almost touching the ae

wi

Professor Low: says of the domestic goats, “ Sometime

horns disappear in one or both sexes; and in certain ane

1 Domesticated Animals of Britain.

1887] Hornless Ruminants. 741

confined to Syria, but extended, by the countries of the Euphrates,

into Arabia, and, with some slight change of characters, into

Upper Egypt and Nubia. This kind of goat was known to the

ancients, who mention it by the name of the Syrian, and some-

times by the Damascus goat, It is generally without horns. In

Nepaul a beautiful goat is domesticated, which so much resem-

bles the Syrian that both appear to be derived from a common

stock.

Figuier states that of the common goat (C. hircus) “ there is

a subvariety without horns,” and that the Syrian goat, pendulous-

eared, is more frequently without horns than the common goat.

The writer of the article on Goats in the“ Encyclopædia Brit-

annica” (ninth edition), noticing the Maltese hornless variety, re-

marks, “but the absence of these appendages is likely a freak

of nature and not the peculiar character of a particular species.”

Mr. Henry Stephen Holmes Pegler, Secretary of the British

Goat Society, in his well-known work, “ The Book of the Goat”

(1885), says, —

orns which may be relied on to reproduce that peculiarity with-

out deviation. Iam inclined to share the opinion of Professor

Simonds, late Principal of the Royal Veterinary College, that

there is no hornless race, but that the absence of the corneous

ages is purely a freak of nature apparent in all breeds,

ou i :

S election, and breeding always from polled goats, a strain

could be established which would produce, with tolerable cer-

T -$ goat without horns appears to have a rather ancient origin,

: wen modifications which characterize it are deeply rooted.

st now in other respects but little concerning this ag?

ka whose most esteemed quality consists in the value of

a , which possesses but little odor, and is very good eating,

y

742 Hornless Ruminants.

_ being often mistaken for mutton.’ He then concludes by saying f

‘The hornless goat is of Spanish origin.’ Now the county

where hornless goats are most common is Malta, and the clos f

proximity of that island to Spain would lead to the inferen

that the Maltese is the’ kind here alluded to, especially as it

not mentioned elsewhere in the work. If this be so, however

the grouping is certainly at fault, seeing that the Maltese got

has decidedly pendulous ears, and cannot, therefore, be placed it

the same category as the prick-eared varieties.” (Pp. 18-21)

He, on pp. 27, 28, describes “ The Maltese goat” thus:

But all are unanimous in placing this variety foremost among

milkers,—an important point to note. k

On PP. 101-3, under the heading “ Importance of Pedig

he pen an analysis of a pedigree which he says he selected"

showing how, whilst most of the ancestors are hornless, 2 hor a

goat is produced.” ;

In a paper by the same author in Zhe Live-Stock Fourni

Almanac (1887), in referring again to the importance of n

ecord he says, — i

i Sp perusal. of this volume clearly demonstrates also what |

“iN often stated, that the hornless, short-haired goats arè 1

_ the most popular, and pay the best to breed. . . . Of cours,

popular, and very few

in appearance,

The British Dairymen’s Association, at their annual exhib! pes

in London, has four classes

of goats,

Varo and Columella inform us that in their times the Roma? :

for the reception of hornless vat" ”

1887] ` Hornless Ruminants. 743

dishorned (as is now such a common practice in the Western

States of America, among cattle) their goats and sheep of certain

kinds. This would indicate that they were acquainted with the

useful properties of hornless races of these Ruminants, which we,

indeed, know to be the fact with the latter.

Sheep—Generally considered sheep are described as having

“horns common to both sexes, sometimes wanting in the females.”

The domestic breeds are, however, mostly polled.

Aristotle (4, xxvii.) states that in Libya the horned rams are

born at once with horns, and not the males only, as Homer says,

but all the rest also. In part of Scythia, near the Pontus, the

contrary is the case, for they are born without horns.

Jardine figures a peculiar breed of Persian sheep. It is polled,

with black head, ears, and neck, the rest of the body white: has

pendulous ears and arched profile, stands somewhat high, and

has short, crisp wool, It seems to resemble the breed of African

and Ethiopian sheep. It also appears to spread itself into many

varieties—the Morocco breed, the Congo breed (covered with

very loose wool instead of hair, with two wattles beneath the.

throat), the Guinea breed, and the Angora races (which have

finer wool), :

He also mentions the hornless Mysore as the most beautiful

Indian breed. In Russian Tartary are polled, lop-eared, Roman-

nosed sheep, . :

Prof. Youatt says (“ Sheep”),—

“The primitive breed was certainly horned? and those horns

Were of considerable size. . . . The polled sheep were probably

Of tha ccasionally dropped with the rudiments of horns; some

© north and south of Asia, prevailing more than any other in

* Page 363 he says “ probably” instead of “ ce tainly.”

[Ag

Palestine, interior and north of Russia, and of which the Tu-

coman Kalmuck flocks, etc., principally are composed, It isht

rumped and horned. The second cut (2), representing a ramo ff

the Primitive Sheep, is that of the “ fat-rumped polled sheep.

prevailing in Persia.” It is the same as mentioned by Jardin

Youatt discusses whether this breed,—the fat-rumped,—whit!

mostly prevails in Palestine, is the same with that of which tit

sacred historians speak? He shows that the patriarchal bres $

was the sheep whose fat was principally deposited, not in the tal

but on thé rump, or in those parts immediately connected thee

with. The Persian polled sheep was the more beautiful spe

men of the primitive fat-rumped breed. |

“ The level back and belly,” says Youatt, “ the rounded uah

and the light small leg would induce the easy belief that fron |

such animal our own down and mountain sheep might "E

originally sprung.” This is a view similar to the opinion ë |

to the Zebu being the ancestor of our domestic races

cattle. |

In -describing the Egyptian, Ethiopian, and Abyssinian r

tailed sheep, he says in Nether Ethiopia the fat-rumped we

begins again to be found of rather smaller size than the as

The smaller sheep, resembling, and, except in size, identical io

the Persian or primitive breed, is more prevalent. The cut give

on p. 23 (the polled fat-rumped “Persian) represents the 4

Abyssinian, but of a somewhat larger size. RE

Many of the sheep of East India, and particularly the Mys® :

closely resemble the Persian. They are without horns. — de

Professor Low says the polled Persian is found in Arabia r]

countries of Euphrates, into Persia, whence it has been “ee

times erroneously termed the Persian breed, though in no mn

Proper to Persia. They are found in Madagascar and along d |

Southeastern coast of Africa, Abyssinia, and the counta

the Red Sea. plack

Youatt, in a note, mentions “a Broad-tailed polled :

ram at present in the Zoological Gardens, Regent's Patty b

has floored most of his keepers, and is master over every *

and beast in the place.” This is of interest. em

Columella has recorded his preference for the “ hornless o ;

of sheep. : “ted

744 Hornless Ruminants.

Early English writers record their preference for the e

1887] FHlornless Ruminants. — 745°

varieties of sheep, —Markham, Sir Anthony Fitzherbert, Barnaby

Googe, and W. Ellis.

Pennant divides sheep into two classes: (1) Ovis anglica—the

Hornless, and (2) Ovis polyceras—the Many-Horned.

Gilbert White, writing from Ringmer, near Lewes, December

9, 1773, to Thomas Pennant, has the following on hornless sheep:

John Lawrence, in 1805, gives a concise “ Description of ©

British Sheep,” of which he enumerates eighteen polled races

and some foreign races, as Dutch and Danish, which seemed to be

varieties of the Spanish (Merino). Mr. Arthur Young, the cele-

“ wa author of “The Annals of Agriculture,” wrote that

while in Spain I examined the sheep attentively. They are in

_Seneral polled, but some had horns,” etc.

Professor Boyd-Dawkins states, “The hornless breeds of

Piit an back in our country from the days of the Romans,

tem lids eb ornless skulls have been found associated with Roman

| Saag in London.” And “from the analogy of cattle it is

Welsh Mrak they were derived from a horned race, such as the

is ‘is or old Trish or Exmoor breeds. Nevertheless the horned

and p erie in the Roman refuse-heaps than the hornless,

- : in those days Was the dominant breed.”

t

-into three lots, one of which was sent to the Jardin d’Acclime

of good quality. The wool is of mother-of-pearl brilliancy, p

= with short, close, and shining hair. The animal has 9° horts |

746 © Hornless Ruminants. (Ang,

` the chest expansive, and loin good; the tail is short and =

> \ r

H. von Nathusius writes me from Saxony :

large, short-tailed, marsh breeds, that now mostly have been

crossed with the long-woolled English. There are few of the

aboriginal ovine tribes left untouched by Merino blood. Among |

the Merinos there is no regularity at all concerning horns. There

are breeds in which almost all the ewes have small horns, ani

others, particularly in France, where even the rams are devoid

of them. They have given them premiums, indeed, limited ©

Lincoln sheep from Lady Pigot’s flock, and, strangely enough, $ |

pes percentage of the rams and an occasional ewe came with

orns. :

_ “In the collection of the University of Halle there is aven

interesting suite of ovine skulls, beginning with such of the most

In 1863 the French government introduced some of the famots

Ong ti, or Chinese prolific sheep. The consignment was divi¢ |

tion, where they have increased enormously. They “i

well, as high as one hundred and fifty-four pounds; the fesh *

Z

of common quality. The head, which is very small, is co

but what gives the greatest peculiarity to the sheep is, that $ r

have no ears. The legs are long and hairless; the body shoti

on itself in a crease of the skin that encloses a fat of very E

quality. The distinguishing trait of the race is its fecuri

producing from two to five twicea year. Two only are £ en

raised, though the mothers are excellent milkers.

* The male (hornless) of this breed is figured by L. Figuiet.

(To be continued.)

1887] Editors’ Table. 747

EDITORS’ TABLE.

EDITORS: E. D. COPE AND J. S. KINGSLEY.

In most university work study and instruction naturally cease

with the beginning of the long summer vacation. The broiling

suns of July and August are not conducive to the study of Greek

roots, or problems connected with the fourth dimension of space.

With biological studies the summer is most important, for then

is the time when the student, relieved from all other duties, can

carry on uninterruptedly a course of study and investigation

_ Which supplements in an admirable manner the lectures, dissec-

tions, and demonstrations of the college year. As our colleges

and universities are situated, it is extremely difficult to give the

students, in term-time, any adequate idea of marine forms and

their wonderful development,—points which are of great impor-

tance in a broad and well-balanced biological education. It is

the recognition of this fact which has led to the establishment of

marine laboratories along the eastern coast of the United States.

In them are learned facts which could be obtained in no other

Way.

The importance of these laboratories or stations is recognized

by every biologist, for in them a large part of the biological in-

truction is given, and in them a large portion of the original

"vestigation is carried on. It is only a few years since there

were none of these regularly established stations. Then the

3 Student went to some favorable spot, hired a building or a room

be the shore, and conducted his researches with the most prim-

se oo and under the most discouraging circumstances,

wi ; z ENY there have been various stations established, more

: ‘Sss permanently, and to these students have flocked from all

: B the Union. To show their importance no better ex- :

= i Pes be taken than the summer laboratory of Johns Hop-

4... versity, This dates almost to the first year of the insti-

which supports it. It has constantly been conducted by

+K. Brooks at various points along the coast from the

PEN oe she Chesapeake to the West Indies. The results w.

P

*

omplished can be seen by the various publications that

~~ Proceeded from it, and the positions now occupied by those

748 2 Recent Literature. [Ang

who have availed themselves of the facilities it affords. h

amount and character of its biological work the Johns Hopkins

University has but few rivals in America, and it is safe to sy

that at least half of its prominence and prestige in this respet

is due to the work done in its marine laboratory. T

There is ample evidence that there is an increasing realizatiot

of the importance of these summer schools in connection wit

university instruction. Anything which should tend to less

the present number would be deplorable. There should be mot

of them, and more money for their support. Not all institutions

have the wealth or have trustees with the breadth of view nec®

sary for the establishment of such stations; and yet similar &

cilities should be enjoyed by all. In such cases the deficienti

should be met either by co-operation or by hiring tables at sof

established laboratory. As it now is, except the Johns Hopkins

Laboratory and that of the United States Fish Commission,

of these stations are supported by individual efforts. The un

however, cannot be far distant when there will be more of thë

laboratories which will bear an intimate relationship to ouf i

leges and universities. When that time comes biological inst

tion will be of a higher character, and the biological scienc

will take a higher rank in the public estimation than they 90"

do. | |

°

‘RECENT LITERATURE.

Review of Dr. H. Rink’s Paper on the East Gree he inter |

— The following article is based on a consideration of the sae

esting conclusions deduced by Dr. Rink in his admirable P#”

n the

on the East Greenlanders.

esis that Alaska is the scene of their origin, and sup

_ Statement in the fact that the Eskimo are not strictly COM a.

the littoral portions of Alaska, but on the mainland ashe is

selves along the more important rivers to a greater Of d e

tance, which is in each instance determined by the ng Kur

approaching the coast, along the river-banks. Along e

* Die Ostgrönländer in ihrem Verhältnisse zu den übrigen Eskimostimm®™ 3 pa : :

ep k. Deutsche geographische Blatter, vol. ix., No. 3, 1886, PP» 77 =

Pie ae”

eo i

| Aes Recent Literature. ay

kokvim and the Yukon Rivers a slight allowance should be made

for the constant maintenance of trading-stations situated favor-

ably to induce both the Indians, who dwell in the northern

regions, strictly within tree-limits, and the Eskimo, who dwell

without it, to trade at those stations. |

In three localities the Alaskan Eskimo are known to disperse

far into the interior. The first area to be considered is that lying

between the Yukon from near the Shgeluk across to the Kus-

kokvim at Kolmakofsky Redubt and to the sea. This great

expanse of barren ground is quite populous with Eskimo, The

second and third areas are adjacent, and comprise the region

lying east of Kotzebue Sound. Here are the mountain Eskimo

and, to the north of them, the Eskimo along the banks of the

Kuwuk and several other streams of greater or less importance.

The Occurrence of these people in each of those localities can

certainly form no hypothesis that will tend even to support the

assertion that their presence away from the coast should show

n.

theìr origi

_ Dr. Rink submits the strange deduction that the Eskimo kaiak

is a derivative of the Indian birch-bark canoe. From the earliest

meatal every particle of reliable information proves that the

uy deadly hatred and animosity existed between the Indians

tory

tised

the

by

Eskimo wherever they came in contact. Their earlier his-

is filled with traditions of scarcely credible atrocities prac-

fa ach people upon the other; and any one who believes

Possibility of the birch-bark canoe being adopted as a model

€ Eskimo for his skin canoe has but little knowledge of the

contempt of the Eskimo for anything of Indian construction.

ust why the word umiak was not substituted and that model

considered instead of the birch-bark canoe is incomprehensible.

ta the umiak is the original of the kaiak is proved by the tra-

/ Hae now existing among the people of Attu, the westernmost

nd of the Aleutian Chain, and where the writer lived for

ven months,

The narrative is, in substance, as follows: We always had the

- Umiak as a

psa as made smaller, and only a man and his own

Th Y entered it and made it their home for days at a time.

y Were thus exposed to the inclemency of the weather, and a

: lef — of the man was now drawn nearer the centre, and that

ae We pace

- Tequired pro

oe dred protection, By the act of covering at each end a small

ois found that the accompanying members of the family were

5 A shz to comfort and speed. i

E n, who had attained a degree of reverence from his

X

P "i

750 Recent Literature. [Aug

on the shores of Kotzebue Sound and in the perfection of the i

Greenlander’s skin. canoe |

The various patterns of construction, as shown by a cross-se

dertaking a journey, except it be far inland, where if a three-holed

kaiak were use :

The two-holed and the three-holed kaiaks are of Russian a

vention, and are used i

men propelled the affair. mere

+t was afterwards found that so many men had been killed

1887] eo Recent Literature. 75I

_ youths must be employed to take the place in the rear hole in

_ order that the hunter could cast his dart at the sea-otter, now made

doubly wary by the energetic pursuit of it from the increasing.

number of rival fur companies. As that creature was restricted

= to certain portions of Alaska, the use of the two-holed kaiak

has never gone beyond those limits. The convenience of the

three-holed kaiak has made it an accompaniment of the white

trader wherever he has gone and been able to procure the skins

The wi h

: double-bladed paddle being thought of; hence, as the Indian:

~ Ment and adoption certainly required but little mental strain.

hat some of the Eskimo do not employ the double paddle is

well known, and due probably as much through choice as by any-

thing else, i

and the occupant righting himself is a diversion practised only

Where the double-bladed paddle is in common use, and not by,

all the p

_ “forth as the upper portion of Norton Sound, where an occa- *

= Sonal double idle i

rines the single and the double blade are in use through indi-

-vidual or circumstantial preference. East of the latter place the

double-blad

a paddle appears to be the one used exclusively by

Sa nnuit wherever found. }

a eg regard to the development of the various spears, darts, jave-

~ Te om other projectiles cast by the use of the arm and

i a an, Dr. Rink considers them to be developments of the

Ne hand or arm was certainly the power to guide and cast a

Means t, dart long before the flexibility of wood was applied as a

- Strip ‘© Produce direct motion by the release of a shaft from a

: Ps ga to create the tension of the bow, even in its crudest

: aa If this be true, it is far more probable to conclude

- Rink, ite of the deduction inferred by the remarks of Dr.

from the ious projectiles used as means to obtain creatures

-tindera 2°» lake, or stream are modifications of the’ arrow, as

Pear age to be the missile sent from a bow, then it would ap-

, Where ot weapons now recognized as arrows and every-

ed for land-shooting, except a few instances where the

752 _ Recent Literature.

»

could be employed to pierce its skin and result in its captu i

by the hunter, who in these emergencies needed but a singe

weapon ere

1887] Recent Literature. 733

water-fowl, while the feathers that vane the arrows used to slay

land creatures are procured only from land birds. In some

localities the feathers of the raven form an exception. Those

projectiles which are to be cast by the hand alone never have

feather-vanes attached to them, and in many localities the

feathering is discarded on the shafts thrown by the hand-board.

_ In regard to the supposition that the custom of wearing labrets

in the lip of the Eskimo is due to and derived from the Indians

(Thlinkets) dwelling south of them, this is a conclusion based

upon an erroneous conception of the facts in the case.

That the custom of wearing labrets, or lip-studs, is fast disap-

pearing among the Eskimo is not a remarkable thing in itself.

=- An almost entire revolution in customs and manners of far

_ sast, and

_ &m Eskimo the |

: ore of tobacco, for the stud must be removed, and this per-

— sl Saliva to flow from the orifice. This flow freezes in

| Sammamentation h

ou hes ¢ SS in

: to prove that

. greater significance is not uncommon among nations or peoples

and in some localities has almost disappeared; yet one of the

te profusely tattooed individuals the writer ever saw was an

i ;

were unmarked by tattooing. ‘This remarkable instance was due

y to the fancy of the individual performing that operation

"pon a subject who had no will in the matter, and for that reason

‘d not be taken into sufficient consideration to forma theory

Or a generalization on. Yet how unfortunate for science if an

exploring expedition had touched at a locality where this woman

spa husband had happened to be the only ones of the Innuit

cuss Slon seen and she be the subject of an elaborate dis-

~ssion, which a fertile mind would generalize into a universal

Custom |

T

° return to the custom of wearing the labret, or lip-stud. It

Seg s just as probable that the practice of perforating the lip and

mserting a Piece of stone, bone, or ivory had its origin in the

that they should be the first to discard it and the west-

ast to relinquish it. It is a well-recognized fact

those people that the labret. seriously interferes with the

d results disastrously to the person. Hence the love °

manr: as been subordinated to the gratification of an

aired habit of a character originating but recently. The very

the Mackenzie region of wearing the lip-stud tends

the lack of intercommunication between the widely- —

People termed Eskimo has served to perpetuate the

the Thlinket should originate a custom now adopted by

XXL—no, 8,

.

754 - Recent Literature. [Aug ;

of the Innuit. The latter perforate „the lip directly under the

corner of the mouth, while the former pierce the median line of

the lower lip. 3

All of the traditions, legends, and speech of the western Innuit |

point to an eastern origin, and that the route lay by the sea and |

northern land. eir extension southward was partly a matter |

of choice and as much so of necessity. When they came in col

tact with the Thlinket and ceased their wandering, why should

not the Thlinket asa propitiatory measure have adopted a custom

of the Innuit, but modify the position and form as well as g0 |

In regard to the material of construction, form of the dwell-

evident ; hence the transition from the former character ©

dwelling to that of the present needs no discussion. The po |

„tion of the fireplace in their present habitations is that tending P

an economy of space and for the convenience of the occu 1

Sa light-hole, which forms also the place of exit for the smoke

hole would be placed directly over it, and this would tend 10 |

heer crowding around that particular portion in order to ae i

a eee of the most light in the short days of the

tro sia eg: ae pressure would be equal on all parts; “i

in p ne material is of sufficient firmness to withstand 4 ¢

| Th m the best adapted form is that of the dome. 2

nuit t€ common snow hut of the eastern and northernmost

1s constructed on that principle, for the simple eet i

prevent additions or intercommunicable chambers, €x¢°Pt (|

less specialized character; and not until the use of WO

1887] Recent Literature. 755

= adopted do we find that several chambers or dwellings are so

placed as to cluster on at least three sides about the original

structure, which insures by this arrangement additional protec-

tion and proximity. There are many facts to adduce in support

of the clustering character of the dwellings, but as they involve

so many considerations, a. discussion of them will be deferred for

another occasion.

Where wood is scarce and large pieces are met with but few

times in the course of an Eskimo’s life, those few large pieces are

= teserved to furnish him with props or supports for his tent in

_ Summer, or for the frame of his umiak, or the shafts of his spears

and other necessities, which are greater to him than fuel to cook

| his food or to make warmth. There the turf or stone-walled

_ hutis the kind of dwelling, while the snow hut is from its nature

= awinter edifice only,

= The Eskimo of Southern and Western Alaska know of the

snow hut only by tradition. Only in the extreme northern part

of Alaska do we begin to find the snow-blocks employed as ma-

terial from which to construct a dwelling; thence eastward the

use of that substance is common as far as the Eskimo extend.

Ake i ae al Sa ae aa"

dwellings for themselves, with the exception of those directly

f th

n pe either material by itself. Instead of the huge kashguh,

or‘ club- |

3 walled wit

;

i

a

tice of distributin

also takes place ; k

= pa year in any locality, the honoring of the dead and change

756 oe Recent Literature. [Ag

RECENT BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS.

lidinæ found it

Jordan, D. S. Review of the Genera and Species of Ju

Hughes, AON G. American Waters. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. From te

author:

Gilbert, C. H, Aer

List, J. H—Zur hee der aa Tbe von ios s Ga

wiss. Zool., 1887.—Zur Herkunft fo Periblastes ve noshenie e

den). Ext. Biol. Centralbl., 1887. Both from the a

Packard, " S.—Over the fenico Plateau in a Diligence. Et Bull, T

Spurga on the Organs of Smell i in Insects. Ext. Am. Nat,

Ptesg D. S a anA of Fishes esa at Arkansas, prg Te and Texas |

Ae ey A N t Mus From

ocy., 1057.

Both . the au By

ee R. Ra i

Zool. Socy. London, 1886.—Additional Notes on the Panom a

cee Caprimu ulgi, and Cypeelides, Ext. Proc. Zool. Socy. Lon rs don, Mel

The Veterinary Service of the Un ea States yer Ext. Jour. Comp.

and Binet 1887. All from sin

dar ea E. H— togia. eak in Yucatan, Ext. Proc, Am.

, 1886. From

vai „Society of Micra = Proceedings of the Ninth Annual (Chautaugs)

Meeting. 1886. ‘om t

State PSR (Ohio). ats Annual Sept of the Ohio Agricultural A

ment Station. Columb , 1887. m the State Commissioners. i d

Bennett, W. seg the Afni and o of Algæ. Ext. Linnean s

Journ TAN Se the author, r

3, RG. F— sa al to the poulies of Physical

Madison Wis. sn From the aut ual al of the

Society of Science, Letters, and Art o Jab ilee nambet á the J

SS of f Sience, L Letters, and rE ef —July, 1887, Fro m th letin Eset

Putnam —Conventionalism i in Ancient psia Art. Ext, Bul

Sas, pa From the author.

gent W—Twentieth Annual Report of the Peabody Museum. een i

a em a Institution —Annual Report of the Board of Regents to Joi 9

Bourne, G. C—Th natomy = hie ed kaa A SP Fungia. Reprint Q

a Jour. Mic. Scene, Jan 7. From the sae OE

bodward, A 0m Lenthe Fossil, and their

i a fates "Rep y ary Reset ad icy me ot: From the l

to Eocene :

of Init

Epi ROn Certain ONR Ve Craters

rtebrz from the nb

and the “teased of Wight.—On a Molar of a Pliocene ives of f Bawas a froi DE i

Du we Jour. Geol, Sa May; 1887-—Notes on CA sy |

pets wie London Clay.’ Ext, Geol. Mag, jie |

domine G. N.—Descriptions of New Sylviidæ, fe eens, © md Ann. NY

Acad, Se yo. à New Thrush from Grenada, W I Both fiaa aale Jati

1887. slime Rediscoy bye of chuan s Warbler, From : 4

Mi uthor. : tj é

r a Microcosm, 1887., From the a «dete pris |

The bs British reer Mammalia, Part VI., “i

Brion ona. Society, London, 1887. From the author

1887] Recent Literature. : 757

Hughes, N. C.—Genesis and Geology.. Chocowinity, N. C. From the author

sion sb E Catalogue of the Birds of Grenada, W. I., with Observations

a pa ha rasses of aer South. Dept. of Agriculture. Bulletin No. 3, 1887.

From the Departme

are 0.—On Inv wA from the Eo pen " Mississippi and Alabama. Ext.

oc. Nat. Sci. Phil., 1887. From the auth

ee A, F.—Flint Ridge (Lower Coal- Prato Bryozoa, Ext. Bull. Denison

Univ., 1887. From the au

Mills, T. W. e in the eet Repr. Can. Rec. of Science, April, 1887.

From the uthor.

Dana, Ñ. D. Note « on the Views of Prof. Emmons on the Taconic System. Amer.

Jour, Sets, May, 1887. From the author.

Gilbert, G. K.—Special Processes of Research. Presidential Address before Amer.

Soc. of Nat., 1886. From the autho,

Osborn, H. F. —The Upper Triassic Mieke Dromatherium and Microconodon.

Ext. Proc. Sige Acad. Nat. Sci 1887.—The Origin of the Corpus Cal-

a t II cedacpbelopisckes "Jabrbuch. Band. xii. Both from the

au

Trowessart, E. L.—Diagnoses g Dipus nouvelles de Sarcoptides plumicoles (Anal-

gesine), From the author

Schlosser, M. M.—Erwiederung gegen E. D. Cope. From the author

mo #—The-Human Teeth viewed in the Light of Evolutie on. Buffalo

The Niagara Gorge. Proc. A. A. A. S., 1886. Both from the author,

Water, c D.—Second Contribution to the Studies of the Cambrian Faunas of

aby Hiitsteic Bull. U. S. Geol. Surv., No. 30, 1886. From the Depart-

e

Scudder, S. H.—Systematic Review of our Present Knowledge of Fossil par

Myriapods, an and Arachnids.. 1886. Bull. U. S. Geol. Surv., No. 31. Fro

toy? A. C. tia ts Peas reg ae of the Mineral Springs of reg United States.

: ull. U.: S. Geol. Surv., No. 32, 1886. From the Departm

ETS —Notes on the pet of pp California. Pall. U.S. Geol. -

Soa No. 33, 1886.. From the Departm

. s, C.—The True me z False Theory e ose. Phila., W. H. Alden,

— 1887. From the

Ta ; rl, Mari Etudes se sur pera paléontologique des Ongulés en Amérique et

oe a a; 1. Groupe primitif de ?Eocéne inférieur. Moscou, 1887. From

/ ert F. Z —Notes on the parece Geology of Southwest Virginia. Am,

Aa , 1887. From the author.

: n Reptile nouveau des Sables g’ Aix-la-Chapelle.—Une ie der-

ae que fossile des Sables d’Aix-la-Chapelle. 1887. Both from the

W.—Organic Variation not Definite in phen An Sienn: a En-

R. - Amer, Philos. Soc., 1887. From author.

cD $ = —A Critical Com of a Sean a Skulls of the Wild ant

ae ated Turkeys, a Comi Mod- snd, Saig FO I

London, , the Visceral Anatomy of Certain Auks. Ext

> Biat 1887.—Observations saline the Habits of Mier ropus me kirara , with

Ton the ts on its Plumage an d External Characters. Ext. es 1887. All

eae . me General Notes.

GENERAL NOTES.

GEOLOGY AND PALZONTOLOGY.

On the Glacial Flow in Iowa.—There is evidence of at least

three ice-flows, or advances, of the glacial sheet in lowa:

recognized by Dr. C. A. White;? and, third, from the north’

The evidences of these flows aré found in the striated rocks, the

as Dr. White observes, they were probably derived from this e

gion. e.

“ On account of the friable nature of a considerable part of tt :

faces which probably yet preserve such traces, we very

ie have an Opportunity to observe them in Iowa.” * me

Nevertheless, the surface of the upper carboniferous ees

_ on the west side of the Missouri River, opposite Councl ©

= pe glacial scratches having a direction south, 41 o

mS flow Jor Seem to imply the existence of a glacial cur pe

te set te part of the glacial period, having 250°"

Pe Nisa ogy of Iowa, p. gt, oe

A hia, fee as we have knowledge of, at the present time, this seems to parek

EES order of the ice-flows within the borders of this State. Ra

__ > Nate's Geology of Iowa, p. 96. 4 Ibid., p. 93: Ibid.» f

X

r. j

ote

1887] Geology and Paleontology. 759

The second glacial current was from the northwest to the

southeast. We appear to have sufficient evidence of its direction

in the glacial scored rocks, and the boulders found in the drift

in different portions of the State.

The direction of the striz observed upon the Burlington lime-

stone, near Burlington, in the extreme southeastern portion of

the State, was south, 22° east.

Up to last year, this was the only locality known in Iowa

planed and scored by glacial action. The size of this surface was

ten feet by sixteen feet, and the parallel striæ have the direction

south, 73° east. Near the centre of this surface? one large

ttom slopes gradually upward to the north; and what is of

Peculiar interest is the fact that the bottom, and particularly the

north side, is beautifully smoothed and striated, while the south

side, which is very abrupt, shows scarcely a trace of the smooth-

Ing and striating action of the ice. The trend of this groove 1s

poy east. The north side of the groove presents several

.

of which were taken, with the following results :

’ ?

T e o No. 5, north, 7114° east.

is LS great Variation in ie Sars of the striz at this poig

_~leved to have been caused by a deflection of the relative y

mt ice from its normal course by some local obstruction.

rik bank Geological Survey of Iowa, p. 94- In these cases no allowance is made

o appenctic variation, : 4

ioe is from thirty to forty feet above the water in the Jowa River.

-x

_ but instead of curvin

tion of the magnetic nee i]

evidence that the ice-flow, at this period of the glacial epoch,

` pose

be described as two great loops, one within the other, and wih

ee ‘ y

Beginning a little west of the north line of Osceola County,

vounty, is reached; thence to the northeast, cutting across

uing parallel with the former, it pursues a southeasterly bea

760 oe General Notes. [Aug |

Fifty feet to the south of the above the rock presents a

equally beautiful scored surface, having, however, but’ one seta

striz, with a direction south, 70° east. 2

In the drift which immediately overlies the rock at this plac

a boulder of red Sioux quartzite, weighing about one hundrei

pounds, was found; and on the opposite side of the river another

of the same material somewhat larger. Large boulders of thè

same material have also been found in considerable abundant

in the drift for a distance of fifteen miles north from this locality.

These boulders are in all respects identical, lithologically, with tht

red Sioux quartzite exposed in the extreme northwestern corte

of the State, and were, without doubt, derived from that region.

This evidence, together with the fact that the red Sioux quart

ite boulders are found in greater or less abundance in both the

western and southern portions of the State, seems conclusive

ad a more easterly direction than has been heretofore sup

The evidence of the third, or last, advance of the ice-sheet it

Iowa is found ‘in the moraines, which extend nearly across “e

western portion of the State from north to south. “These maf

nearly parallel sides,” 3 a

€ outer moraine may be approximately located as follows:

along the Middle and South Raccoon into the north part ee

« Adison County ;”3 thence curving to the east and norte)

entering Jasper County ;” thence to the north, which cours © |

until Clear Lake, in the west part of Cerro Gordo

slightly

The inner morai à

Lak lel =

ne ent rthwest,

West : ers Iowa from the no ‘

gee g to the west from that point and co

oaral the above bearings an allowance of seven degrees is made for thë j

2White’s Geolegient ara 2

3P ; i urvey of Iowa, vol. i. p. ot.

3 Prof. J. E. Todd, Iowa Hort, Rept, pars ui,

1887] . Mineralogy and Petrography. 761

through Pocahontas and Webster Counties to the northwest

corner of Boone County; thence eastward to the north-central

portion of Story County; thence north into southwest Franklin

County, and from that point to the northwest through Wright

and Hancock Counties to Forest City, in the southeast part of

Winnebago County; thence to the northwest to the northeast

corner of Kossuth County; thence curving to the southeast,

“forming an interlobular portion to the east side of Winnebago

County ;"* thence uniting with the ‘outer moraine, as it cuts

_ across the northwest portion of Worth County, and enters Free-

_ born County, Minnesota.

k “These moraines are linear bends of knobby drift, and struc-

= turally are developments of the till, having similar features with

_ it, except that their altitudes are exaggerated.”* They were

_ formed by an extension or “ finger” of the main mass of ice at

the north; the one which formed the outer moraine reached a

point some distance south of Des Moines, but there stopped in

its course by the action of the warm south winds and the sun,

which soon caused it to retreat to the north, beyond the limits:

of the State; but only to again advance at a colder period, but

3 time with diminished volume, and to be soon driven back

_ gain by the winds and the sun. ;

4 dia second advance of the ice-sheet the inner moraine was

An extended study of the drift and loess formations of the

entire State would doubtless throw much additional light upon

“ie evidence of the ice-flows and the condition of things within

! borders of the State during and at the close of the glacial

— *poch.— Clement L, Webster, State University, Towa.

MINERALOGY AND PETROGRAPHY-

Hip J. E. Todd, Iowa Hort. Rept., vol. xviii.

5 Edited by Dr. W. S. BAYLEY, Madison, Wisconsin. |

Seether Naturalist, Dec. 1885, p. 1216.

logical Magazi 886,

2

agazine, vii., Dec. 1886, p. 81.

ia

| [Ang

produce the peculiar schimmer on faces of the crystal parallel |

to the planes along which the inclusions are arranged, —t.e. the

solution planes. After showing that secondary solution planes

` may be produced in directions parallel to directions of pressure

762 General Notes.

show some indication of regularity of form, as in Labradorite

hypersthene, etc. n the road between Verrex and St. Vit-

cent, in the Val d’Aoste, Professor Bonney* has found a schis-

tose glaucophane-eclogite interbedded with quartz-mica schists

limestone, and green schists. The rock consists of pale wine:

red garnets, with inclusions of hornblende, glaucophane, att

- dust, a green hornblende, glaucophane both in irregular grait

and in well-developed crystals, epidote, mica, and sphene (e

coxene). In this connection the author describes in some detai

the glaucophane-gabbro of Pegli, near Genoa. This rock we

described by Williams? as an amphibolite, but Bonney prefers

calling it gabbro. The glaucophane appears to have ane

he Miigge,*® is composed of quartz grains intricate

rth ing, and a very little interstitial clayey material.

Me cement has been removed by the action of pe

space. It is to the abundance of these cells that the $

——Gorman mentions the occurrence ©

lipsite, chabasite, and apophyllite in the vacuoles of the ™

* Geological Magazine, vii., July, 1886, p I.

i Jahrb. f. Min., 1882) ii p —

zol, Mi . 1887,

* Min. u. Petrog. Mitth., 1875

s . ”» $ p- 175-

Ee a

Neues Jakob. £ Mins 1387 T 155.

<a. ae mn., 1887, i P- 195.

1887] me Mineralogy and Petrography. 763

of Prudelles, Puy-de-Dôme." A mica-gneiss similar to the

~ granulite of Térnebohm is described by Sjögren? as occurring

-inthe iron regions of the Banat. Sjogren finds that the ores

“are not connected genetically with the intrusion of banatite, as

has heretofore been supposed. In his geological sketch of

tt of the Galician-Hungarian East Carpathians Dr. H. Zapa-

= lowicz3 gives a few notes on the schists and intrusive rocks

occurring in the more mountainous regions of the Carpathians.

Mineralogical News.—Svitvenite is the name proposed by

Darapsky ¢ for a mineral from the Alcaparroso Mine, near Co-

piapo, in Chile. Its analysis yielded:

: So ALO M Na,O K,O H,O

; 36.1 H6 I ea ay wace 47. 6

___ This corresponds to a composition represented by the formula

n (%Na,%4Mg)So, + Al,(So,), + 24H,O. The mineral occurs in

š acicular crystals grouped in radial masses. Before the blow-

pipe it presents the features of the alums, to which group of

In the same

oar As Fe SiO.

a i: 98.20 0.96 5 30 (Mean of two analyses):

Specific gravity equals 5.50. It is soft, and of a brilliant metallic

; lustre, It is probably identical with the arsenglanz of Breith-

1c and triclinic systems. C. Schmidt® recently having the

ia to reinvestigate the crystallography of scolecite,

s that this mineral crystallizes only in the monoclinic

and that the triclinic variety described by Luedecke was

* Comptes Rendus, civ. p. 719.

= Jahrb. a. k. ke. geol. Reichsaust, 1886, p. 607.

+» P- i.

_ 4 Neues Jahrb. f. Min., 1887, i. p- 125.

_-§Zeits. f Kryst., xi. p. 607. © 6 Ib., p. 587- ~

764 General Notes. : [Aug j

probably merely a monoclinic twin, whose twinning plane is thè

clinopinacoid. Since Rammelsberg has shown that the orthe |

rhombic mesolite (galactite) is probably natrolite, and since this

mineral is found only in orthorhombic crystals, there has as ye

been no proof given to show that either of the three minerals

mentioned crystallizes in more than one system.——A. Becker’

has analyzed a/stonite and darytocalcite from Alston Moor, it

order to decide as to whether Groth’s view in regard to tht

- composition of these substances is well founded. Both mit

galle, in Canton Uri, Switzerland, are found oolitic masses Cot

posed of a brown or green substance in little elliptical and lete

ticular grains cemented together by carbonate of lime. These

little grains are themselves made up of scaly magnetite and 3 1

to analysis, with the following result :

SiO, - Al,O, FeO MgO H,O

ae 19.97 37-5! 4.39 12.90

in the obtuse angle 8 eee ont, he verti

l rhs optical angle Wv. and is inclined 5° 54’ to the i

action # = 1.9465 and y = 1.9285.——The ferri

* Mineralchemie, ii., Aufl, 2, p. 6 tae t Krist, SE

: : See aes bid -2 3- . PS eea +" '

3 C. Schmidt, ib., xi. p. 597. 7 3° 4 Zeits, f, Kryst, xii P- 25

Mincralogy and Petrography. "965

- 1887)

_ botryogen, from Fahlun, in Sweden, has been examined by

= Hockauft The mean of two analyses yielded :

So, FeO, FeO MnO ‘CaO MgO. H,O

36.94 16.38 2.23 1.93 0.90 7.63 33-99»

corresponding to the formula FeSo, + [Fe,(So,); + (FeO),So,].

botryogen of commerce was also analyzed, and found hot

_ to have the composition of the genuine mineral.

Crystallographic News.—In an article on hemimorphic py-

rargyrite twins from Andreasberg, Schuster? discusses the classi-

_ fication of twinned crystals, and defines them as symmetrical or

_ unsymmetrical. The symmetrical ones he subdivides into those

hemitropically developed and those which show no hemitropism.

The hemitropic symmetrical twins include those of holohedral

_ and of certain hemihedral and hemimorphic minerals. Theun-

Symmetrical and the non-hemitropic symmetrical classes embrace

the twins of those minerals which crystallize in the inclined and

‘rapezohedral-hemihedral divisions of the different systems, and

also certain hemimorphic minerals. Examples are cited to show

_ tile application of the terms of this classification to the descrip-

ee of complicated twins. As the result of new investigations

; sai the Bertrand? microscope and lenses, Des Cloizeaux* finds

ws the mineral which bears his name crystallizes in the ortho- —

system. Cathrein’ describes crystals of orthoclase

anite at Predazzo, which have their largest

Ekoa i

Met ee 2 Ib., p. 117.

L£ keso "iin. de France, 1885, pp. 29, 377, and 426. 7.

ASE, xii. p. 178. s Ib., xii. p. 34. ê Ib., xi. p.608. 7 Ib., xi. p- ay

766 | General Notes. [Aug

that a difference between the angles of singly- and doubly- i

refracting regular crystals does not exist. |

BOTANY.?

one of the agents in developing this interest and directing

into useful and effective channels. This work of the club, 3

accomplished nothing more, would fully justify its existence

Now, let the botanists continue their efforts for the a

ment of the botanical work in Washington. Let there be 4 a

mand for adequate provision for the increase of the Herbar |

| many excellent collectors who might be ae :

ac’ season to thoroughly explore certain locgjities at CO radi

tively little expense, while the results would Be of vas 4

to the botany of the country. ; alli

Some such plan as this must be adopted if anything 3t have

to be done for botany. The government surveys appear z

* Neues Jahrb. f. Mi i

* Bet by Prof: Cuktas È. Wty, Lincoln, Nebraska:

` Botany. 767

_. other sciences, but which may also make special demands be-

cause of its close relation to the agricultural interests of the

country at large >—Charles E. Bessey.

_. A Duty of Botanists.—Every botanical teacher has in his

classes some young men and women who have the desire to

become botanists. The number is doubtless relatively small,

_ the great majority in every class taking but a transient interest

__ in botanical science ; but as it is from this small number that the

_ wWorking-force of the botanists of the future is to be recruited,

“te embryo botanists should receive especial attention from

sed in their catalogues) particular attention is given to botany,

re are “ post-graduate courses of study,” leading

“at can a young man do in any department of botany who

snot read German, French, and Latin? The literature of

“getable Anatomy and Physiology can only be known to him

© no translations of the great books. What will such a

Plantar upped man do with Bentham and Hooker's “ Genera

fee | a DeCandolle’s “ Prodromus,” Walper's “ Reperto-

muller’s “ Annales,” DeCandolle’s “ Monographie Phan-

768 : General Notes. [Aug

erogamarum,” etc., etc.? Or, suppose he is a student in onedi

the agricultural colleges, what more fitting subject for him than

the thorough study of the grasses, or the injurious fungi? But

what can he do in the first case without the ability to use Ster-

del’s “ Synopsis Plantarum Graminarum,” the works of Kun

Trinius, Nees, Hackel, or, in the second case, the works of Fries, |

The Element of Time in Botanical Study.—In the arrang™ |

ment of courses of study it should be borne in mind that the

beginner in botany requires more time than is usually allotted

plants by the stud

conning of books.

must have time in which

tıme, extended time, i

; 1887] Botany. 769

_ Where it is not possible to devote more school time to this: sci-

ence, let the teacher arrange for a year’s course with but one or

_ two exercises each week. A pupil who devotes two exercises

each week throughout one school year to botany will at the end

7 of that time have a much better and far more enduring knowl-

_ edge of the subject than if he had devoted five exercises each

= week to it for a single term. Properly managed, even one exer-

qse each week for a year will bring better results than five exer-

= cisesa week for one term. Two exercises each week in the fall

_ term, one each week in the winter term, and two a week in the

_ Spring term is an arrangement which I have found to work

-excellently in practice —Charles E. Bessey.

|

A + . . f

3 Botanical News.—Sereno Watson’s contributions to American

i d Botany, XIV.,

Arts

S ree new genera are described,—viz.,

Asclepiadaceæ)}, Prochuyanthes (Agavee), and

(Umbellifere). The determinations of the Gamopet-

Key hort papers before the Academy of Natural Sci-

line Philadelphia upon the following subjects,—viz., “On

sig of the Naturauisr reaches its readers the long-

is W, F resh-Water Algæ of the United States,” by Rev.

Wolle, will be ready for distribution. It will appear in

aot ` first consisting of three hundred and sixty-four

10. 8, ss

ERTEN

;

JIO ; General Notes. [Ang

pages of text, giving descriptions of species, a glossary, and

indices; the second volume contains one hundred and fifty-

seven plates, representing over two thousand colored figures.

The whole work embraces nearly thirteen hundred species

The price (ten dollars) is remarkably low, when we consider thè

expensiveness of the colored plates. The work may be obtained

of the author at Bethlehem, Pa.

ENTOMOLOGY."

Singular Adaptation in Nest-Making by an Ant, Cremast-

gaster lineolata? Say.—A month ago I received an ant’s nest, sent

by Assistant Engineer Henry A. Brown to General W. G. Lewis,

of Goldsboro’, N.C. The nest was built several feet from the

ground on a bush, in the marshes bordering Broad Creek, yet

County, N: C: ie.

This ant usually nests “ under stones or underneath and within

the decayed matter of old logs and stumps. This material 1$

sometimes prepared by the ant as a paper-like pulp, and yet

into cells and chambers, which are attached to the surface of the

ogs.”3 , )

. This nest is about eighteen inches Jong by twelve inches"

circumference at greatest diameter. I made a longitudinal sf

tion of it, and had a photograph taken, so as to represent 9%

the external form and internal structure. The ants were

the nest when I received it. They were chloroformed before

- adults, pupe,and larve. They were collected in a mass DN =

the chambers within a space four inches in length of the me

This space is about two-thirds the distance from the lower it

The material composing the ‘cells in this space is lighter B*

than the other internal parts. It appeared also in the photog! it

as can be seen by looking at the right-hand figure. Probably"

will be visible $ the photoengravure. i

ie material used in making the nest seems to be Et.

used by the ant in making its hest under stones, etc. , Bes B

woody pulp, a microscopic examination seems to oe

Some portions of dried grass. The nest is supported pare

branches of the bush; a vine and some stalks of marsh-g" gil

fastened in it. Upon the outside the material is of a light 1

color, much like that of the nest of the white-faced hom ply

the interior it is darker, in some places almost black.

the high tides causing the creek to overflow forced the a

build their nest above the high-water mark instead of W%

i

$

TT SSpertorit is edited by Prof. J. H. Comstock, Cornell University,

2 Nive communications, books for notice, etc., should be ig Riley.

3 Tati determined for me through the kindness of Prof. C. V

s Report on Cotton Insects, 1879, p. 188 ;

PLATE XXVI.

syn

i i!

mn pie

ia aandaa pieni

eT a

Bet

* Br es

1887] A Entomology. 77I

stones and within logs. One cannot help thinking that possibly

some species of Hymenoptera, which now altogether build ele-

vated nests, once built them near the ground, and being forced

for a long time by conditions surrounding them, similar to these,

finally acquired that habit permanently.

This would seem more plausible if General Lewis is correct in

a fact which he states, that the yellow-jackets along Holly Creek,

in Pender County, build nests on the bushes to avoid the tide.

I mean to investigate this and see if they are the same species

which under ordinary circumstances build nests in the ground.

—Geo. F. Atkinson, Univ. of N. C., Chapel Hill, July 7, 1887.

_ A New Form of Vial for Alcoholic Specimens.—Frequently

in Natural History museums it is desirable to display alcoholic

specimens in vials placed in a horizontal position. This is true

>

mological cabinets, where the insect-boxes are in the form of

the vial in place in an entomological cabinet, a white

- Card is : i i

2 d is fastened to its lower side with liquid glue (the acetic acid

y means of these projections the bottle can be

Tes in place with small pins

: pins. ‘

Mould for these vials is the property of Cornell Univer-

772 ; General Notes. ` [Aug i

’

the vials may be obtained.— F. H. Comstock.

sity, but it is with Whitall, Tatum & Co., New York, of whoa

Synopsis of the Hymenoptera of America North of Mexico

—It is with much pleasure that we call attention toa work by

Mr. E. T. Cresson, which bears the above title, and the first pat

of which has just been published by the American Entomolog:

cal Society. a

he study of the Hymenoptera has been much neglected in

this country, notwithstanding the great extent of the order, the

wide range of variation in structure presented by it, and the fact

Coleoptera of our Fauna. For, as stated by Cresson, ©

larger fami-

lies has been very imperfectly studied, and our knowledge of tiè |

be

approximately complete.” But this work will do much by w

attraction of attention to the order to hasten the day W a

shall have a complete classification. And it adds an order to the ]

_ Small list of groups which are available for study by other Hi

Specialists, sie |

The part published consists chiefly of analytical keys gel

g M n of these

Westwood, Thomson, Taschenberg, Norton, Marsháll,

Mayr, Saunders, Howard, Cameron, Ashmead, and others.

index. It is expected that the volume will consist of abo

pages.

the described species and bibliography, as well as 4 ~a 5

, a

preparati for Preserving Larvæ.—The followin formula for

M a ore fluid for the preservation of late is gn

r. Henri Trois (Atti R. Istit. Veneto, (6) tomo iii) i

Common salt o ka cea

wa 3 . aia A

Corrosive sublimate . . . .. centigh 18.

Boiling water . litres $ a

1887] Zoology. 773

When the liquid is cold add 50 grains of carbolic acid. Let

the liquid stand five or six days, and then filter. It is claimed

that by means of this fluid the colors of larve can be preserved

perfectly, even when exposed to a strong light.

ZOOLOGY.

Hydra inside out; ‘a Correction.—Will you allow

me to correct a slight mistake that has crept into the pages of

the AMERICAN NATURALIST? On page 387 of the April number

it is stated that I have succeeded in turning Hydra inside out.

The credit of having accomplished the feat should be given to

Mr. C. Ishikawa and Mr. M. Kikuchi, both my assistants at the

time. They devised simple but ingenious instruments for the

_ purpose, and made the task of turning Hydra inside out a com-

_ ‘paratively easy one, as I can testify from personal trial. Mr.

Ishikawa made at the time many observations on the behavior

of Hydra thus turned inside out. So far as I remember, Hydra,

_ under these circumstances, generally quickly gained the right

side out again, and if forcibly prevented from doing so by having

‘ a bristle put through its body, it still made frantic and almost

laughable efforts to right itself, No definite results were reached,

so far as I can recollect, in regard to the change of functions in

| the layers of the body,—at any rate something interrupted Mr.

_ Ashikawa’s observations before any definite conclusions were ob-

tamed, and that is the reason that nothing has been published

= now. I hope that Mr. Ishikawa will take up the investiga-

‘on again some time, and throw more light upon this interesting

vas Mitsikuri, Imperial University, Tokio, Fapan, June

of June 20, 1887, when returning from placing

oe engodes females where they might attract the males, I

vs the path before me a small phosphorescent light. As I

ae Remarkable Case of Phosphorescence in an Harth-Worm. '

: Eri the night

-

2 Boston Society of Natural History: “It appeals:

. attracting my attention. When the earth is disturbed, the

774 General Notes.. ae [Aug

and the light advanced as rapidly as I ‘moved my hand, 1

thought certainly I was in pursuit of the prize, and in my anxiety

to capture it I would catch up a whole handful of earth. But

I always noticed that I left the phosphorescent light on the

ground. The insect eluded me, I thought. After pursuing the

phantom in vain for some time, I stopped to ponder. After the

habit of a puzzled man in an inquiring mood, I brushed my foot |

pellet of earth bristled with a phosphorescent light. Fora

moment I seemed to lose confidence in the fact that all such

r ;

from the sky: “Nate dea, quo fata trahunt retrahuntque, ge

mur; Quidquid erit, superanda omnis fortuna ferendo est” Bat

in a moment more I had brushed away these delightful supers: |

tions, and went to work to find the cause. pe

aking a quantity of the earth, I went to my study. First ]

took several pebbles into a dark room and rubbed them 1m my

liarity. T

Probably the My riapod which I saw had pounced upon ca

and the worm’s body touching the ground illuminated it,

e earth-worm is probably a species o

Geo. F. Atkinson, Unjz mg : Sat sti pel Hill,

Jalka sie on, University of North Carolina, Chape |

x a a

| 1887] . Zoology. 775

that, in some cases at least, do not answer any definite purpose iR

seems to me that there can be no reasonable doubt on the matter.

_ Itmay be urged that we lack the knowledge to decide whether

any given organism considered as a whole is or is not as good

= asits nature admits. It may be urged that an essential element

= of perfection is the due proportion of parts and faculties, and

_ dividual. I have no desire to dispute the great truth underlying

: these propositions, but in view of rudimentary organs alone, it

would appear that, at least in some subordinate details, useless

structures occur, and we have no means of deciding what limits

to assign to the action of the causes producing them. It is

certain that these appearances are not due to chance; there must

5 some determining cause modifying the structure in this

syay It is customary now to quote rudimentary organs

and anatomical anomalies as evidences of descent, but it seems

to me very improperly, occurring as many of them do quite out

o ae L en aoe mee oe a he a

5 za =. Katee ee ene aa ee ae

Blan > h great modifications occur, the

plan persists. No liberties, so to speak, are taken with it beyond

mouth or four [sic] pairs of limbs. _ Is there reason to

or analogous modifications, might not

Yet I think every student

ry would look on the suggestion that they will

n.

tens condense further these deductions, it appears that the in-

co Sina Structure of any particular bone may show evidence 0

: tat second, that of homology;

at of correlation to the structure of other bones of the

’

776 | General Notes. Uy

also sometimes apparently useless structures, sometimes appar

ently evidences of degeneration, but throughout are more or less

distinct marks of harmony with ‘other parts, and of homology

with other forms. How has this been accomplished? Cleatl

the crude notion that accidental, purposeless, external fors

should be sufficient to change by slow degrees one such organist

into another of a different species is untenable. The doctrine

action, however, of this internal force is, no doubt, modified 4

_ accidental secondary causes, which may produce degenerative ®

well as progressive changes,”

+} pike P. 298, March 25, 1887.

sage, for U

ihe pene, courtesy of Prof, Walter Faxon, of Cambridg®

oer

1887]. - Zoology. 777

mud was found in every stomach examined, the greatest quan-

tity in those stomachs containing the Physe. Attached to the

fauces of several individuals were found sometimes as many as

_ ahalf-dozen specimens of a nematode worm belonging to Siron-

gylus, The stomach of one individual was completely devoid of

food-remains of any sort, but was completely filled with clusters

of this nematode hanging from its walls. ;

t would seem, therefore, that in a free state Amblystoma is

carnivorously omnivorous—R. Elsworth Call.

The Turkey-Skull.— Dr. R. W. Shufeldt has recently pub-

lished the results of his comparisons of the skulls of wild and

domesticated turkeys, undertaken with a view of noticing the

changes brought about by domestication. His results in brief are :

1. In the wild bird the nasals fuse with the frontals, but in the

domestic bird they are separated by a persistent suture. —

2. Inthe wild turkey the cranio-frontal region is wider and

More concave than in the tame variety. +

3. The parietal prominences are more evident, and the median

‘ longitudinal from these to the occipital ridge is shorter m the

wild than in tame birds.

= 4 The occipital area in the wild turkey is cordate, the apex

: Upwards; in the tame turkey it is roughly semicircular.

= „ 5. The intraorbital septum is entire in the wild bird, perforate

T in the tame, . :

2 6. The pterygoids are longer and more slender in wild than in

1 tame varieties. ;

7. The skull is denser and thicker, as well as smoother, in the

ird

The a are all comparative, and exceptions are numerous.

studi

Se and form an interesting addition to our knowledge of the

ient murrelet the lower part of the larynx is aie in

rge mass of fat, lacking in the marbled murrelet.

~ are given off much higher in the ma

manurtelet. The differences in the hearts are quite marked,

< MAY result from the action -of the preserving-fluid, as this

es present, and these agree quite een except that the

e

778 General Notes. a [Aug

organ is described as smaller and more pointed in one thanit

the other. The livers differ considerably, being longer ae

in the ancient than in the marbled species. Considerable dift

ences are also noted in the full bladders, Dr. Shufeldt ails

attention to the fact that well-preserved spirit specimens of many |

Arctic birds are still desiderata in our museums, and request

others who may have the opportunity to make comparaiilt

studies on other auks. j

and furious fighting was noticed among the malet

with :

ti ir time in catchi t come

a" building with the old hen. josi.

of my house, around a fountain, we made an EP sg

n

ut the mandarin laid twelve eggs; nine wert

Of the Sea's and after setting a week she aban One

a perfect albin gx ns two were killed under the wre

vigorous, ms » lived only four days; the remain

1887] Zoology. 779

In a ravine which has a spring pool in it I placed two pairs of

blue-wing teal. One of these birds was the mother of the rest,

and was raised by a man in Iowa, but no eggs have been laid by

em.

My pintail duck made her nest on the ground ina clump of

ferns, and set on seven eggs. The day that she was due to

hatch she disappeared, and no trace of her, the young, or even

the egg-shells, remain. We think she escaped somewhere, per-

haps over the netting, for I have seen a wood-duck, although

pinioned, go over a wire netting, by means of feet and wings,

when first placed in-strange quarters. They would go up with

a sort of running fly and fall on the other side.

It is possible that, had the wood-ducks been turned out in

pairs, and no odd drakes been placed with them, the result

would have been better. There is a great deal of natural food

that they can eat; they prefer corn to anything else and eat that

y first; next they take wheat, and only eat the oats when nothing

else is left. j s

- Next year I hope to try again under slightly different circum-

j oes, such as proper mating and different food, and in the

mean time I will be glad to have the experience of others in this

line—Fred. Mather, Cold Spring Harbor, N. Y.

_ ably Spherechinus granulatus) which had become detached. It

with Echino-

will be inter-

of. these forms

of the Naples

ihe ee something to do with attracting them, f

af y and stirred the water with a stick, but without pro-

‘hl ing any result. He then washed his hands in the water,

[eevee not $ disturb the ooze on the pS, yeaa ve

eches reappeared and swam about as if they realized the pres-

E ere man being: ly

780 General Notes.

lastly, entirely absent. The other genera of the family—of whi¢ t

a Synopsis is given—are Seison of Grube, with two species, a

Saccobdella of Van Beneden and Hess, with a single species

Mo ttuscs.—Prominent among the papers in the twenty-sixth

volume of the Yournal de Conchyliologie, just completed, may be

mentioned an account of the Molluscan fauna of the valleys d

the Tage and the Sado, Portugal, by Nobre; descriptions of nev

species of Molluscs from Annam, by Wattebled; from ambodi f

and Tonkin, by Morelet ; and from China, by Hende.

EMBRYOLOGY.

A Theory of the Origin of Placental Types, and on cer |

Vestigiary Structures in the Placentz of the Mouse, Rat, by

Field~Mouse.—The discoidal placenta has been suppose d |

Balfour to have been derived from an earlier and less spe seen

He, however, gave no connected, and, as its% E

to the present writer, no plausible view as to the met me i

gested by me. iat

> The view which the writer holds is essentially as at

(1) 2 by Primitive form of the placenta approxi mated that 0

d on diffuse type. 2) The primitive type of pone

oe nate bipartite, and its cornua were therefore tubu n

Faces Ari in one of the cornua of such an uterus, ch tie

os ere enlarged, must have caused the latter to tou ase

uterine mucosa aroun or, just ;

eek pU into a flexible tube would be in annular Cte

ah

mucous membrar a

F Elite by Yous a i versity t E

sylvania, Pha leioy RYDER, Ph.D., Biological Department, Universi? a

1887] Embryology. 781

_ the development of the zonary, diffuse, or cotyledonary placenta

would be established.

Just here it may be well to call attention to the fact that the

bare poles of the chorion in the diffuse type of placenta, as seen

inthe Mare and Dugong, show conclusively that we cannot draw

asharp line of demarcation between the diffuse and zonary types

of the placenta. It follows, without any doubt whatever, from

what has been said in the preceding paragraph, that the so-called

| ffuse type of placenta is merely a special case of the zonary,

_ in which smaller polar areas have been left bare of villi because

of more extensive contact of the chorion with the uterine mucosa.

Py a ee ee eg ee ees

=

—

oo

wn

7

Ò

ey

o

a.

a

D

wn

O

O

a

w

Q

a

5

zi

8

w

=

a

~

O

5

2

l

sy

pe

D

<

g

a

pe)

The concentration or diminution of the placental area also

pends, to a great extent, upon the degree to which the allan-

tois is extended over the subzonal membrane; but the gradual

restriction of the area covered by the allantois must have had

some determining: cause, The influence which would be ade-

quate to produce such a restriction could only be a physiological

one, determined by the mechanical relations of the parts involved,

and it is therefore almost certain that the extension or restriction

4 of the allantoic area would be determined by the proportions of

the surface of the chorion brought into contact with the vascular

‘alls of the uterus, or by the restriction of the vascular and de-

~ Ciduous area in the walls of the uterus itself, The last-mentioned

SS I ee eR ee ee ee ee ee a eee ee S

soe ee

sei. + type Of uterus with its right and

4 ' ght an en

order that a number of foetuses could be nourished in each

baa t one time, as in Rodentia.

> e latter, when the foetuses are somewhat less than half

782 General Notes. ei) |

grown, it is very evident that there is an annular thickeningd $

the uterine wall (shown at v in A and B of Fig. 1). Dissecim $

reveals the fact that this annular thickening is nothing else tia {i

a part of the decidua, as it is closely adherent to the foetal mm $i

branes, and extends from either edge of the decidua of the & fi

coidal placenta (f) around over the back of the embryo, as shom $

at B and C in Fig. 1. This thickened portion, or decidua, fF

isolated, together with the placenta, aig

unrolled upon a flat surface, would appx $

as shown at D in Fig. I. e qusur E

immediately arises, What is the nature d |

this structure? It seems to the writer tht i

there can be no question that its positiona |

relations indicate that it is a vestige of the zonary type of placet.

which must have been developed in the ancestors of the Ro

All of the placental girdle, in the light of this evidence, *

been aborted in the Rodentia, except a small discoidal so")

nearest to the blood vascular supply on the mesometric ee

the uterus, as shown at A in Fig. 1, where @ repres ay

_ Uterine artery (the vein has not been indicated in this %3 a

. The functionless part of the decidual girdle in existing M

_ types shows that the ancestral Rodentia possessed a zonat i

CNR, We may confidently affirm this, in spite of the anom |

Aa of development of the Cavys and Murine type: opn

aS is good reason to suppose that the types of devel t b

Laie by both the latter have been derived by eer

wioch ans n from a type approximating the more prin pat |

ot | was similar to the less specialized mode of de

_ We may suppose, further, that the zonary girdle first 27

narrow and abort on the side of the ie tube oppe

: : con

a agrammatically in Fig. 2, at A, where % n

o he wall of the left and w that of the right uterine tube,

Embryology. , 783

by the decidua, and v the vagina. We may suppose Fig. 2, A,

-to represent a type intermediate between that shown in Fig. I

and that represented in Fig. 2, at B, which is that characteristic

: of certain Carnivora, —the Cat, for example. In C, Fig. 2, the

uniparous types, to be next described, we find that portions of

right and left halves of the uterus present more or less

mucous surface to the single chorion which they enclose. In

Dugong, while, if the villi are aggregated into little tufts mainly

i like D. With the still greater specialization of the uterus, as a

5 E. of which its cavity is no longer tubular, but pyriform, in

gravid state, as shown at E, Fig. 2, other modifications of

Wat of thè Old World monkeys are further modifications of a

aee which must have been primitively zonary oF diffuse, as 1s

€

fact th D, Fig. 2. Such a view is further countenanced by the

TG - in its earliest condition the placenta of the Primates 1s

~ sally diffuse in its character.

These bare ar ; f the surface

the q o S areas seem to have arisen in consequence of the failure of t

Cae Tennis to come into intimate contact with a vascular maternal eames

#

` phlet on arrow-release, a copy of which he had kindly sent mê, —

_ held somewhat obliquely, the upper moiety inclining towards í K

784 General Notes. [Aug

The facts as interpreted above seem, to me, to leave no doubt $

regarding the great influence which variation in the mechanical

relations of the chorion to the uterine walls has exercised in the —

evolution of placental types. This, coupled with the influence

exerted by the varying fertility of species, the variation in the J

vascularity of different parts of the uterine walls, and the form J

of the uterine cavity, has, doubtless, been the all-important factor $

in the evolution of the various existing types of gestation- f

John A, Ryder, June 24, 1887.

ANTHROPOLOGY.

Arrow-Release among the Navajos.— Yesterday (28th March,

1887) I was out with my camera upon one of the hills which —

closely surround the frontier military post of Fort Wingate, New —

Mexico. On the site referred to are built three Navajo lodges,

“hogans,” as they are called,—two of the old original structures —

of the tribe and one of the more, recent dwellings, or plan of

building. Having made my intentions known, that I desired 4

picture of a warrior in the act of shooting his war-bow, there

soon gathered about me some eight or ten venerable-looking old

Navajo bucks, two or three of whom had their war-bows ;

arrows with them.

Having just read with great interest Professor Morse’s pat-

| it was with no little curiosity that I handed a bow and two of

three arrows to an old gray-headed warrior present, and asked

him, “ Draw,—as if you were about to kill the worst enemy you

had in the whole world.” A particularly savage expression came

over the old fellow’s countenance at the suddenness of my request,

ut he seized the bow and arrows, and immediately drew one of

them to its very head. This is the position he stood in at the

time: his left foot was slightly in advance of the right, the bow i

was firmly seized at its middle with the left hand, while it

right from the vertical line, and, of course, the lower limb having

a corresponding inclination towards the left side. The two fg

rrows were held with the bow in the left hand, being COn it

by the fingers against its right outer aspect. With the right 1

A th eugak , and consequently including the

ents Ranger, bore against the string below this

Anthropology. 785

and was not of itself used to draw back the string. Returning to

our Navajo warrior, I noticed, too, that the arrow at its head

= wason the /eft side of the bow and simply rested on top of his-

_ clinched hand. This:man wore, in common with alli the others

= who used the bow, a stiff leather “ brace” fastened by buckskin

_ Strings about his left wrist, the collar being about two inches

deep, and this in several others who stood near and who wore

‘ai day I went among ‘them again, and they had evidently

os the matter over, and several new men being present,

Site ied

1 E ART

786 General Notes. [A

i

to, the tertiary release, and a variety of the Mediterranean release”

co

(pp. 10, II). ` Bo

At any rate, as I say, all the Navajos which I examined, when

not using the primary release employ in connection with the in-

dex finger and thumb of the right hand the annularis digitto

assist in drawing back the string when charged with an arrow. —

These arrows have an elaborately made “ notch,” are armed

with three feathers, and tipped with thin and flat heads of iron,

made sharp with a file. The feathers are attached about an inci

above the notch, and are placed at an equal distance apart on the

cylindrical shaft. Sometimes the plane of one of these feathers

will be at right angles to the notch, but again the arrangement

may be otherwise, and I am satisfied they have no special rule :

in putting them on. Deer-sinew is used to wrap them, as it 1s t0

confine the iron head at the distal extremity of the shaft —R.W.

Shufeldt, U. S. Army, Fort Wingate, New Mexico, 29th March, 1887.

of the most important bits of news is the purchase of the “ Grea

Serpent Mound,” in Adams County, Ohio, by the Peabody Mi

seum of American Archæology and Ethnology. At the time of

the explorations of Squier and Davis (1849) it was covered by4

heavy growth of trees, but most of them were prostrated by the

great tornado of 1859, since which time the elements have seriously

damaged it. Knowing this fact, Professor F. W. Putnam, of the

Peabody Museum, wrote a letter ad ting the preservation ofthis

Paige d

n oval about ninety feet long, and still farther in front of we

tending to the point of the bluff, is an ill-defined portion i :

Ten have likened to a jumping frog, while others thinh OA

ge.

ao 1 foll g the centre of the c ‘no outline

te ae 2 Sem e constantly-curving 0 Pr

oes Paraly. fortunate that this, one of the most wonderful of 5

Anthropology. 787

dian mounds, is thus assured of preservation, for many others are

fast disappearing by the action of the rain and of the plough.

- The Ruined Cities of Yucatdn.—Mr. E. H. Thompson, United

States consul at Merida, Yucatan, has been making researches

ical vegetation combined with faulty construction. The dirt and

_ them as communal dwellings. Mr. Thompson rather inclines to

ly to the statements of eminent archzologists that

_ traces of such towns exist, he quotes the case of Labna, which is

rarely visited, even by the nativesthemselves. The whole region

for leagues around this ruin is dotted with low mounds and small,

rectangular terraces, some hardly raised above the surrounding

“Yel, While others are of greater altitude, though none are so

T as the mounds which support the ruins. Now, asks Mr.

4 ompson, “if these do not mark the sites of what were once

d and in such situations as to forbid the idea that they were

‘Sites of additional temples. Mr. Thompson is continuing his

locali ons of Labna, which promise to give good results, as the

alty has been almost entirely undisturbed.

but, being built of perishable materials, have entirely disappeared.

rep no

2 788 | Setentific News.

SCIENTIFIC. NEWS.

one hundred and twenty-five thousand of other Ms

_ whitefish and Lake Superior trout. The total nun

trout distributed for the year was six hundred thousa ne

past year were seen in many towns where none have n

for many years,

—Professor Hubert Ludwig, of Giessen, has he

the Zoological Institute in Bonn, as successor t°

łichard Hertwig. His place as professor at Gie has be

filled by the appointment of Dr. J. G. Spengel, pár

director of the Scientific Museum in Bremen. Dr m

land, of Munich, goes to Bremen. ` oo

—The Johns Hopkins University fellowships 1 —

to be filled for the coming year by A. C. Wightman

filson, | : k

rs, and du

been

1887] | Scientific: News o aS Fe 789

; —Dr. Walter Voigt, of Würzburg, has been appointed assistant

in the Zoological Institute at Bonn. The position of assistant

in the Zoological Zootomical Institute of Würzburg thus left

_ vacant has been filled by the appointment of Dr. Franz Stuhlman.

—It is reported that the Grand Duke Nicholas, of Russia, is

an enthusiastic student of natural history, and that he has

recently completed a work on the entomology of the region of

the Caucasus.

—The Ohio State Archeological and Historical Society

announce the beginning of the Okto Archeological and Historical

Quarterly, the first volume of which will contain, among other

archeological material, a bibliography of the mounds of Ohio,

The yearly volume will consist of about four hundred pages,

and will be sent free to members of the society, while to others

the price is one dollar per copy.

now. For many years it has shared the building of the Salem

dred thousand pamphlets. It is rich in historical and scientific

__ the expenditure of a few hundred dollars its scientific side would

have but few rivals in the United States. The Institute, twenty

| — ago, placed its natural history collections as a permanent

“posit with the Peabody Academy of Science, but it still retains

à museum of historical specimens.

for th

ied ited S i iti der Com-

eit Wie e opp Exploring Expedition un |

_ gaus,” at Mons, aged eighty-four.

_ portance to the State of Kansas,.”—W. R. Li

Leavenworth,

790 3 Proceedings of Scientific Societies. [Au

_—Mrs. A. T. Bruce, of New York City, the mother of

Dr. Adam T, Bruce, whose untimely end has been chroni

—Professor A. DeBary, of Strassburg, has received a call

the chair of botany and directorship of the Botanical I

of the University of Leipzig, left vacant by the retirement d

Professor A. Schenk. a

—Dr. W. Branco, who has been a privatdocent at Berlin, g

to the University of Königsberg as professor of geology.

—Dr. Karl Dahl, the zoologist, and Dr. H. Traube, the mine

ogist, have entered upon the duties of their professorships at

University of Kiel. i

—Mr. Carl Eigenmann has gone to the Pacific coast.

hopes while there to make a study of the Embiotocoid fi

— Professor P. Falkenberg, formerly of Göttingen, goes ©

University of Rostock to take the chair of botany there.

—Dr. A. Gravis, who has been at Brussels, has been

professor of botany at Lüttich. :

— RECENT DEATHS.—May 20, Professor Alexander Ecker !

well-known anatomist and anthropologist of Freiburg, at the

professor of botany, at Copenhagen, March 19, aged

ree.

PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIE!

Sciences, “ with special reference to such as are of ec,

THE

l ÅMERICAN NATURALIST.

Vu SEPTEMBER, 1887. No. 9.

_ SCIENTIFIC FACT AND SCIENTIFIC INFERENCE,

3 BY H, W. CONN, PH.D.

E is the custom of scientists to regard their contributions to

knowledge as the only ones concerning which there is any

5 » requiring no retracing, while non-scien-

i thought can be certain of nothing, one generation pulling.

x y different view of nature. Theology is still divided into

beliefs, each bitterly opposed to the others. What |

ce has been made our scientists think has been

through their discoveries, and they sometimes

which: Production of any positive advance in knowledge

: S "cat has not been made through the instrumentality of science.

ona S then, claims to be the only sure realm of knowledge,

oad claims that its truths, once established, are established for

Whi an "s scientific method has indeed been defined as one

Uiisciene: ts nothing without proof, in contradistinction to the

a method, which is willing to accept entire many the-

Wha ellei for which there is no proof and the meaning of

A lea | i

pan XXIL—no, 9.

54

792 é Scientific Fact and Scientific Inference. i

Now, nothing is more plain than that science does mot con

itself to demonstrated truth. It is easy to find ins

‘publications hundreds of theories which have been ad

defended, disputed, and rejected. Scientific literature is

filled with speculations and theories which are no more

onstrated than the most unreliable of non-scientific th

Scarcely a publication appears that does not contain some!

speculation, so that science is burdened with hundreds of

proved, unprovable hypotheses, making it as difficult some

to discover accepted truth of scientific teaching as to di

the accepted truth of those lines of thought which we call 1

scientific. Yet in spite of this coming and going of hypothe

or rather, as we shall see later, on account of it, the í

still that science is the only sure thing, and its conclusi

the only ones that cannot be gainsaid. We find it alme

versally recognized, not only among scientists, but am

thinking men, that if a universally-accepted scientific con

comes in conflict with any other, it is the scientific cone

which stands and eventually modifies the other. If this a

for scientific facts is both consciously and unconsciously ;

nized, it must rest upon some foundation.

Absolute knowledge is, of course, impossib

what we observe or prove, it is always open to the agno

deny all knowledge. We can never be certain that ouf

not utterly deceiving us, and that our mental processes an i

contradistinction to reality. We can never prove that w p

verse is intelligible, nor can we prove that the fact of o y

compelling us to assume nature to act in certain W4

_ that nature does act in these ways. It is, of course

attempt to demonstrate the truthfulness of nature es

for this reason scientific observations and conclusions

to doubt as well as all others, Fundamentally, no Of

more certain than another, because a question as to ae

of thought affects everything alike. No advance g

without the fundamental assumption of the truth of |

nature. We must, then, always start with this ass” ning

the question we are to consider becomes this: i ich

truthfulness of mind and nature, are the conclusions

call scientific any more likely to be correct than

we call non-scientific? That they are ‘almost u!

le. No m

pao

pil

p 1887] Scientific Fact and Scientific Inference. 793

-regarded is certainly true. Let us, then, endeavor to find out

upon what this claim for superiority rests.

Faltis frequently said that science’s claim for authority is due to

its dealing only with facts; but plainly this statement is far from’

expressing the truth. For, in the first place, all realms of knowl-

_ edge deal with facts of some sort,—though facts relating to mind

oer be less cogent than those relating to physical nature,—and,

in the second place, science is more than a collection of facts.

A process of collecting and narrating facts is not science, for

facts have no meaning except as they are compared together,

and as conclusions are drawn from them. The significance of —

Science, then, rests upon the deductions from the facts, and not

_ Upon the facts themselves. We must therefore carefully distin-

Suish between scientific facts and scientific inference, and con-

_ Sider each in turn.

A

i i

:

i

P

3 By scientific facts we mean simple matters of observation,

Bh i

Such as that a given stone drops to the ground. In regard to

Fest upon two things,—Firstly, scientific facts themselves are

: Such a character that they cannot be modified by man nor

changed by his imagination. They are beyond the reach of

influence, and we are forced to accept them as true.

is cannot be said of the data of other realms of knowl-

We clearly recognize that minds are unlike, and that

l € think very differently upon the same subject. Some men

— deny that there is a right and wrong, or would change the

Nord right for expediency. When a subject such as metaphysics

i ‘Upon the introspection of mind alone, it is evident that the

— factor is a large one. Nothing is, perhaps, more certain

ue Primary laws of thought, and we must assume that, if

But DR personal idiosyncrasies, all minds would think alike.

‘thd E have not yet been able thus to free themselves;

Ge en it comes to the application of the laws of thought,

oag difficulty of the application or the personal factor of

Tor becomes so great that contradictory results are

tha and the certainty, of course, destroyed. We see from —

$ -d is open to error, which must be recognized as

all but the simplest laws of thought. Mental processes,

' » Mental activities in general, are open to vari-

=f

794 Scientific Fact and Scientific Inference. ;

ation in different persons; but we are confident that the

nature are alike for every one, and are therefore more tolt

trusted than anything open to individual variation. But,

upon evidence, for there is always the possibility of

and verification. Upon this consideration rests prima

confidence in the facts of science; and this, again, is a

of certainty not possible except in natural science. Hi

proaches more closely to science in its certainty than 4

else. A scientific fact is in itself, of course, no more

a fact of history, in so far as each rests upon the same €

and the evidence may become sufficient to establish 1

facts with absolutely convincing force. But we can never

facts of history; it must depend entirely upon evidence,

becomes less certain as it becomes less in amount, and

quently as we get farther away from the facts. Nor can

be sure of repeating mental conceptions. We

m

”

mental processes, and therefore repeating his thoug

far, then, as scientific facts depend upon evide

same force as facts of history. In sọ far as t

_ processes in observation, they are open to the same

personal error as all other mental actions. But

by repetition be made a perpetual source of evidence

individual, and when we realize that they are mater

vation and not of interpretation, and therefore P wi

syncrasies are almost entirely eliminated, we must

scientific facts as more certain than all others, and,

approaching the condition of absolute certainty.

But this is only the beginning of the matter.

tented herself with facts her position would bev

_ worthless. We sometimes hear it said that science should stop

_ with facts, and that it has no right to draw conclusions; but this

x is plainly both impossible and undesirable. A science made up

_ of facts, no matter how true they might be, would be meaning-

: less. Simple observations, however numerous, no more consti-

tute science than a lot of numbers shaken up in a basket would

Constitute mathematics. It is only as the facts are classified, as

_ generalizations are made, as inferences are drawn from them,

and conclusions reached, that observations begin to have any

_ ‘Significance. It is a meaningless fact that the Silurian rocks

_ are under the Devonian, but it becomes pregnant with meaning

7 when we draw the inference that this indicates a relative age of

the rocks and fossils in them. It is utterly valueless to us to

‘ know that a thousand stones which we have observed fell to the

i ground, but it is of the utmost importance when we draw from

_ the observations the conclusion that all heavy bodies tend to fall

ee eae ge ee ee ee ne ae eee) In ea ees Ci ime

; towards the earth, and of even more significance when we con-

T clude that all bodies tend to fall towards each other. In these

i Simple cases the conclusions seem almost included in the obser-

ns, but, nevertheless, they are entirely distinct from them;

a this serves to illustrate the statement just made, that it is

ey inferences and conclusions which are of any significance. ->

then, science uses its observed facts only as data for inferences,

7 is itself a collection of deductions, is it any more deserving

y credence than other branches of learning? Plainly enough,

' oi no longer either of the special reasons for acceptance

The: we have seen giving superior value to scientific facts.

“a inferences here are just as truly open to the error of the

thd eH equation as they are in any other line of knowledge,

nec € is primarily no reason for thinking them better drawn

Science than elsewhere. Is there, then, any reason for think-

mg that scientific conclusions are especially deserving of cre-

Rigg and have a right to the claim which scientists hold for

“agg being the most certain conclusions of knowledge ?

seems usual answer to this question will be in the affirmative

pats quite certain. Scientific conclusions are everywhere re-

Ee eae ee Ot ae, ee ee eee a ee Sr OT ee eS ee ro

S from many of their positions, and have not in turn been

€ Most serious argument which can be urged against

Say authoritative. They have driven other branches of ©

iri

k

Scientific Fact and Scientific Inference. 998 ~

,

Niet is that it contradicts the conclusions of science, and it,

-796 ; Scientific Fact and Scientific Inference,

is everywhere recognized that our theological and me

beliefs must agree with the accepted conclusions from science.

But no sweeping statements can be made. Scientific ink

have a very varying degree of probability, ranging from

certainty to the wildest hypothesis. Proof of an inductive

clusion is an impossibility, for it must not only be shown!

the conclusion in question fits all the facts of the past, p

_ and future, but also that it is the only conclusion that can

sibly be framed to fit the facts. This is a manifest imposs! "E

but the approximation to it may be very close. Most pers

Would regard the circulation of the blood as a demon

fact, and yet it has never been observed nor absolutely €

strated. It is an inference from observed facts, but an in

So strong that it is utterly impossible to doubt its being thet ga

From practical certainty like this we may pass by easy stages E

_ the wildest hypothesis. The law of gravitation; the theoy*

: the long duration of the geological ages; the theory of

tion; the theory of the spontaneous generation of life,

_ the present time or in the past; the idea of a central sul?

which all the stars in the universe are revolving,—all

represent inferences from scientific facts, but inferences of

l , would our scientists pretend that such a state x

be made, for, however firmly they may believe in the &

their conclusions, they are fully aware of the possibili

inferences and mistaken theories.

How is it, then, that scientific conclusions can hae

Superior authority? The answer is, because they are, ™

5 = open to a more or less direct verification, and the

with which they appeal to us is directly proportion

» exactness of this verification. It is frequently pos

pealing to facts of observation (which we have seen

» OF to show it in most exact accord with all nature. :

x piana our scientists are constantly dealing with p sak

ee “> n their training by observation, and for a long tıme

1887] Scientific Fact and Scientific Inference. 797

tion occupies almost their sole attention. Many, indeed, get no

_ farther than this, and are little more than observing machines.

_ When they do go outside this line it is always with more or less `

= caution, because they well know that if their inferences be not —

_ truths they will soon be disproved. Trained to deal with facts,

they are constantly using observation as checks and guides to

their speculation, and after any conclusion is reached or any

theory made it must meet thousands of unthought-of observa-

tions from nature, and be found to fall in with them all in perfect

rmony before it can stand as an accepted scientific conclusion.

In this they differ from metaphysical or philosophical inferences.

If one theologian differs from another, each can think the other

mistaken without the possibility of proof, for the necessary facts

are beyond their reach, and the different stand-points of the two

give, each, a different view. But if one scientist differs from an-

other, it is frequently only a matter of a few years when further

collections from nature’s store of facts will refute the position of

one, or perhaps both. Here, then, there is a possibility of veri-

fying the realm of thought by the realm of fact. Observations

_ re made, and the mind works them over and draws conclusions

_ ftom them, creating usually a thought to explain them. Then

_ nce more it turns to observations to see if the thought created

for a few facts will explain all, and thus have the force of a

Seneral truth. When Darwin first conceived the theory which

afterwards made his name famous, it was from a few observations

i TROR the geographical distribution of animals; but, having con-

æived a thought which explained these facts, he spent twenty ,

years in patient application of this thought to all other classes

of observation, and it was not till he had satisfied himself that

_ the conclusion did harmonize with all the facts which he could

a Collect that he was ready to let it be known. When the theory

Was finally given to the world its great force was in this very

fact, that it was shown to be in such accord with numerous facts

4 s e; and what prevents it from being universally accepted

: Duy 1s that there are still some facts which do not seem in

Senordnice with the theory. :

ne us it is with all scientific theories which have any authority.

_ —'Sté is always a world of observation to be considered, which

Pips = found in harmony with the conclusions. So cogent do

5 ; conclusions sometimes become that they not only enable

*

798 Scientific Fact and Scientific Inference. i

us to interpret the present and explain the past, but to predio

the future. In every way they may thus be made to show their

exact harmony with nature. False inferences cannot be

harmony with this truth, and errors cannot stand. Scie

theories are very abundant, and many of them are wrong, bit ~

the world of facts gives an opportunity for examination, dispute, ;

and final rejection of the false ones. This fact, that many the

ories have been disproved and rejected by those who originally

advanced them, is the greatest safeguard of science, for it gives

universal acceptance of thinkers after long discussion. >

in this way it is that scientific conclusions may, under the

right conditions, appeal to us with such force. Such a veria

and hopes, desir es, loves, and enmities may come in to modi i

of dynamics, the classification of the animal kingdom, would be

i .

Assuming, then, the general truthfulness of nature me

validity of mind, there is a general concession that there

accepted theory claims so great credence it by no means ”

that all science deserves a similar acceptance. Here a

Scientists make their greatest mistake, in failing to S¢P

= positive from the probable and the possible. The ©

that the fossils of our rocks were once living animals occupies

avery different position from the theory of evolution. One js

_ almost included in the observed facts, while the other .implies

much more of inference. But too often our writers and teachers

hil to separate them, giving equal credence to such theories as

the undulatory theory of light and the law of gravitation. This

3 is all very well when scientist is addressing scientist; any amount

Of imagination and speculation is then admissible. Hypothesis

; itive, the probable, and the ‘possible. He should offer as positive

_ only such conclusions as have placed themselves beyond dispute,

| and regard all others as more or less probable, according as they

_ teachers, and an even greater number of our writers, fail to do

“us, They are ready to accept before the public more than is

he necessary belief in the truthfulness of nature, and

lity of indefinite repetition of experiments and obser-

z isa But when we go beyond the facts and draw inferences,

there is Primarily no more reason for believing in the truth of

Fence from science than in any non-scientific inference.

ap conclusions can, by a long and successful verification from

~ ol nature, be rendered very certain—more certain, in-

(Cd, than any other factor of knowledge. We, then, frequently

em facts, though they are really nothing more than strong

the infe

tif +r, © other conclusions. The fact that a theory is a scien-

theory

Pad the test of fact, and has shown itself so in harmony

claimed e as to be universally accepted, that there can be

f: gene T it any of that superior weight of authority which is

~ ~ ™ Consent given to scientific truths.

1887] x a Scientific Fact and Scientific Inference. 799

fave been verified by observation. Unfortunately, many of our.

A scientific fact, then, claims superiority to all else for two

But this does not in the least give any greater prob-

It is only after a conclusion has ~

k

800 Comparative Chemistry of Higher and Lower Plants.

COMPARATIVE CHEMISTRY OF HIGHER AND |

| LOWER PLANTS.. ae

BY HELEN C, DE S ABBOTT.

(Concluded from page 730.)

jee laws controlling the chemical evolution of plant-consii

uents are too little comprehended to formulate, but befor

reaching a position ever to do this, it will be necessary to study

carefully the facts from extended researches, to ascertain how

these chemical constituents occur, under what conditions, and if

these conditions are constant or variable, and to what may%

3

e hypothesis of evolution, is still too new to possess a litera

of its own.

I have already referred to the protoplasm and starch, als?

the large ash-percentages of some of the lower groups,

among the compounds commonly found in many plants

thi

and correlated with special physiological functions:

: The general distribution of chlorophyll, with few € a

in all plant groups is only second to the proteid comp?

however, the color of this compound is not the same

plants, and the evergreens and many other plants when co",

will be found in this respect distinct. The gradual chang?

the bright greens of the early spring foliage to the duller |

1887] Comparative Chemistry of Higher and Lower Plants. 801

_ of late summer illustrates the transmutation of color which may

__ be observed in plants, and I would suggest that this same

_ gradation may be seen on the large evolutionary planes of all

plant groups, chlorophyll, like the plants, being at different

= evolutionary stages; for example, in many Algz and lower

plants it appears as light bright greens, and finally in the darker

greens of the higher plants.

Considering in general the chemical compounds of flowering

plants among the apetals and monocotyledons on the first evolu-

tionary plane, where the plant elements are simple, tannin, wax, _

starch, aromatic or acrid principles, and the oils and sugar of

€ palm are the most conspicuous substances. These com-

pounds are found in the same or in neighboring plants, and their

= @sociation is doubtless of evolutionary significance. Gluco-

_ Sides or alkaloids, though occurring in some few of these plants,

_ “e not characteristic of this stage of evolution.

Í Tannin is a general name for a class of substances which

_ Presents many aspects in different plants. It first appears, as was

Stated, in the liverworts, combined with large quantities of starch

= and Wax; then in ferns. Among the amental apetalous groups

= tis one of the conspicuous compounds, also associated with

: ‘Starch; the Casuarina, willow, poplar, hazel, oak, beech, chestnut, k

x alder, and birch containing large quantities. Tannin is widely

Pe distributed, though especially in the leaves, barks,’ seeds, and

: ene of fruits, and in other plants in considerable quantities, as

2 ie maple, sumach, tea, in many berries, the holly, and the

_ Seeds and stalks of the grape-vine.

oe ormentilla erecta? Rosacee, yields six to twenty per cent

? tannin, and, although this compound is present in mono- and

bor tyledonous plants, it seems to be more prominent in the

pee on the first evolutionary plane, and to occur less, if at

eon the highest plants. When it is remembered that tannin is

. hse in greater abundance in lower plants, which I have com-

be formative to the formed or higher evolutionary groups;

ER still further illustration of what was stated about the higher

Physic, of ash-constituents in lower plants.

eS lologists differ as to the tannin functions in plants. It

\ eee

Repartiti : ; -

la Science du Tannin dans les diverses Regions du Bois de Chene,” Ane as

i TSS, Ergebnisse, Landw. Versuche, München, 1861.

a eee

. „ Under the apetalous and monocotyledonous groups volt,

among the monocotyledons, the palms occur on the same plat,

eight hundred pounds of sago having been obtained from onè

ge . he s

contain this substance most abundantly, —namely, the

It is certainly true that some tannins play a distinct rôle as the

source of many vegetable colors, —the reds and blues of flowers,

the brown of tree-barks, and the colors of changing leaves on

their origin to this source. ; ži

The large quantity of starch in most tannin plants is remarke

able, and Sachs believes it, or fixed oils, to be the mother-sub- ;

stance of tannin. es

Datiscin,? a kind of starch, is found in the Datisca order, and,

ms

vee Le

À

and in most of their genera contain large quantities of starch,

k

the latter plants, 12.5 per cent. from Typha latifolia (Lecoq). 2

--Large quantities of wax are found in species of the myrte,

and also of the palm. a

On the second plane, or multiplicity of floral parts, the chit

ical constituents become much more numerous at this stag®

danus (screw-pine) and bulrush orders yield much starch; o%

plant of Metroxylon, or the sago-palm species. The Arum pat- 4

:

tain the tannins of the lower apetalous plants and ifs parallel

beet, sugar-cane, sorghum, the fruit groups of the Rosace®,

the sugar-maple. ae,

_ The sugar of the palms, among the highest of plants

simplicity of floral elements, is very like that of the cam® |

the grasses are the lower of monocotyledons with mu ee

of parts, it is notable that at the meeting-ground betwee? =

groups, or at the transition-stage into multiplicity, sugar *

_* According to Stenhouse, datiscin is a crystalline glucosidal bitter substance

A 1887] Comparative Chemistry of Higher and Lower Plants. Sag

occur. The sugar of the palm is very little above the sugar line;

it may be considered, in an evolutionary sense, as passing to the

cane-sugar of these other groups, and as forming the apex of a

_ lowtriangle, the base being the sugar line already described. The

_ large percentage of grape-sugar in the fig, Ficus carica, occurs in

a class very nearly on a line with these cane-sugar plants.

= Glucosides are more especially the compounds of the middle

plane of plant development, and are found in the higher mono-

cotyledons of this stage, in the lower and some of the higher

dicotyledons, and less frequently in the highest of all plants, or

under cephalization. The first appearance of a glucoside occurs

(Antiaris toxicaria); acorin, of the Arum; and coniferin, of the

: Coniferæ, Among the Lirioideæ groups many glucosides occur,

“specially saponin, and I have found this compound in species

of the yucca, agave, and among dicotyledons in leguminous

: plants; besides, it is found in Rosæ and other parallel groups.

-Saponin is also found in Smilax, a genus partaking somewhat

> the nature of endogens and exogens, and serves to unite all

‘the saponin groups ;* and although this compound is widely

distributed in plants, it is a significant fact that all the groups

“ontaining it belong to this middle evolutionary division. l

Aosoll? has found saponin in the cell-sap of living roots of

“tPonaria and Gysophila, and I have elsewhere called attention

” 42 solvent action of saponin on resins, also on calcium

Salate. This property is of value to the plant not only by

acting as a solvent of insoluble or slightly soluble compounds, -

thos assisting it in obtaining food otherwise difficult of

eae but also resins are found in nearly all the Lirioidee, and

„ Presence of this chemical class associated with saponin shows —

~~", and this element is frequently found in large quantities, —

tc $ :

aric Basis of Plant Forms.”

TE s - Chem., v, 94; Jahresb. d. Chem., 1884. ! —

our, Fe, Sustifolia, Trans. Amer. Phila, Soc.; Chemical Basis of Plant Forms,

titute, |

`i nklin Insti

: 804 Comparative Chemistry of Higher and Lower Plants,

the preceding stages of chemical evolution are represented

_ loids are found in the monimia, hemp, laurel, and ama

3 j. grass, is one illustration ; its occurrence is limited to those

: Containing oils, and, since in many genera in which this su

___ has been found certain fixed or ethereal oils also occut, it

__ be inferred that this constancy relates to their chemical evo!

> : en palms are the lowest plants which contain coumarin

NON in the grass and rose families on the same evolu

ae Sat po among the leguminous, madder, rue, pe pe

8 and in orchids and ita, ar

acterized Composit, These plants ar

_ orchids. It may be noted that oils are formed abundantly

-bichet ol

. o A knowledge of the chemical compounds, as they arè

-and the strychnos orders, and to the organic acids of the valerian

_ order, and the aromatic and volatile compounds of the

are found in many orders.

‘a

as well as resins, in other saponin orders. Saponin may

called a constructive element in developing the plant from

multiplicity of floral element to cephalization of these organs,

` Among the members of the higher groups of plants many

a certain point, when the plants acquire other chemical ch

teristics,—7.2., indigo, hzmatoxylin, and other coloring-m:

of the leguminous groups, and the dyes of the madder

give way to the alkaloids of the cinchona, the coffee, the atropa,

,

posite.

Alkaloids, though so widely distributed, are not found inth

very lowest nor the highest plants. Their occurrence in

has been already noted. In flowering plants among the |

apetals, piperin, the alkaloid of Piperaceæ, occurs; also,

orders, and in colchicum; but they are exceptional in

lower groups, and belong properly to dicotyledons, where

Besides the occurrence of compounds peculiar to distil

plants or whole plant groups, another class is found, and t

substances of this class may be scattered quite generally thr

the plant kingdom, but always associated with some other í

pound. pea

-~ Coumarin, the odorous principle of tonka-bean and ven

. or their aromatic and volatile oily products;

fragrant principle of vanilla, also occurs

highest

Grouped in plants, is a first step towards the study of

PLATE XXVII.

Plate II.

ee 4

PROTOPLASM.

DYES

\OaweROA \ RESINS

SAPONIN

4

N

OI

lution, and acquaintance with the conditions which control their

synthesis and gradual formation in the plant can only be had by

patient research. The simpler compounds of which any com-

_ plex substance is built, if located as ¢ompounds of lower plants,

would indicate the lines of progression from the lower to the

higher groups, :

- Ithas been already said that every plant contains compounds

peculiar to it, but certain compounds seem to play a special part

in plant evolution, since the wax and tannin of the vascular

‘typtogams lead to the tannin and wax groups of the apetalous

Plants, and the starch of these lower plants to the great starch

groups of the monocotyledonous. It will not be out of place

to note here that the greatest accumulations of starch occur

‘m plant orders just before they pass on to a higher plane of

Solution, This is seen, for example, in the palm and neigh-

boring orders of the first plane, and among the Lirioideæ of the

nd plane, since these plants are the richest in starch con-

‘nts, and it seems as if they were preparing by large reserves

/ food-supply for their higher position, represented by more

ved groups, where the demands for nutrition are greater.

the line of cane-sugar indicates that sugar occurs promi-

in plants passing from simplicity to multiplicity of floral

s, and the glucosides in their turn are found in the middle

so plant development, assisting the plants to the highest

> of cephalization. F

22 XXVIL isa chemical representation, drawn after Heckel’s

ucal table, and from what has preceded it will be easily

‘hended. It is not to be inferred that all classes of chemi-

compounds found in plants are represented, since only a few

been used for illustration, nor that all of these given com-

S only occur in the designated plant groups, since they

Por in traces or varying quantities elsewhere. However,

Compounds are conspicuous as being especially typical of

Ma Sroups which correspond to their location, and where

“Sence is doubtless associated with the plants’ evolution.

chemical compounds which may be said to be typical of

‘ht of «: Species, or an individual member of a series would be

— in this general presentation. :

dead Plant groups, as the Proteacez, orchids, and Composite,

= © 1n esthetic beauty at the expense of their chemical con-

=

stituents, all resources go to develop the perfection of the flowe

and the absence of numerous compounds in these plants is

strong point in favor of chemical evolution favoring plant devel

opment. These beautiful ‘plants being among the highest o

_ their series, may well be called the aristgcrats of the vegetabl

kingdom. ey

It is still impossible to demonstrate the full significance of this

chemical theory in plant development, but it will be evident

any one who examines botanical and chemical facts that the |

presence of certain chemical compounds is associated with or

tain botanical conditions, and where these conditions are variable,

is found a like variability of chemical composition. If it canbe

proved that chemical and botanical morphology are not one an

the same, at least the two are very intimately correlated. =}

It has been said that many of the constituents found in plants

are the result of destructive metabolism, and are of no iur ;

usein the plant’s economy, but our knowledge of what i

tute plastic and waste products is by no means settled, and

should we be forced to accept the conclusion that some piat" |

are of no use to the plant, yet it is a significant fact that cerat

cell-tissues or organs secrete or excrete chemical comp

peculiar to them, and which are only to be found in one%

or in species closely allied to it. confined

Broadly speaking, the study of plant-life cannot be :

within the limits of the vegetable-cell, since its radiations

gous series in plants; by the study of embryology *~

3 that alantoin occurs in animal- and plant-life, also gl at i

inosite are found in both kingdoms, and the secretion ER

plant-leaves is a fluid chemically like the animal gastric ju

_M. Leo Errera, in a recent paper on a fundamental €

_ of equilibrium of living cells, calls attention to the thin and

commeien of plant- as well as animal-cells at the moment

formation, and their tendency to assume a form which,

_ Same conditions, an imponderable lamina of liquid we

~ And he attributes to this fact their adaptability and ye

o : * Comp. Rend., t. xiii., 1886, p. 822. ;

>;

pe 7

Ta A

te

4 1887] Comparative Chemistry of Higher and Lower Plants. 807

_ with which they change. He believes that we can trace to this

_ cause the great number of organic forms, and for the first time

unite the architecture of the cell to molecular physics. Only

_ with age the cell-membrane becomes thick and offers a consider-

_ able resistance.

} It may be suggested that this fact is further exhibited when

f applied to the conditions obtained when plants pass from their

i -younger to older stages; again, it is seen on comparing the lower

| Plastic protoplasmic plants with the rigidity and firmness of the

} tissues of the higher plants, and in the change from the semi-

] fluid to the formed and fixed states of chemical compounds.

| The law of progression is one that regards the general good

| l to the disregard of the individual; since in the death or fixation

| and crystallization of individuals the vegetable kingdom, on the

| Whole, has ascended to its highest present living form, and many

| of its constituent chemical parts had long ago reached their

_ Pinnacle in the cycle of evolution. This concerns equally the

d changes in the vegetable-cell, and its complex molecule of pro-

d teid is built from simple substances, which in turn break down

a less complex bodies, and are again reconstructed into pro-

_ teids, or as cellulose and other compounds remain as the compo-

Pent parts of tissue in higher plants, thus serving the mechanical

_ 4nd physiological needs of the organism. .

i diet À € irom the practical application of plant products to.

1 ea Pharmacy, and the industries, it is eminently for pur-

_ Poses of scientific investigation that the field of plant chemistry

ing.

will be ~~ Suggested to me from botanical sources that time

“nwisely expended over a detailed study of the chemical

of oo in this, as in mineralogy, its use as a means

tion will depend upon the convictions of the investi-

Sor, although it seems to me that many of the vexed ques-

ah Plant development can only be solved by a full compre-

of vegetable chemistry.

so... to be inferred that “botanists,” the knights of mor-

logy and Systematic classification, will thereby be deprived,

tag ists, from tilting over the floral tournament courts.

i such pleasant pastimes of contest for disputed plant

ups this vete

cary, and willi

VoL, XXL— yo,

ran army of knights-errant may at least become

ngly exchange the lance for the balance.

e

808 Comparative Chemistry of Higher and Lower Plants, |

the very great importance of minute chemical research at leat

in certain typical members of botanical groups; without such

investigation a great deal of our present knowledge is worthless $

The changes of the chemical compounds within the cell, the

simultaneous appearance of two or more compounds always ia :

association, and the predominance of some one compound it §

certain plant groups, should be seriously considered before the

evolution of plant chemistry be definitel y approved or condemned. |

These facts suggest questions which must be answered before’

further advance can be made in plant biology. :

The practical application of a theory, which advocates that the $

morphology of a plant is the outcome of its chemistry, will be 3

used by the chemist to direct him to certain plant groups for " |

compound which experience proves to be present with simit

morphological characters in other roups. cal

It has been recently ad Sat many of the chemi

compounds may serve the plant as means of defence agains

animals, and when we camphorize our furniture and ee

w

in quinine manufacture, independent of contempt ia "i Ü

nas

of time.

t M. Léo. E : ienn, 29ih Jams #7

* 50. Errera, Royal Bot. Soc, of Belgium, Revue Scien.,

* M. Louis Crié, Comp. Rend., t. ciii. P. 1:43 :

| 1887] Comparative Chemistry of Higher and Lower Plants. 809°

- In minerals, plants, and animals the same principles recur,

though at each higher plane under more complicated conditions ;

3 and any one who, on visiting the Hot Springs of the Yellowstone

_ National Park, has seen the non-carboniferous gelatinous masses

È

ünder some conditions, may not replace carbon and become

-living matter. Since Confervæ do live in these springs at high

temperature, perhaps some such locality as the Yellowstone

i may have been the birthplace of “a protoplasmic primordial

_ atomic globule.”

_ The impulse which directs minerals to masquerade as living

_ Plants and animals often manifests itself, for example, in the

a ferns called stag-horns; and orchids, disguised like insects, pre-

i tend to be what they are not. When will all of these intricacies

a of nature’s secrets belong to commonplace facts? The day is

distant, And in the mean time my hour is drawing to a close;

ra return to my first statement of the evolution of the chem-

a

assuming the forms of organized life will ask himself if silica,

4

S these so-called elements are compound, and if I have dwelt

all upon this subject, in connection with plant-life, it is on

a of the indisputably serious nature of the investigations

” fa field. On listening to the following concluding remarks

a lessor Crookes’s address the chemical evolution of plant

wn eee receives an able ally. He says, “ We cannot venture

amn positively that our so-called elements have been evolved

of evi o eg matter, but we may contend that the balance

th doctri - .. fairly weighs in favor of this speculation. . - -

light ù ot evolution, as you well know, has thrown a new

dio) P and given a new impulse to every department of

ta leading us, may we not hope, to anticipate a corre-

= wakening light in the domain of chemistry. I would

“hvestigators not necessarily either to accept or reject the

of chemical evolution, but to treat it as a provisional

; keep it in view in their researches, to inquire how

ce Aaa Rend., t. civ., 1887, p. 165, M. Henri Besquerel.

yiee News, Jan. 21, 1887.

‘vered before the British A. A. S., 1886.

810 Instruction in Geological Investigation. [Sept

far it lends itself to the interpretation of the phenomena obe

served, and to test experimentally every line of thought which

points in this direction.” ee

From the above sketch I have attempted to show that the

hypothesis of evolution may also apply to the chemistry of

plant compounds, and that plant chemistry will be found, like

any special study, to include many others. It is, however, ex-

ceptional in its broad range, and the variety of its topics, like