Abstract
PROF. LEIDY has lately announced to the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences the existence of some new fossil mammals from the Tertiary formations of Wyoming Territory. One was a lower jaw, discovered by Dr. J. Van A. Carter in the vicinity of Fort Bridger. The animal to which it belonged was as large as a hog, but was more nearly allied to the rhinoceros or tapirs. It was especially remarkable for the possession of a large pair of front teeth, resembling, both in form and construction, the incisors of the beaver. The name proposed for it was Trogurus castoroideus, or the beaver-toothed gnawing-hog. Another of the fossils indicates a carnivorous animal, a contemporary of the former, and about the size of the gray fox. Tne animal was related to the weasel and canine families, and was called Sinopa rapax, the former name being that applied by the Blackfeet Indians to a small fox. Prof. Leidy also exhibited photographs of the lower jaw of the American mastodon, recently received from Prof. W. C. Kerr, State Geologist of North Carolina. The jaw was found in Lenoir County of that State. It belonged to a mature male, and was of special interest from its retaining both tusks, as well as the moiar teeth.—Among objects of great ethnological import are the aboriginal inscriptions or carvings upon rocks, which are met with in North America and elsewhere, and are sometimes of a very remarkable character. Ordinary copies of such inscriptions, unless they be photographs, are rarely of sufficient accuracy to be of much value; and those of our readers who are likely to come across such inscripiions may like to know a method by which an absolutely perfect fac-simile can be made. This process has been applied with much success in copying carvings in Egypt and other places, and it will be equally serviceable in our own country. For this purpose the inscription is to be first well cleaned from dust or mud by means of a hard, stiff brush; stout, unsized paper is then to be wetted rapidly, but uniformly, in a tub of water, and applied to the inscription, and forced into the irregularities by repeared and forcible strokes with a hard brush, an ordinary clothes-brush being as good as any for the purpose. If the stone be clear of dust, the paper adheres, and, when dry, falls off, forming a perfect mould of the inscription. If the carving be deep or broad, it is sometimes advisable to apply several sheets of paper, one after the other, brushing over the surface of one with glue or gum before applying the next, so as to obtain, when dry, a firm body. By making a plaster cast of the paper relief thus prepared a facsimile of the inscription will be obtained.—The present year seems to be marked with a great deal of activity and enterprise in researches connected with the natural history and physics of the deep seas, especially on the coast of America. We have already referred to the enterprise proposed by the Coast Survey, of sending a steamer, especially adapted to this purpose, around Cape Horn to the California coast, on a ten-months' journey, to be accompanied by Professor Agassiz and Count Pourtales, and a corps of assistants, all prepared to make observations and collections on the most perfect scale. The expense of the scientific work will, it is understood, to the amount of 15,000 dollars, be defrayed by Mr. Thayer (the same gentleman who supplied the funds for Professor Agassiz's expedition to Brazil), a sum which will probably enable Professor Agassiz to accomplish his object in the most perfect manner.—Professor Verrill and party, from Yale College, will also, it is expected, prosecute an exhaustive research into the deep sea and littoral fauna of the Vineyard Sound and the adjacent waters, in connection with the inquiries of the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries relative to the decrease of the food fishes of our coast. Corresponding researches will also be carried on in the deeper waters of Lake Michigan, where, it may be remembered, the interesting discovery was made last year of crustaceans and fish of marine types at a depth of 300ft. and over. The inquiries this year will be under the immediate direction of Dr. Stimpson and Mr. Milner in a still deeper part of the lake, and it is not at all improbable that discoveries of the highest interest will be made.—The Arctic expedition of Captain Hall will also undoubtedly do its part in the general work, as the naturalist of the party, Dr. Emil Bessels, has had large experience in such labours, and is practically conversant with the fauna of the arctic seas from his connection with the Spitzbergen expedition of 1869.—At the June meeting of the California Academy of Sciences the subject of inviting the American Association for the Advancement of Science to meet in San Francisco in 1872 was discussed, and the treasurer was instructed to call upon the trustees, and to solicit the co-operation of the Chamber of Commerce in taking measures toward this object. The meeting for the present year will be held in August next in Indianapolis, and a large attendance is expected, especially of Western members, to whom the places of meeting in the East have generally proved too remote to suit their convenience.
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Scientific Intelligence from America . Nature 4, 233 (1871). https://doi.org/10.1038/004233a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/004233a0