the lower lignitic formations of New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming, which he with others regards as of undoubtedly cretaceous age, he proceeds to describe that of the true "lignitic," or as it will now be called, the Laramie formation. The descriptions refer chiefly to the exposures which the author has visited along the line of the Union Pacific railroad, and but little information is furnished respecting the strata of the Laramie on the middle and upper Missouri and the Saskatchewan regions. Then follow the detailed descriptions of three hundred and twenty-nine species of plants, many of which are represented by numerous remains, and from various localities. This portion of the work is illustrated by sixty-five plates, well executed by T. Sinclair & Son, of Philadelphia. Here the author supplies his fellow students with the most valuable evidence as to the characters presented by this vast department of life during the past periods of the existence of our continent.

The work closes by a general discussion of the meaning of the evidence with regard to the mutual relations in time of the various formations treated of, and their correspondences to the horizons of other countries. He reaffirms the conclusions previously stated, viz: that the flora from the base of the Laramie upwards is of tertiary age. He divides the series into four groups, all of which (p. 352) he regards as belonging to the "Lignitic formation." He thus parallelizes them with the European standards (p. 354). “I admit the lower group as Lower Eocene; the second group, which seems intermediate between this and the Carbon, may be Upper Eocene; the relation of the third group is by its plants with Lower and Middle Miocene of Europe, and that of the fourth with the Upper [Miocene]. These are like the first outlines traced for the preparation of a map; they may be erased or modified, the spaces have to be filled as our acquaintance with the Tertiary becomes more intimate."

The evidence in favor of the correctness of these positions is rather more abundant than that derivable from the animal remains, and is handled with care in Prof. Lesquereux's discussion. There is no reason why his conclusions should not be accepted by students in other departments. Nevertheless the value of the evidence derivable from these vegetable remains is only to be fully understood by comparison with that derived from all other sources.

As a student for the last ten years of the vertebrate remains obtained from these formations, I have to say, as heretofore, that the evidence they offer as to the age of the horizons both in their mutual relations and their relations to the formations of other countries, is quite different from that presented by Prof. Lesquereux. It is well known that I was the first to show that the vertebrate fauna entombed in the lignitic formations to the summit of the Laramie, or to the summit of Prof. Lesquereux's first

division, and perhaps his second division, is of mesozoic and cretaceous type; and also that that of the Wasatch (or Green river) epoch, or Prof. Lesquereux's fourth group, lower division, is of Eocene Tertiary age. The evidence in favor of these positions has been steadily accumulating since I first announced them in 1869 and 1872, no exceptions have come under my notice, and their applicability has been extended to all parts of the North American continent which have yet been explored. In fact the most important interruption in the vertebrate life of North America is found between the Laramie and Wasatch epochs, and there only can the line between the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods of this continent be drawn.

The evidence in favor of this position has been in a measure overlooked by Prof. Lesquereux. He remarks (p. 30): "As no kind of cretaceous animal remains have been discovered in the Lignité of Colorado, none either in that of the north, generally called the Fort Union group, the question of age essentially bears upon that Bitter Creek series. The line of demarkation between the cretaceous and the tertiary is placed by Prof. Cope above the Black Buttes Saurian Bed." The facts as regards the amount of vertebrate evidence in favor of the cretaceous age of the Laramie, are as follows: In 1869 I determined the vertebrate remains from the Fort Union beds of Dakota, which had been supposed to be mammalian, to be reptilian, and indicative of the Mesozoic character of the Fort Union beds of the Missouri. The number of species furnished by this region is seven. In 1872 I obtained the Agathaumas sylvestre from the leaf-beds at Black Butte station in the coal region of Wyoming, and made the determination of its Dinosaurian character to which Prof. Lesquereux alludes. In 1872 I collected, in the Laramie formation of Colorado, nine species of vertebrates of the same genera, and sometimes species, as those previously determined from Dakota. In 1875 I determined the same genera and in some instances the same species from specimens sent by Dr. Dawson from the Saskatchewan. This collection included nine species. In 1876 I made an exploration of the Judith River basin in Montana, and obtained a large collection of vertebrate remains, embracing forty-eight species. These I showed to be of the same general character as the species already obtained from the localities previously mentioned, having a predominatingly cretaceous type, and close affinities and sometimes identity with those I had previously described. The vertebrate species now known from the Laramie formation are sixty-three, enough to determine clearly its position in the series; and study has shown it to be of uniform character over the entire continent north of New Mexico, and of general cretaceous type. Prof. Lesquereux seeks to explain the presence of the Dinosaurian Agathaumas sylvestre in a bed of Tertiary plants as did Prof. See Bulletin U. S. Geological Survey Territories. III, No. 3, 1877.

Dawson, and has apparently not noticed my reply to the remarks of the latter gentleman. He observes (p. 351): "We may admit, however, that while the Tertiary age was at its beginning represented as a land formation as seen by its flora, a cretaceous marine fauna may have still locally persisted in deep seas. Facts of this kind are recorded in the European geology. The presence of the saurian Agathaumas in the lignite bed of Black Buttes is then certainly explainable as denoting the wandering of that animal out of its domain, and its death by penetrating into a peat bog and being irretrievably swallowed up by its soft matter."

Now it does not seem to be as well known as it should be that no such thing as a marine Dinosaurian has yet been discovered, and that the numerous Vertebrata of the Laramie formation are as generally terrestrial or, (in the case of the fishes) fresh-water in their character, as are the plants described in his valuable report now under review. I may here note the fact that Maj. J. W. Powell, who has followed Dr. Hayden in regarding the Wasatch epoch as of Tertiary age, was disposed at one time to place its inferior boundary below the Agathaumas bed, so excluding the latter from the cretaceous series. Last season's examination of the locality at Black Butte, by Prof. C. A. White, has convinced that gentleman that the boundary between the cretaceous and Tertiary formation is where I placed it, above the Agathaumas bed.

As regards the Lower Focene character of the Wasatch beds, I have furnished abundant and conclusive evidence in various publications, which are summarized in the Vol. IV, of the Final quarto reports of Lt. Geo. M. Wheeler, published in 1877. This period witnessed the introduction of the Mammalian fauna in large numbers to North America, and forms the beginning of Tertiary time. Prof. Lesquereux's conclusion that it is of Miocene age, is negatived by the Vertebrata, which are typically lower Eocene. We must conclude then that not only was a Cretaceous fauna contemporary with a Tertiary flora in North America, but that the flora spans the greatest gap in the history of vetebrate life. We must also believe from the evidence offered by Prof. Lesquereux, that a Miocene flora was contemporaneous with an Eocene fauna. Since a Jurassic flora is still, according to Dr. Hector, existing in New Zealand, it must be evident that the positions of strata in the scale will be far more accurately determined by a consideration of the Vertebrata, than of any other form of life.-E. D. Cope.

RECENT BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS.-National Academy of Sciences. Biographical Memoirs. Vol. 1. Washington. 1877. 8vo, pp. 343.

Proceedings of the National Academy. Vol. 1. Washington. 1877. Svo, pp. 119.

Sponges considered as a distinct sub-kingdom of animals. By A. Hyatt. (From the Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, Vol. xix, Nov. 1, 1876.) 8vo, pp. 5.

Geological Survey of Canada. General Notes on the Mines and Minerals of

By Geo. M. Dawson.

economic value of British Columbia, with a list of localities. (Reprinted from the Canadian Pacific Railway Report, 1877.) 8vo, pp. 47. Geological Survey of New Jersey. Annual Report of the State Geologist for the year 1877. Trenton, N. J. By George H. Cook. 1877. 8vo, pp. 49.

a map.

With

Annual Report of the Wisconsin Geological Survey for the year 1877. By T. C. Chamberlin. Svo, pp. 91.

The Erysiphei. By C. E. Bessey. (Extracted from the Seventh Biennial Report of the Iowa Agricultural College, December, 1877.) 8vo, pp. 18, 2 plates. Collembola borealia Nordiska Collembola, beskrifna af Tycho Tullberg. Öfversigt af Kongl. Vetenskaps akademiens Förhandlingar, 1876. No. 5. Stockholm. 8vo, pp. 20, 4 plates.

III. New Tineina from Texas. IV. Food-plants of Tineina. V. Index to the Described Tineina of the United States and Canada. By V. T. Chambers. (Extracted from the Bulletin of the U. S. Geological Survey, F. V. Hayden, in charge.) Washington. 1878. 8vo, pp. 88.

Catalogue of Phaenogamous and Vascular Plants of Jefferson county, Indiana. By Charles R. Barnes. To which is added a list of plants growing in Clark county. By John F. Baird. 8vo, pp. 9.

On the Classification of Butterflies, with special reference to the position of the Equites or Swallow-tails. By S. H. Scudder. (From the Transactions of the American Entomological Society, Philadelphia, June, 1877.) 8vo, pp. 11.

On the first discovered Traces of Fossil Insects in the American Tertiaries, and on two new Carabidæ from the Interglacial Deposits of Scarboro' Heights, near Toronto, Canada. By S. H. Scudder. (Extracted from the Bulletin of the U. S. Geological Survey, F. V. Hayden, in charge, Washington, 1877.) 8vo, pp. 24.

Orthopteren vom Senegal. Gesammelt von Dr. Franz Steindachner. Bearbeitet von Dr. Hermann Krauss. (Vorgelegt in der Sitzung aus 21, Juni, 1877.) Mit 2 Tafeln. 8vo, pp. 35.

Mound-making Ants of the Alleghenies. By Rev. H. C. McCook. John A. Black, Philadelphia. 8vo, pp. 43, 5 plates.

On the Variation of the Decorticated Leaf Scars of certain Sigillariæ. By Herman L. Fairchild. (From the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Vol. 1, No. 2.) 8vo, pp. 3, 2 plates.

On the Variations of the Leaf Scars of Lepidodendron aculeatum Sternberg. By Hermann L. Fairchild. (From the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Vol. 1, No. 3.) 8vo, pp. 14, 5 plates.

A Synopsis of the North American Species of the genus Alpheus. By J. S. Kingsley. (Extracted from the Bulletin of the U. S. Geological Survey, Vol. iv., No. 1.) Washington, Feb. 5, 1878. 8vo, pp. 10.

On Notiothauma Reedi, a remarkable new genus and species of Chili, pertaining to the family Panorpidæ. By R. McLachlan. the Transactions of the Entomological Society of London, 1877. ber.) 8vo, pp. 4.

Neuroptera from (Extracted from Part iv, Decem

Zur Physiologie und Histologie des Central nervensystem von Helix pomatia. Von Dr. Hermann von Ihering. Göttingen, 1876. 12mo, pp. 6.

Die Gehorwerkzeuge der Mollusken in ihrer Bedeutung für das natürliche System derselben. Von H. von Ihering. Erlangen. 1876. 8vo, pp. 33.

Ueber die Ontogenie von Cyclas und die Homologie der Keimblätter bei den Mollusken. Leipzig. 1876. 8vo, pp. 20.

Zur Kenntniss der Eibildung bei den Muscheln. Von Hermann von Ihering, Leipzig. 1877. 8vo, pp. 14.

Beiträge zur Kenntniss des Nervensystem der Amphineuren und Anthrocochliden. Von H. von Ihering. 1876. 8vo, pp. 23.

Ueber die systematische Stellung von Peronia und die Ordnung der Nephropneusta v. Ih. Von H. v. Ihering. Erlangen. 1877. 8vo, pp. 38.

Ueber die Byssus des Mytilus edulis. Von Tycho Tullberg. Upsala. 1877. 1 plate, 4to, PP. 9.

GENERAL NOTES.

BOTANY.

CLEISTOGAMOUS FLOWERS IN DANTHONIA -At the end of August last, Mr. Edwin Faxon and I, in the White Mountain Notch, collected a form of Danthonia which interested us much; although resembling D. spicata in its panicle, its culm was stouter than we had ever seen in this species, greatly swollen above the nodes, readily disarticulating as we sought to secure a supply (the plants being mostly out of season at that time), and showed in some specimens a panicle below the terminal one bursting from the upper sheath; the root-leaves as well as those of the culm were unusually large and long for D. spicata.

Mr. Chas. E. Faxon submitted his brother's specimens to Mr. C. F. Austin, who, though he thought the plant might be a form of D. spicata, described it under the provisional name of D. Faxoni, observing especially the unusually long and pointed teeth of the lower palet, and assuming that the culm of D. spicata is always single.

Not long since, on one of the mountains of Western Vermont, I came across specimens of D. spicata, which at once suggested to me the plants I had seen in the White Mountains, and tearing away their sheaths, I found concealed flowers in every specimen. Following up this clue to a solution of the puzzle presented by the White Mountain plant, I have since examined a large number of specimens of Danthonia spicata, and in every instance have detected flowers concealed in the sheaths, even the most depauperate plants with slender culms less than a foot in height showing at least rudiments of flowers.

Within the sheath on the side opposite its slit the culm is concave from the node upward, and the chamber thus formed is occupied by a spikelet one to ten-flowered, sessile on the node, and subtended by two awl-shaped, unequal, sometimes subequal, plumes, two to six lines long, and very rough on their back; or, in the case of the stouter plants, and in their upper sheaths, by two or more such spikelets, standing still sessile, side by side; or again, as in the case of the White Mountain specimens, by small panicles approaching in character the terminal one. In the smallest plants these spikelets are often undeveloped beyond a pair of short glumes; in all they are simplest toward the base of the culm; in the lower sheath of ordinary plants they are oneflowered; when several-flowered they are filiform, rather moniliform, the flowers being so distant on their rachis as barely to touch each other.

In the simplest state of the flowers, that is in the one-flowered, or few-flowered, spikelets near the base of medium-sized culms, their lower palet is smooth and shining, quite coriaceous, and, though tapering into an acuminate point, is entirely awnless. As