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back to the setiparous gland of the annelid; yes further, the hairy bodies of the Solpugids and Mygalida are direct inheritances from the annelid setæ. Scorpio is not primitive but rather a specialized form. In some of his statements of fact he also seems to be in error. Thus he says (p. 398) "What actual evidence we have as to the character of the abdominal limbs [in the primitive Arachnid] shows that they were filamentous jointed appendages like those on the cephalothorax." On the contrary in Scorpions (cf. Brauer, Patten) which, with all deference to Mr. Bernard, we continue to regard the most primitive of existing Arachnids, they appear in the embryo as flat lamellate limbs. Again (same page) he says that the sensory plates on the pectines of the scorpion are on the ventral and not on the posterior face of the limb. On the contrary they are on the posterior side as the figures of both Patten and Brauer show. But what we have most to criticise is the failure to refer to opposing views or corrections of previous statements. Thus he refers to "stigmatic scars" along the whole length of the abdomen of the Pseudoscorpions, scars which bear another interpretation. He speaks of the entostemite as ectodermal, without stating that a portion of it is mesodermal (Schimkewitsch), while we have referred to other cases above.-J. S. K.

The Bears of North America.'-A new classification of the bears of North America is proposed by Dr. Merriam. This classification is based on the study of more than 200 skulls, including about 35 skulls of the huge bears of the Alaska coast region. The number of full species recognized by Dr. Merriam is ten: 4 of the Black Bear group; 2 of the Grizzly group; 3 of the big brown bears of Alaska, and the Polar bear. Four of these species are new; (1) the gigantic fish-eating bear of Kadiak Island and the Alaskan Peninsula, Ursus middendorfii Merr.; (2) the large brown bear of Yakutat Bay and the coastal slope of the St. Elias Alps, Ursus dallii Merr.; (3) the large brown bear of Sitka and the neighboring islands, Ursus sitkensis Merr.; and (4) the Florida Black bear, Ursus floridanus Merr. The Sonoran Grizzly and the Norton Sound Grizzly are considered as subspecies only. The Alaskan bears fall into 2 distinct groups. (1) U. sitkensis and U. dallii, which resemble the Grizzlies in the flatness of their skulls, but are larger and differ from them in color and dentition; and (2) U. middendorffii which differs markedly from all other American types, and closely resembles the Great Brown Bear of Kamschatka. Merriam's synopsis is illustrated by figures of the skulls of the different species.

1(Proceeds. Biol. Soc., Washington, April, 1896.)

As an account of the North American bears this paper is far in advance of anything hitherto published.

The difficulty of distinguishing several species of the typical Ursi in North America has not been so much the absence of characters among themselves, as the intermediate position of the old world Ursus arctus with regard to them. Middendorff's studies of this species convinced him that it varied in size 33 per cent. of the largest dimensions, and in other respects, but he could not refer the varieties to more than one species. With these very elaborate studies as a basis, J. A. Allen and A. E Brown in subsequent years could only see in the North American grizzly and black bears, geographical races. The fault then of Dr. Merriam's paper is, that he has not given any account of the relations of our bears to the intermediate series of the Old World.

Dr. Merriam is a genus fancier, and he bids fair to adopt all of the names of his illustrious predecessor Dr. J. E. Gray of the British Museum. Thus he adopts Gray's name, Thalarctos for the polar bear on characters which do not exist. He dallies with Euarctos for our

black bear for equally poor reasons. We must admit, however, that Dr. Merriam does for the first time give satisfactory characters with which to distinguish this species from the Ursus arctus.

RECENT BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS.

ALLEN, J. A.-Descriptions of New American Mammals. Extr. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. VII, 1895. From the author.

ANDREWS, C. W.-Note on a specimen of Ceraterpetum galvanii Huxley, from Staffordshire. Extr. Geol. Mag, Dec. iv, Vol. II, 1895. From the author. Annual Report for 1893 Iowa Geological Survey Vol. III. Des Moines, 1895. From the Survey.

BANGS, O.-Notes on North American Mammals. Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. XXVI, 1895. From the author.

Extr. Proceeds. Boston

BARRET, J. O.-Forestry in our Schools. Minneapolis, 1895.
BEECHER, C. E.-The Larval Stages of Trilobites.
XVI, 1895. From the author.

Extr. Amer. Geol., Vol.

BERG, C.-Enumeración sistemática y sinonunica de los Peces de las Costas Argentina y Uruguaya. Buenos Aires, 1895.

-Sobre Peces de agua dulce nuevos ό росо conocidos de la Republica Argentina. Extrs. Anal. Mus. Nac. Buenos Aires, T. IV, 1895. From the author. BOULENGER, G. A.-Remarks on some Cranial Characters of the Salmonoids. Extr. Proceeds. Zool. Soc. London, 1895.

-An Account of the Reptiles and Batrachians collected by Dr. A. D. Smith in Western Somali Land and the Galla Country. Extr. 1. c., 1895.

-On Fishes from Matto Grosso and Paraguay. Extr. 1. c., 1895. -On the Nursing Habits of Two South American Frogs. Extr. 1. c., 1895. A Synopsis of the Genera and Species of Apodal Batrachians, with Description of a new Genus and species (Bdellophis vittatus). Extr. 1. c., 1895.

-Remarks on the Value of certain Cranial Characters employed by Prof. Cope for distinguishing Lizards from Snakes. Extr. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. London S. 6, Vol. XVI, 1895.

-Description of a new Anolis from Antigua, West Indles. Extr. 1. c., Vol. XIV, 1894.

-Description of a new Anolis from Brazil. Extr. 1. c., Vol. XV, 1895. -On some new and little known Reptiles obtained by W. H. Crosse, Esq., on the Niger. Extr. 1. c., Vol. XVI, 1895.

-Descriptions of two new Snakes from Usambara, German East Africa. Extr. 1. c., Vol. XVI, 1895.

-Descriptions of four new Batrachians discovered by Mr. Charles Hose in Borneo. Extr. 1. c., Vol. XVI, 1895.

-Descriptions of two new Reptiles obtained by Mr. A. S. Meek in the Trobriand Islands, British New Guinea. Extr. 1. c., Vol. XVI, 1895.

-On the Reptiles and Batrachians obtained by Mr. E. Lort. Phillips in Somaliland. Extr. 1. c., Vol. XVI, 1895,

-On the Variations of the Viper in Denmark. Extr. Zoologist, 1895.

-On a new Typhlops previously confounded with T. unguirostris Peters. Extr. Proceeds. Linn. Soc. N. S. W. S. 2, Vol. IX, 1894. From the author. Bulletins No. 118, 119, 1895, North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Sta

tion.

Bulletin of the U. S. Fish Commission, Vol. XIV, for 1894.

Bultetins No. 24, 25, 1895, Wyoming Experiment Station, University of Wy oming.

CARTER, W. S.-Physiological Action of Kreatin in Normal and Tuberculous Animals. Detroit, 1892. From the author.

Castillo, A. Del y J. G. AguiLERA.-Fauna Fossil de la Sierra Catorce San Louis Potosi. Bol. de la Com. Geol. de Mexico Num. 1, Mexico, 1895. From the Commission.

COOK, O. F. AND G. N. COLLINS.-The Myriapoda collected by the United States Eclipse Expedition to West Africa in 1889-1890. Extr. Ann. New York Acad. Sci., Vol. VIII. From the author.

CROSS, W.-Post-Laramie Deposits of Colorado Extr. Am. Journ Sci., Vol. XLIV, 1892. From the author.

CROZIER, A. A.Crimson Clover and Other Topics. Bull. 125, 1895, Michigan State Agric. Exper. Station.

DEAN, BASHFORD. The Marine Biological Laboratories of Europe. Biol. Lect. No. 10 delivered at Wood's Holl in 1893.

-Recent Experiments in Sturgeon Hatching on the Delaware. Extr.

. Trans. New York Acad. Sci., 1893.

-The Early Development of the Gar-Pike and Sturgeon. Extr. Journ. Morphol., Vol. XI, No. 1, 1895. From the author.

DRIESCH, H. AND T. H. MORGAN.-Zu. Analysis der Ersten Entwickelungsstadien des Ctenophoreneies. Aus Archiv für Entwickelungsmechanik des Organismen, II Bd., 2 Heft. Leipzig, 1895.

DURAND, J. P.-Questions Anthropologiques et Zoologiques. Extr. Bull. Soc. Anthropol., Paris, 1895.-Genèse Naturelle des Formes Animales. Extr. Revue Scientif., 1888. From the author.

ESSARTS, A.-Aperçu historique sur la doctrine du Polozoism humain. Extr. Journ. des Inventeurs. Paris, 1895. From the author.

Exhibit of the Smithsonian Institution at the Cotton States Exposition, Atlanta, 1895.

FRASER, A.-A Case of Porencephaly. Extr. Journ. Mental Sci., 1894.

-Morphological Papers.

XII, 1895. From the author.

Extr. Trans. Roy. Acad. Med. in Ireland, Vol.

FRAZER, P.-In Memoriam, Edward Yorke Macauley, Rear Admiral U. S. N. Extr. Proceeds. Amer, Philos. Soc., Vol. XXXIV. From the author.

GOODE, G. B.-An Account of the Smithsonian Institntion.

tory, Objects and Achievements. Washington, 1895.
JANET, C.-Sur Vespa media, V. silvestris et V. saxonica.
Acad. de l'Oise T. XVI, 1895.

Its Origin, His

Extr. Mém. Soc.

-Sur l'Organe de nettoyage tibio-tarsien de Myrmica rubra L. race levino

dis Nyl. Extr. Ann. Soc. Entomol. de France, Vol. LXIII, 1894.

-Sur Vespa germanica et V. vulgaris. Limoges, 1895.

-Sur les nids de la Vespa crabro. Extr. Comptes rendus, Paris, 1894.

-Sur la Vespa crabro. Conservation de la chaleur dans le nid, 1 C., 1895. Observations sur les Frelons. L. c., 1895. From the author. KEDZIE, R. C.-Fertilizer Analyses. Bull. 126, Michigan State Agric. Coll. Exper. Station.

KEMP, J. F.-Crystalline Limestones, Ophicalcites and associated Schists of the Eastern Adirondacks. Contrib. Geol. Dept. Columbia Coll. No. XXVII,

1895. From the author.

LAHILLE, F.-Contribucion al Estudio des las Volutas Argentinus. Extr. Revista Mus. de la Plata, T. VI, 1895. From the author.

LE CONTE, J.-Critical Periods in the History of the Earth. Extr. Bull. Dept. Geol. Univ. California, Vol. I, 1895.

LEVY, L. E.-The Russian-Jewish Refugees in America. Philadelphia, 1895. From the author.

MERCER, H. C.-Re-exploration of Hartman's Cave, near Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, 1893. Extr. Proceeds. Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1894. From the author.

MIDDLETON, C. S.-Annual Address. Extr. Trans. Penna. Homeopath. Med. Soc., 1895. From the author.

MITSUKURI, K. AND S. IKEDA.-Notes on a gigantic Cephalopod. Extr. Zool. Mag., Vol. VII, 1895.

MORGAN, T. H.-The Fertilization of non-nucleated Fragments of Echinoderm Eggs. -Experimental Studies of the Blastula und Gastrula Stages of Echinus. -Aus Archiv für Entwickelungsmechanik der Organismen, II. Bd. 2 Heft, Leipzig, 1895. From the author.

OLIVER, C. A.-A Short note upon so-called "Hereditary Optic Nerve Atrophy" as a Contribution to the Question of Transmission of Structural Peculiarity. Extr. Proceeds. Amer. Philos. Soc., Vol. XXXII.

SCOTT, W. B.-Protoptychus hatcherii, a new Rodent from the Uinta Eocene. Extr. Proceeds. Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1895. From the author. SHIPLEY, S. R.-Gold, Silver and Money. Extr. Amer. Friend, 1895. From

the author.

STILES, C. W.-Notes on Parasites 32, 33, 34, 38 and 39. Extr. Veterinary Mag, 1895.- -The Anatomy of the large American Fluke, Fasciola magna and

a comparison with other species of the genus Fasciola, S. St. with a list of the chief Epizootics of Fascioliasis, and a Bibliography of Fasciola hepatica by Albert Hassall. Extr. Journ. Comp. Med. & Veterinary Arch., 1894-1895. From the author.

Bull.

WHITE, C. A.-The Bear River Fauna and its Characteristic Fauna. U. S. Geol. Surv., No. 128. Washington, 1895. From the author. WILSON, E. B.-An Atlas of the Fertilization and Karyokinesis of the Ovum. New York and London, 1895, Macmillan & Co. From the author.

General Notes.

PETROGRAPHY.'

The Eruptives and Tuffs of Tetschen.-Two interesting articles on the area of crystalline rocks east of Tetschen on the Elbe, have appeared simultaneously. The first, by Hibsch, is a description of the Tetschen' sheet of the map of the Bohemian Mittlegebirges, and the second by Graber, is on the fragments and bombs occurring in the tephrite tuffs of the region.

3

The volcanic rocks of the district are interbedded basalts, tuffites, tuffs and tephrites, of which the fragmental rocks are in greatest abundance. Augitites also occur as sheets, and camptonites as dykes in upper Cretaceous marls. The older igneous rocks are granitites and diabases that are associated with clay slates, probably of Cambrian age. Analyses of each of these rocks are given but the rocks are not described in detail. The greater portion of the author's article deals with the volcanic rocks. The tuffs are composed of basaltic and tephritic fragments of the coarseness of sand in some cases, and in others of 1 Edited by Dr. W. S. Bayley, Colby University, Waterville, Me. 'Min. u. Petrog. Mitth., XV, 1895, p. 201.

'Ib., p. 291.

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