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Ga E ea i 4 picwsn 4 aera ited pte Mie we steh oh wre Wh) Le Pry rereiensenten tlhe eh M SS eraset “y Repiapee Soa Liedpehenan as ¥ . ; Pate : 1 : f pvirreerC iy 7ee + Diaries oa ebealta ty euasnan sae sinh fagi Maresdadsoaarh teh > * ‘ treat) tee he wiht oe at . . ie + no atte hea ne SCS ate ae aS ight Ne . ie Heathen mich eel Pry ER ap haaee via 7 ‘Take Ales a ee seat at MG 9198: atten fii rani - Ny ot te Heee eh nit peat fate oe pasha st et H a oe a sats fiitiea sate a thay aasitis eae i gis lete na Hata lei ayia wa ; ‘ eating, ah ite wine ci ale aety ses Linh ba ittat its KS iat Beate ate i ive inks, SS yee! et sities ela Aira \ rt * 4" rs t ith rhea ” vain «no Aenenete ae ieh as ‘ rtehed Sve Sa E Ne a, ete ort ae Sabseleae ¥ pave ieau wtua’ Batting ; te tore Vans par rene) bf sorts VWs Balen peOrtr ray i rte batted : recor s Hismeiiey aaa ta a oo as) yt meperes ss “foptine Hoe sah eraed pi aor ~ eet Le MRE NC, foe Hf ” * toe re) ytoek stiee, Lore 324 peoerries Mats tabeet Ereesst nytt 4° ibelic ith ay isiek, aah vee! “ Hits a aly vel Situtansaets te SH aa “ se eae Deny a4 ‘ wis 4h : ‘ : cant bs her 44 8 9 ries Rata CG jr ante r) Postar per seer i): . eater neee tet ae vitae aah eet 4 f a x - Ki gisty * * a be stan vadgnarte 44-9 8 Sa We mY aes ti i * ve 4 4 pe rH ¥ eana eanert, mAs Pir es) ie enn . 4 ' , i SEA ta a ROL a 2Ore ‘ itt 2 seat PT i ae x ‘a wey reheat a santeavieds , peter peat 7 by : i it s? th ; i 4 P ’ ae ee ee i aa a Ay Ae : ! ' "| By ‘ ii RPh ye mn | ‘ ; if oh : Qt mS un vx i yu A ‘ +i \ rie ital : ht rh Wags ad vari f iy" i A ’ eke a oh A a ' 0 * yi Ye ig authens owas ty (Abe ee 1, ae nd Math i vA re PAP Oy Want y WAS hip : A cn Wy a J Mi ue iN Gis cs , I i’ : uy mies SMITHSONIAN Miscellaneous Collections ¥YOLUME: XLVIL xO UARTERLY IssuE, VOLUME III) ““ EVERY MAN IS A VALUABLE MEMBER OF SOCIETY WHO, BY HIS OBSERVATIONS, RESEARCHES, AND EXPERIMENTS, PROCURES KNOWLEDGE FOR MEN.’’—SMITHSON. No. 1702. CITY OF WASHINGTON PUBLISHED BY THE SMITHSONIAN: INSTITUTION £02} PRESS OF THE NEw ERA PRINTING COMPANY LANCASTER, PA. ADVERTISEMENT The present series, entitled SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COL- LECTIONS, is intended to include all the publications issued directly by the Smithsonian Institution in octavo form, excepting the ANn- NUAL Report to Congress; those in quarto constituting the SMITH- SONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE. ‘The quarto series includes memoirs embracing the records of extended original investigations and researches, resulting in what are believed to be new truths and constituting positive additions to the sum of human knowledge. The octavo series is designed to contain reports on the present state of our knowledge of particular branches of science; instructions for collecting and digesting facts and materials for research; lists and synopses of species of the organic and inorganic world; reports of explorations; aids to bibliographical investigations, etc., generally prepared at the express request of the Institution, and at its expense. In the SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE, as well as in the SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS, the actual date of the publication of each article is that given on its special title- page or in the Table of Contents of the volume, and not necessarily that of the title of the volume in which it appears. The Quarterly Issue of the SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COL- LECTIONS is designed chiefly to afford a medium for the early pub- lication of the results of researches conducted by the Smithsonian Institution and its branches, and especially for the publication of reports of a preliminary nature. CHARLES D. WALCOTT, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. ll & i rer! itt ii ARTICLES The Structure of Wing Feathers. E. Mascua. (PLATES I-XVI.) Mawes 7s. steaplished WMay,.6; L905... ie 2' een ole pe ees I The Tarpon and Lady Fish* and their Relatives. THEODORE GILL. (PLatTEs xvui-xx1.) No. 1576. Published May 13, 1905.. 31 Diagnosis of a New Genus and Species of Fossil Sea Lion from the Miocene of Oregon. FREDERICK W. TruE. No. 1577. Pub- Pete Wha 145, TOOR 202 2) nt Manet po eioe a rip oir sat Sere sie alates 47 Diatoms, the Jewels of the Plant World. AtBert MANN. (PLATES eati-xxy.y No. 1578. Published May 23, 1905.......... 50 Notes on the Nomenclature of Certain Genera of Birds. THarry C. OBERHOLSER. No. 1579. Published May 13, 1905...... 59 The Bibliography of Halley's Comet. E. F. McPixe. No. 1580. eee ME FOP EGUS vo eons vr ce dn vy aie eee «Uke et ors 69 The Ancestral Origin of the North American Unionide, or Fresh- Water Mussels. Cuartes A. WHITE. (PLATES XXVI—XXXI.) Biehnente Eplished: | WME. TO, TOOK sc. cae aagers coer + eee ies eyahe 75 Brain Weight in Vertebrates. Aes Hrpiticxa.” No. 1582. Pub- Reem TO. MOG: Ait cs lecenc eo 3 et, ve atch wes soe ae Sitiale » 89 ores, “(PLATES XxXxII, xxx.) “No. 1583. (Smithson “Mor- emer ICUS ue, ole tiess feed «a ~ cjuas MRRIOR oy en Sart donne 113 The Diplomatic Service of the United States, with some Hints to- ward its’ Reform. ANDREW D. Wuite. No. 1586. Published Dire EUR IV Phe on «2 ao vd ska 0 320s what aie tie LOK ee ee 117 The History of the Whale Shark Rhinodon typicus Smith. Barton A. BEAN. (PLATES XXXIV-xxxvi.) No. 1587. Published July 2 DOES ene cla: Ue pea ae RA Mee SON! emir edi area 139 The Avian Genus Bleda Bonaparte and some of its Allies. Harry C1Oeernorser (No. 1588. . Published July 1; 1905.......«.' 149. Scaphoceros tyrelli, an extinct Ruminant from the Klondike Gravels. WILFRED H. Oscoop. (PLATES xxxviI-xLi.) No. 1589. Pub- Rpm CHEE 030.5 oo, win wind wialar a’ don poareumeaniye sist gs ns “es Ones 073 A new Genus and several new Species of Landshells Collected im Central Mexico by Doctor Edward Palmer. Witt1aM HEALEY Parr, .) (PrAres \ xiiii—xiiv.): No. 1590... Published) July \ 1, TOS AS Vo ee Mel neiAb mart bees mitre ar 187 The Family of Cyprinids and the Carp as its Type. THEODORE GILL. (PLATES xLv-Lyi1u.) No. 1591. Published September SM ee eee al val sh aia Tas, wine: ae unl Soaynichy een cee eine ao = 195 The International Catalogue of Scientific Literature. Cyrus ADLER. Noetne2. Published September 8, 1905... 22... a a 219 Vv vi SMITHSONIAN, MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 Instances of Hermaphroditism in Crayfishes. WILLIAM PERRY Hay.” No) 1593. Publisted September 10,2 1005 co. 0s cracane 222 PN ODES. 7) INGE GOA coi ester oases MT oso vty oa 229 The Species of Mosquitoes in the Genus Megarhinus. Harrison G. Dyar and Freperick A. Knas. No. 1657. Published Septem- IDES 7. POCO. os, ou cicese eres fora ted yn Saale nee pete eaep ely cia tx ees 241 A Contribution to the Knowledge of some South American Hymen- optera, chiefly from Paraguay. C.ScuHrotrKy. No. 1658. Pub- lished’ ebrtiaty. 4, 1G07 >. ....:'s <b Samos ciate erate ay Seueiena tome reriens 259 Description of a New Squirrel of the Sciwrus prevosti Group from Pulo Temaju, west coast of Borneo. Marcus Warp Lyon, Jr. No. 1659. Published February 4, 1907. .2.:-% iy. emmy 275 The Squirrels of the Sciurus vittatus Group in Sumatra. Marcus Warp Lyon, Jr. No. 1660. Published February 4, 1907.. 277 A Study in Butterfly Wing-Venation, with special regard to the radial vein of the front wing. Tuomas J. HEADLEE. (PLATES LIX-Lx1.) No. 1661. Published February 4, 1907...... 284 Some Noteworthy Extra-European Cyprinids. THEODORE GILL. No: 1662... Published Pebsuary. 4:) 10070. c inet i ees 297 A Review of the American Volutide. Witt1AM HEALEy DALL. No. 1663.; Published) Pebruaty 4) 1007... naa cena ae 341 INO TES Ne TOBA Ns c's: alate eleetretenees otoos oy es Aa tse aie ects eee ae 374 The Breeding Habits of the Florida Alligator. ALBertT M. REESE. (PLatEs Lx1v-Lxv.) No. 1696. Published May 4, 1907.. 381 Life Histories of Toadfishes (Batrachoidids) Compared with those of Weevers (Trachinids) and Stargazers (Uranoscopids). THEO- DORE /GICL.-: No.» 1607. > Publisheds May. <4, - 1007-22 see 388 The Letter of Dr. Diego Alvarez Chanca, Dated 1494, Relating to the Second Voyage of Columbus to America (bemg the First Written Document on the Natural History, Ethnography, and Ethnology of America). ‘Translated, with notes, by A. M. FEr- NANDEZ DE YBARRA. (PLATE LxviI.) No. 1698. Published May Ais STA Ee ccs o eso 3 ata cee Ie ance pce eee 428 The Origin of the So-called Atlantic Animals and Plants of Western Norway. LEONHARD STEJNEGER. (PLATES LxviI-Lxx.) No. 1699. Published May 4, 4GG7: mec eine, oe ee coer 458 Manners and Customs of the Tagbanuas and other Tribes of the Island of Palawan, Philippines. MANuEL Huco VENTURELLO, Translated by Mrs. Edw. Y. Miller. No. 1700. Published Naas 1907... «see ay eee eee ete ols pean eter oe On ee 514 INGPESs | SINOL ZOD coi oeg ea ee cee oaks inact ele toe ase eee a 559 1 S101 ah eo RRR Th Rm fe Snake Cone ae: 563 PLATE I-XVI. XVII-XXI. XXII-XXV. XXVI-XXXI. XXXII, XXXII. XXXIV. XXXV. XXXVI. XXXVII-XLII. Pi XLV. XLV-LVIII. LIX-LXIII. LXIV. LXV. LXYVI. LXV, LX VIII. XTX. Ex. LIST. OF} PLATES PAGE Structure) of - wine festhersic. 6 2%) oe 5s 30 We CAC POR epee AISI 8 Sie eso wo Bote 46 TPO MIS \ ReeUelaRts re A eee ore tte Tenor Ane Sake 58 Si aslsicbtee aa are eine wm clans Uegne Saab gilts Weer amg 88 Smithson Mortuary Ciapel Ppa: ie Saheim 114 Whale Shark (Rhinodon typicus)....... 139 Rhinodon typicus, Smith’s plate.......... 140 Teeth of Microstodus punctatus......... 146 SCOPMOCETAS, PYEREUR nt. oO te eimnl anid Sard scnion 186 Land shells’ from, Central Mexico. ....)...25 194 Bamily: Of Gyprinids, | ey erar. cots sss 218 Butterfly. wine-vyenstion. 22.4. 2096 PU OOM EMEStGN eee NTL Me aE 6 ats cag ae 386 PUI ACOr estan Ces SN. 2 ashes os 387 Ea Cosacmup or, Ameren. L500e <5 <4). a 430 skal: of \Cenmus) ahlamitens? yo i. foe ews 404 Morweotai “yonds herses! 3) Ceg5 sc). -s eae 472 Hypsographic map of Northern Europe. . Remy H7 SAAN “| Ah oF a o8 VOL. 48 1905 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VCL. Ill QUARTERLY ISSUE PART I THE STRUCTURE OF WING-FEATHERS By DOCTOR E. MASCHA [The following paper on the “ Structure of Wing-Feathers ”’ gives an account of an investigation conducted by Doctor E. Mascha under the direction of Professor R. von Lendenfeld, of the Imperial German University in Prague. The original German text of this paper is to be published in the Zeitschrift fiir wissenschaftliche Zoologie. Doctor von Lendenfeld, who was a competitor in the Hodgkins competition of the Smithsonian Institution, has more recently been awarded a grant in aid of his research on the anatomy of the flight organs, the investigation being continued under his direction by Doctor Mascha, as here described. | Il. INTRODUCTION The object of this paper is in the first instance to give a detailed account of the morphology of the wing-feathers of birds as used in flight. As our knowledge of this subject is far from satisfactory, I have made a special study of the organs of flight, hoping that I might be able to supply needed and valuable information for those interested in the great problem of aerial navigation. The remiges of Columba livia were first investigated. Although the structure of these feathers is in many respects simple and typical, several questions concerning the function of particular parts could be satisfactorily answered only by a comparative study of the wing- feathers of other birds. Through this extension of my investiga- tion I was enabled to find out which parts are constant and therefore probably essential, and which not being always present are infer- entially of secondary importance. Among the most noteworthy dis- coveries made through this comparative study are a knowledge of I 2 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 the variability in the size and structure of the secondary fibers, the recognition of the importance of their ventral ridge, the variation of the hook fibers and the constancy of the curved fibers. II. THe STRUCTURE OF THE REMIGES 1. The Structure of Feathers in General According to the nomenclature adopted in this paper each feather consists of the following parts: (1) Quill or primary quill, (2) secondary quills, (3) tertiary fibers (a) hook fibers, (b) curved fibers. The primary quill is the bearer of all parts of the feather. Its shorter proximal part is circular in section and hollow, its longer distal part more or less rectangular in section and filled with medul- lary air-cells. The primary quill is slightly curved downward and inward; on its sides the two feather vanes extend. They lie nearly in the same plane. The two vanes are nearly equal in the remiges attached to the ulna; distally the outer vanes diminish in breadth more rapidly than the inner. The outermost of the hand-remiges attached to the metacarpals and phalanges have a broad inner and “a comparatively narrow outer vane. The vanes are composed of the secondary quills which rise obliquely from the upper part of the primary quill, and of the tertiary fibers rising in a similar manner from the secondaries. The tertiaries are closely connected with each other ; together with the secondary quills they form the apparently continuous surface of the feather vane or feather plate. 2. Material and Methods Remiges of the following species were examined: PasseErES: Fringilla spinus, Turdus vulgaris, Garrulus glandarius. Coracit®: Merops apiaster, Galbula viridis. Bucerotes: Buceros monoceros. Macrocuires: Cypselus apus, Micropus melba, Macropteryx mystaceus. CaprimMu_et: Podargus humeralis, Caprimulgus europeus. Srrices: Strix fammea, Bubo maximus, Bubo mexicanus, Nyctea nivea. Psittact: Chrysotis @estiva, Sittace cerulea, Stringops habroptilus. CucuLi: Cuculus canorus. Musopuaci: Turacus albocristatus. CoLumBa&: Columba livia. TUBINARES: Diomedea exulans. ANSERES: Cygnus olor. Accipirres: Aquila chrysetus. *The systematic arrangement adopted is that of F. E. Beddard, ‘“ The structure and classification of Birds.” London, 1808. MASCHA] STRUCTURE OF WING—FEATHERS 3 This list, although small, comprises birds of most types of flight, my aim being not to examine many different species but only rep- -resentatives of the different types. The remiges of Columba, Cypselus, and Diomedea were studied most carefully ; those of birds not capable of flight did not fall within the scope of my investiga- tions." I have taken no notice of the numerous new terms concerning the arrangement of the feathers proposed by Alix (1864, p. 10), Wray (1887, pp. 344-345) and others, the older divisions into hand- remiges and arm-remiges being quite sufficient for my purpose. It was to be foreseen that the treatment of such brittle and hard material as the horny substance of feathers would present serious technical difficulties. Former investigators have left no record of the way in which their examinations on developed feathers were conducted. It is true that Strong (1902, pp. 148-151) has described his mode of procedure rather fully, but he speaks merely of the treatment of “ feather germs.” I treated the material to be examined in the following manner: I took one of the three outermost hand-remiges, usually the longest, and one of the arm-remiges of each species of bird to be examined, and placed a portion of the vane on the slide mounted in balsam. Then one of the secondary quills was cut off and the tertiary fibers, attached to it, removed to the slide by means of a sharp scalpel. In this way large numbers of isolated tertiary fibers lying in different positions were obtained and mounted in balsam. Parts of white colorless feathers became so transparent in this medium that recourse to staining was resorted to. It should be noted that of the numerous stains tried, only two proved useful: picric acid, which quickly produced a yellow coloring, too faint however to be effective, and safranin, which stains a deep color and gives good results when properly applied. I used the safranin in a semi- alcoholic solution and left the objects in it from six to twelve hours. After being stained the feathers were dried and then further manipu- lated. The most difficult part of the work, but at the same time the one that gave the best results, was section cutting with the micro- tome, in which operation the fragility of the material proved very troublesome. The specimens were placed in chloroform to expel the air, and imbedded in paraffin or celloidin. In cutting the paraffin *The wings of birds not capable of flight have no hook fibers on the ter- tiaries, as their wings do not need to form such an impenetrable surface as is requisite in birds of flight. In the ostrich the tertiary fibers are entirely smooth (branchless) ; in the cassowary and the apteryx they show small thorn- like protuberances which are also present in the penguin, but somewhat longer. 4 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [vor. 48 blocks I successfully adopted the method of covering the top of the block with melted paraffin after each section, and congealing it by means of a current of cold air.1 A very oblique position of the knife is essential to procure good sections. In the paraffin method I stained with safranin before imbedding. The sections were glued to the slide with Schallibaum’s collodion-clove oil and cleared with xylol. Although thin sections could be made by this method it had many drawbacks. The sections frequently split, and while remov- ing the paraffin with xylol numerous portions of them were lost. By experiment I found that the splitting was almost entirely ob- viated by the employment of celloidin, although it is true that the celloidin method also presented difficulties. It is hard to make as thin sections of celloidin blocks as of paraffin, and staining is much more difficult. If one stains (with safranin) before imbedding, the ether extracts even the strongest stain. If one stains the sections after cutting, the celloidin also takes the stain. The sections were at first made only on the two directions parallel to one of the two kinds of tertiary fibers. These proved to be very instructive for the exact study of the tertiaries but did not throw sufficient light upon the structure of the secondaries. To study these, sections were made vertical to the secondaries, which gave the desired information concerning them. 3. The Primary Quill The morphology of the primary quill (fig. 6, Htk)? have already been fully discussed. Ahlborn (1896, p. 15-16) in particular has given a complete description of this part of the feather, illustrated by.a sketch, and has drawn attention to the importance of its struc- ture for flight. I therefore turn at once to the description of the parts composing the feather vanes, beginning with the considera- tion of the secondary quills. 4. The Secondary Quills The secondary quills are the bearers of the feather-vanes. Just as they themselves spring obliquely from both sides of the dorsal part of the primary quill, so they bear dorsally the tertiary hook and curved fibers. Clement (1876, p. 282) has drawn attention to this in a somewhat different sense. He calls the plate, composed of the two vanes of a feather, ve-villwm, and the vane formed by the tertiary *The method employed was described by Professor von Lendenfeld in Zeitschrift fiir wissenschaftliche Mikroskopie und mikroskopische Techmk, v, 18, pp. 18-10. 2For figures see plates at end of the paper. MASCHA | STRUCTURE OF WING—FEATHERS 5 fibers on each side of the secondary quills vexillum primitif. After him Strasser (1885, p. 197) noticed these structures, and introduced the expressions secondary quills and secondary vanes, to distinguish the former from the primary quill and the latter from the primary vanes of the whole feather. The secondary quills arise dorsally from the sides of the primaries, and extend obliquely outward. The angle between them and the primary quills is about 50° in the arm-remiges and changes but little in the whole length of these feathers in both vanes. It is subject to greater variations in the hand-remiges. Here it is greatest at the base of the feather (about 50°), towards the end of the feather it becomes smaller, the outermost secondary quills rising from the primary quill at an angle of only 20-25°. In the central broadest part of the hand-remiges this angle is 30-40°. In the outer vane of the hand-remiges the angle is always smaller than in the correspond- ing part of the inner vane. At the distal end of the feather the secondary quills are curved and their tips turned in the direction of the continuation of the primary quill. The secondary quills are for the greater part of their length considerably compressed laterally, becoming band-like. They are highest at their origin from the pri- mary quill and decrease in height outwards, finally tapering to a fine point (fig. 12, a, b, c). A few words must be said here concerning the histological struc- ture of the secondary quills. Like the primary quill they appear as horny tubes (figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, Hus) enclosing a medullary sub- stance or core composed of large polyedrical cells filled with air (figs. I, 2, 3,4 Mks). Klee (1886), p. 92-30) has pointed out that the cortex and the core are essentially different, but that both arise from similar elements, at first homogeneous. Davies (1889, pp. 588-589) has fully and clearly described this process of conversion of the intermediary cells into cortical and medullary substance. He says: “ The modification consists in a considerable increase in size of the central space which, in horned cells, contains the nucleus, combined with a change in the form of the cell.” The relative posi- tions of the cortex and the core are shown in the transverse sections of secondary quills represented in figs. 1-7, 29. Two types of secondary quills can be distinguished. In the first, which is by far the most frequent, the core is irregular, composed of many layers of irregularly arranged core cells and the interior of these secondary quills presents a honeycomb-like structure. In the second type, met with in the Owls and Caprimulgi (figs. 2, 4, 7, 29), the core cells are arranged in a single vertical layer, irregularly \ 6 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 polyhedral and overlap each other like roof slates. Here and there a more irregular polyhedral cell is interposed between the others. The transverse sections show that these quills are not simple bands but curved more or less transversely, convex on one side and con- cave on the other. The manner in which the secondary quills, which are highest at their proximal end, become lower toward their distal end is correlated in many birds to that curvature in such a way that the curvature is greatest where the quills are highest and decreases with the height outward, finally disappearing almost entirely near the distal end. Strong (1902, pp. 158-159), draws attention to an extension of the lower margin of the ‘secondary quills which he terms “the ventral ridge,” and which he represents as a constant character. In early stages of the development of the feather this ridge is said to be very large, being much reduced later. This ven- tral ridge of the secondary quills, which also appears in the covert feathers of the wing (fig. 5), is functionally a very important char- acter of all remiges. It is small in Columba, Cypselus and others, larger in the Caprimulgi (figs. 2, 4, 7, Hnl), still further developed in the owls (fig. 29, Hnl) and in many water birds, and largest in Aquila and Diomedea. Hand in hand with the development of this ventral ridge goes the development of the curvature. The great development of the ventral ridge, combined with the strong curva- ture of the secondary quills in Aquila and Diomedea probably enables these birds to perform the sailing flight characteristic of them. It must be noted, however, that the ventral ridge is very well developed in owls and various water birds also, which are not such excellent sailors of the air as the albatross and the eagle. Ahlborn (18606, ». 20) describes a peculiarity of certain parts of the remiges in the duck, the swan and other birds. He says that portions of the lower sides of these feathers seem to be covered by a fine membrane, this appearance being due to the fact that here the secondary quills are not only connected with each other dorsally by the tertiary fibers but also ventrally by delicate membranous extensions of their ventral margins, which bridge over the spaces between them. These ex- tensions enclose a right angle with the band shaped secondary quills from which they arise and exactly fit on the ventral margins of the quill in front, to which they adhere on account of their intrinsic elasticity. This membranous extension of Ahlborn .is only the strongly developed ventral ridge of the secondary quills. The decrease outwardly in the height of the secondary quills is uniform in some birds but not so in others. In the latter there is a sudden decrease in height in the secondaries of the broad inner MASCHA | STRUCTURE OF WING—FEATHERS 7 vane about half way between the primary quill and the margin of the feather, or nearer to the former. Here also the ventral ridge suddenly becomes lower in the region where the height of the quills themselves abruptly becomes less. In the vanes with uniformly de- creasing secondary quills the central margins of these quills stand out free, so that one clearly sees the ribbing on the under side of the feathers of which Parseval (1889, p. 70) has spoken. It is quite different in the Striges, Accipitres and Diomedea, birds described by Ahlborn. Here the secondary qnills are very high and markedly concave at their point of origin and the ventral ridge is of considerable size in the basal part of the secondary quill; being nearly vertical to the quill itself it lies almost horizontally, and ex- tends to the convex rear side of the secondary quill in front of it (fig. 33). In the middle of the length of the secondary quill the ridge becomes so small and the angle between it and the quill to which it belongs so large, that the ventral connection of the second- ary quills formed by these ridges ceases. Outside this well marked line their ventral margins are free. If one looks at the ventral side of the feather it is noticed that in the proximal third of the vane the light is reflected from the ridges producing a silvery luster which ceases rather suddenly at a line parallel to the primary quill, an appearance which can be observed more or less clearly in the remiges of all these birds. In the development of this ventral ridge two types can be distin- guished. One is represented by the remiges of Columba, the other by those of the Striges, Tubinares, and Accipitres. In the first the ridge is a stout, low ventral projection of the cortex of the secondary quills and appears wedge-shaped in transverse sections (figs. I, 3). In the second it is a band-shaped membrane thin down to its base, attached vertically to the high and markedly convex secondary quill (fig. 29). These types are connected by transitional forms. A peculiar development is observed in the secondary quills of the remiges of the Caprimulgi in which the ventral ridge is not sharp but blunt, of uniform thickness throughout and rounded at the margin. On the upper edge also the secondary quill bears a ridge, which is broad, low and rounded (figs. 3, 4, 29, Vd), and of no functional importance for flight. The tertiary fibers are attached to the secondary quills in a com- plicated manner. In examining sections parallel to one of the two kinds of tertiary fibers, I could only indistinctly make out their junction, but the sections vertical to the secondary quills were much more instructive. I could find no description of this apparatus in 8 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 the whole literature on the subject. The works of Haecker (1890, pl. Iva, 1900, pl. x1v) contain some figures of transverse sections of secondary quills, which are not absolutely correct, but are essen- tially better and more true to nature than some others (e. g., Chad- bourne, 1897, pl. 1a). Unfortunately I was not able to see the treatise of Jeffries (1883) mentioned by Strong (1901, p. 160). Strong himself (1902, figs. 7, 8, 9, pl. 1) has published several good figures of transverse sections of secondary quills. Since, however, he made such sections of covert-feathers only, it is natural that the results I obtained deviate considerably from his. It seems that these formations are much more complicated in the remiges than in the covert feathers. According to my observations in the latter they have the following structure: Under the starting points of the tertiary fibers there arises from each side of the secondary quill a longitudinal ridge, not vertical but extending obliquely upward (figs. 3, 4, G), which consists entirely of horn-substance. Its outer surface is smooth and continuous with the side of the secondary quill. Its inner side, which is turned toward the upper part of the secondary quill, is grooved, the grooves being separated by parallel secondary ridges (figs. 3, 4, L), which extend obliquely upward and outward. These ridges are highest at their origin and decrease in height dis- tally ; in the transverse section they appear like the teeth of a comb, and become shorter the further they are away from the secondary quill, the last being a slight prominence only. The ridges themselves are broadest at the base and grow thinner above. Their number in the sections varies from two to four and they may be more numerous in the secondary quills of larger feathers. In the small covert- feathers this main longitudinal ridge occurs, as has been described by Strong, but here the secondary ridges rising from its inner face are absent. The most difficult question to answer is, how the outer edge of the main ridge is formed. Without having reached a per- fectly satisfactory conclusion, I think I may pronounce it as probable that it is not smooth but interrupted by incisions lying between the ends of the secondary ridges. If this were not so, in a succession of transverse sectiows of secondary quills the secondary ridges would always terminate at exactly the same level, which, as serial sections show, is not the case. The level and the appearance of the edge of the ridge vary in every section, and on this fact the above supposi- tion is based. In the grooves between the successive secondary ridges lie the ventrally thickened margins of the proximal parts of the tertiary fibers. In sections one sees the first between the secondary quill and the first secondary ridge, and the second be- MASCHA] STRUCTURE OF WING—FEATHERS 9 tween this and the second secondary ridge (figs. 3, 4). If there are more than two secondary ridges in the section, the third and fourth are so small and the grooves lying between them so shallow, that the position of the fiber-sections relative to them becomes doubtful. In surface views one sees parallel lines at the side of the dorsal ridge of the secondary quill. These lie between the basal parts of the tertiary fibers and enclose an angle with the secondary quill con- siderably more acute than the angle between the tertiaries and the secondary quill. They cross the direction of the latter at angles of 20-25°. Ina line parallel to the secondary quill, which is the edge of the longitudinal ridge, these lines, which are the free margins of the secondary ridges described above, terminate suddenly (fig. 20,1)’. If we combine the results of these observations we see that the basal parts of the tertiary fibers lie between the partitions like the bats of a stidiron, These bars arise from the inner face of a longitudinal ridge arising from the side of the secondary quill and extending obliquely upward. The bars decrease in height out- wardly and finally pass into the margin of the longitudinal ridge. The thickened ventral margins of the proximal portions of the ter- tiary fibers are enclosed between these bars; beyond the margin of the longitudinal ridge they are free. At the margin of the ridge a sharp bend occurs in the ventral margin of the tertiaries, its free outer portion enclosing a larger angle with the secondary quill than its proximal part. In the nearly symmetrical vanes of the distal remiges the secondary quills extend almost horizontally and, there- fore, the two vanes also are nearly horizontal. In the broad inner vane of the hand-remiges on the other hand, only the basal part of the secondary quills extends horizontally. Farther out they are at first bent a little downward but rise up toward their ends. The inner feather-vane therefore appears bent slightly in the form of an S, the hind margin of the feather being distinctly turned up. In the outer vane the secondary quills, which are here very short, are curved slightly downward. In the remiges of many birds of prey the inner vane suddenly becomes narrower in the upper third of its length. In this case the inner vane has a distinctly S-shaped curva- ture in its broad, proximal portion, the outer edge being much raised, while this curvature suddenly ceases where the broad, proxi- mal part passes into the narrow, distal part, the latter being like the front vane slightly bent downward. Since according to Ahlborn (1896, p. 18) the S-shaped curvature of the inner vane of the suc- ceeding remiges serves to insure a close overlapping of all parts 10 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS LvoL. 48 of the wing, it is undoubtedly of interest that in the wings of these birds this curvature is developed only so far as the feathers really overlap each other. The secondary quills have the same structure in all remiges of a wing, but we observe a regular variation of their size in the different feathers of the same wing and in the different parts of each feather. An increase of the stiffness of the secondary quills is noticeable, as we proceed from the proximal to the distal part of the wing. Hand in hand with this goes an increase of the development of the ventral ridge, which is relatively small in the arm-remiges but attains enormous dimensions in the hand-remiges of Diomedea, the Accipitres, and Striges. At the same time the outer vane in the hand-remiges becomes constantly narrower, as compared to the inner, and at the same time stiffer and firmer. The secondary quills in the narrow vanes are’basally just as high as the sec- ondary quills of the corresponding broad vanes lying opposite them, and they do not terminate in fine threads like those of the broad vanes but are only slightly pointed at the end. The elasticity of the secondary quills contributes to keep the elements of the narrow outer vane in their proper position and order. Besides these differences of size in the secondary quills of the different feathers of the wing, similar variations occur also in the different parts of each feather as mentioned above. The supposition is obvious that the secondary quills are thickest and highest at the base, and that they should become lower towards the end of the feather, where the primary quill also decreases in thickness. Such conditions are really found in the arm-remiges of all birds and in the outer hand-remiges of Diomedea. In the outer hand-remiges of numerous birds, such as the Columbinze, Coccygomorphe, Cypselide, Strigide, and Natatores, however, the secondary quills are moder- ately high at the base of the feather, increase gradually in height distally and attain their maximum height at or just beyond the middle of the feather. Measurements in corresponding portions of different hand-remiges gave the following results: | Height of Secondar Juills. | Length of . y@ Sue | Whole Vane. | 3 cm. from the Middle of the | 3 cm. from the Bas Vane. | Tip. : AM ihe ss a es | ea z z Macropteryx mystaceus. | 18cm. | 300 kL | 389 uC 233 be Bubo maximus. 28 | 550 g1o 700 Cygnus olor. 26 | 489 | 1,223 678 The secondary quills are measured close to the primary quill near their point of origin, that is at the point of their greatest height. MASCHA] STRUCTURE OF WING—FEATHERS II A comparison of these measurements shows how great, especially in Cygnus olor, is the increase in height of the secondary quills from the base to the middle of the feather. The decrease in height towards the end of the feather is gradual, the secondary quills 3 cm. from the tip of the feather are sometimes considerably higher than at a similar distance from the base. We know that the development of the parts corresponds to the demands made upon them and that in general an organ is most strongly constructed and most capable of resistance exactly at the point where this strength is most needed. The task of these feathers is to bear and to raise the bird’s body, by pressing on the air below, therefore the secondary quills are highest and as a consequence the feather vane the strongest and most capable of resistance where the greatest force is to be withstood. The wing being a concave surface, we can assume that its parts will be subjected to different pressures, and further, that where the pressure is greatest the feathers will be strongest. Apart from the variations of curvature we must also take into consideration the length of the feathers relative to the whole wing. In Diomedea the arm-remiges are short in comparison to the length of the wing and the secondary quills highest at the base. Where the remiges are relatively long, the secondary quills attain their maximum height in or just above the middle of the feather. The functional meaning of this correlation is however not quite easy to make out, but physiologists and flight-engineers should pay due attention to the fact that such morphological peculiarities are always correlated to the mechanical or other demands. In addition to these general remarks on secondary quills I must mention the peculiar structure of the margin of the outer vane of the three outermost remiges in owls, which are toothed or rather comb-shaped (figs. 31, 34 7). The finer structure of this comb how- ever seems not to have been understood; its teeth are nothing else than the tips of the secondary quills of the outer vane, which in this instance, do not bend inward terminally and lie close together, but, after extending in a straight line for some distance, suddenly bend outward, so that their ends stand almost at right angles to the direc- tion of the primary quill. Of course the separate teeth of this comb, as parts of the secondary quills, are provided with tertiary fibers (fig. 34). It is to be noted that this formation, which is absent in only few species of owls, as for instance in Nyctea nivea, a day bird of prey, is to be found also in some of the Caprimulgi (e. g., some species of Podargus, fig. 30, Z). On the other hand, they seem to be entirely absent in the genus Caprimulgus itself, nor do they occur in Stringops habroptilus, although it also is a night bird. “ SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 5. The Tertiary Fibers Between the secondary quills lie two systems of fine fibers, which in their close connection form the greater part of the feather plate that acts on the air in flight. The tertiary fibers spring from the upper part of both sides of the secondary quills, and form two little fiber-vanes (fig. 22). In a work by Schroeder (1880, pp. 3-14) there is a critical discussion of all papers on this subject published up to 1880. Nitzsch (1840, pp. 5-15) was the first to give a fairly correct description of these structures, with a number of good draw- ings. In 1887 Wray made an attempt to construct an enlarged model of a feather and from it prepared some very schematic drawings (TE87, pl. scr): Among works of later date are Ahlborn’s (1896, pp. 17-21) and Strong’s papers (1902, pp. 156-161), to which and to a small num- ber of others I shall have occasion to refer. What has been said with regard to the nomenclature of the secondary quills holds good for the tertiary fibers also. Uniformly termed “ barbules”’ in Eng- lish and French, they figure in German works promiscuously as “ Strahlen,” “ Nebenstrahlen,’ “ Faserchen,” “ Fiedern II. Ord- nung,” “ Fiederchen,’ etc. We must distinguish two essentially different kinds of tertiary fibers, one being on the whole straight and bearing on the ventral side several hooks, the hook-fibers (fig. 21, Hkf); the others being curved and without hooks, the curved fibers (fig. 21, Bgf). This division of the fibers into two kinds seems to be justified also by the fact that they start from different sides of the secondary quills. If we cut sections through the feather vane, according to the method before described, in the direction of the hook-fibers, or in that of the curved fibers, in the first case, between the transverse sections of every two adjacent secondary quills we get a longitudinal section of a hook fiber and a series of transverse sections of curved fibers, and in the other case, a longitudinal section of a curved fiber and a series of transverse sections of hook-fibers (figs. 24,25). The series of transverse sections of different parallel fibers thus obtained are identical with a series of transverse sections of the same fiber. Accordingly, we can reconstruct from these sections any particular fiber we like. A. Hook-Fibers The structure of the hook-fibers is as follows. The proximal por- tion is band-like, transversely curved so as to become groove-like, the concavity of the groove being turned towards the secondary quill, from which the fibers arise (fig. 26). This band-like basal portion MASCHA] STRUCTURE OF WING—FEATHERS 13 is continued in a distal part which is more rod or thread-like, and from which numerous projections arise ; the proximally ventral hooks characteristic of these fibers, and the distally ventral and dorsal spines lying in pairs opposite each other. We will first consider the hook-fibers of the remiges of Columba livia as a typical example (figs. 2, 26). Here the proximal band- like portion forms about half of the whole fiber. It is transversely bent, its upper half being vertical, the lower turned obliquely toward the secondary quill and the front. As transverse sections clearly show, the fiber is here not only groove-shaped, but thickest at its upper margin, decreasing in thickness downward and passing finally into a thin ventral membrane. Only at the proximal end of the fiber the ventral membranous extension is absent. In studying trans- verse sections through the secondary quills (figs. 3, 4, 26) we see that in the first two the hook-fibers are thickest at the base and become thinner towards the top; in the third section the fiber is nearly equally thick at the top and the bottom and in the next sec- tion the reversed relation, holding good for the remainder of the hand-like part, sets in. At the upper margin a distinctly recogniz- able swelling (figs. 8, 26, WIt) is to be seen, which generally dis- appears distally, where the lower part of the fiber band passes into the thin ventral membrane mentioned above. The dorsal swelling is sometimes, particularly when pigment is present, plainly visible even in surface views. The histological structure of this part of the hook-fiber is as follows: If we look at a hook-fiber from the side we sometimes notice in its proximal half a row of oval spots usually with dark margins, their long axes extending obliquely upward and backward. These spots were first noted as depressions, later authors recognized them as dried-up nuclei (fig. 9, k). Schroeder (1880, p. 30) was the first to state that each fiber consists of a single row of cells. This supposition found confirmation in the subsequent investigations of Klee (1886) and Davies (1889). The nuclei of the cells forming the fiber lie in its thinner portion and are clearly visible. Apart from the nuclei, one can frequently perceive the cell limits also, either as fine, dark lines, as I found them especially in the hook-fibers of Cypselus apus (fig. 16, Zgr) after staining, or as clear, pigmentless lines separating the upper por- tions of the cells in which the greatest amount of pigment is con- tained (figs. 8, 9, 10). Strong (1902, p. 156) has fully described these cell limits and has drawn particular attention to the fact that they first extend from the upper margin obliquely forward and downward and suddenly turn in the proximity of the nuclei, being 14 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 continued obliquely downward from here toward the base of the fiber. At the end of the proximal band-like portion of the fiber the lower halves of these cell limits change their direction and form a straight line with the upper halves, which in the distal part of this portion of the fiber attains a convexity towards the base (fig. 16, Zgr). The transverse curvature is not the same throughout the proximal portion of the fiber, being slightest at the base and be- coming greater distally. The upper and lower part of the band enclose an angle which is very obtuse proximally and becomes more acute distally; at the distal end of this portion of the fiber it is nearly a right angle (fig. 26). The series of transverse sections show that the difference in thickness between the upper, vertical and the outwardly lower, nearly horizontal part becomes greater distally. The upper vertical and the lower horizontal part of the fiber separate distally. <A little below the spot where these separa- tions occur the vertical upper portion passes. into the thread-like, distal part of the fiber. In ‘Columba livia the lower, horizontal mem- branous part terminates in several large lobes narrow at the base and broadened distally like leaves (fig. 8, wuLl,). The upper por- tions of these lobes stand vertical and enclose with the under ones an angle of nearly 90°. Columba livia is the only bird in which I have met with such high development of these lobes (fig. 26, VnL,). In others the lobes appear as digitate processes, one or two in num- ber, turned down distally as in Cypselus, Diomedea, Nyctea, Podar- gus (figs. 9, I1, 12, 13, VnL) and others. Each lobe springs from a different cell and is to be conceived as a simple cell-diverticulum. Hook-shaped extensions hang down from the lower side of the distal thread-like portion of the hook-fibers which forms the con- tinuation of the upper thickened portion of the basal part. The bases of these hooks enfoliate the fiber. The hooks themselves are band-like, twisted in their upper part, and terminate in a strong backward turned spine (fig. 8, K). While the greater part of the band forming the hook is thin its end is thicker and forms a sort of swelling which bears the short terminal point, which turns back- ward to form the hook. In Columba livia and in numerous other birds 4 or 5 hooks occur on each hook-fiber (figs. 8, 10). I found fewer hooks in Cypselus (fig. 11), Micropus melba, Macropteryx mystaceus, where only 2 to 4 are present, and more in Diomedea (fig. 9) where 6 to 8 are to be found on each hook-fiber. It is usually relatively broad, rarely long and slender, as in Diomedea, the Striges, and Caprimulgi (figs. 9, 12, 13); those nearest the base of the fibers are the shortest and are directed vertically downward. MASCHA] STRUCTURE OF WING—FEATHERS 15 Each succeeding hook is a little longer and directed more obliquely forward. While further differentiations of the hooks in general do not occur, in Turacus albocristus and in Cuculus canorus, on the anterior margin of the proximal hooks I found one to three small spines which gave them a peculiar appearance (figs. 14, 15). In the proximity of the hooks the transverse sections of the fiber itself changes. They are regularly oval where the last lobes of the ventral membrane arise. Farther out they become curved again, but the curvature is here far slighter than in the proximal portion of the fiber and the concavity turned toward the opposite side. The hooks are ventral projections of the successive cells forming the fiber. Beyond the last hook the fiber becomes rapidly thinner and gives off upward and downward, not as Nitzsch (1840, p. 14) erroneously supposed laterally, pairs of spine-shaped projections and terminates in a thin thread of varying length. The spines are the most variable parts of the whole hook-fiber. They are paired projections of the cells which form the distal portions of the fiber, each cell having two, a ventral and a dorsal one. The ventral spines are as a rule longer than the dorsal. The spines extend obliquely outward, the upper ones upward, the lower ones downward. They are broadest at their origin, become thinner distally and terminate in fine points. The proximal, ventral spines lying next to the hooks are blunt and fre- quently slightly curved in the form of a hook. They are transi- tions between the hook-shaped cell processes and the spines with straight-pointed ends. While, however, in the region of the hooks the fiber cells have no dorsal processes, in the distal, spined part of the fiber the cells have dorsal as well as ventral processes (spines). The spines originate from the distal, broader side of the cells, which here have the shape of flattened cones and are attached to each other in such a way that the narrow, proximal end of each is inserted into the broad, distal end of the next foregoing. The first two proximal, dorsal spines sometimes become very large and attain a lobose shape. This is especially well developed in the Cypselomorphze and in most water birds (figs. 17, 22, W,). These lobes lie horizontal, are directed towards the margin of the feather and extend as far as the next hook-fiber. In the hook-fibers of the proximal portions of the secondary quills, these lobes are smaller and more pointed than in the distal portions, where they become larger and relatively broader. Fatio (1886, p. 257) says of the spines of the hook-fibers of the feathers of water birds in general that “they are very long and numerous and by their irregular arrangement make the feather- ing bulky and so afford protection against the water.” In the 16 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 microphotographs of the surface of a wing feather of Cygnus olor one sees the strongly developed dorsal spines very plainly (fig. 23, W,). Surface views show that each hook-fiber is curved in a horizontal plane, the convexity being turned towards the secondary quill from-which it arises. This curvature is confined to the central part of the fiber. The proximal and distal parts of the fiber remain straight and lie in the same straight line (figs. 17, 18, 19, 22). The upper, thickened margin, which is vertical in the proximal part of the fiber, becomes oblique in the neighborhood of the hooks, in- clining above toward the secondary quill; distally it resumes its former vertical position. A similar twist, more or less pronounced, is observed in the hook fibers of all birds with the exception of the owls and Caprimulgi, where the upper margin of the fiber is vertical throughout its whole length. The ventral part of the proximal band-like portion of the fiber, which terminates in the processes of the ventral membrane, is in Columba about as long as the distal portion; in smaller birds like Fringilla and also in the Psittaci, the proximal part is longer than the distal; in the Striges and Caprimulgi the distal part greatly ex- ceeds the proximal in length (figs. 12, 13), this being one of the differences between the remiges of the diurnal and nocturnal birds. The most striking peculiarity of the remiges of the owls is the down covering the dorsal side particularly of the proximal part of the broad inner vane, which gives them a velvety appearance. This velvet-like down consists of the lengthened distal portions of the hook-fibers. Fatio (1886, p. 257) says that they are long, slen- der and covered with numerous lateral spines (barbicels), which on account of their length and irregular arrangement make the fiber appear like a down feather. The proximal band-shaped part of the hook-fibers of the remiges of owls (fig. 12) has the same struc- ture as in other birds. The terminal processes of the ventral mem- brane are usually one, less frequently two in number. They are small, narrow and show a slight hook-shaped curvature. In the region of the long and thin fourth and fifth hooks, the fiber is very narrow, and here the cell limits, usually indistinct, are sometimes conspicuous enough. The most remarkable feature of the remiges of owls is the extraordinary development of the distal, thread-shaped part of their hook-fibers. These terminal threads consist, according to the position of the fibers, of a row of 10 to 50 cells, each one bearing one or two peculiar, long and very thin spines (fig. 12, W). The dorsal spines are not raised but lie horizontal, so that they point inward toward the primary quill of the feather. The ventral spines ft | MASCHA] STRUCTURE OF WING—FEATHERS 17 do not extend downward but raise themselves and point toward the margin of the feather. The spines of adjacent hook-fibers therefore cross each other at an angle of about go°, and thus form a system of rectangularly crossing threads similar to that formed by the hook and curved fibers. It is this peculiar structure of the distal portion of the hook- fibers which gives to the remiges of owls their great softness. If one reflects that the distance between the secondary quills amounts only to 250 to 300m while the hook-fibers reach a length of 2 mm., it becomes clear that the hook-fibers attached to one secondary quill project a good distance beyond the next one, and often reach the second, or even the third or the fourth secondary quill. The many long terminal threads of the hook-fibers thus forming several overlapping layers, together with their numerous rectangu- larly crossing spines, form a dense, felt-like mass on the dorsal side of the feather. The constituent parts of this mass are prevented from becoming deranged through exterior mechanical influences by an extremely interesting arrangement. If one cuts through the proximal portion of the feather vane parallel to the direction of the hook-fibers and slightly magnifies the section thus exposed, it is seen that the proximal band-shaped portion of the fiber les almost horizontal and that the distal part rises abruptly up at an angle of aon, 40. (figs: 12, 32). The hook-fibers of the Caprimulgi are very similar (fig. 13) to those of the owls, but the proximal band-shaped part of the hook- fibers of their remiges is relatively short and the terminal threads considerably lengthened. There are three to five rather narrow hooks, the distal ones being considerably longer than the proximal. The limits of the cells forming the fiber are often clearly recognizable in the hook region on account of their being somewhat raised and also on account of their color. As the hook-fibers of the remiges of the owls, so also those of the remiges of the Caprimulgi are dis- tinguished from the hook-fibers of other birds by the peculiar de- velopment of their thread-like, distal part. In the hook-fibers of the first hand-remiges of Podargus humeralis, the proximal, band- shaped part is 200 », the terminal thread 2.3 mm. long, that is, more than eleven times as much. While, however, the terminal threads of the hook-fibers of the Striges bear a great number of spines dor- sally and ventrally, such processes are entirely absent on the terminal part of the Caprimulgus hook-fibers. There are indeed immediately beyond the hooks one or two dorsal spines and four or five ventral the first remex. In the lower proximal third of this vane 18 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 ones, but such nearly spineless hook-fibers are not met with in the remiges of any other birds. All the other conditions described as present in owls, such as the teeth on the outer vane of the first hand- remex, the down on the upper surface, the upraising of the terminal threads and the overlapping of the layers of the latter, are also met with in the remiges of Caprimulgi (figs. 13, 30). Clark (1894, pp. 569-570) arrived at the result that these two groups agree in being aquincubital, a character which he considers of importance, and that the number of rows, the arrangement of the coverts and the relative position in the hand-remiges is the same in both. On the other hand, the number of hand-remiges in the, Striges is always greater than in the Caprimulgi. To this we can now add that the Striges and Caprimulgi possess peculiar feather structures common to both through which they deviate from all other birds. The differences between them are the different development of the ventral ridge of the secondary quills, which in Striges is high and sharp while in Caprimulgi it is short and blunt, and the different structure of the terminal threads of the hook-fibers, which in the former possess numerous spines, while in the latter they are nearly spineless. Common to both are the length and upraising of the terminal threads of the hook-fibers, which form the down on the dorsal side of the feather, and the comb-like structure of the anterior margin of the first hand-remex. The hook-fibers spring at an angle of 30 to 40° from the dorsal part of the inner side of the secondary quill. All the hook-fibers of a secondary quill are parallel to each other and equally far apart. It is to be noted that the distance between adjacent hook-fibers is nearly the same in all birds, varying only from 20 to 30p. In Cypselus this distance is 25 p, in Columba 22p, and in Diomedea 27 p. The hook-fibers arising from one secondary quill extend as a rule about as far as the next secondary quill, excepting that in the Striges and Caprimulgi they extend, as we have seen, much further, al- though unusually long hook-fibers occur in some other birds also. In Diomedea, for instance, the spined terminal threads of the hook- fibers extend to the second secondary quill. The hook-fibers are not of equal length in different parts of the wing of the same bird, and are different even in the different parts of the same feather. These local variations in form and size, met with in all birds, are particu- larly striking in Nyctea nivea. In this owl the hook-fibers on the broad inner vane are longer than on the outer vane. Considerable variations occur also in the vanes of different feathers. I will illus- trate this by a few measurements made in the inner broad vane of MASCHA| ° STRUCTURE OF WING-FEATHERS 19 the hook-fibers are longest. Here the proximal band-shaped part of the fibers measures on an average 250 in length, the terminal thread which is composed of about fifty cells, 1.77 mm. and the whole hook-fiber 2.02 mm. The terminal thread is about eight times as long as the proximal band-shaped part. Towards the middle of this vane the proximal part of the hook-fibers becomes longer, measuring 300 to 350m, and the terminal thread, here composed of only about 30 cells, shorter, measuring only 7op, so that the whole fiber is only 1.27 to 1.32 mm. long, and the terminal thread about three times as long as the proximal part. Near the tip of the feather we find hook-fibers, the proximal part of which measures 200 » and the terminal thread, here composed of only 8 to Io cells, 270m. Here the whole fiber is 470 long and the terminal thread only slightly longer than the band-shaped proximal part. The hook-fibers also, arising from the same secondary quill, are not all alike. The proximal band-shaped part remains fairly constant but the terminal thread varies considerably. Let us take a secondary quill of the middle of the above-mentioned feather vane: The proximal fiber portion on the whole length of the secondary quill is 300 to 350 p long. The terminal thread is shortest and composed of fewest cells in the fibers arising proximally, nearest the main quill. Distally the terminal thread lengthens and the number of cells composing it in- creases until just beyond the middle of the secondary quill; further on toward the feather margin it again becomes a little shorter. In the anterior narrow vane of the same feather the hook-fibers are considerably shorter than in the broad inner vane. Measure- ment in the middle portion of the feather gives an average length of 600 » for the hook-fibers of the narrow vane as against 1.28 mm. for the hook-fibers in the corresponding part of the broad vane. The proximal band-shaped part is 300 long in the narrow vane, that is to say, just as long as the terminal thread. There are four or five hooks on the fibers of both vanes. In this place I may mention a few developments of hook-fibers characteristic of the feathers of owls. The cells forming the termi- nal thread bear one or two spines each, but whether one or two depends upon the position of the fiber. In the middle of the narrow outer vane of the distal hand-remiges the terminal threads of the hook-fibers are composed of about ten cells each, and provided with ventral spines only. In the middle of the broad inner vane the terminal threads of the hook-fibers arising from the proximal parts of the secondary quills are composed of cells which likewise bear 20 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 only ventral spines ; these ventral spines are, however, extraordinarily long. In the terminal threads of the hook-fibers arising toward the middle of the secondary quill, spines appear on the dorsal side also. Where dorsal spines are developed the ventral ones are shorter than elsewhere. Below the middle of the secondary quill the dorsal and ventral spines are equal and about half as long as the ventral spines of parts where no dorsals are developed. The down becomes grad- ually thicker outwards and is thickest and highest beyond the middle of the feather-vane, measuring transversely, just where the termi- nal threads of the hook-fibers and the spines attain their greatest length (fig. 32). In some birds the proximal, band-shaped part of the hook-fiber is remarkably strong when compared with the termi- nal thread. In Cypselus the proximal portion is actually longer than in Podargus, the hook-fibers of which have a much greater total length than those of Cypselus. B. The Curved Fibers Opposite the hook-fibers and a little lower down there rises from the side of each secondary quill a second system of fibers, the curved fibers (figs. 3, 4, Bgf). At first they extend obliquely outward at an angle of 35 to 40°. At about half their length they suddenly bend toward the secondary quill from which they arise in such a way that their distal portion comes to lie parallel to the latter (fig. 21). Although many anatomical characteristics indicate that the curved fibers and the hook-fibers are homologous, yet these two kinds of fibers are in many respects morphologically and func- tionally so different that a special terminology and a separate de- scription are necessary. In the curved fibers as in the hook-fibers two parts, a broader, proximal, band-shaped portion and a slender terminal thread can be distinguished (figs. 9, 28). The fiber increases in breadth from its point of origin up to the middle of its length and then narrows again. In sections vertical to the secondary quill one can see (figs. 3, 4, 27), that the proximal ends of the curved fibers are band-shaped with a thickened ventral and a thin dorsal margin. Where the fiber leaves the longitudinal ledge on which its basis rests, the two margins become equal in thickness. Further on, the dorsal margin remains stout while the ventral one becomes thin, membranous and sharp. So far the curved fibers resemble the hook-fibers, but a difference between them can already be noticed here. In the proximal part of the curved fibers the strip forming the upper margin is not merely thickened, as in MASCHA] STRUCTURE OF WING-FEATHERS 21 the hook-fibers, but appears involuted (fig. 28, R). Klee (1886, p. 18) was the first to show that the dorsal margin of the curved fiber is not thickened but involuted to form a groove in which the hooks of the hook-fibers are inserted. As before-mentioned these fibers are transversely bent in the shape of a groove. The concavity lies towards the secondary quill from which the fiber arises. It is most pronounced above and flattens out below, the section being an evolvent (fig. 27, .). Perhaps one may consider the slight thicken- ing of the upper margin in the proximal part of the hook-fiber a formation corresponding to the involution of the curved fiber (fig. 26, Wit). The sections show that the fiber is thickest at the dorsal involuted margin, decreases in thickness downward and thins out to a fine membranous lamella below. This lower lamellate portion has not the same curvature as the upper part but displays toward its margin an inclination to bend in an opposite direction so that the transverse section becomes slightly S-shaped. The curved fibers like the hook fibers consist of a single row of cells lying one behind the other. A row of nuclei extending obliquely upward and out- ward is clearly visible (fig. 27, K), and one can also make out the cell limits. The ventral margin of the proximal part of the fiber is continuous up to the bend, or only interrupted by shallow incisions so as to appear-somewhat wavy. The dorsal involuted margin retains its direction, the diminution of the fiber in width toward the end is caused only by the falling back of the ventral margin. In the region of the bend three or four tooth-like projections are observed at the upper, here less strongly involuted margin of the fiber. These teeth are turned backward and pointed. The middle ones are usually best developed (fig. 27, Zf), and correspond to a certain extent with the hooks on the hook-fibers. In cases where the hooks are broad, the teeth also are large, while in the case of birds whose hooks are long and thin, the teeth are often very small and hardly discernible. The first case is exemplified by the Psittaci, Columba and Anseres, the second by Diomedea and the Striges. It is remarkable that these tooth-like projections, which are not particularly difficult to see, have hitherto been mentioned in only a single description of feathers (Wray, 1887, p. 421, pl. x, fig. 2). They have either quite escaped the other observers, or have appeared to them not worthy of notice. I believe that their function is far from unim- portant. In and beyond this region the ventral margin is divided by sev- eral deep incisions into a number of processes. These processes are ty bo SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 triangular, pointed distally and sometimes slightly curved hook-like at the end (figs. 27, 28, wnL,). Ahlborn (1896, p. 20) mentions these processes in his description of the curved fibers and calls them “the finest saw-toothlets.” Strong (1902, fig. 25, pl. 5) has rep- resented them in his figure of a curved fiber. These processes of the curved fibers seem to correspond to and be homologous with the hooks of the hook-fibers. They are most highly developed in Diomedea where they are extremely narrow and terminate in long, fine points. In this region, where on the dorsal margin the teeth, and on the ventral the processes appear, the curved fiber is already considerably narrowed and it continues to grow narrower distally till it finally terminates in a long, fine thread (fig. 28, F). The point of transition of the band-shaped proximal portion into this terminal thread coincides with the completion of the bend. The ventral processes take no part in this bend and retain the direction of the basal part of the fiber unchanged. We will now consider again the series of transverse sections. We have seen that in the proximal parts the upper margin of the fibers is involuted spirally and that the curvature decreases toward the lower margin, the concave band gradually unrolling itself, as it were, toward the latter. Toward the middle of the length of the fiber there is a change. The portion of the transverse section lying midway between the upper and the lower margins, which before was considerably curved first flattens itself out and then forms an obtuse angle the reverse way, so that here the section attains the shape of a 3 (fig. 27, X). At the same time the whole fiber is spirally twisted so that the axis of the transverse section assumes first a vertical position and then inclines above toward the secondary quill. The distal termination of the curved fibers is very similar to the long, thin terminal thread of such hook-fibers as those of the Capri- mulgi. While in most cases the thread in which the curved fiber terminates appears as a simple filament without any differentiation, sometimes slight thickenings appear in it at about equal distances, which apparently correspond to the nuclei of the cells arranged one behind the other, which compose this portion of the fiber (fig. 27, V-). The terminal threads of the successive curved fibers are parallel with each other and lie close together (figs. 19, 21). The curved fibers spring from that side of the secondary quill which is turned toward the feather base. Their points of origin lie lower than those of the hook-fibers (figs. 3, 4). In length the curved fibers surpass the hook-fibers, particularly in “<= eS ee Ae vm _s— MASCHA | STRUCTURE OF WING—FEATHERS 23 the terminal threads of the former which are always longer than those of the latter in the same part of the feather. In Nyctea nivea, for instance, the proximal portion of the hook-fibers is on an aver- age only 300 to 350, those of the curved fibers, g00 long. The shape of the curved fibers is very constant. With the exception of a few isolated cases, such as Diomedea, in which the ventral mem- branous processes display a peculiar structure, they are entirely similar in all birds, differing only in respect to their size, which is proportional to that of the whole feather. The number of the curved fibers is somewhat less than that of the hook-fibers. The reason for this is that they are 30 to 40» apart, which is a little greater than the distance between the hook-fibers. 6. The Formation of the Feather-Plate The two kinds of tertiary fibers described above together form the greater part of the plate represented by the feather. As Schroeder (1880, p. 3) tells us in the historical part of his work, Marcellus Malpighi, the first investigator who occupied himself with the study of the feather, could only speak of an interweaving (amplicatio) of its smaller elements. Subsequent investigators de- clared that these elements were too small for exact study. Nitzsch (1840, pp. 14, 15) was the first to try to solve the problem. He pointed out that the hooks of the upper “ rays” (hook-fibers) were designed to grip the lower fibers. This they do by inserting them- selves into small depressions in the sides of the latter. These “ de- pressions ’ of Nitzsch’s are however not depressions at all but the nuclei of the cells composing the curved fibers. Burmeister in a note pointed out this error (Nitzsch, 1840, p. 15), and stated that the hooks were too short to reach these “* depressions ”’ of the curved fibers. According to him the hooks are intended to grip the upper margin of these fibers, which he considers thickened and which he says they just reach and actually grasp. Schroeder (1880, p. 10), and Klee (1880, p. 18) discovered that the upper margin of the lower (curved) fibers is not thickened, as Burmeister had thought, but involuted to form a groove, which makes the impression of a thickened edge in surface views of the feather magnified with the microscope. This involuted margin is grasped by the hooks of the hook-fibers, which can glide backward and forward beneath it with- out relaxing their grip. Wray (1887, p. 422) and Ahlborn (1896, p. 20) also describe the formation of the feather-plate. According to them the hooks of the hook-fibers penetrate into the layer of underlying curved fibers and take hold of the membranous ventral 24 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 processes of the latter. The incorrectness of this statement can easily be demonstrated by the examination of a surface view by which it is to be seen that in their natural position the hooks lie some distance beyond the zone of these ventral processes and in reality grasp the more proximal, band-like portions of the curved fibers. They are moreover too short to reach as far down as the ventral margins of the curved fibers from which these processes protrude horizontally. Finally, one must consider that if the hooks actually gripped these processes they would not be capable of gliding backward and forward, but would be wedged in firmly between them. According to my own observations the hook-fibers overlie the curved fibers and cross them at an angle of nearly go° (figs. 17, 18, 19). The hooks hanging down cling by their lower margin to the in- voluted upper margin of the curved fibers. All the hooks of one hook-fiber hold different curved fibers (figs. 24, 25), so that as many curved fibers are held by one hook-fiber and as many hooks grip each curved fiber as there are hooks on each hook-fiber. The hooks can glide backward and forward in the smooth groove of the upper margin of the curved fiber, a fact which is of great importance in flight. During each downward wing stroke a pressure is exercised on the lower side of the feather-plate. As Parseval (1880, p. 70) asserts, the angles between the secondary and the primary quills grow more obtuse under the action of this pressure, and the distance between the outer part of the secondary quills increases. At the same time the feather changes its curvature and its surface in- creases. These changes are made possible by the gliding of the hooks which connect the two systems of tertiary fibers. If the sec- ondary quills move apart, the hooks glide from the middle of the ribbon-like portion of the curved fibers which they clasp during rest, towards their distal end (fig. 19. See the direction of the arrow). If the pressure were still increased the hooks would glide still further and slip off the curved fibers, thus losing their hold altogether if it were not for the peculiar arrangement for arresting them, which effectually prevents this. The bending of the curved fiber itself resists such a slipping off and the dentate protuberances of this part of their upper margin (fig. 28, sf) described above, make it still more difficult. These teeth being directed backward it becomes easy at the same time for the hooks to glide back into their proper position, should they have been carried beyond by some unusual force. MASCHA ] STRUCTURE OF WING—FEATHERS 25 III. SumMaAryY OF RESULTS 1. In the core of the secondary quills the cells may be so arranged as to form several irregular, or one single regular layer. The first type is the more frequent. The second is met with chiefly in the Striges and Caprimulgi. | 2. All secondary quills have a ventral hornridge. It varies be- tween a low crest (Cypselus, Columba) and a large, curved, mem- branous plate (Diomedea, Striges, Cygnus). 3. The degree of concavity of the secondary quill is correlated to the size of the central hornridge. 4. At the origin of the tertiary fibers from the secondary quills very complicated structures are met with. Here a projecting longi- tudinal ledge occurs from the upper side of which oblique crests protrude, parallel and close together like the bars of a gridiron. Between these crests lie the proximal portions of the tertiary fibers. 5. The diminution in height of the secondary quills from the main quill outward may be gradual, constant and moderate, or in- terrupted by a step, as in Striges and Cygnus. 6. The height of the secondary quills is greatest either at the feather base (Aquila, Diomedea) or more frequently above the mid- dle of the length of the feather (Cygnus, Bubo, Macropteryx). 7. The teeth of the outer feather-vanes of the first three remiges of the owls are peculiarly differentiated tips of secondary quills. 8. The hook-fibers always spring from the inner side of the sec- ondary quill which is turned toward the main quill and the feather- tip. They are transversely curved bands composed of a single row of cells. These cells may possess projections which are, proximally, dorsal lobes and ventral hooks; distally, dorsal and ventral spines. g. The number of hooks on each hook-fiber is 2 to 8; it is con- stant in the same species. 10. Peculiarly shaped hook-fibers are found in the Striges and Caprimulgi. In the former they are very long and provided with numerous large spines; in the latter likewise they are long, but have no distal spines. 11. The distance between the hook-fibers in the functional remiges of all classes of birds varies only between 20 and 30 p. 12. The curved fibers spring from the outer side of the secondary quill which is turned away from the primary quill and toward the feather basis. They are transversely curved bands, like the hook- fibers which they resemble in many points. 13. The dorsal, dentate projections at the bend of the curved fibers are an arresting apparatus. 26 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 14. The distance between the curved fibers in the functional remiges of all classes of birds varies only between 30 and 40 p. 15. The powerful development of the ventral hornridge of the secondary quills in Diomedea and Aquila is doubtless functionally related to the sailing flight of these birds. 16. The teeth on the outer vane of the first hand remiges in the Striges and Caprimulgi, and the down on the upper surface of the remiges of these birds formed by the lengthened, distal portions of the hook-fibers deaden the sound of the flight of these night birds. IV. List or AuTHORS CONSULTED AND QUOTED Ahlborn, F. 1896 Zur Mechanik des Vogelfluges. Hamburg, 1896. Beddard, F. E. 1898 The Structure and Classification of Birds. London, 1808. ° Clark, H. L. 1894 The Pterylography of certain American Goatsuckers and Owls. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., v, 17, pp. 551-572. Clement, C. 1876 Note sur la Structure microscopique des Plumes. Bull. Soc. Zool. France, I, 1876, pp. 282-286. Cuvier, G. 1809 Lecons d’Anatomie comparée. Recuillées et publiées par C. Dumeril, TTP. 603 (ck Mem: id) Wins). 13')330)). Davies, H. R. 1889 Die Entwickelung der Feder und ihre Beziehung zu anderen Integu- mentbildungen. Morph. Jahrb., Bd. 15, pp. 560-645, Taf. 23-26. de Meijere, J. C. H. : 1895 Ueber die Federn der V6gel, insbesondere tiber ihre Anordnung. Morph. Jahrb., Bd. 22, pp. 562-591. Fatio, V. 1886 Des diverses modifications dans les formes et la coloration des plumes. Mem. Soc. Phys. et Hist. Nat. Genéve, T. 18, Part 2, pp. 249-308. 3 pls. Gadow, H. 1882 On the color of Feathers as affected by their Structure. Proc. Zool. Soc., London, pp. 409-421, Pl. 27, 28. Haecker, V. 1890 Ueber die Farbe der Vogelfedern. Arch f. mikr. Anat., Bd. 35, Hit. I, pp. 68-87, Taf. 4. Haecker, V., und Meyer, G. 1901 Die blaue Farbe der Vogelfeder. Zool. Jahrb., Abth. Syst. Geog. und Biol. d. Tiere, Bd. 15, Hft. 2, pp. 267-294, Taf. 14. Heusinger, C. F. 1882 System der Histologie. Bd. 2, p. 207. MASCHA | STRUCTURE OF WING-FEATHERS ay, Holland, Th. 1868 Pterologische Untersuchungen. Cabanis, Journal f. Ornith., Jhg. 12, pp. 195-217. Klee, R. 1886 Bau und Entwickelung der Feder. MHaller’sche Zeitschrift f. Naturw., Bd eetonCNeeh., sd. 12), Eitt 1,° pp: 174—327. Mascha, E. tg0o2 Der Bau der Fltigelfeder. Verh. Ges. D. Naturf. u. Aerzte, 74, Vers. 2, Th. 1, H, pp. 159-162. Nitzsch, Ch. L. 1840 System der Pterylographie. Herausgegeben von H. Burmeister, Halle, 1840, 10 Taf. Parseval, A. von. 1889 Die Mechanik des Vogelfluges. Wiesbaden, 1880. Schroeder, R. 1880 Pterographische Untersuchungen. Diss. Inaug., Halle, 188o. Strasser, H. 1885 Ueber den Flug der Vogel. Jenaische Zeitschr. f. Naturw., Bd. 19 CNE EB). Gitt. 1,° pp. 174-927. Strong, R. M. 1902 The development of color in the Definitive Feather. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., v, 40, pp. 147-185. Pl. 9. Sundeval, C. J. 1843 Om Foglarnes vingar. K. V. Akad. Handlingar, 1843, Isis, v. Oken, Hit. 5, 1846. Wray, R. S. 1887 On the Structure of Barbs, Barbules and Barbicels of a typical pen- naceous Feather. Ibis, 1887, pp. 420-423, Pl. x11. 28 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 EXPLANATION OF FIGURES. 1. Three transverse sections of a secondary quill of Columba livia. a at the base close to the primary quill; b in the middle; c at the tip on the outer edge of the broad feather vane. Magnified 1: Ioo. ' 2. Three transverse sections of a secondary quill of Caprimulgus europaeus. a at the base close to the primary quill; b in the middle; c at the tip near the outer margin of the broad feather vane. Magnified 1: 100. 3. Transverse section of a secondary quill of Columba livia from the outer margin of the proximal feather vane. Magnified 1: 600. 4. Transverse section of a secondary quill of Caprimulgus europaeus, from the middle of the proximal feather vane. Magnified 1: 600. 5. Section through the feather vane vertical to the secondary quills; through the wing covert of Garrulus glandarius. Magnified 1: 190. 6. Section through the narrow vane of the proximal part of the hand-remex of Columba livia, vertical to the secondary quills. Magnified 1: 25. 7. Section through the proximal part of the broad vane of a hand-remex of Caprimulgus europaeus, vertical to the secondary quills. Magnified 1: 8o. 8. Hook-fiber of Columba livia. Magnified 1: 220. 9. Hook-fiber of Diomedea exulans. Magnified 1: 125. 10. Hook-fiber of Columba livia. Magnified 1: 125. 11. Hook-fiber of Cypselus apus. Magnified 1: 125. 12. Hook-fiber of Nyctea nivea. Magnified 1:125. 13. Hook-fiber of Podargus humeralis. Magnified 1: Ioo. 14. Hook-bearing part of a hook-fiber of Turacus albocristatus, showing the spines of the proximal hooks. Magnified 1: 480. 15. Hook-bearing part of a hook-fiber of Cuculus canorus, showing the spines on the proximal hooks. Magnified 1: 480. 16. Proximal portion of a hook-fiber of Cypselus apus, showing the cell boundaries and the swelling on the upper margin. Magnified I: 400. 17, 18, 19. Surface views of the upper side of a hand-remex of Cypselus apus, focussed at three different levels. Magnified 1: 270. 17. Highest level showing the terminal threads of the hook-fibers. 18. Middle level showing the proximal portions of the hook-fibers. 19. Lowest level showing the curved fibers. 20. The points of origin of the hook-fiber in a hand-remex of Columba livia, seen from above. Magnified 1: 400. 2t. A secondary quill with hook and curved fibers of Columba livia. Mag- nified 1:60. 22. Hook-fibers of a secondary quill of Columba livia. Magnified 1: 110. 23. Surface view of the upper side of a hand-remex of Cygnus olor, showing the terminal parts of the hook-fibers. Magnified 1: 270. 24, 25. Schematic representation of the connection of the hook and curved fibers. MASCHA] STRUCTURE OF WING—FEATHERS 29 24. Section parallel to the curved fibers. 25. Section parallel to the hook-fibers. 26. Section of a hand-remex of Columba livia, parallel to the curved fibers. Magnified 1: 225. 27. Section of a hand-remex of Columba livia, parallel to the hook-fibers. Magnified 1: 450. 28. Curved fibers of Columba livia. Magnified 1: 270. 29. Transverse section of a secondary quill near the primary quill of Bubo maximus. Magnified 1: 100. 30. Outer vane of the ninth hand-remex of Podargus humeralis, showing the dentate margin. Magnified 1:2. 31. Outer vane of the ninth hand-remex of Bubo maximus, showing the dentate margin. Magnified 1:2. 32. Section through the outer portion of the broad feather vane in a hand- remex parallel to the curved fibers of Bubo maximus, showing the down on the upper side. Magnified 1:12. 33. Section through the middle of a hand-remex of Bubo maximus, perpen- dicular to the secondary quills. Magnified 1:7. 34. The teeth of the margin of the outer feather vane of the tenth hand- remex of Bubo magellanicus. Magnified 1:70. 30 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS Key To LETTERING, WHICH APPLIES TO ALL FIGURES. Curved fibers. Terminal thread. Ledge below the point of origin of the tertiary fibers. Hooks of the hook-fibers. Hook-fibers. Ventral hornridge of the secondary quill. Horny substance. Primary quill. « Nuclei of the cells forming the tertiary fibers. Crests on the ledges of the secondary quills. Medullary substance. Groove in the upper margin of the curved fibexs. Dorsal thickening of the secondary quills. Processes of the ventral membrane of the hook-fibers. Processes of the ventral membrane of the curved fibers. Spines of the hook-fibers. Dorsal lobes of the hook-fibers. Teeth on the outer edge of remiges. [voL. 48 Dentate projections on the dorsal margin of the curved fibers. Limits of the cells composing the tertiary fibers. Siw? , oe Fas als 5 aR RS ae Rat Mae eae a NEOUS COLLECTIONS mie VOL. 48 PL. I x, Three transverse sections of a secondary quill ot Columba livia. a at the base close to the primary quill; din the middle; c at the tip on the outer edge of the broad feather vane. Magnified 1:100 2. Three transverse sections of a secondary quill of Caprimulgus ecuropeus. aat the base close to the primary quill; 4 in the middle; ¢ at the tip near the outer margin of the broad feather vane. Magnified 1:100 i) re vi i ney : s) met ‘ee eo * <q a. 7 < Z - ‘ — 7 “ ws . - : - y ¥ one ; = * *~ ¢ . é i . P ‘ &s : et i” in a . > 4 3. Transverse section of a secondary quill of Columba livia from the outer margin of the proximal feather vane. Magnified 1:600 / 4. Transverse section of a secondary quill of Caprimulgus europaeus, from the middle ot the proximal feather vane. Magnified 1:600 VOL. 48, PL. Ill SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS Sz:r payiuseyy ‘sjjinb Arepuodas ay} 0} Te91VI9A 77277 Y92N7ZOD Jo xawiai-puvy ayy jo Jed [BUTxoAd ayIjJO AULA MOIIEU ayy YsNosy} uONIaG Q O61:1 payluseyy “Sl4vpUH7s SNINLAVAD JO JABAOD BUM ayy yYSsnosyy ‘ sijinb Aawpuooas ayy OF [BONAGA VUBA JOYIPAay ay} Ysno1yy uoDaG S OZSiI paylusey, °V72227 VgUEN7ZED Jo 1aqy-YooFy *g Og: payluseyy “stjinb Arepuodsas ayy 0} [woIIAA Sagorna snSpnmitgvy Jo xawai-puvy BJO 2uvA peolq ay} Jo Jed yewrxoid ay} Ysnoasyy UoIDaG “ZL VOL. 48, PL. IV SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS a - VCL. 48, PL. V SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS Sz1ir payluseyy Ser: payuseyy sndv snzasgAj Jo saqy-yooy] “11 *P121] VQULNIOD JO 1aqY-YOOF “Or Serit payluseyy ‘suvznxra vapantorq jo raqy-yooyy °6 ieee > ¥ ; ¥ ¢ é 7 c _ es 7 < a a 7 e “ry ae = = M . a a of 4 = . , 7a ee . r a a La a = ! on os -% a. -v _ > an 7 oe ’ gr: “2 Pi 7 s : ' : ‘ P « - * = , * 7 _ 7 7 . : y — . SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 48, PL. VI 125 Magnified 1 12. Hook-fiber of Vyctea nivea. SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 48, PL.VII 13 100 Magnified r 13. Hook-fiber of Podargus humeralis, SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 48, PL. VIII 16 14. Hook-bearing part or a hook-fiber of Turacus albocristatus, showing the spines of the proxi- mal hooks. Magnified 1:480 15. Hook-bearing part of a hook-fiber of Cucudus canorus, showing the spines on the proximal hooks. Magnified 1:480 16. Proximal portion of a hook-fiber of Cyfse/us apus, showing the cell boundaries and the swell- ing on the upper margin. Magnified 1:400 _ - ma oo SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 48, FL. IX 17, 18, 19. Surface views of the upper side of a hand remex of Cyfse/us afus,, focussed at three dif- ferent levels. Magnified 1:270 17 Highest level showing the terminal threads of the hook-fibers 18. Middle level showing the proximal portions of the hook-fibers _- a “es 18 5 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 48, PL. X 19. Lowest level showing the curved fibers 20. The points of origin of the hook-fiber in a hand-remex of Columba livia, seen from above. Mag- nified 1:400 a® SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 48, PL. XI 21. Asecondary quill with hook and curved fibers of Columba livia Magnified 1:60 22. Hook-fibers of a secondary quill of Columba livia. Magnified 1:110 23. Surface view of the upper side of a hand-remex of Cygnus olur, showing the terminal parts of the hook-fibers. Magnified 1:270 VOL. 48, PL. XII SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS siaqy Sczi1 payluseyy “siaqy paarno ay} 0} Jal[ered ‘wz2277 vg2un70 Jo xawa1-puey v JO uol]9aG “gz 300q ay3 0} JaT[eaed uonsag “Sz “s1aqy padano ay} 0} JaTjered uoNDasg “be “siaqy paaino pue yooy ay} JO UOIIaUUOD aq} Jo UONeIUasaidar OBUIAaYDS “Sz ‘bz 9E corr payusepy “sveu2xrv2 ogng jo [mb Aavuryad ayi zeau [nb Arepuosas ¥ jo uoT}9aS astoAsuPA, “62 oLz'1 payluseyy “M2277 YgIUNIED JO SIAqY peainy “ge OSb:1 payluseyy “sraqy-yooy ay} 03 jaypered *wz277 vg2unjzoD jo Xauias-puvy B Jo uOI}Dag “Le VOL. 48, PL. XIII ISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS M ‘— SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 48, PL. XIV A: \ \\)) ~ “ ~ . \\ +h re 30 31 30. Outer vane of the ninth hand-remex of Podargus humeradis, 31. Outer vane of the ninth hand-remex of Budo maximus. howing the dentate margin. Magnified 1:2 showing the dentate margin. Magnified 1:2 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 48, FL. XV mi Ceti) eats. ag ed emia eating ig, el tt, aig: ae. ty tt, tay et ed lla oii Sen iti, i: lag ly tas ota emo, i, i, .. Re. _~ LM 32. Section through the outer portion of the broad feather vane in a hand-remex parallel to the curved fibers of Bubo maximus, showing the down on the upper side. Magnified 1:12 33. Section through the middle of a hand-remex of Budo maximus, perpendicular to the secondary quills. Magnified 1:7 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 48, PL. XVI 34. The teeth of the margin of the outer feather vane ot the tenth hand-remex of Budo magellanicus. Magnified 1:70 <a PI BE Nuns THES TARPON AND LADY—FISH - AND: -THEIR RELATIVES By THEODORE GILL Data respecting the habits of the tarpon and lady-fish are here brought together from widely distant sources and the little infor- mation at hand respecting the habits of their relative, the Ptero- thrissus of Japan, is added. The statements here collected, it is hoped, may serve as hints to observers respecting facts to be looked for in the biology of those fishes. The morphological or rather chief osteological characteristics of the types here considered have been recently investigated and eluci- dated by Dr. W. G. Ridewood in a weli illustrated article ““On the Cranial Osteology of the Fishes of the Families Elopide and Albu- lide”? published in the Proceedings of the Zodlogical Society of London for 1904 (vol. II, pp. 35-81). The illustrations are so good and so much to the point that they are here reproduced. They show well the distinctive characterers of the genera as well as the common characteristics which evince the relationship of the Elopids and Albu- lids and distinguish them from the Clupeids to which the former have so strong but illusive likeness. Tue TARPON AND ITS FAMILY One of the most remarkable of the families of fishes is that of the Elopids, and of that family the tarpon of the Floridian waters is the most notable. Yet comparatively little is known of the habits of any of the species. Much—very much—has been written about the tarpon, but most of it has been of a personal or subjective nature and not about the fish itself. To elicit new facts and indicate desi- derata is the object of the present article. What is known may be briefly summarized. I The family of the Elopids (Elopidz) is composed of a few living fishes which have much superficial resemblance to the herring fam- ily; they have a compressed fusiform body, covered by smooth sil- very cycloid scales; the head is bony and scaleless; the mouth and jaws nearly like those of Clupeids and more or less oblique ; the dor- sal is submedian and the other fins are essentially like those of the 31 32 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 herrings. The distinctive characteristics are the very numerous (22-30) branchiostegal rays, an unpaired gular plate or intergular plate or bone (also called “ jugular plate’’) between the rami of the lower jaw, and the development of the parietal bones so that they connect along the middle of the skull and consequently superficially separate the frontal bones from the supraoccipital ; the supramaxil- 1 if d f] ! ' PE PE pV CUE OSITE: BIA Fic. 1.—Elops saurus; skull from right side. (After Ridewood.) ope : g XN ! RY / (Ze Fic. 2—Megalops cyprinoides ; skull from right side. Figs. 1 and 2.—Elopoid skulls showing trend of mouth, composition of supramaxil- laries (sm.), shape of circumorbital bones (cor.), etc. (After Ridewood.) GILL] THE TARPON AND LADY—FISH 33 laries are very large, each composed of three pieces, and mostly outside of but adjoining the suborbitals (cor) ; the circumorbitals are peculiarly modified, there being a well developed preorbital, fol- lowed by a narrow suborbital, above the supramaxillary, and then by broad ones beginning above the hinder portion of the supra- maxillary and continued back of the orbits. The parasphenoid bone is narrow. The family of the Elopids, like that of the Chirocentrids, is a decadent one—one of the past rather than of the present. It was represented by numerous genera and still more numerous species during the Cretaceous epoch. Some of those were of large size, even exceeding the recent tarpon in dimensions, and almost all of them became extinct by the end of that period. The family was far less conspicuous during the Tertiary epoch, but as early as the Lower Eocene the still existing generic types Elops and Megalops made their appearance. At least remains of fishes found in the London Clay have been referred to these genera by A. Smith Woodward. Their later tertiary history is unknown. The living species are few in number—only four—and belong to two very distinct groups which are usually considered the only genera—Elops and Megalops. These are distinguishable by a num- ber of important characters. II i ; ! 7 ' } 1 / ! t P&P Lop SY g Fic. 3.—Elops saurus; hyopalatine arch, opercular bones, etc., with mandible ; left side, mesial aspect. j, jugular plate, dorsal view. (After Ridewood.) Elops, the genus which has given name to the family, has small scales, a small head, lower jaw not projecting, pseudobranchiz 34 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 large, an oblong dorsal fin with the last ray not produced, and the anal fin small. Further, the head is slender and pike-like, the mouth not very oblique, the lower jaw especially slender and its articulation far behind, under the postorbitals, and the suspensorium angular, the hyomandibular being inclined backwards. It contains two spe- cies, the long known and wide-ranging Elops saurus, and the local- ized Elops lacerta of the Congo and western Africa. The Elops saurus is common in the open sea along the coast of the southern United States and is best known as the ten-pounder, though it has received many other names. The accepted name was current at least as early as the seven- teenth century for Dampier, in his “ Voyages to the Bay of Cam- peachy,” for 1676 records (p. 71) “ten-pounders” among the fishes (including tarpons, parricootas, etc.) he found in “ the lagunes, creeks and rivers.” ‘“ Ten-pounders,” he adds, “are shaped like mullets, but are so full of very small stiff bones, intermixt with the flesh that you can hardly eat them.” The species needs no further attention for the present at least. Ill Fic. 4—Megalops cyprinoides; hyopalatine arch, opercular bones, and mandible of left side, mesial aspect. j, jugular plate, dorsal view. (After Ridewood.) The genus Megalops has very large scales (30 or more along the lateral line), the head is comparatively large and the lower jaw projecting ; there are no pseudobranchiz ; the dorsal fin is inserted more or less behind the ventrals and its last ray is produced into an elongated “filament.” In contrast also with Elops the head is short GILL] THE TARPON AND LADY—FISH 35 and oblong by reason of the very oblique mouth, the lower jaw is abbreviated, truncated in front, and with the articular fosse under the eyes, and the suspensoria are each continuous, the hyomandibulars being inclined forwards. Two very distinct forms are known—so distinct indeed that they have been referred to different genera—the Megalops cyprinoides of the Indian Ocean and northern Australia and the Megalops atlanticus or celebrated tarpon of America. The tarpon (Megalops atlanticus) has an elongated fusiform shape ; the forehead slightly incurved (rather than straight) to the snout; the chin projects and is obliquely truncated ; the dorsal (with ‘twelve rays) is on the posterior half of the body, nearly midway between the ventrals and anal; its free margin is very sloping and incurved and its long hind ray reaches nearly to the vertical of the anal; the anal (with twenty rays) is about twice as long as the dorsal and falciform; the caudal fin has a very wide V-shaped emargination. The scales are in about forty-two oblique rows. It reaches a length of about six feet—sometimes more. IV The oldest form of the name seems to have been Tarpon; such is the guise it has in Dampier’s “ Voyages to the Bay of Cam- peachy” in 1675, and in Roman’s “Concise Natural History of Florida” (1775). Dampier found that “the fish which they take near the shore with their nets are snooks, dog-fish and sometimes tarpon. The tarpon,” he says, “is a large scaly fish, shaped much like a salmon, but somewhat flatter. *Tis of a dull silver color, with scales as big as a half crown. A large tarpon will weight 25 or 30 pounds. ’Tis good, sweet, wholesome meat, and the flesh solid and firm. In its belly you shall find two large scallops of fat, weighing two or three pounds each. I never,” continues Dampier, “* knew any taken with hook or line; but are either with nets, or by striking them with harpoons, at which the Moskito-men are very .expert.” Such are the ideas of the fish gained by Dampier in its southern resorts. How different they are from those now prevalent in the United States will appear hereafter. The name in most general use is tarpon and this may be con- sidered to be the literary and accepted phase. Tarpum was also an early form, but is now obsolete. Along the Texan coast Savanilla is still in general use, but is gradually being superseded by tarpon on account of the influence of anglers. The apt descriptive name Grande-écaille (pronounced grandykye and meaning large-scale) was 36 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 given by the French settlers of Louisiana. Other names of still more limited use are silver-fish (Pensacola), and jewfish (Georgia and parts of Florida). Jewfish it shares with many other fishes, and another fish of Florida, a gigantic Serranid, is better known by the term. Silver-king is a euphemistic designation. Caffum is a name current in the island of Barbados. V The tarpon may be briefly defined as a littoral fish of warm Ameri- can seas often entering into rivers and acclimated in some inland lakes. The boating excursionist along some favored shore of Florida or Texas during the spring and summer months at least—perhaps dur- ing all but the winter months—may be startled by the sudden pro- jection from the water of a silver-like mass, which, after describing a low arch, will splash into the water again at a distance of maybe twenty feet from the starting point; that mass is the tarpon, or the “silver king.” Florida and Texas are the states in whose waters the fish is most freqently seen, because there most looked for, but its range extends far beyond those coasts in all directions. In summer wanderers visit the north as far as Massachusetts, where large individuals of the “ big-scale fish,” as they are there called, are “taken every year in traps at South Dartmouth” in the “ latter part of September’; southward they may be found in Brazil and sporadically in Argentina. Around all the islands of and in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico schools may be met with. Further, immigrants have found their way into rivers that enter into the tropical seas and the Lake of Nicaragua has long been famous as the home of the species. Being essentially a warm water fish, it is only in the warm months that the tarpon is to be found at its northern and southern limits. On the approach of cold weather it retires towards the tropics. Along the southern Floridian coasts some “ appear in February, in- creasing rapidly in numbers in March, April and May”; in Texas, “early in March.” At first they refuse the bait but “during the latter part of May and in June” bite freely. ‘ About the first of December ” they “ disappear entirely’ from the Texan waters. In the tropical seas they may be found always, and about Tampico, in Mexico, their “season is from November first to April, the time when the tarpon practically disappears from Florida and Texas.” The tarpon is sensitive to sudden changes of temperature and especially to cold, and to such changes it is sometimes subject in GILL] _ THE TARPON AND LADY—FISH 37. its northern range. During a cold wave which invaded Florida towards the end of January (26-27) 1905, according to a letter of E. J. Brown in “ Forest and Stream,” “the tarpon especially were affected by the cold.” There were brought to “ Lemon City between forty and fifty tarpon which had been so benumbed by the cold as to be easily speared by parties who were searching for them. The largest fish was in length seven feet one and three-quarters inches, girth thirty-nine and three-quarters inches, weight one hundred and ninety-four pounds. Several others were nearly this size. . . . The tarpon were salted, to be sent to Key West market, where there is a ready demand for them.” VI That the tarpon is a most active fish may be inferred from its form which is especially adapted for swift and enduring action. Its life is spent in the enjoyment of its power and in pursuit of food ; a carnivorous fish, it preys “eagerly upon schools of young fry, or any small fish that it is able to receive into its mouth, and in pursuit of which it ascends fresh-water rivers quite a long dis- tance.” The schools of mullets contribute largely to the great fish’s supply. Such it attacks by darting upon them and generally seizing them tail foremost. Its frequent leaps into the air, like those of the salmon, seem to be mostly in sportive manifestation of its intense vitality and not for food or entirely from fear. C. F. Holder tells that one leaping tarpon “fell headlong” into a “boat, passing through the bottom ”’; that another leaped over man and’ boat; and that still another sprung up to the “ deck of a steamer” and “ fell headlong into a passenger’s lap.” Other wonderful tales are told of the activity of the tarpon. According to Holder (at second hand from another), a fish made an “ initial leap of twelve feet ” and fol- lowed this up “ with six leaps all equally high.’ The same observer believed that “ the ordinary height a tarpon leaps is from seven to eight feet.” While leaping, its gill-covers are frequently spread out and its blood-red gills visible. Withal it sometimes goes into very shallow water and seeks out a quiet nook in which it may rest, “perfectly stationary,” for quite a long time. VII The life history is very imperfectly known, but it does not appear to breed at any place along the continental coast of the United States, for none except large individuals have been recorded from those places most resorted to by anglers. For a very long time one of thirty pounds weight was the smallest obtained in Florida and 38 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 one of eleven pounds in Texas. It apparently demands a tempera- ture and conditions which the reef-forming coral animals require and sheltered brackish or fresh water for oviposition. In such locali- ties about Porto Rico, in February, 1899, Evermann and Marsh found not eggs, but very young, and there “it evidently breeds.” Thirteen fry, “2.25 to 3.25 inches ” long, were collected at Fajardo; at Hucares, “in the corner of a mangrove swamp” in “a small brackish pool of dark-colored water,” “entirely separated from the ocean by a narrow strip of land, four from 7.5 to 11.5 inches long were seined.”’ The smallest previously known was about nine inches long. All these are probably the young of the first year. The very young or larvze will doubtless be found to be, like those of Elops and Albula, elongate ribbon-like animals of translucent and colorless texture, with a very small head and small fins. They are probably so transparent that their eyes alone are apparent in the water unless a very close examination is made. The youngest of the specimens (2.25 inches long) observed by Evermann and Marsh, were probably not long before developed from the larval condition. Such are the little fishes to be looked for as the very young of the great tarpon. Most of the large tarpons caught along the coasts of Florida and the Southern states have attained full maturity; of such the length is about six feet, and the weight approximates one hundred pounds ; they are probably nearly or over three years old. Growth, however, is continued in some much beyond the average, one of three hundred and eighty three pounds, it is claimed, having been harpooned. WILT “The silver-king is the greatest of game fishes.” So declare Evermann and Marsh, and they echo the belief of many. Volumes and countless articles in periodicals have been devoted to detail of its excellencies. Its activity and gameness are proportioned to its size. The northern salmon affords tame sport compared with the “ silver-king.” Those of the average full-grown size (six feet long and one hundred pounds in weight) are caught in numbers with the rod and line; one weighing two hundred and twenty-three pounds closes for the time the record of feats with the rod, and it took the captor “three hours and a half before it was brought to gaff.” The tarpon is now considered to have little or no edible value. It has, indeed, been declared by Schomburgk to be “considered a delicate eating”? in Barbados, and in the United States has been experimented with occasionally ; one (W. H. Burrall) who did so in GILL] THE TARPON AND LADY—FISH 39 1874, declared (in Forest and Stream, 1, p. 324) that it was very palatable, but his taste was exceptional. It has been frequently tried since but rejected for the table. An effort was made on one or two occasions in Massachusetts when considerable numbers had been caught, “to find a market for them,” as at New Bedford, ‘ but the people did not like them, owing to the toughness. of the flesh.” Holder’s negro oarsman aptly replied to the suggestion that it was “the finest looking fish in the world,’ “ Yes, Sa, hit looks fine, so does hay. I'd rather eat hay dan tarpon, yes, Suh, I would.” It is truly, as Holder remarks, almost the only great game fish “ which is utterly scorned as a food fish.” Dampier’s opinion, expressed in 1675, and that of some Barbadians, has not been adopted by modern gourmands. It is “full of numerous small bones, which is a great inconvenience,’ says Schomburgk. In almost all cases where it has given anything like satisfaction the fish was of small size, and the truth may be that small ones are tender and savory but large ones coarse and tough, like overgrown individuals of other species. The results of unprejudiced judgment are still wanting. It may be recalled here, however, that the Indian congener of the tarpon, the ox-eye (Megalops cyprinoides) is, according to Saville Kent as well as others, “highly esteemed for food,” and in the Malay archipelago, where it likewise abounds, it is cultivated in tanks after the same manner as the milk-fish, Chanos salmoneus. Far from being sought by the fisherman for the market, the tarpon is detested by him. ‘‘ The Pensacola seine fishermen dread it while dragging their seines, for they have known of persons having been killed or severely wounded by its leaping against them from the seine in which it was enclosed. Even when it does not jump over the cork line of the seine, it is quite likely to break through the netting before landing.” Nevertheless even a dead tarpon yields some compensation for the trouble he gives. There is quite a demand for its great beautifully silvered scales, some of which may be as large as a lady’s palm. They find customers who are willing to pay as high as from five to twenty-five cents apiece and they are made up in various ways to attract the winter visitors to Florida. IX A species congeneric with the tarpon, but not very closely related, is the Megalops cyprinoides which, indeed, is the type of the genus. It is a less slender fish and the outline of the back and head is dif- ferent from that of the tarpon; further, the dorsal fin is not so far backward, that fin and the anal have more rays (dorsal, 19 to 21; 40 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 anal, 24 to 27), and the proportions of all the fins are more or less different. The size, also, is never so great as in the giant tarpons, for it rarely, if ever, attains to a length of more than five feet. Like the tarpon, the Asiatic fish readily accommodates itself to fresh water. According to H. S. Thomas (1897), in India “ they acclimatize very readily to fresh water, and grow fast,’ and also breed, he was told, “in ponds.” The natives, too, “are fond of keeping them in ponds.” They are more prone to associate in schools or shoals—that is, close together like herring—than the tarpon, especially when young. Thomas came “ across them coming up an estuary in a shoal, and it was like hauling in mackerel; and they run about the same size. There was a fish on as fast as ever you could get your line in the water. But the fun was very short-lived. It was in mid-stream, and they were all past the boat in a very little time.” Thomas took them “on a May fly and a Carnatic Carp fly.” In “30 minutes,” “on a light trout rod,” he “ took six of three-quarters of a pound each, lost four among weeds, and had one fly bitten off. Some of them sprang a foot in air, and all fought well.” The fame of the tarpon has, in recent years, been reflected on its eastern relative and the lesser species has found advocates for its pursuit as a game fish. “ Enthusiastic anglers disposed to initi- ate” angling for it as for the American fish are referred by T. Saville Kent (1897) to the Badminton Magazine for 1895 for in- formation. “ There can be no doubt, in the writer’s opinion,” that the Australian fish, popularly known as the ox-eye herring, possesses “the most conspicuous potentialities for sport,” and “would yield equally exciting sport on the same lines.” Unlike its American relative, too, there might be the after satisfaction of seeing it on the table for, according to Kent, the ox-eye affords “ most excellent eating.” In India, it is raised to some extent for the table in tanks. Tue Lapy-FisH The Albulids are unique in the development of two transverse rows of valves in the bulbus anteriosus in advance of the heart, in which respect there is an approximation to the Ganoids. The form and physiognomy are peculiar but there is more superficial resem- blance to a whitefish (Coregonus) than to a herring ; the body is fusi- form but the dorsal arch much more curved forwards than the ven- tral; the scales are cycloid and brilliantly silvery ; the head bony and scaleless, the snout prominent forwards; and the supramaxillaries are moderate, composed of only two pieces, and partly retractile GILL} THE TARPON AND LADY—FISH Al under the large preorbitals; the mouth is small and overhung by the prominent snout; the circumorbitals strongly contrast with those of the Elopids, a large horizontal preorbital being developed along Fic. 5—Albula conorhynchus ; skull from right side. Showing the peculiar snout (me.), circumorbitals (cor.), ete. (After Ridewood.) the side of the snout and this is followed by a short and equally wide suborbital, itself succeeded by wide, angular and postorbital bones, having a well defined sensory canal. According to Ridewood “there are in all twelve bones of” the circumorbital series. “The most anterior ones are curious, basket-like bones, not much wider than the sensory canals which they carry. The canals in this region are particularly large.’ There is no gular plate. The parasphenoid Fic. 6.—Albula conorhynchus ; hyopalatine arch, opercular bones, and mandible. left side, mesial aspect. Showing the peculiar dental pavement of the entoptery- goid bones, lower jaw, etc. (After Ridewood.) 42 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 bone is broad. Further the family is characterized by the villiform jaw and palatal teeth, pavement-like dentition of the hinder part of the mouth and wide parasphenoid bone. is The Albulids, like the Elopids, are an ancient family and repre- sentatives have existed from Cretaceous times to the present, al- though the affinities of the extinct forms have not been precisely determined. Remains of a fish that lived in the Lower and Middle Eocene and that was formerly called Pisodus owenw have been re- ferred even to the genus Albula. In the present seas there is only one genus, Albula, represented by a single species, Albula vulpes. It is found in almost every tropical sea, but it is not confined te such for individuals not a few extend their wanderings quite far beyond the tropical zone, occasionally even roaming northward to Massachusetts. It attains a length of from a foot and a half to three feet and a weight of about three to ten pounds, but the average is far below the maximum mentioned. Tf Notwithstanding its wide geographical distribution, it is in truth a shore fish and seeks its food close to the shore or on muddy or sandy flats where shellfish—especially small bivalve shellfish—most abound. When the flood tide begins and “up to full-tide” is the select time for feeding, and “ flats in water varying from a depth of eight to ten inches,” a choice place for hunting for food. As the fishes feed in such shallow water, their heads go down and their tails come cut of the water, and as they work in shorewards their dorsal fins cut the water, and the sunlight is reflected from their silvery sides.’ The actions of the fish thus seen have suggested to some the name “ grubber.”’ There is a beautiful correlation between the fish’s food and the structural means for assimilating it. The dentition as a whole is quite peculiar—unlike that of any other animal. The bony roof of the mouth is closed in by the juxtaposition of the parasphenoid and pterygoid bones and covered with roundish molar teeth and the floor of the mouth has opposed teeth so that the fish is well pro- vided with the means for crushing the shells which it takes; ex- ternally is provision for finding and rooting them up in the pro- jecting conic snout, which is so prominent as to have suggested one of its early names—Conorhynchus or cone-snout. GILL] | THE TARPON AND LADY-FISH 43 iaet Fic. 7.—Albula vulpes (Linneus). Transformation of the Ladyfish, from the translucent, loosely compacted larva to the smaller, firm-bodied young—slightly enlarged. Gulf of California. (After Gilbert and Jordan, Mss.) A favorite region for the discharge of procreative duties is the Gulf of California. There the young may be found in immense quantities and they are “often thrown by the waves on the beach in great masses.” But so different are those young from the mother fish that they would not be recognized by the casual observer. They are “elongate, band-shaped, with very small head and loose 44 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [VvoL. 48 transparent tissues.” In the water in fact their eyes alone are visible. Gilbert tells that “ from this condition they become gradu- ally shorter and more compact, shrinking from three or three and a half inches in length to two inches.” Then their form becomes much like that of maturity and from that stage they grow regularly till the proportions of ripe age are attained. The various phases of this remarkable growth during which, with advancing days, the developing fish grows smaller and smaller, have all been found by Professor Gilbert and drawn under his direction.” Having at length shrunk to almost half the length of the longest esunculoid stage and acquired a roundness and com- pactness of body as well as shape of the adult, it starts anew in growth and continues till the size and other characteristics of the adult are attained. The history of the metamorphosis of the species is quite as remarkable as that of the butterfly. With diminishing length, with increased compactness, the myotomes or muscular folds grow closer together and less obvious, the dorsal fin and, to a less extent, the anal become better developed and advance towards the middle, and innumerable minor or, rather, less evident changes accompany such until the adult form in miniature is obtained. av One of its haunts is “the waters of Biscayne Bay and those extending some 60 miles further south,’ and by residents of that shore it “is not known to be found anywhere ” else. There probably, at least, it is angled for as much if not more than elsewhere and is quite generally regarded as the gamiest fish that swims. There near Miami, August Thomas (1903) verified to his own satisfac- tion the verdict of the neighborhood. He approached a school, as is generally done, in a boat with a guide. “Your guide works the boat towards them carefully, for they are as timid as a deer, and once frightened are very difficult to ap- proach. When within 50 or 60 feet, which is as close as it is pos- sible to get without frightening the fish, you cast the bait to a spot in line with the direction the fish are working, and not nearer than 1A brief notice of Prof. Gilbert’s observations was communicated to Jordan and Evermann (1, 411), but Prof. Gilbert has informed the writer that his results are still unpublished. A figure of an esunculoid stage has been given by Boulenger (C. N. H., vu, 548) “after Gilbert,’ but otherwise no authority is mentioned. 2The writer is indebted to Professor Gilbert for a proof of the accompanying figure which is to be published in President Jordan’s great forthcoming work on fishes. a a GILL] THE TARPON AND LADY—FISH 45 20 or 30 feet to them. The bait is one of the shell-fish upon which the fish feed, and it must be absolutely fresh.” This bait must be allowed to “lie immovable until the fish find it. The first indication is a slight nibble, for they are not vigorous biters, and they must be hooked, for they rarely hook themselves.” At length one is hooked. Then commences the sport. ‘“ From three to five hundred feet of line is taken out on the first rush, and this is often repeated twice or even three times, making from one thousand to fifteen hundred feet of line in all that is taken out in this manner. When these bursts of speed are over it is fight, fight, fight, every inch of the way to the boat, the runs growing shorter as the fish fails. When at length he sees the boat the mighty strug- gle comes, but not having strength to make a dash, he circles about the boat at a distance of from 10 to 20 feet, often making the circuit half a dozen times—when he finally comes alongside, belly up, he is dead—died as he had lived—dead game—and may be lifted into the boat with safety by the guide.” Fishes may be caught “from November to April, but it is at its best in December.” There is much diversity of opinion respecting the culinary charac- teristics of the lady-fish. Thomas thought that “as a table fish they have few equals, either planked or broiled.” Goode, “ from personal observation,” testified that “its reputation is by no means a false one.” In the Bermudas, too, “where large schools are taken ” and where it is known as the Bone fish or Grubber, it is con- sidered “a most excellent food-fish.” Others, however, hold it in little esteem. Goode himself tells that along the southern coast of California where it is “ found in some numbers,” on account of “ its beautiful color it sells readily, but it is not especially esteemed as a table-fish.”’ But it is by all with common consent exalted as a game fish. The celebrated angler Henshall, in 1884, declared that, of all the fishes he had caught in the Indian river inlet, “a bone-fish of about 3 pounds ” gave more real sport than any of the others.” He found that it “fights in the water and in the air like the black-bass, but mostly in the air—a silver shuttle.” THE GISU OR PTEROTHRISSUS OF JAPAN A fish occurs in the deep sea off Japan, named gisu by the Japa- nese fishermen, which was considered to be the type of a peculiar family (Bathythrisside) related to the white fishes and other Salmonids by Giinther but which later ichthyologists (Boulenger 40 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 and Ridewood) have associated with the Albulids. It has- been scientifically named Pterothrissus gisu and Bathythrissa dorsalis and may still be considered as the representative of an independent family, very closely related to the Albulids, but named Pterothris- side. The Pterothrissids are essentially like the Albulids but the branchiostegal rays are in reduced number (about six), the vomer and palatines are toothless, and the peculiar dentigerous bone which covers the basibranchials of the A/bula is undeveloped. The dorsal fin is prolonged over most of the back and caudal region. This family also is one of ancient origin, especially if Smith Woodward is correct in his statement that Pterothrissus “is not clearly distinguished from Jstieus.” Species of Istiews flourished in the seas whose deposits formed the upper Cretaceous beds of modern Westphalia and Mount Lebanon. Only one species (Pterothrissus gisw) is known from existing seas; it is a deep-sea fish which occurs at depths of three hundred to four hundred fathoms off the Japanese archipelago. Nothing is known of its habits. ABBREVIATIONS EMPLOYED IN THE LETTERING OF FIGURES (AFTER RIDEWOOD. ) al, alisphenoid. max, maxilla. an, angular. m, nasal. bb, dentigerous plate covering the of, opisthotic. basibranchials. Opc, opercular. bo, basioccipital. or, orbitosphenoid. br, branchiostegal rays. p, parietal. bs, basiphenoid. pb, pharyngobranchial. cb, ceratobranchial. pl, palatine. ch, ceratohyal. pm, premaxilla. cor, circumorbital bones. pof, postfrontal. ct, cartilage. pop, preopercular. d, dentary. prf, prefrontal. eb, epibranchial. pro, pro-otic. ecar, ectosteal articular. ps, parasphenoid. ecp, ectopterygoid. pt, post-temporal. eo, exoccipital. ptf, posterior temporal fossa. ep, epiotic. qd, quadrate. f, frontal. sar, sesamoid articular. gh, glossohyal. sm, surmaxilla. hb, hypobranchial. soc, supraoccipital. hh, hypohyal. sop, subopercular. hm, hyomandibular. sp, spicular bone. ah, interhyal. Sq, squamosal. top, interopercular. st, supratemporal. j, jugular or gular plate. stf, subtemporal fossa. me, mesethmoid. sy, sympletic. mpt, metapterygoid. v, vomer. VOL. 48, PL. XVII SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS pounder (EJlops saurus). Ten 1es). IN O16 pr The Oxeye (Megalops cj Tarpon (Megalops atlanticus). (Albula vulpes). Lady fish gist). othrissus ter: £ ( Gisu SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 48, PL. XVIII eb* ct ‘cbs Elops saurus : hyobranchial skeleton from dorsal view. (The epibrauchials and pharyngobranchials of the right side are not shown. ) Albula conorhynchus: hyobranchial skeleton from dorsal view. (The epibranchials and pharyngo- branchials of the right side are not shown.) SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 48, PL. XIX Elops saurus; cranium, A, dorsal view; B, back view; C, left side. SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 43, PL. XX Ss ,; B, back view; C, left side Megalops cyprinoides: cranium, A, dorsal view VOL. 48, PL. xx! SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS & | a A, dorsal view; 8, back view; C, left side. Albula conorhynchus: cranium. DIAGNOSIS. OF A NEW GENUS: AND .SPECIES OF FOSSIL SEA-LION FROM THE MIOCENE OF OREGON By FREDERICK W. TRUE, HEAD CurATor, DEPARTMENT OF BioLocy, U. S. Nationat MusEumM At the suggestion of Mr. Wm. H. Dall, the National Museum purchased from Mr. B. H. Cammann of Empire City, Coos County, Oregon, in 1898, a portion of a large fossil skull from the soft Miocene sandstone of that locality. The specimen, as I am informed by Mr. Dall, was found by Mr. Cammann in the sandstone bluff on the east side of the lower part of Coos Bay, between Empire City and the “south slough,” in the formation to which Mr. J. S. Diller has given the name of the “ Empire Beds.” Upon examination, the skull proves, as Mr. Cammann had sup- posed, to be that of a sea-lion. It represents a genus allied to Eumetopias, but much larger. The fragment consists-of the brain- case, or cranium proper, together with the pterygoids and the palatines as far forward as the posterior end of the hard palate. Both zygomatic processes of the squamosal are broken off near the root, and the right parietal bone has been lost, leaving a large opening through which the whole interior of the brain-case can be examined. The tympanic bullz are crushed and splintered off down to the level of the basioccipital and so mingled with the matrix that their form is lost. The surrounding foramina are also obliterated, and the base of the skull thus presents a broad, nearly flat surface, the appearance of which is, at first sight, very misleading. In other respects, however, the fragment is in an excellent state of preserva- tion, and presents characters which plainly indicate its affinities. It has been deemed desirable to publish the following diagnosis and measurements in advance of a full description, with figures, which will appear later in one of the publications of the U. S. Geological Survey. PONTOLEON new genus Similar to Eumetopias, but with the ventral surface of the basi- occipital nearly plane, and the dorsal surface strongly concave. Postglenoid process of the squamosal strongly produced distally and directed somewhat posteriorly, so that the glenoid fossa is broader 47 48 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 distally than proximally. Dorsal surface of squamosal, between the wall of the cranium and the zygomatic process, concave antero- posteriorly throughout its whole extent. Hard palate abbreviated, the posterior margin concave. PONTOLEON MAGNUS new species Size much larger than that of the largest of existing eared-seals. Skull when complete probably about 50 cm. (or 20 inches) long. DIMENSIONS OF THE TYPE-SKULL OF Pontoleon magnus AND OF TWO ADULT SKULLS OF Eumetopias jubata. | Pontoleon Eumetopias jubata. Measurements. / tel Bering Id, St. Paul Id., | No. 3792. Kamchatka | | Alaska, | | No. 49720. | No. 49730. | cm. { cm. cm. Total length (basi-cranial)...........c.06 cssesneeesesseeeenes | 40.1 36.5 Total height posteriorly (from line of occipitomastoid processes to top of occipital crest in a straight line’... ig. E7cOn |, SeERe Greatest breadth between occipitomastoid processes... 24.81 De eee ge 5) Greatest breadth between outer margins of zygomatic | | PYOCESSES.OF SQUAMIOSAl,. isvoccedang-ed.cmrnetnatemeserineds 25.08: 1. 23.9 | 1s" sam Greatest breadth between outer margins of occipital EO IAA OER Se oss ancanGaapete nb SoHE ne caseuc, coueor danacassmane PLO. 9.0 8.6 Height of occiput from upper margin of foramen mag- num to top of Geipiial crést.....0.00i. vie soes one toetaends | ‘eny2 grat 4 8.1 Heishtiof foramen) macnn, .2..2..cssa.- seen yentons «es =ee | 5-7 Aiea 4.7 Breadth of foramen Maelo me gososdanesoabonuonrey cesciscccc 4.1 BLOmne| Bon Beneth of anioccipitalscond yle-2-.. ssrsnrencorscse «use ee em / 8.1 6.2 6.4 Breadthhof anvoccipital condyle. .-. << nssnedsecsaceneeasere Bai 3-4 ant Greatest transverse breadth of occipital crest.............. 15.4 15.8 13.8 Breadth between occipital condyles inferiorly.......2..... 172 2.0 Dey, Greatest breadth of occipitomastoid process antero- “pos: | | | [ardtoy elk PAS aeNS tach accscnnaparradeease: door scocpepp oc saceaker| i Na 5-On a 52 Distance from inferior margin of foramen magnum to. | | outer inferior angle of exoccipital.............02. ceeeeeee $26) 4) 8.2 7.8 Distance from outer inferior angle of exoccipital to postglenoid process of squamosal........ ...2.scseeeeeeee 10.2 7.8 7:2 Distance from inferior margin of foramen magnum to tip of hamular process of pterygoid...............0.se0e0 Ag © Es Ok ete Distance from tip of hamular process of pterygoid to | postevion ‘cmd of hat palates. asc <c: ans ccsse~soqued cerned 10.2 Nos | 5.1 Distance from surface of occipital condyles to end of | | astral pioksibets 5 th, Sete 2 ean ait a8 dha eer ee 24.1 1H {ly ze Greatest breadth between outer walls of ascending’ | j plates of palatines at their posterior end................ 5:5) [aries || 5.6 Greatest breadth of posterior nares..................--see00e Sake | 3.6 3.9 Length of glenoid fossa of squamosal (transverse)...... For 7.5 (on Length of glenoid fossa of squamosal (antero-posterior). Aa s-| BRO 352 * Actually 24.0 cm., but the left side is broken and 0.8 cm. has been added to agree with the right side. * Actually 23.0 cm., but the right side is broken. *The condyles are a little defective below. — ee a TRUE] NEW SEA—LION FROM MIOCENE OF OREGON 49 Distance from the occipital condyles to the posterior end of the hard palate nearly equal to the mastoid breadth of the skull. Oc- cipitomastoid processes widely divergent, compressed laterally, nearly plane internally. External wall of the ascending plate of the palatines thickened, forming a strong rounded ridge. Posterior nares as broad as deep. Type.—No. 3,792, U. S. N. M. (Vert. Pal.). Empire Beds (Miocene) of Empire City, Oregon. Collected by B. H. Cammann. DIATOMS, THE JEWELS OF THE PLANT—-WORLD"* By ALBERT MANN To anyone familiar with the beautiful plants which form the sub- ject of this lecture it seems strange that so few people know of their existence, for they are abundant everywhere. The evident explana- tion of this, however, is the extreme minuteness of these organisms, most of which are wholly invisible to the naked eye. Among the 4,000 or more species there is one, Coscinodiscus rex, a perfect Goliath among his brethren, which is nearly as big as the head of an ordinary pin; but with this exception, the larger forms can better be compared to the point of the pin, while many are so extremely small that the highest powers of the microscope are needed to dis- play their form and the carvings with which they are ornamented. The diatoms belong to the group of flowerless, aquatic plants known as the Algz. Where these are divided into six groups the Diatoms constitute one of the six; thus (1) Rhodophycez, the red alge; (2) Phzophycee, the brown alge; (3) Chlorophycez, the green alge; (4) Bacillariz, the diatoms; (5) Heterokonte, the yellow-green alge; (6) Cyanophycee (Myxophycez), the blue- green alge. Jam disposed, however, to classify them as a sub-order in the Order Conjugate belonging to the green alge, or Chlorophy- cee; and for the following reasons—(1) they have a unicellular thallus, (2) they have large, elaborate and symmetrically arranged chloroplasts, (3) they frequently produce resting-cells with thick walls, (4) they secrete gelatinous masses in which the individuals are embedded, (5) they display a double mode of multiplication, namely, that by fission, or division of one cell into two, and that by sexual reproduction by means of non-motile isogametes. The at- tempt to classify them with the brown alge is absurd. The distribution of the diatoms is practically universal. They occupy all waters, torrid, temperate, and arctic; fresh, salt, and brackish; still and running. There is hardly a brook, pond, puddle, lake, river, or sea on earth that is destitute of these plants, unless the water be so contaminated with poisonous matter as to inhibit all life. The largest and most elegant forms belong to the tropics, but 1 Delivered at the U. S. National Museum, Washington, D. C., March 18, 1905, under the auspices of the Washington Biological Society. 50 MANN] DIATOMS, THE JEWELS OF THE PLANT-WORLD 51 the most amazing numbers of individuals are found in the arctic regions. Dr. Nansen found them in undiminished abundance at the northern limits of his polar journey. Geologically the diatoms seem to have first appeared in the closing measures of the Middle Cretaceous ; in other words, they are, though low in organic complexity, comparatively recent in the scale of suc- cessive life-forms. The statement of Castracane, that they have been found in the Carboniferous Era, and the still more amazing claims that have been made of finding them in Devonian and even Silurian deposits are generally discredited. It should be remarked here that the precise period of entrance of these organisms should be quite clear, because of the prolific multiplication of individuals character- istic of these forms on the one hand and of the indestructible nature of their remains on the other. Diatom structure can be best understood by looking first at the external sxeleton or casing, and then at the living substance within it. Each plant, a unicellular individual, secretes for itself an external case or box of clear and very dense silica, consisting of two valves, an upper and a lower, the one slipping over the other like the lid and bottom of an ordinary pasteboard box, Figs. 8 and 9, A, B. This case is not of uniform shape; but among the 4,000 or more species there can be found al- most every conceivable form, so long as the form displays symmetry on one or both of its axes. Thus there are round, square, triangular, stellate, oval, ovoid, crescent, sigmoid, cuneate, ba- cillar, etc., forms. It is evident that this great variety in the symmetrical con- tour of these structures adds considerably to their beauty and attractiveness. The variety is further enhanced by numerous outgrowths in the form of spines, horns or domes, so arranged as to preserve the symmetry of the valves from which they spring. The two valves themselves, which are with few exceptions identical in shape and markings, are carved and ornamented with an elegance and variety that is well-nigh incon- ceivable. Indeed it may safely be stated that there is hardly a kind of surface ornamentation known that has not been utilized in beauti- fying these structures. Polished beads of varying size arranged in radiating or concentric rows, shining bars, wavy ridges, delicate [Eee ae}. 52 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 watch-case milling, hexagonal network, the interspaces of which are often further ornamented with secondary sculpture, intricate ara- besque designs, in short a diversity and delicacy of embellishment that makes these plants the most ornate of all living objects. The highest efficiency of the microscope is often taxed in revealing some of the minuter markings; and valves that were formerly thought to be quite smooth, and which, therefore, bear the inappropriate name, “hyaline” or “pellucida,” are now under better objectives found to be intricately carved with intersecting lines. It should be here stated that the few illustrations accompanying this description con- vey no adequate idea of the objects they represent; for in black and white it is quite impossible to reproduce the appearance of these structures of shining silica, often further beautified by pris- matic colors refracted from their various surfaces. Outside of this silica casing there is a very thin and perfectly transparent organic pellicle, in vital connection with the living sub- stance within, erroneously called a gelatinous sheath. It is this internal living substance which determines the position of the organ- ism as a plant, and which presents some of the most interesting prob- lems connected with its life-history. It is made up of normal plant protoplasm (cytoplasm) with a single large centrally placed nucleus. Rarely there are two nuclei, found only in two or three species, where they are said to be constant. Generally there are two large vacuoles filled with cell-sap, and two or more chloroplasts. These latter are usually symmetrically arranged, in the elongated diatoms on either side of the median line and in the circular forms in evenly distributed granules or larger masses radially disposed. The green chlorophyl composing these bodies is disguised by an overlying brown or buff pigment called diatomin, which is so readily soluble in alcohol that when living diatoms are treated with that liquid the diatomin in- stantly disappears and the plants are seen to be bright green. The reserve food material stored up by the diatoms is not in the form of starch grains, but of globules of deep yellow, dense and highly re- fractive oil, either floating in the sap of the vacuoles or embedded in the cytoplasm. Turning now to the physiology of the diatoms the question of their nourishment may be considered. This takes place as in other chloro- phyl-bearing plants, by the assimilation of inorganic substances in solution in the water about them through the agency of sunlight in conjunction with the chlorophyl masses; and in consequence of this fact it is plain that they are precluded from such waters as are not sufficiently lighted; as, for example, subterranean streams and the MANN | DIATOMS, THE JEWELS OF THE PLANT-WORLD 53 deeper parts of the sea. No actual test has been made of the ocean depth at which diatoms can flourish, but the limit is probably some- thing below 100 fathoms. Specimens of diatoms are, it is true, ob- tained from all depths, even from the abysses of 6,000 fathoms or more; but in such cases they are invariably the dead and empty frustules of plants that have been transported there by surface cur- rents. There are a few diatoms partly or wholly destitute of chloro- phyl and which therefore live a saprophytic life. Such is Nitgschia putrida, a colorless form, and Bacillaria paradoxa another Nitzschia, which is only partly saprophytic and therefore not wholly colorless. The food-product of assimilation can never be utilized by the individual plant to any great extent; for being encased in an in- TG or 1 flexible silica box its chance of growth is restricted to a very slight increase in breadth by the slipping apart of the upper and lower valves or lids: in other words, each diatom is formed at its own maximum length. Most of the reserve food is therefore utilized in the multiplication of individuals. This takes place in two curious ways. The first and common method is the asexual one of fission, or the separation of a single plant into two along a median dividing line. Although this is the usual method of multiplication in unicellu- lar plants as well as in single cells of multicellular plants, the process in the diatoms is peculiar in taking place, not transversely, that is along the short axis, as is done in the bacteria, the other alge, etc., but longitudinally from end to end. This peculiarity is the origin of the name “diatom,” from déa toyéw, to cut through. An examination of Figs. 10 and 11 will make this process clear. It is easy to see that 54 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 smaller individuals must be formed at each repetition of this process, as the two new valves are always formed within the old ones. The diatom loses approximately one-sixtieth of its length by this method ; and if it were continued indefinitely the forms would necessarily dwindle to the vanishing point! This however is corrected by means of the second or sexual method of reproduction, a process that brings about two important results ; the diatom’s vitality is rejuvenated and its ancestral size is restored. This process, called conjugation, may take place in any one of three ways ; — 1. The nucleus of a single diatom divides karyokinetically; the cell contents swell, bursting apart the valves; the mass passes out into the water, becomes spherical, secretes a large quantity of jelly- like substance; the two daughter nuclei reunite; a large “auxo- spore” is formed, and within this a single large diatom is built, like the parent frustule, but approximately double the size. See Figs. 12 and 13. 2. The second method is where two diatoms come into contact; the contents swell, as before; the two nuclei remain undivided, but fuse together and produce a single auxospore, within which a single diatom, double the former size, is again formed. See Fig. 14. 3. In the third method two parent diatoms join; the nucleus of each divides karyokinetically; the four daughter nuclei unite, the two from one plant with the two from the other, producing two auxospores and giving rise to two large frustules. See Fig. 15. The first method is common among diatoms that are fixed, and especially those which grow in long filaments. The second is MANN] DIATOMS, THE JEWELS OF THE PLANT-WORLD 55 rather uncommon, being confined to a few species. The third is perhaps the most frequent of all and is especially characteristic of the moving diatoms. Conjugation takes from eight to twenty days for its completion; and as the diatoms lose by each act of fission about one-sixtieth in length, and as they divide every five or six days under normal condi- tions of nourishment, it would require not more than one act of con-- jugation yearly to balance the reduction. Frequently conjugation does take place only once in a year; and then it is, at least in our latitude, quite uniformly early in spring, often before the ice has entirely disappeared from the streams. Two other methods of reproduction are claimed as taking place among the diatoms ; namely, by means of exceedingly minute spores ; and by means of daughter plants, two to sixteen in number, formed within the body of the parent plant. But as the former is wholly unsubstantiated, and the latter, described by G. Murray (in Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin., vol. 21) is, to say the least, most anomalous, no at- tempt will be here made to describe them. There is one other physiological process of the diatoms which has up to the present time puzzled all its investigators, their motion. Many of the diatoms grow attached to some support, some of the round and oval forms lying flat on the fronds of other algz, while others are fixed at the ends of gelatinous stalks, singly or in clus- ters, or grow as zigzag chains or in rows like beads or in flat bands as long filaments. But large numbers are free; and these, especially 56 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 Niteschia and Navicula, display a liveliness of motion that is easy to watch but hard to understand. The majority of these forms are boat-shape, and their motion has a stately character quite different from the erratic movements of the lower animal organisms. But these tiny crafts move without oar or sail, paddle-wheel or propeller. They apparently present the anomaly of moving without any organ of locomotion! Many theories have been invented to explain this mystery; as fine protruded pseudopodia (Ehrenberg), osmotic cur- tents of water (Naegli and H. L. Smith), rows of cilia (J. D. Cox), a stream of protoplasm moving along the “raphe” a line on each valve, generally in the middle that is thought to be a narrow cleft (Muller). But none of these fit the case. No method of staining known has been able to show any protrusions. Whatever be the final explanation, it must explain not swimming but creeping; for these organisms are perfectly inert and helpless unless in contact with some fixed surface. This alone disposes of all theories requir- ing cilia, flagella, osmotic currents, etc. The power, too, must be considerable ; for diatoms will push aside in their course inert mat- ter many times their bulk. The theory must also apply te the ends of the frustules; for the plant will often stand upon end and swing about most vigorously. It is not at all improbable that the so-called “gelatinous sheath,” which overlies uniformly the entire external surface and is connected with the living cell contents through numerous minute pores, is the seat of this motion, and by undulatory movements over its surface produces the phenomenon that is so evident and so puzzling. Any one who will watch the strange ac- cordeon-like extending and retracting movements of those well- named diatoms, Bacillaria paradoxa, especially when, fully extended, they touch each other only at the tips and yet form a series as rigid as a rod, will see that some explanation based on the external mem- brane fits the case better than any other. See Fig. 16, A and B. A few words should be said upon the practical uses of the diatoms. The first of these is as polishing powders. Under the name of “ tri- a ei MANN] DIATOMS, THE JEWELS OF THE PLANT-WORLD 57 poli” they have been long in use to give brilliancy to metallic and other surfaces ; while, either mixed with soap or put up dry, they are sold under fancy names for the same purpose. One widely known brand of tooth-powder is composed entirely of diatom shells. As an absorbent of nitro-glycerine they have been extensively used in the manufacture of various dynamite compounds. They are also em- ployed as a substitute for asbestos in the composition of jackets for steam-pipes, as packing in refrigerators, etc. They have at least a semi-practical use in refuting the utilitarian theory of the origin of species; their rigidly exact yet infinitely diversified carving and ornamentation refusing absolutely to fit into such a conception. Diatoms have a most curious use among the more abject inhabitants of Lapland and Bohemia as a substitute for or an adulterant of food. Under the name of “berg mehl”’ diatomaceous earth is mixed with flour, fat, etc., and eaten. It is hardly supposable that this fossil earth contains any appreciable amount of nourishment. The philosophy of the practice is probably the fact that where a hungry man has a stomach capacity of two quarts and a food supply of only a pint, he can cajole himself and gain a sense of plethoric bounty by adding three pints of inert matter to his supply,—a sort of “square meal,” it is true, but a very hollow one! The diatoms do, however, form a considerable part of the world’s food supply, at least in an indirect way; for they are one of the principal sources of nourish- ment for mollusks, the clams, oysters, etc., whose stomachs always contain large quantities of these plants; as well as constituting a good part of the food of small fishes and of the animal organisms on which larger fish feed. Thus they are a sort of primary source of organic food, on the abundance of which many of our most valued food products depend. It is well to mention here that the diatoms give promise of great practical value in determining the origin of sea-bottoms and the direction and extent of the sea-currents by which they are trans- ported. Their use to applied science in this respect is now being investigated. There will be no difficulty for anyone interested in the examination of these plants in finding them, either as living or fossil forms. Wherever there is a brown coloration of the surface of the mud, sub- merged stones or twigs, not a red-yellow, which is due to iron, but a brown-yellow to almost black, there are diatoms in abundance. It is their characteristic color, when found in masses; and a little of the material placed under the microscope will reveal thousands of them. Or if fossil material is needed, diatomaceous earth can be 58 SMITHSONIAN: MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 found in almost every State in the Union and almost every land on earth. Immense beds exist, for example, at Nottingham, Md. ; Rich- mond, Va.; Keene, N. H.; Monterey, Santa Monica, Rodondo Beach, Cal.; near Spokane, Wash. ; etc.; while smaller deposits are frequent in many other localities. In foreign lands there are large deposits at Sendai, Japan; Ananino and Simbirsk, Russia; Alicate, Sicily; Bilin, Bohemia ; Luneberg, Germany; Mors, Jutland; Oamaru, New Zealand; Springfield, Barbados; etc. The cleaning of diatoms of organic matter and the preparation of these and fossil forms as permanent microscopic mounts cannot be entered into here. The processes are easily learned from any good work on the microscope. SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, Wasuincton, D. C., March, 1905. VCL. 48, PL. XxiIl SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS DIATOMS Pirate XXII FicurE 1. Coscinodiscus asteromphalus, E., X 185. Sendai, Japan. Photo- graph by A. A. Adee. 2. Lepidodiscus elegans, Witt., X 620. Simbirsk, Russia. Photo- graph by A. A. Adee. FIGURE I. PLATE XXIII Biddulphia Roperiana, Grev., variety mollis, Mann, X 400. Pacific Ocean, S. S. “ Albatross,” station 3608. Plagiogramma sceptrum, Mann, 375. Galapagos Islands. Stephanopyxis ferox, Grev., X 400. California guano. From Moebius’ Plates of Diatoms. Triceratium sp.? X 660. Bering Sea. Entogonia Davyana, Grev., X 300 (= Heibergia Barbadensis) Barbados. From Moebius’ Plates of Diatoms. SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 48, Pi. XXIII DIATOMS + pe cg. tke Pe » ewe = aad ie ton os | A ue y a 7 » SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 48, PL. XXIV - 48, . ilies. eit DIATOMS PLaTE XXIV ‘Ficure 1. Secondary markings within the hexagonal network of Triceratium favus, Bright, X 1060. Oamaru, N. Z. Photograph by A. A. . Adee. 2. Amphora, n. s., X 565. Pacific Ocean. 3. Triceratium Campechianum Cl., 720. Florida. Photograph by A. A. Adee. FIGURE I. PLaTE XXV Cestodiscus ovalis, Grev., X 335. Moron, Spain. From Moebius’ Plates of Diatoms. Actinoptychus Waittianus O. Jan., X 200. Hayti. From _ Diatomaceen, Jeremie in Hayti. Brunia japonica, Temp., 100. Japan. Aulacodiscus n. s.. X 1000. Pacific Ocean, S. S. “ Albatross,” Station 4029 H. Navicula invenusta, Mann, X 375. Galapagos Islands. Navicula bullata, Norm., 350. Western Australia. From Moebius’ Plates of Diatoms. VOL. 48, PL. XXV SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS fi ian SS ere ‘ttre ‘Ls 4 .- DIATOMS NOTES ON THE NOMENCLATURE OF CERTAIN GENERA OF BIRDS By HARRY C. OBERHOLSER The following notes concern the status of some seventeen generic and a few specific terms that seem to require change. Most of these, though for several years held in abeyance by the writer, appear not yet to have been published by others; a few are revivals of former changes that lately have been ignored; and one or two have been mentioned as probably necessary by recent writers who failed to go farther. The alterations in specific names pertain only to species belonging to the genera treated. The writer is under obligation to Dr. Charles W. Richmond for various courtesies in connection with the preparation of this paper, and wishes here to express his consequent appreciation. BELLONA Mulsant and Verreaux This name,’ employed by authors for a genus of West India hummingbirds, is, as already pointed out by Mr. J. H. Riley,? un- tenable, being preoccupied by Bellona Reichenbach,? a genus of ornithicnites. In seeking a name for the group, however, Mr. Riley rejects the once used Orthorhyncus Lacépéde* as a nomen nudum because “ no type was specified and the diagnosis is not diagnostic,” but revives it ta date from Froriep,* and by elimination fixes as its type Trochilus mosquitus Linneus. Then, since Orthorhyncus would thus take the place of the present Chrysolampis, Mr. Riley, still by process of elimination, transfers the name Chrysolampis to the group now known as Eulampis, and the term Eulampis to the unidentified “ Trochilus niger”? Wied. This arrangement leaves the preoccupied Bellona without a name, and it is accordingly christened Microlyssa.* These changes, however, can not stand, because Orthorhyncus is the proper name for Bellona, as may easily be shown; and they furthermore constitute a forcible illustration of the * Bellona Mulsant and Verreaux, Classif. Troch., 1866, p. 75. * Auk, 1904, p. 485. 3 Riley, Auk, 1904, p. 485. 4 Natirl. Syst. Vogel, 1852, p. xxx. = abl, Ots:, 1790, ‘p: 0: 6 Dumeril’s Analyt. Zool., 1806, p. 47. 59 60 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 instability and unsatisfactory nature of generic type determinations by elimination. The genus Orthorhyncus was instituted by Lacépéde? for the “ Oiseaux mouches,” undoubtedly of Buffon, a group of twenty-four species, to one of which the name of course must be applied; so that Orthorhyncus stands on equal basis with the other names of Lacépéde proposed in the same place, which have been subsequently accepted without question. The type of Orthorhyncus was fixed as Trochilus cristatus Linneus by Gray in 1840;? and happily enough the same species also becomes the type if this be determined by elimination. The species of this group should therefore stand as follows: Orthorhyncus cristatus cristatus (Linnzus). Orthorhyncus cristatus emigrans Lawrence. Orthorhyncus ornatus Gould. Orthorhyncus exilis (Gmelin). DROMZAUS Vieillot This name, spelled as above, does not occur in Vieillot’s “ Analyse,” and so far as we are aware was never used by this author. He does, however, in the main part of this work propose Dromiceius for the emus, type Casuarius novaechollandie LatHam ;° and in the supple- mentary list where he gives the derivations of his generic names, he inserts instead of Dromiceius the term Dromaius* which Ran- zani later emended to Dromeus? Since Dromiceius can scarcely be considered a typographical error for Dromaius, it follows that the former, standing first in the book, becomes the proper name for the genus. The species are: Dromiceius novehollandie (Latham). Dromiceius ater (Vieillot). Dromiceius irroratus (Bartlett). Dromiceius patricius (De Vis) (fossil). Dromiceius gracilipes (De Vis) (fossil). Dromiceius queenslandie (De Vis) (fossil). HYDRORNIS Milne-Edwards The fossil genus Hydrornis Milne-Edwards® is preoccupied by Hydrornis Blyth, used for a member of the Pittidee (Paludicola 1Tabl. Ois., 1799, Pp. 9. 2 List Gen. Birds, 1840, p. 14. 3 Analyse, 1816, p. 54. 4 Analyse, 1816, p. 70. 5 El. di. Zool., w1, pt. 1, 1821, p. 98. 6 Rech. Oiseaux Foss. France, 1, 1867, p. 362, Tb. 57, fig. 18-22. OBERHOLSER] NOTES ON NOMENCLATURE OF BIRDS 61 nipalensis Hodgson).' It may be replaced by Dyspetornis, from dvenetys, difficilis, and ¢pytc, avis. The type and only species, Hydrornis natator Milne-Edwards, should therefore now be called: Dyspetornis natator (Milne-Edwards). NENIA Boie The name Nenia Boie® is untenable by reason of Nenia Stephens,‘ employed for a genus of Lepidoptera. The next available name is apparently Larosterna Blyth;* but the book in which this was pub- lished, though bearing on its title page the date 1849, contains in- ternal evidence to show that it did not appear until at least 1852. This gives priority to /nca Jardine,’ which has the same species, Sterna inca Lesson, as its type. The only species of this group, therefore, now becomes: Inca inca (Lesson). GNATHOSITTACA Cabanis An earlier name for Gnathosittaca Cabanis? which is based on Gnathosittaca heinet Cabanis (== Conurus icterotis Massena and Souancé) is found in Ognorhynchus Gray,* type Conurus icterotis Massena and Souancé. The sole species is: Ognorhynchus icterotis (Massena and Souancé). DASYPTILUS Wagler The generic name commonly applied to Psittacus pecquetu Lesson is Dasyptilus Wagler ;° but this is, however, antedated by Psittrichas Lesson,'°used for the same bird. This species should therefore stand as: Psittrichas pecquetw (Lesson.) NANODES Vigors and Horsfield The term Nanodes Vigors and Horsfield" for a group of Psittacidz 1 Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, xt, 1843, p. 960. ILO (HE 3 Tsis, 1844, p. 1809. ‘fil. Brit. Ent., 11, 1820, p. 165. 5 Cat. Birds Mus. As. Soc., 1852, p. 293. 5 Contrib. Orn., 1850, p. 33. 7 Journ. f. Ornith., 1864, p. 414. § List Psitt. Br. Mus., 1850, p. 33. 8 Abhandl. Ak. Wissensch. Miinchen, 1, 1832, p. 502. 'Tllustr. Zool., 1831, pl. i; Ferussac’s Bull. des Sci. Nat., xxv, June, 1831, P. 341. " Trans. Linn. Soc., xv, Feb., 1827, p. 274. 62 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 is rendered untenable because of Nanodes Schonherr,' a genus of Coleoptera. Some time ago Forbes proposed to put Lathamus Lesson in place of Nanodes Vigors and Horsfield, dating the former from 1831,° and considering its type to be Lathamus rubrifrons Lesson (= Psittacus discolor Shaw); but the earlier use of La- thamus, also by Lesson, as a subgenus of Psittacus, for Psittacus, aurifrons Lesson,’ makes it a synonym of Bolborhynchus and thus unavailable for Nanodes. ‘The next and only other synonym of Nanodes, Euphema Wagler,’ becomes consequently its tenable title, since this is not invalidated by Euphemus Rafinesque,? a nomen nudum. The type and sole species ought therefore to be called: Euphema discolor (Shaw). DENDRORNIS Eyton The name of the group of Dendrocolaptidz to which the generic term Dendrornis Eyton’ has been applied must apparently be changed. The type of Xiphorhynchus Swainson as usually cited® is Dendrocolaptes procurvus Temminck; but earlier in the same year Swainson had used this generic name in describing Xiphorhynchus flavigaster,? which is a member of the present genus Dendrornis. Although Swainson evidently intended to make Dendrocolaptes pro- curvus Temminck the type of Xiphorhynchus, he defeated his pur- pose by allowing the previous publication of Xiphorhynchus in com- bination with the name of a species of another group, such publica- tion being quite sufficient to fix the name of a genus. Since in this case the question is not complicated by the mention of any other species, Xiphorhynchus flavigaster Swainso * must be considered the type of Xiphorhynchus, and this generic term therefore transferred to displace Dendrornis. The species are as follows: Xiphorhynchus guttatus. (Lichtenstein). Xiphorhynchus guttatoides (Lafresnaye). 1Curc. Disp. Meth., 1826, p. 322. 2 Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1879, p. 166. 3 Traité d’Orn., 1831, p. 205. 4 Cent. Zool., 1830, p. 63, pl. 18. 5 Abhandl. Ak. Wissensch. Miinchen, 1, 1832, p. 492. 8 Anal. Nat., 1815, p. 144. 7 Jardine’s Contr. Ornith., 1852, p. 23. § Zool. Journ., 11, Aug—Nov., 1827, p. 354. ° Phil. Mag., 1, June, 1827, p. 440. '0 Phil. Mag., 1, June, 1827; p. 440. OBERHOLSER] NOTES ON NOMENCLATURE OF BIRDS 63 Xiphorhynchus palliatus ‘(Des Murs). Xiphorhynchus rostripallens rostripallens (Des Murs). Xtphorhynchus Xtphorhynchus Xtphorhynchus rostripallens sororius (Berlepsch and Hartert). eytomt (Sclater). d’orbignianus (Pucheran and Lafresnaye). Xiphorhynchus flavigaster flavigaster Swainson. Xiphorhynchus Xiphorhynchus flavigaster eburneirostris (Eyton). flavigaster mentalis (Lawrence). Xiphorhynchus flavigaster megarhynchus (Nelson). Xiphorhynchus Xiphorhynchus Xiphorhynchus Xiphorhynchus Xiphorhynchus mann). Xiphorhynchus Xtphorhynchus Xiphorhynchus Xiphorhynchus Xiphorhynchus Xiphorhynchus Xtiphorhynchus striatigularis (Richmond). erythropygius (Sclater). punctigulus (Ridgway). triangularis triangularis (Lafresnaye). triangularis bogotensis (Berlepsch and_ Stolz- lacrymosus lacrymosus (Lawrence). lacrymosus eximius (Hellmayr). nanus nanus (Lawrence). nanus costiricensts (Ridgway). nanus confinis (Bangs). susurrans (Jardine). fraterculus (Ridgway). Xiphorhynchus pardalotus (Vieillot). Xiphorhynchus Xiphorhynchus Xiphorhynchus Xiphorhynchus Xtphorhynchus Xiphorhynchus Xtiphorhynchus Xiphorhynchus Xtphorhynchus Xiphorhynchus Xtphorhynchus Xiphorhynchus polystictus (Salvin and Godman). ocellatus (Spix). lineatocapillus (Berlepsch and Leverkiihn). insignis (Hellmayr). elegans (Pelzeln). weddell. (Lafresnaye). kienerw (Des Murs). spit (Lesson). chunchotambo (Tschudi). multiguttatus (Lafresnaye). obsoletus obsoletus (Lichtenstein). obsoletus notatus (Eyton). XIPHORHYNCHUS Swainson As explained under the previous heading, the generic name Xiphorhynchus Swainson,’ since its type is clearly Xiphorhynchus flavigaster Swainson, belongs to Dendrornis. As the group now called Xiphorhynchus is thus left without a name, it may be known * Phil. Mag., 1, June, 1827, p. 440. 64 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 as Xiphornis, from tyos, ensis, and épus, avis, and its type desig- nated as Dendrocolaptes procurvus Temminck. The species are: Xiphornis procurvus (Temminck). Xiphornis venezuelensis (Chapman). Xiphornis trochilirostris (Lichtenstein). Xiphornis thoracicus (Sclater). Xiphornis lafresnayanus (d’Orbigny). Xiphornis rufodorsalis (Chapman). Xiphornis falcularius (Vieillot). Xiphornis pusillus (Sclater). Xiphornis subprocurvus (Reichenbach). Xiphorms dorsoimmaculatus (Chapman). Xtiphornis pucheranii (Lafresnaye). SHARPIA Bocage The generic term Sharpia, bestowed by Bocage? on a group of Ploceidz, is preoccupied in coleoptera by Sharpia Tournier.2 It may be replaced by Notiospiza, from véteos, meridianus, and «zé£a, fringilla. The type is Sharpia angolensis Bocage; and the two species will stand as: Notiospiza angolensis (Bocage). Notiospiza sanctithome (Hartlaub). MALACOPTERON Eyton Doctor Sharpe has already noted’ that Malacopteron Eyton is preoccupied in Coleoptera by Malacopterus Serville,’ and proposes to use Setaria Blyth® in its place. Unfortunately this also is debarred, by Setaria Oken' for a genus of Vermes. The genus Ophrydornis Bittikofer,* based on Setaria albogularis Blyth, is quite distinct from Malacopteron proper, and therefore can not be employed as a sub- stitute for the latter. Doctor Charles W. Richmond calls the writer’s attention to the fact that Dr. Sharpe has recently, in seeming inad- vertence, transferred this name Ophrydornis to the Malacocercus 1 Jorn. Sci. Math. Phys. e Nat. Lisboa, v1, 1878, p. 258. 2 C. R, But. Bele., XV 1873,-D: Cxmavas. 3 Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, xt1, 1902, p. 54. 4 Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1839, p. 102. 5 Ann. Soc. Ent. France, 1, 1833, p. 565. 6 Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, xt, pt. 1, 1844, p. 385. ™Lehrb. d. Naturg., 1, 1815, p. xiii. ® Notes Leyd. Mus., xvi, 1895, p. IoT. OBERHOLSER | NOTES ON NOMENCLATURE OF BIRDS 65 albogularis of Blyth, which is a Dumetia, and at the same time left Setaria albogularis Blyth, the type of Ophrydornis, in Malacopteron (Setaria) !* Since in view of these circumstances it becomes necessary to provide a new name for Malacopteron, it may be called Horizillas, from dp, limito, and ‘Adds, turdus, with Malacopteron magnum Eyton as the type. The species to be referred to this group are: Horizillas magna (Eyton). Horizillas cinerea cinerea (Eyton). Horizillas cinerea bungurensis (Hartert). Horizillas rufifrons (Cabanis). Horizillas palawanensis (Buttikofer).? Horizillas pyrrhogenys (Temminck). Horizillas affinis (Blyth). Horizillas notata (Richmond). Horizillas melanocephala (Davison). Horizillas cinereicapilla (Salvadori). HEDYMELA Sundevall The generic term Hedymela Sundevall,*? recently employed by Dr. Sharpe for the pied flycatchers,* is long antedated by Ficedula Bris- son.° The type of both is the same—WMotacilla atricapilla Linnzeeus— and if Brissonian genera are accepted, as is now the all but universal practice, the latter name (Ficedula) must be used for this group. The Motacilla atricapilla of Linnzus,® moreover, must give place to Motacilla ficedula Linneus,’ a prior name for the same species. Also, the bird commonly known as Muscicapa collaris Bechstein*® must be called Ficedula albicollis (Temminck), because Muscicapa collaris Bechstein® is preoccupied by Muscicapa collaris Latham, a synonym of Platysteira cyanea, and Muscicapa albicollis Temminck"” is the next available name. The species of this genus should consequently stand as follows: 1 Hand-List Gen. and Spec. Birds, 1v, 1903, pp. 27, 38, 39. 2This is Trichostoma rufifrons Tweeddale, nec Malacopteron rufifrons Cabanis, and is the Turdinus rufifrons of Sharpe, Hand-List Gen. and Spec. Birds, iV, 1903, p. 33. 3 Ofvers. Kongl. Vetensk. Ak. Forhandl. Stockholm, 1846 (1847), p. 225. § Hand-List Gen. and Spec. Birds, 11, 1901, p. 213. 5 Orn., II, 1760, p. 369. O Syst WV ab, ed.) 20%, 1758," p: 187: 7 Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 1, 1758, p. 185. 8 Gem. Naturg. Deutschl., 1v, 1795, p. 495. ° Ind. Orn., 11, 1790, p. 471. 0 Man. d’Orn., 1815, p. 100. 66 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 Ficedula ficedula ficedula (Linnzus). Ficedula ficedula speculigera (Bonaparte). Ficedula semitorquata (Homeyer). Ficedula albicollis (Temminck). CHENORHAMPHUS Oustalet Chenorhamphus Oustalet,* based on Chenorhamphus cyano pectus Oustalet (— Todopsis grayi Wallace), is rendered untenable by Chenoramphus Gray? of which the type is Ardea oscitans Boddaert. Since it has no other name it may be called Conopotheras, from zwvwzoOnpas, muscicapa. The type and sole species is: Conopotheras grayi (Wallace). HELMINTHOPHILA Ridgway The name Helminthophila Ridgway,’ long in use for a genus of Mniotiltide in place of the preoccupied Helminthophaga Cabanis, * must itself be supplanted by Vermivora Swainson’ of much earlier date. Swainson evidently intended Vermivora as the generic name for Sylvia vermivora Wilson (== Helmitheros vermivorus Auct. recent.), and he so published it;’ but in another article previously appearing, he made use of this term’ in combination with Sylvia solitaria Wilson (— Certhia pinus Linneus), which species therefore becomes the type of the genus. Furthermore, V ermivora Swainson is not, as often considered, preoccupied by “ Vermivora” Meyer,® for this latter is merely a group name—“ Vermivore,” and not used in a generic sense at all. The species of this genus should therefore stand as: Vermivora chrysoptera (Linnzus). Vermivora lawrenceii (Herrick). Vermivora leucobronchialis (Brewster ).° Vermivora pinus (Linneus). 1 Bull. Assoc. Scient. de France, xxt, 1878, No. 533, p. 248. *Gen. Birds, 11, 1848, p. 562. 3 Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, vit, 1882, p. 53. 4 Mus. Hein., 1, 1850, p. 20. 5 Phil. Mag., 1, June, 1827, p. 434. 6 Zool. Journ., ut, Apr.—July (published in July or later), 1827, p. 170. 7 Phil. Mag., 1, June, 1827, p. 434. 8 Besch. Vig. Liv- und Esthl., 1815, p. 118. 8 Probably a xanthochroic phase of V. chrysoptera, or a hybrid between /. chrysoptera and V. pinus. 10 Almost certainly a leucochroic phase of V. pinus. a OBERHOLSER | NOTES ON NOMENCLATURE OF BIRDS 67 Vermivora bachmam (Audubon). Vermivora peregrina (Wilson). Vermivora celata celata (Say). ‘ Vermivora celata sordida (Townsend). Vermivora celata lutescens (Ridgway). Vermivora rubricapilla rubricapilla (Wilson). Vermivora rubricapilla gutturalis (Ridgway). Vermivora virgie (Baird). Vermivora crissalis (Salvin and Godman). Vermivora lucie (Cooper). TIARIS Swainson Doctor Charles W. Richmond has already shown? that Tiaris Swain- son? belongs properly to Euetheia, but he failed to provide a name for the consequently nameless group of South American Fringillidze for which Tiaris has commonly been employed. This, therefore, may be called Charitospiza, from yéprc, gratia, and oxfa, fringilla. The type and only species, Fringilla ornata Wied,* needs a new specific designation on account of the earlier Fringilla ornata Vieil- lot, * and as it has no synonyms, may be known as: Charitospiza eucosma Oberholser. COTURNICULUS Bonaparte An earlier name for Coturniculus Bonaparte® is found in Ammo- dramus Swainson,° the real type of which is Ammodramus bimacu- latus Swainson—not, as commonly considered, Fringilla caudacuta Wilson (= Oriolus caudacutus Gmelin)... This is a case precisely similar to those of Xiphorhynchus and Tiaris, since the first use of Ammodramus® is in the original description of Ammodramus bimacu- latus, the western continental form of Ammodramus savannarum (Gmelin), antedating by several months the publication of an article wherein Fringilla caudacuta Wilson is given as the type.” The forms of this group will be therefore once more in possession of their former generic designation, and pass as: 1 Auk, XIX, 1902, p. 87. 2 Phil. Mag., 1, June, 1827, p. 438 (type Tiaris pusilla Swainson). 3 Reis. Brasil, 11, 1821, p. 191. 4 Nouv. Dict. d’ Hist. Nat., x1, 1817, p. 243 (Polynesia). 5 Geog. and Comp. List Bds. Eur. and N. A., 1838, p. 32. 5 Phil. Mag., 1, June, 1827, p. 435. 7Cf. Zool. Journ., m1, Aug.—Nov., 1827, p. 348. ' § Antea, pp. 62, 67. 9 Phil. Mag., 1, June, 1827, p. 435. 1 Zool. Journ., 11, Aug.—Nov., 1827, p. 348. 68 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 Ammodramus savannarum savannarum (Gmelin). Ammodramus savannarum passerinus (Wilson). Ammodramus savannarum obscurus Nelson. Ammodramus savannarum floridanus (Mearns). Ammodramus savannarum bimaculatus (Swainson). AMMODRAMUS Swainson Since the term Ammodramus Swainson" belongs to Coturniculus, as already shown,” another name is required for the group to which the former has been applied, and as there is none such available, it may be called Ammospiza, from 4p,u0s harena, and ozt£a, fringilla, with Oriolus caudacutus Gmelin as the type. The species and subspecies are: Ammospiza maritima maritima (Wilson). Ammospiza maritima macgillivrau (Audubon). Ammospiza maritima peninsule (Alien). Ammospiza maritima fisheri (Chapman). Ammospiza maritima sennetti (Allen). Ammospiza nigrescens (Ridgway). Ammospiza caudacuta caudacuta (Gmelin). Ammospiza caudacuta nelsoni (Allen). Ammospiza caudacuta subvirgata (Dwight). Ammospiza leconteu (Audubon). Ammospiza henslowii hensloww (Audubon). Ammospiza henslowti occidentalis (Brewster). * Phil. Mag., 1, June, 1827, p. 435. * Antea, p. 67. Peele seOME TT TistPAST HISTORY AND roio RETURN A SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY WITH NOTES : By EUGENE FAIRFIELD McPIKE Memeer B. S. A., anp I. I. B., BRUSSELS The formation of this collection (mentioned in The Observatory, 28: 141), has been facilitated by data courteously supplied by Herr Berthold Cohn, Strassburg, Germany; Dr. Chas. F. Forshaw, fh SL. Bradiord,. Eneland;- the. Rev. S.J. _Johnson,, M-A., F.R.A.S., Melplash Vicarage, Bridport, England; Professor Kurt Laves of the University of Chicago; the Hon. John S. Lawrence, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and others, to whom the compiler makes grateful acknowledgment. A supplemental note will appear in The Observatory, probably in June, 1905. Part rt. Comets Past History Bronte, Rev. Patrick. On Halley’s Comet, in 1835. Popular astronomy, 12: 571, Northfield, Minnesota, October, 1904. A poem reprinted from The Bradfordian, no. 11, p. 176, Bradford, York- shire, England, August 1, 1861. CHAMBERS, GEORGE F. 1841. A Handbook of descriptive and prac- tical astronomy, 3 vols. Oxford, 1889, 1890. Contains a cut (1:438) of a portion of the Bayeux Tapestry showing the comet of Halley, in 1066. “The comet of Halley appeared again in 1066, at the time when William the Conqueror invaded England. The chroniclers unanimously write: ‘The Normans, guided by a comet, invaded England.’ The Duchess-Queen Matilda, wife of William, has represented this comet and the amazement of her subjects on the tapestry (230 feet long) which may be seen at Bayeux.” See Popular Astronomy ... by Camille Flam- marion, translated by J. Ellard Gore, p. 479, New York, n. d. FLAMMARION, CAMILLE. Popular astronomy: a general description of the heavens, by Camille Flammarion, translated by J. Ellard Gore, New York, n. d. “Queen Victoria has in her crown a jewel the design of which was sug- gested by the tail of this comet, which had the greatest influence on the vic- tory at Hastings.” (P. 479.) 69 7O SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 FLAMMARION, CAMILLE. Astronomie populaire: description gén- érale du ciel. 867 p. Paris, 1890. (See p. 609.) Grecory, Davip. Astronomice, geometrice et physicze elementa. Oxford, 1702, fol. Translated into English; with additions. To which is added, Halley’s Synopsis of the astronomy of comets, revised and corrected by Edmund Stone, London, 1713, 1726, 2 vols. 8vo. This book is mentioned in the ‘ Bibliotheca Britannica,’ by Robert Watt, vol. I, section 439v, Edinburgh, 1824. Hatitey, Epmonp. 1656-1742. Astronomiz cometice synopsis, autore Edmundo Hallieo apud Oxoniensis geometriz professore Saviliano, & Reg. Soc. S. See Philosophical Transactions .. . vol. 24, for the years 1704 and 1705, pp. 1882-1899, London, 1706. Halley’s “most celebrated work ... was ‘Astronomiz cometice synop- sis, communicated to the Royal Society in 1705, and separately published in English at Oxford the same year. It was reprinted with his Tables in 1749, and translated into French by Le Monnier in 1743.” (See Dictionary of National Biography, 24: 108, New York, 1890.) Hatiey, EpmMonp. 1656-1742. Astronomiz cometicz synopsis, autore Edmundo Hallieo apud Oxoniensis geometriz professore Saviliano, & Reg. Soc. S. See the philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London from their commencement, in 1665, to year 1800: abridged, with notes and biographic illustrations, by Charles Hutton . . .., London, 1809. This abridgment gives (5: 201) only the caption of Halley’s memoir, with the note following: “Dr. Halley’s Astronomy of comets is here omitted, as it has been elsewhere published in a much fuller and more complete state, and that both in the English and Latin languages; as in the Miscellanea Curiosa, of Dr. Halley, in 3 volumes 8vo, in English; also translated and published in English, by G. T. Gent, in 8vo, 1757; and still more complete and perfect in Dr. Halley’s Astronomical Tables, in 4to, both in Latin and English.” HALiLEey, EpMonpD. 1656-1742. Astronomical tables with precepts both in English and in Latin, for computing the places of the sun, moon, planets and comets. 1 vol. 4to. London, 1752. This rare work, of which a copy is in the Hon. John S. Lawrence’s private library, Grand Rapids, Michigan, was probably edited by James Bradley, suc- cessor of Halley as astronomer-royal. (Cf. Notes and Queries, 9th series, 11: 464.) In this book a revision of Halley’s Synopsis of comets is included. (See Philos. Trans., abridged, Hutton, 5: 201, note, London, 1809.) MCPIKE] HALLEY’S COMET vi HERSCHEL, Sir JoHN F. W. Results of astronomical observations made during the years 1834, 5, 6, 7, 8, at the Cape of Good Hope; i Loudon smut, Kider &°Co., 1847. See chapter V., pp. 393-400. HERSCHEL, Sir J[OHN] F.W. Observations of the comet of Halley, after the perhelion passage in 1836, made at Feldhausen, Cape of Good Hope, by Sir J. F. W. Herschel. Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society; 10: 325-335, London, 1850. Hrnp, J. R[ussELL]. On the past history of the comet of Halley. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 10: no. 3 (January, 1850) 51-58, London. Hinp, J. Russert. The comets: a descriptive treatise upon those bodies . . . London: John W. Parker and Son, 1852. See chap- ter iv., ‘ The comet of Halley,’ pp. 35-57. Lynn, Witt1AM THyNNE. Remarkable comets; a brief survey of the most interesting facts in the history of cometary astronomy. Eighth edition, revised. 45 p. London: E. Stanford, 1900. See pp. 11-13. Mactear, [ ....] Observations of Halley’s comet, made at the royal observatory, Cape of Good Hope, in the years 1835-1836. Read April 14, 1837. Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical So- ciety, 10: 91-155, London, 1838. McPixe, EuGeNne FarrFieLtp. Halley’s comet. Popular As- tronomy, 12: 685, Northfield, Minnesota, December, 1904. A note referring to Dr. Halley’s discovery of the identity of the comet of 1682 known as Halley’s comet. SmytH, Captain W. H. Observations of Halley’s comet. Mem- oirs of the Royal Astronomical Society, 9: 229-246, London, 1836. Read June 10, 1836. Wuiston, WittiAmM, Lectures on Sir Isaac Newton’s mathematic philosophy, and Dr. Halley’s account of comets. London, 1716, 8vo. This work is mentioned in the ‘ Bibliotheca Britannica,’ by Robert Watt. vol. i., section 961h, Edinburgh, 1824. 72 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 WintTHRoP, [JOHN]. 1714-1799. Two lectures on comets; Bos- ton, I811. Inside title-page, Boston, 1759. (Sce appendix, pp. 39-52.) [.... ] A Famous comet. Quarterly Review, 188: 113-138, London, 1808. This is a very readable account of Halley’s comet. Part II. Comet’s 1910 RETURN Astronomisches Gesellschaft. Vierteljahrsschrift. 1910 Return of Halley’s comet. Vierteljahrsschrift der Astronomischen Gesell- schaft. 39 Jahrgang, drittes Heft, pp. 149, 152, Leipzig, 1904. Contains the announcement of a prize of 1000 Mark, offered by the As- tronomisches Gesellschaft, “for the best determination of the positions of Halley’s comet for the year of its return.” See The Observatory, 28: no. 355 (March, 1905) 141. Deminc, W. F. The meteoric shower of Halley's comet. The Journal of the British Astronomical Association, 12: 175-176, 288-289, London, 1902. Relates to comet’s 1910 return. Lynn, W[iLt1AM] T[HYNNE]. Halley’s comet. Notes and queries, tenth series, 1: 152, London, February 20, 1904. Note referring to Pontécoulant’s prediction of next perihelion passage “17 May, 1910”; also to the same astronomer’s investigation as to “the position of the comet at the preceding return.” McPIKeE, EUGENE FarrFIELD. Halley’s comet. Notes and queries, tenth series, 1: 86, London, January 30, 1904. : Note containing an intimation that ‘“malheureusement la tache entreprise ne puisse pas étre accomplie” by the Russian Astronomical Society, in re- spect of its computing bureau’s proposed “calculation of the true path of Halley’s comet, with a view to predicting the exact date of the next return.” PONTECOULANT, Count M. G. DE. 1766-1853. Notice sur la comeéte de Halley et ses apparitions successives de 1531 a IQIO. Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de l Academie des : Sciences, LVIII., 706-709, 766-769, 825-828, Paris, 1864. Pontécoulant predicts the next perihelion passage for 1910, May 16.95, Paris meridian time. Smart, D. Halley’s comet: 1910 return. The Journal of the Brit- ish Astronomical Association, 12: 134-136, London, 1902. MCPIKE] HALLEY’S COMET 73 [....] The next return of Halley’s comet. Nature, 11: 286-287, London, February 11, 1875. Note consisting of a short review of Pontécoulant’s prediction of the re- turn of Halley’s comet, 1910. [2352.) Toro Return of Halley's comet. Nature, 49: 442, Lon- don, March 8, 1894. “Prof. Glasenapp announces that the computing bureau established by the Russian Astronomical Society has undertaken the calculation of the true path of Halley’s comet, with a view to predicting the exact date of the next return.” It is said that a similar notice appeared in Astronomische Nach- richten, No. 3216 (1894). Part III. BrsLtioGRAPHIES oF Dr. E. HALLEY. British Museum. Lonpon. Catalogue of printed books. H. Hages, London: William Clowes and Sons, Limited, 1888. See cols. 273-276. British Museum. Lonpon. Catalogue of printed books. Sup- plement. H-Henrivaux, London: William Clowes and Sons, Limited, 1903. See col. 102. See, also, later ‘ accessions.’ British Museum. Lonpon. Catalogue of the printed maps, plans, and charts in the British Museum. London, 1885. See [vol. 1, A-K] col. 1733-1734. C[LterKe] A[cnes] M. Halley, Edmund. Dictionary of National Biography, 24: 104-109, New York, 1890. Biographical sketch, accompanied by a bibliography. A few corrections in the text appear in the ‘Dict. Nat. Biog., 67: Errata.’ McPixe, Eucene FarrFieLp. Dr. Edmond Halley. Notes and queries, ninth series, 10: 361-362; 11: 85-86, 205-206, 3066, 463- 464; 12: 125-126, 185, 266-267, 464-465; tenth series, 2: 224. A bibliography with notes. RupotpH, ALEXANDER J. AND McPIKE, EUGENE FAIRFIELD. A Bibliography of Dr. Edmond Halley by Alexander J. Rudolph, _ with some notes and addenda by Eugene Fairfield McPike. _. . Bulletin of Bibliography, Boston: Boston Book Co., June (?): 1905. To be published. 74 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 Watt, Rosert. Bibliotheca Britannica; or a general index to British and foreign literature, 4 vols. Edinburgh, 1824. See vol. I, authors, sections 4590—460f, and vol. 3, subjects (no pagina- tion) article Halley, Edmund. THE ANCESTRAL ORIGIN OF THE NORTH AMERICAN UNIONID/, OR FRESH-WATER MUSSELS By’ CHARLES A. WHITE The subordinal group of fresh-water mollusks, the Naiades, includes two recognized families, the Unionide and the Mutelidz. These two families have many essential characteristics in common and, together, they are distinctly separate from all other molluscan families. They are not only peculiar as regards certain portions of their structure and life history but, with few exceptions, also as regards the restrictions of their inhabitation. That is, the Naiades form the great group of mollusks which are commonly known as fresh-water mussels, all of which are confined to a fresh- water habitat and all will die quickly if immersed in salt water, or if removed to the land. This article is written with special refer- ence to the family Unionide, to the geographical distribution of its living representatives, and to the character and succession in time of its fossil representatives in North America. Therefore the Mutelidz, which are far inferior in numbers and variety to the Unionidez, and are confined to Africa and South America, will not be further referred to except in a general way. The following elemen- tary statements concerning the structure and physiological functions of the Unionide are given for the purpose of emphasizing certain of the facts which are to be stated concerning the integral survival of the family through long geological ages, its present separateness from other molluscan families and the wide geographical distribution of its living members; and also to illustrate the characteristics by which the fossil shells of the family are recognized as such. In a general way, the animal which produces, and is protected by, the shells of the fresh-water mussels is much like that of the common edible clam or, less closely, like the oyster. It is without a proper head, and also without some of the functional organs possessed by other animals; but it performs the function of locomotion, plowing slowly through mud and sand, by means of a muscular projection called the foot; that of respiration by gills, somewhat like those of fishes ; that of circulation by means of a rude pulsating organ which serves as a heart; that of digestion by a stomach; and that of repro- duction by minute eggs. The body, which consists of soft parts 75 76 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 only, is enveloped in a delicate membrane called the mantle. This organ, although so simple in structure, is a most important one, because, besides other uses to the animal, it forms the shell by secreting a milky substance which exudes, mostly from its free edges, and hardens layer upon layer, until the shells have reached their full thickness and, with the animal, their full size. It is in, or upon, the mantle also that true and valuable pearls are sometimes formed. Although these soft parts differ more or less in details of structure in different genera and species of the Unionide, it is the structure and texture of their shells which are generally used in recognizing their systematic relationships as well as largely in their classification; and it is of course those features and properties of the shell alone that are used in the classification of the fossil species. In structure the shell of each individual consists of two convex valves which are generally equal in size, and of symmetrical shape. They are held together at their upper edges by a horny ligament, and are also drawn together by the two strong muscles of the animal within. Their joined edges under the ligament are usually provided with interlocking projections, the so-called hinge teeth, but some have no such teeth. The free, or lower, edges of the valves open a little way, and it is upon the forward portion of these edges that the shell rests when it is in its natural position. The shell-substance consists of three distinct layers, each being of different quality and texture. First, a more or less thick inner pearly layer, which is usually iridescent and often of beautiful tints ; second, a very thin vertically prismatic layer outside of, and firmly adhering to the pearly one; and, third, outside of all, a thinner horny layer, called the epidermis. This shell-structure is the same for all the members of the Unionidz in all parts of the world, and it was the same for all members of the family that have existed in former geological ages, as is shown by their fossil remains. Although the family characteristics of the Unionide, in whatever part of the world they are found, are clearly defined by structure and shell-texture, the species and genera in certain great regions are dis- tinctly different from those of other regions. The family is of world- wide distribution, representatives of it being found in the fresh waters of all the continents, in those of all the large islands, and in those of some of the smaller sea-girt islands. The number of known species of the family now living in the whole world is about one thousand. Of this number about six hundred species live in North American waters, and of the latter number the Mississippi River system alone contains about four hundred, or about four tenths of all the known species in the world. WHITE] ANCESTRAL ORIGIN OF UNIONID fd While the species and genera of the Unionide are different in different regions, the family is so distinct from all other mollus- can families except the Mutelide that naturalists, reasoning from present physical conditions and biological data only, have gen- erally assumed for it a common genetic origin in some one region, its subsequent differentiation, and its final distribution to other regions. Because of the fresh-water requirements of those mol- lusks and the separation by marine waters of the regions which they occupy, and also because there are many cases of intraconti- nental restriction of regional areas of distribution, the question, how the great distribution of the family could have occurred has been a most perplexing one. The marine waters of the earth cover the larger part of its surface and they are everywhere continuous and of essentially the same character. It is therefore easy to understand how any family of marine animals might gain a universal distribu- tion by successive migrations ; but the case is very different with the Unionidz. Since every member of that family dies quickly if placed in sea water or upon land they are confined to rivers and brooks, lakes and ponds and they cannot by their own act pass from one congenial habitat to another, either overland or through marine waters. Voluntary migration from one region to another being out of the question, some method of distribution by agential transportation has been generally advocated. Local dispersion by the shifting of drainage lines has been suggested; and even the inde- pendent origination of members of the family in each region has been assumed. It is desirable to give some account of the views which have been held concerning the geographical distribution of the Unionidz, both for completeness of statement and for the purpose of comparing those views with the hypothesis concerning the geo- logical origin of the North American species which I shall propose. Those who have suggested the distribution of the family by trans- portation have attributed it to the agency of birds and fishes respec- tively. For all such cases it has been assumed that it was the eggs, or the newly hatched fry, technically called the glochidium, or the byssus-bearing fry, and not the adult mollusks, that have been trans- ported. Immediately after the fry have been hatched from the eggs, and while they are exceedingly minute, some, if not all of the species develop hooklets upon the temporary shell by which each can attach itself to other objects. Ata later stage the fry attaches itself to other objects by a slender, thread-like byssus.t It has been thought that these larval mollusks may become attached to, or ‘I make this statement from personal observation many years ago. 78 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 entangled upon, the feet of aquatic birds and carried by them in their flight from the fresh waters of one region to those of other regions and there set free. This suggestion seems to be plausible but no known migratory range of aquatic birds will connect any con- siderable part of the regions of the earth which the Unionide are known to inhabit. Besides this all the species, and even the genera, of those mollusks which live in certain of the widely separated regions are different from those of other regions, and those differ- ences are not accounted for in the supposition that the one region was stocked from the other. Moreover, very little interchange of species seems to have occurred under primeval conditions in cer- tain of the intracontinental regions which are constantly visited and revisited by aquatic birds. For example, the Mississippi and St. Lawrence river systems closely approach each other by some of their head waters, and yet each system originally contained a very differ- ent Unione fauna from that of the other, although the annual migra- tory range of millions of aquatic birds has for centuries traversed both regions. It is true that a small number of species are now known to inhabit both of those river systems, most of which prob- ably owe their double habitat to the agency of man. It is also likely that the traffic-canals which are now constructed or projected will increase the number of emigrants from each fauna. The suggestion that fishes have been instrumental in the distri- bution of the Unionidee refers to the glochidia, or minute fry, before mentioned. It is well known that these minute larval mollusks attach themselves to fishes which live in the same waters, and that thev burrow into their skin, where they become hermetically encysted for further development. Migratory fishes coming from the sea into fresh waters to spawn may thus become infested if the spawning season of the mollusks and fishes should be approximately coinci- dent. If such fishes should return to the sea bearing in their skins the hermetically encysted parasites, and then enter another river with them, it has been thought that the young mollusks might escape into the new congenial waters and stock them with their kind. Unfortunately for this suggestion the encysted term for the young mollusk is only about seventy days, while the fishes would not nat- urally return from the sea to fresh waters before the spawning season of another year. Even then they would be much more likely to return to"the same river again than to enter any other. Long before that time the young mollusks would have dropped from their cysts and died in the salt water. The suggestion that the dispersion of the Unionide has been WHITE] ANCESTRAL ORIGIN OF UNIONIDE 79 effected by changes in the direction of drainage, caused by physical changes in the land surface, seems to be applicable to certain cases, but it is of course not of general application. For example, the Upper Mississippi and the Red River of the North have a closely similar Unione fauna, although the one empties into the Gulf of Mexico and the other into the Arctic Ocean. Their head waters are now far apart, and the land surface between them has only slight elevation. This suggestion is pertinent to the hypothesis which I shall present concerning the survival of the Unionide through suc- cessive geological periods. Only one more of the suggestions that have been offered in expla- nation of the manner in which the present distribution of the Unionide has been accomplished will be noticed. Indeed, this one is of so improbable a character that it is presented only to show what extreme views have been held upon this subject. This sug- gestion is that the Unionide of every river system which they in- habit originated independently from somewhat similar molluscan forms that existed in marine waters near the river mouths, that those mollusks entered the rivers, acquired the characteristics of the fresh water family, and differentiated into new species-and genera. If one should consider this suggestion seriously it may be remem- bered that many of the rivers which contain closely similar Unione faunas flow into arctic and tropical seas respectively, and that the molluscan faunas of those seas are correspondingly different. Also that some of the rivers which contain species of the Unionide and other fresh water gill-bearing mollusks flow into inland seas, the character of whose waters is such that no molluscan life can exist in them. Such, for example, as the Jordan, flowing into the Dead Sea, and the Bear and Utah rivers flowing into Great Salt Lake. The primary origin of fresh water mollusca from certain marine forms that became land-locked in local waters which gradually freshened as the surrounding land was elevated above sea-level, is of course admitted. But that a distinct and well characterized family of fresh water mollusks could have originated from among incon- gruous marine faunas at a multitude of distinctly separated centers, and entered the.rivers by self migration, is not to be accepted as a rational proposition. . The attempts that have been made to explain the manner in which the present distribution of the Unionidz has been accomplished are not only defective from a biological point of view, but none of them has had special reference to fossil Unione faunas. I shall presently show what I regard as good evidence that certain North American 80 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 fossil faunas are ancestrally related to the living fauna of the Mis- sissippi River; and by inference that other living faunas had a like ancestral origin. Of late years students of the living North American Unionidze have recognized among the abundant species a considerable number of genera; properly basing their determinations largely upon the structure of the animal itself as well as upon that of the shell, and also to some extent upon group-differences that were formerly much overlooked. The earlier North American naturalists, however, clas- sifying those mollusks by means of the shells alone, usually recog- nized only three genera, namely, Unio, Anodonta and Margaritana or Alasmidonta, many of them having regarded the latter name as only a synonym of Margaritana. In studies of the fossil Unionide one is necessarily confined to the shells alone; and the fossil material which is available is usually insufficient for the recognition of such groups of species as are recognizable among living faunas. Because of these facts, and partly from a long established habit, I have retained that older classification in my studies of the fossil species. As the character of this article does not really require it, I do not now make any special reference to the improved classification. Although the Mississippi fauna contains about four hundred spe- cies only about a dozen of them are referred to the genus Anodonta. Their preferred habitat is in still waters apart from the two other genera, and their shells are all of plain, simple type. The species that are referable to the genus Margaritana, including Alasmuidonta, in the same fauna are less in number than are those of Anodonta. They live in immediate association with Unio, and their shells have considerable diversity of form and surface features. It is therefore almost only among the teeming species of Unio that occurs the great variety of form and surface features by which the shells of these mollusks have given expression to what naturalists have long recognized as North American types of the Unionidz. I shall show that this term is properly so applied, not only because these Missis- sippi River types are different from those which are found among the living members of the family in other parts of the world, but because they evidently have been derived from ancient North Amer- ican ancestry. The illustrations upon the accompanying plates ex- press this prototypal character of the fossil species, so far as is practicable by such means, with the aid of the material that has hitherto been discovered.t It is only claimed that the expression *The specimens from which these figures were drawn are all the property of the U. S. National Museum. WHITE] ANCESTRAL ORIGIN OF UNIONID/E 81 given by these illustrations is of a general character, but one who is familiar with the living fauna of the Mississippi River will not fail to recognize a close similarity of some of its members to certain of the fossil species. Full artificial expression of the general relation- ship that exists between these fossil species and those which are now living in the Mississippi River system would require a large number of figures of the living, as well as of the fossil, species. As such a full illustration is, for obvious reasons, not now practicable, the reader is referred to the publications mentioned below’ or, better still, to the mollusks themselves in their native waters. Before proceeding with special references to the figures upon the accompanying plates and to the fossil species which they represent, some explanation of relevant paleontological and geological facts in their relation to ancient physical geography is necessary. For the sake of brevity these explanatory remarks are mostly made in sen- tential, rather than in strictly consecutive, form. Fossil shells of the Unionidz have been discovered in great num- bers and variety in many parts of the world and in formations of various geological periods. They are found imbedded in more or less hardened rocky strata that originally consisted of muddy or sandy sediment at the bottom of bodies of fresh water. Those lacustrine waters were finally shifted to other areas by oscillations of land surface or drained away by the deepening of the channels of outlet, but they left an unmistakable record of their fresh-water character in their fossiliferous sediments, which remained. So re- stricted are the living Unionide to fresh waters, and so distinctive are the shell characters and the shell texture of all the members of the family, that the geologist is as certain that the strata containing their fossil remains were deposited in fresh, and not in marine, waters as if he had then been there and analyzed them. Moreover, there are usually found with the fossil shells of the Unionide the shells of other mollusks which are similar to those of the associates of their living congeners. The existence of a lake, or a body of fresh water, implies the coexistence of a surrounding land surface upon which flow drainage streams of inlet and outlet. The existence of a stratified deposit or formation containing remains of fresh water mollusks implies that the * Observations on the Genus Unio. By Isaac Lea. Vols. xin quarto. Profusely illustrated by full-page plates, part of which are colored. Synopsis of the Naiades, or pearly fresh-water Mussels. By Charles Tor- rey Simpson. Proc. U. S. National Museum, vol. xxu, pp. 501-1044, and plate xvi. The literature of the Unionide is very extensive. That for North America is catalogued by Mr. Simpson in the forementioned work. 82 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 deposit was made in lacustrine waters, and that such a surrounding land surface as that just mentioned existed at the time the deposit was made. The study of North American geology has revealed the pres- ence, especially in the broad interior region of the continent, of many such lake deposits containing remains of the Unionide, the earliest one of which that will be referred to being of Triassic age. These deposits alternate with marine formations, showing that the conti- nent has risen by repeated oscillations of the land surface with rela- tion to sea-level, and not by one uniform upward movement extend- ing through successive geological ages. The aggregate gain of these oscillatory movements is the present elevation of the continent. The first land that appeared above sea-level was drained of its surface waters by brooks; and as the land increased in extent the waters of the brooks increased in volume and became rivers. The unequal elevation of continental land occasionally caused broad de- pressions of its surface, which filled with drainage water and became lakes. Each lake, together with its outlet and inlets, became stocked with a fresh water fauna which was derived from some pre- existing fauna. Because all existing lakes and rivers contain mol- luscan life, and because all lacustrine deposits contain remains of such life, it is necessarily inferred that formerly existing lakes and rivers were stocked in like manner. Lakes are parts of unfinished river systems. The deepening of the outlet portion of such a river system by its running water, aided by sedimentation in the still water, drains the lake and finishes the river system. For example, referring to existing rivers, all parts of the Mississippi system are finished except the slight expansion called Lake Pepin. The St. Lawrence system is very far from finished because of the great, and many smaller, lakes that still remain in both its principal and subordinate courses. As a rule, abrupt land elevations, including mountain ranges, which have resulted from foldings and other displacements of the earth’s crust, have risen so slowly from previously plain regions, that the rivers which were already established there were not only not thereby obliterated, but usually they were not even materially deflected from their courses. By the corrasive action of its running water and the detritus which it carried by its flow, each stream abraded and carried away the earth-material, even including solid rock, as it slowly rose beneath its channel. Some of the now ex- isting rivers have thus made deep cafions with precipitous sides, through the rocky strata of elevated regions, and some have even cut their way through mountain ranges. The cafion sides represent WHITE] ANCESTRAL ORIGIN OF UNIONID& 83 the rising of the land, not the lowering of the river. The cafion of Green river through the Uinta mountain range, and the Grand Cafion of the Colorado of the West through the Great Plateau, are cases of this kind. Still, some rivers have suffered vertical displace- ments in at least parts of their course. For example, the prolongation of the channel of some existing rivers of North America, is trace- able by soundings beneath sea-level, where they sank by subsidence of the continental border. If that border should be raised again such rivers and their faunas would come into their former posses- sions. At the beginning of the Tertiary period the Upper Mississippi and Ohio rivers emptied separately into the Gulf which then extended northward above the present confluence of the two rivers. That is, the whole of what is now the Lower Mississippi was then beneath sea-level. It has since been added to the upper portion of the great river system and stocked with its fauna. These, and many other similar facts show that rivers, once estab- lished, although often modified in extent by land elevations and subsidences, and changed in direction by the opening of new lake outlets, have been among the most persistent features of the earth’s surface. The lakes which occupied portions of the course of ancient rivers have all been obliterated; and doubtless also in rare cases some rivers or small river systems, with their molluscan faunas, have been wholly destroyed. The facts which have been stated, however, warrant the assumption that, as a rule, some portions of those an- cient rivers have preserved a continuous flow of fresh water to the present time. I do not doubt that at least some portions of the present Mississippi River system represent a continuous fluvatile flow from a time at least as remote as the Cretaceous period. Rain waters have always fallen upon the land ever since its first elevation above the sea, and a constant flow of drainage streams has been necessary to remove it. It is only by a constant flow that genetic lines of fresh water denizens could have been preserved ; and I there- fore assume that the Unione fauna of the Mississippi River system has in this way been, at least in part, genetically derived from the fossil faunas some of whose remains are figured on the accompany- ing plates. Some of the types of former fresh water denizens whose remains have been discovered are not found among living faunas, and it is therefore inferred that these were among the faunas of those rivers which failed entirely to preserve their continuity of flow through successive geological periods. For example, although Unio belliplicatus, which is represented by figures 4, 5 and 6, on plate 84 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 XXVIII, has all the structural and textural characteristics of the genus _ Unio, it is not only the earliest known species of that genus to possess well marked surface ornamentation, but its type of orna- mentation is different from that of any known living North Amer- ican species. Besides this, several species of the gasteropod mollusks which are associated with this Unio are also different in certain characteristics from any of their kind upon this continent, either fossil or living. Moreover the Bear River formation, in which this fossil fauna is found, is of small extent compared with the other North American fresh water formations. From all these facts I infer that the body of water in which the Bear River beds were deposited, together with its inlets and outlet, constituted a small separate river system with a distinctive fauna. Also that its case was an exception to the rule of the persistence of the rivers, and that this whole small river system with its fauna became destroyed by some geological disturbance of the land surface. The types of the Bear River fauna which were not thus destroyed, for example, the simple type of Unio nucalis, which existed before, and have existed ever since the Bear River epoch, were probably preserved in other bodies of fresh water by collateral lines from an original genetic source. These remarks upon ancient physical geography may be closed with the following summary statements, together with references to the figures upon the accompanying plates and to the species which they represent. Fresh-water gill-bearing faunas have as certainly descended genetically through successive geological ages to the present time as have marine faunas. The genetic successors of each fauna have necessarily descended in a continuous fresh-water habitat. Such continuity of habitat has been produced and preserved by the sea- sonal rains which have always fallen upon the land and caused a constant drainage flow in its rivers and their branches. There has never been any intermission of such continuity because the fresh water supply has never failed, and because, as a rule, rivers have been among the most persistent of the earth’s surface features. While some rivers, or small river systems, have doubtless been from time to time destroyed by certain special movements of the earth’s crust and their peculiar faunas utterly exterminated, it is not prob- able that through all the great vicissitudes of continental devel- ment any greater proportion of fresh-water types have been thus destroyed than of marine types which have perished by volcanic eruptions, local elevation or depression of sea-bottom, changes of sea-currents, and other causes. WHITE] ANCESTRAL ORIGIN OF UNIONID 85 Measured geologically, the life-time of species as such has been short, but genera, and the types which they embrace, have per- sisted through successive geological ages. The types of Unio which are represented on the accompanying plates have been thus preserved, while the species which successively bore them became extinct in the successive geological opochs. They so much resemble certain members of the living Mississippi river fauna as to warrant the assumption that the fossil faunas represent the living fauna ancestrally. Many specimens of fossil shells of the Unionide have been dis- covered in the Triassic strata of New Mexico and Wyoming. All of them are very imperfect and of comparatively small size, but they unmistakably belong to the genus Unio. One of these Triassic specimens is represented by figure 1, plate xxvi. The specimens re- ferred to are the earliest of the certainly known examples of the Unionidz in North America, although certain shells found in De- vonian and Carboniferous rocks have been supposed to belong to that family. These Triassic shells are all of simple form, and none of them exhibits distinctive prototypal relationship to the living Mississippi River fauna. Their structure and shell texture, how- ever, clearly show that the genus Unio was fully established at that early period; and their wide distribution indicates that a large Unione fauna was then established. In all, seven species of the Unionide have been discovered in the fresh water Jurassic strata of Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota. All of them belong to the genus Umio, and five of the seven species are represented on plates xxvr and xxvii. They are all of simple, plain types, none of them exhibiting any special relationship to the Unione fauna of the Mississippi, unless it be U. stewardi. It is, however, not improbable that all these species, as well as those found in Triassic strata, are ancestrally related to the simpler forms of the Mississippi fauna. While there evidently was a large representation of the Unionidze in the Triassic and Jurassic periods, it was in the closing period of Mesozoic time, the Cretaceous, that the family received an extra- ordinary development. This fact is shown by the discovery at numerous places within a large geographical area, and in several successive formations, of a large number and great variety of fossil species of Unio, and of the addition among them of a few species of Anodonta and Margaritana. The increased diversity of the Unionide in this period is also shown in the exhibition by many of the species of Unio of those peculiarities which I have designated 86 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 as North American prototypal characteristics. These discoveries of Cretaceous species have been made in the states of Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota and Montana; and in the Canadian territories of Alberta, Assiniboia and Saskatchewan. In vertical range these discoveries extend from the base to the top of the Creta- ceous series of formations as it exists in the great region just indi- cated. The formations, or groups of strata, are, beginning with the lowest, the Dakota, Colorado, including the Bear River beds, Pierre, including the Fox-Hills, Judith River and Belly River beds, and the Laramie. The Dakota group has furnished comparatively few molluscan fossils, and the most that need now be said of it is that it is not of marine origin. The Colorado and Pierre formations con- sist mainly of unquestionably marine strata, with which the fresh water groups alternate. The Laramie is the uppermost formation of the Cretaceous series and the character of its molluscan fauna gives evidence that it was deposited in a body of water that was in part fresh and in part brackish. This formation aso contains plant remains which have been referred to the Tertiary; and dinosaurian remains which are regarded as of Cretaceous age. I now provision- ally refer the formation to the latter age, although its molluscan fauna might with propriety be referred to the Tertiary. It is in the Laramie strata that the greatest number of species of Unio have been found that bear the prototypal features which have been frequently referred to. Most of these species were found in a few fossiliferous layers of limited extent, each of which was probably deposited near the mouth of an inlet and not in the stiller waters of the lake. The formation from which each of the species repre- sented upon the accompanying plates were obtained is noted upon the page of explanations which accompanies each of the plates. Besides the species which are referred to in the foregoing para- graphs and figured on the accompanying plates, Professor R. P. Whitfield has published descriptions and figures of six new species of Unio which were discovered in strata of the Laramie Group of Montana, and which he has named as follows: Unio e@sopiformis, U. verrucosiformis, U. retusoides, U. browni, U. percorrugata, and U. postbiplicata. All these fossil species present prototypal char- acteristics of the living Mississippi Unione fauna in a marked degree. Three of them are so closely like three living species re- spectively that Professor Whitfield has given names to the fossil *“" Notice of Six New Species of Unios from the Laramie Group,” by R. P. Whitfield, Bull. Am. Museum of Nat. Hist., vol. x1x, pp. 483-487, plates XX XVIII-XL. a WHITE] ANCESTRAL ORIGIN OF UNIONID/E 87 forms which are only modifications of the names of the living forms which they so closely resemble. One cannot doubt that further dis- coveries will yield additional evidence of the prototypal relationship of the fossil and living Unione faunas of this continent. Following the Laramie in the order of time and of geological sequence, are the Eocene, Miocene and Pliocene Tertiary formations, all three of which, in the great interior region of North America, consist of fresh water lacustrine deposits. From the fact that the Laramie Group has been found to contain so many prototypal exam- ples of the North American Unionide one might naturally expect to find among the Tertiary molluscan faunas numerous species of Unio that would, by similar prototypal features connect the Laramie forms more or less directly with the living Mississippi River fauna. Such, unfortunately, is not the fact, for only a few species of the Unionide have been found in any of those Tertiary deposits, and they are all of simple type and plain surface. If only such plain forms of Unio really existed in those Tertiary waters between the Laramie period and the present time, my assumption of the ances- trally prototypal character of the Cretaceous Uniones would be unsupported. Without any exception known to me, however, the strata in which the Tertiary Uniones have been found show evi- dence of having been deposited in comparatively still lacustrine waters, and it is a well known fact that one rarely, if ever, finds any other than plain types of the living Unionidz in the still waters of lakes. The more diverse and ornamental forms of living Uniones occupy fluvatile, or other running or moving waters. None of the deposits containing the Tertiary Uniones referred to gives any in- herent evidence of having been formed in fluvatile or estuarine waters, but such deposits were doubtless made somewhere in the tributaries, and upon the borders, of those Tertiary lakes. When such deposits are discovered they will doubtless be found to contain North American prototypal forms, such as will connect the Creta- ceous types with those of the Mississippi River fauna. When referring in a previous paragraph to the diverse views which have prevailed among naturalists concerning the present geo- graphical distribution of the Unionidz, it was intimated that any discussion of this question ought to have reference to the fossil Unione faunas of the respective regions. I have shown what I regard as good evidence that the well known types of North Amer- ican Uniones in the fauna of the Mississippi River have descended genetically from North American fossil faunas; but I am not yet prepared to offer an explanation of the geographical distribution of the Unionidz in the various regions of the world. 88 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [vor. 48 The accompanying illustrations, plates xxvI to Xxx, are all of natural size and all the specimens are the property of the U. S. National Museum. An explanation of the figures faces each plate. VOL. 48, PL. XxvI SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS UNIONIDAZ Fic. Fic. Fic. Fic. Fic. Fic. Fic. Cae Os4 { PLATE XXVI Unio cristonensis Meek. Triassic. Imperfect right valve; part of the outline restored. Unio felchit White. Jurassic. Right side view; probably a female. Dorsal view of the same specimen. Left side view of a younger specimen; probably a male. Dorsal view of the same specimen. Unio toxonotus White. Jurassic. Right side view of an adult specimen. Dorsal view of the same. PLATE XXVII Unio stewardi White. Jurassic. Fic. 1. Left side view; restored from broken specimens. Fic. 2. Left side view of a younger specimen. Unio nucalis Meek and Hayden. Jurassic. Fic. 3. Left side view. Fic. 4. Dorsal view of the same specimen. Unio mecropisthus White. Jurassic. Fic. 5. Left side view. Unio iridoides White. Jurassic. Fic. 6. Right side view. Margaritana nebrascensis Meek. Dakota group of the Cretaceous series. Fic. 7. Left side view. The species, U. stewardi resembles a common type of Unio in the Missis- sippi fauna. The figured specimen of U. macropisthus is the only one discovered. Its posterior breadth probably indicates that it is a female. The species, U. iridoides, closely resembles U. iris, of the Mississippi fauna. Margaritana nebrascensis is much more inflated, especially in the umbonal region than is any known living species of that genus; but it is known to possess the hinge structure of Margaritana. VOL. 48, PL. XXVII SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS UNIONIDAZ SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 48, PL. XXVIII UNIONIDA PLaTE XXVIII Unio vetustus Meek. Bear River beds of the Cretaceous series. Fic. 1. Right side view of probably a male specimen. Fic. 2. Dorsal view of the same specimen. Fic. 3. Interior view of a left valve. Unio belliplicatus Meek. Bear River beds of the Cretaceous series. Fic. 4. Left side view of probably a male specimen. Fic. 5. Left side view of probably a female specimen. Fic. 6. Dorsal view of a left valve, showing beak sculpture. Prace, XoorEx Unio endlichi White. Laramie group of the Cretaceous series. Fic. 1. Right side view of a large specimen. Fic. 2. Interior view of a smaller, left valve. Unio propheticus White. Laramie group of the Cretacéous. series. Fic. 3. Left side view. Unio primevus White. Judith River beds of the Cretaceous series. Fic. 4. Left side view of a broken specimen. Unio brachyopisthus White. Laramie group of the Cretaceous series. Fic. 5. Right side view of a small, probably a young, specimen. Fic. 6. Front view of the same. VOL. 48, PL. XXIX SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS UNIONIDAZ SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 48, PL. XXX UNIONIDAE PLATE XXX Unio senectus White. Judith River beds of the Cretaceous series. Fic. 1. Right side view of a broken specimen. Unio gonionotus White. Laramie Group of the Cretaceous series. Fic. 2. Right side view of an adult specimen. Fic. 3. Left side view of a younger one. Unio proavitus White. Laramie Group of the Cretaceous series. Fic. 4. Left side view of an adult specimen. Fic. 5. Front view of another adult. Fic. 6. Right side view of another specimen. Fic. 7. Interior view of a left valve. PLATE XXXI Unio aldrichi White. Laramie Group of the Cretaceous series. Fic. 1. Left side view of a partially broken specimen. Fic. 2. Dorsal view of the same. Unio holmesianus White. Laramie Group of the Cretaceous series.. Fic. 3. Left side view of an adult specimen. Fic. 4.. Dorsal view of the same. Unio goniambonatus White. Laramie Group of the Cretaceous series. Fic. 5. Left side view; probably a male. Fic. 6. Dorsal view of the same. Unio stantoni new species. Laramie Group of the Cretaceous series. Fic. 7. Right side view. The specimen here figured under the name of U. stantoni, in honor of Dr. T. W. Stanton, was formerly referred to U. dane Meek and Hayden of the Judith River beds; but it proves to be different in specific features and to come from a much higher position in the Cretaceous series. SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 48, PL. Xxxi UNIONIDAZ BRAIN WEIGHT IN VERTEBRATES By ALES HRDLICKA The following data on brain weight in vertebrates are a contribu- tion to the interesting but not yet ample enough material of similar nature that has been gathered in various parts of the world. Since the writer assumed the charge of the Division of Physical Anthro- pology in the U. S. National Museum, two years ago, one of the main objects followed was the gradual establishment of a reference brain collection, human and comparative. Due to the generous aid received from the National Zoological Park in Washington City, the division of Mammals and of Birds in the Museum, the Bureau of Animal Industry of the Department of Agriculture, Mr. E. S. Schmidt, the principal animal dealer in the city, and with what was received from various hunters, it has been possible to examine and in most instances preserve the brains of several hundred mammals, birds, and other animals. With these were obtained, wherever feasi- ble, certain records, among which the condition and weight of the body, the sex, the age or stage of life, and the weight of the brain. In addition, Mr. Geo. B. Turner, the Museum taxidermist, furnished a number of measurements of the bodies. The brains were always weighed without the dura mater and im- mediately after extraction. No pathological specimens, which for- tunately are very rare in animals, were included in the series. The data have now accumulated so that they may prove of service to others and are therefore here given. They were gathered with due care and so far as they go should prove reliable. The identi- fications were kindly furnished by Mr. W. L. Hahn and Dr. C. W. Richmond, of the National Museum. A difficulty was found in some cases in concluding as to the stage of life of the animal, but the possible remaining. errors on this account can not be numerous. The term “adult” in the records is employed synonymously with “full grown.” The considerable source of difficulty and error met with in weighing human brains, namely the various grades of con- gestion of the organ, is practically absent in the smaller and but rarely encountered among the larger animals. It was present, in a marked degree, in one specimen only (a harbor seal). The records are arranged in two categories. In the first are in- 89 gO SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 cluded all the animals the brains of which were weighed, irrespec- tive of the age of the animal or the condition of its body. In the second class, which is naturally much reduced in number, only those animals are included which were full grown and in which the state of the nutrition of the body was fair; and here the groups have been arranged on the basis of the average brain-body relation only. The data reveal a number of points which incite comment, but this may better be postponed until the series can be sufficiently in- creased. To facilitate reference I append a brief bibliography, limited to the principal contributions to the subject of brain weight in animals; in the works cited are mentioned a number of minor contributions. The numbers preceding the names of the animals are the catalogue numbers of the brains preserved in the Division of Physical Anthro- pology in the U. S. National Museum. HRDLICKA | BRAIN WEIGHT IN VERTEBRATES I. ARRANGEMENT BY SPECIES. MAMMALS. CERCOPITHECID : Old World Monkeys. gI Dimensions of Animal. F by ; aay Length, Now and Species. | | Siggeof |StusctNur) wane of | Wiehe Of Jini] Arne gt Tength Length Body. Point of Tail. Foot. Tail. 224,778 Macacus| # |apparently,; medium. | 4989.5gr.| 70.6 gr.) 1: 71 fascicul. adult. | | 224,770 Macacus | 9 coe se ot 3855.5 60.3 I: 64 | fascicul. : 224,775 Macacus| g | adult. ue — 71.— — fascicul. 224,767 Macacus| ¢ Ecaarse “ — 67.— _ fascicul. | | 224,766 Macacus ¢ | adult or — — 63.5 — fascicul. nearly so. 228,085 Macacus| g | adult. slightly 4309. 69.75 |1: 62 fasc’cul. | emaciated. 224,806 Cercoce- ¢ adult. ce 3629.— | 112.— | 1: 32] bus fulig. | | | 228,117 Cercoce- “ “ 3855.5 108:— {1:2 36 bus fulig. | | 224,959 Cercoce- | 9 cs emaciated.| 3175. 105.— |1: 30 bus fulig. | 228,080 Cercopi-| ¢ “e medium. | 3629.— 71.9 W256 thecus callitr. | 224,830 Cynopi-| ge oe | 3402.— I10.— |1: 31 thecus niger | 224,811 Papio| ¢ 6 somewhat| 4989.5 1S2-— | Ts) 27 doguerra emaciated. | 228,063 Papio| ¢ se < | 12020. 5 142.— |1: 85|104cm., 44.9cm., 17.5cm. hamadr. 224,745 Papio| ? zs _ 5443- 1G2.— || P34 cynoceph. CeBIDA: Mew World Monkeys. 228,110 Ateles| $ | adult. | somewhat) 1920.— 95-5 I: 21 geoffr. /emaciated. 224,799 Ateles| ¢ ce 2 1835.— gI.— |1: 20 geoffr. | Cebus hypol. A Se ee 1126.—. | 68.— | 1: 17 224,812 Cebus] ¢ | a emaciated.| 880.— 75.— |1: 12 hypol. 224,829 Cebus| ¢ Oe somewhat| 930,.— 66.— |1: 14 hypol. emaciated. HAPALIDA : Marmosets. 224,969 Marmo-| g | adult medium. 204. — Hee sy au eReete) set 224,970 Marmo-| ¢ es nearly 172.— Tink Ie 2Ay set medium. | 224,971 Marmo-| 9 « medium. 219.— Relate | diab set 224,961 Marmo-| 9 a ee 218,.— TISTKIL. a \Piecde. set g2 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 I, ARRANGEMENT BY SPECIES.—Continued. MAMMALS. LEMURIDE: Lemurs. | | Dimension of Animal. ; | Propor- Length, seam Sette! | 2) Pa eee eee eo | Body. | Pointof Tail. Foot, Tail. 224,967 Marmo- | @ | adult. somewhat} 169.5 gr. 7.85 gr. |1: 2297. set emaciated. ; Midas cedip. fe) 66 “6 290, — 8.8 ie 23S) 228,139 Lemur| ¢ uh medium. | 1899.— 25.5 Lins macaco | 228,106 Lemur| ¢ a ce 2170.— 21.8 1':)909.5 | ‘97. Cm., 53. CDi. Naeem macaco : 228,143 Lemur! 9 near adult. a 1250, — 24.— |I: 52 varius | 224,807 Lemur} 9 | adult. — — 34.5 i varius PHOCID: Seals. Phoca vitulina | f | adult. | medium. | 13.154.— | 229.5 | 1: 57 | 102. cm., 10. cm., 24. cm. 228,076 Phoca| ¢ we “a 12.247.— | 214.5 Ie se 4 vitulina | | 224.748 Phoca| 9 «6 pe Fa 4Oms—— Bes Me Ad (Brain congested. ) vitulina | | 228,112 Phoca, Q | e ia te Pec 220 = nt cots vitulina | 224,803 Phoca| ? | a somewhat | — 247.— — / vitulina emaciated. / Phoca vitulina fe) Oi near 11.113 214.5 1: 51 | medium. | CANID&: Wolfs, Dogs, Jackals, Foxes. 224,744 Canis| ¢ | 30 days. medium, 860.— 46.— ThG occidental. | 224,800 Canis| 9 | 33 ‘“ above 1848.— 56.53 apy Siete | occidental. | medium. | _psame litter. 224,801 Canis) fulezgy ies ce 1280.— 59.85 Tico occidental. | | | 224,802 Canis| | 40 ‘“ ee | 1090.— 46.3 Tes Aue occidental. 224,824 Canis} $ | adult. ce ho p29:080) 4) nS EG ieee i nubilis | | | 228,107 Canis| # | 4 days. a 247.2 9.44 Tee20) 3) dingo 225,006 = Camis) | oq 1 ae 237.— 9.25 I: 26 | dingo | same litter. Canis dingo {OWE pee Ba C3 or 243.— 9.55 E25 Canis dingo en ie eee ee 247.5 9.05 este 7) 226,159.) Camis) "| 26)" <8 oe 748.— 25.07 Th Borate: dingo Dog : fox-terrier | ¢ | young ce 1417.5 53-— aay 224,910 Dog:| ¢ ue nN 1185.— 53-— 1322 fox-terrier | 224,825 Dog:| 9| adult ue 7938.— 67.— Ds ors fox-terrier | | 228,082 Dog:/| 9 of ee | 6577.— 65.7 I: I00| fox-terrier HRDLICKA ] BRAIN WEIGHT IN VERTEBRATES 93 I. ARRANGEMENT BY SPECIES.—Continued. MAMMALS. CaniID&: Wolfs, Dogs, Jackals, Foxes. Dimensions of Animal. . : F Propor- Length, eer ae) ) Var) Weick. aint |, Rental Tenet. Law Body. Point of = Tail. Foot. Tail. 224,826 Black and tan terrier | f adult medium. | 5670.— gr.) 70.—gr.| 1: 81 224,814 Black and tan terrier | 9 se o 5897.— 61.5 I: 96 224,913 Irish ter- rier fe) Be ot 9526.— 73.— iE etie ye 224,822 Retriever| ¢ ae a 13.154 90.5 Cie eat lls 224,950 Cuban Poodle g | young. sc 496.— 35.8 Ts ta! 228, 118 Canis me- | somelas a adult. Be 6124.— 60.6 TelOL 97. cm., 27. cm., 18 cm. 224,796 Vulpes pribilof. 2 | 4 hours. oe 397.— 22.4 opiedlite 228,060 Vulpes pribilof. ? | 85 days. BC 760.— 37.5 7.20 224,804 Vulpes pribilof. g | adult. ae — 42.7 — 224,395 Vulpes pribilof. 2 a emaciated. — 40.— _ 224,808 Vulpes velox & | 33 days. | medium. | 1910.— 17,— 3s Lie 224,816 Vulpes slightly velox 6 | adult. |jemaciated.) 2758.— 33-35 105 FELIDA: Cats and Lynxes. | 224,810 Felis con- color o | adult. medium. 54-432 154.— | 1: 353 T5353) 02.25 egos 228,055 Felis con- color 2 es e — 137.5 — 228,136 Felis ja- gouar. Q se somewhat | 2268.— 40. MB Gy) 228,122 Felis ca- emaciated. comitli fe) ce ut 2722.— 41.9 E2105 228,138 Felis ser- | val a a medium. ‘11.340 54.1 Is 210 228,089 Felis ser- val ? |near adult. | ot 7.484 50.5 1: 148 228,123 Felis par- dalis & adult Cr 8618. 62.7 Dey, 224,815 Felis par- or near. dalis Suleacult. as 10.433 63.5 I: 164 228,134 Felis onca # a ae 13.835 159.5 in) O77 228,131 Felis adoles- onca a cent. Gt 8.436 I2I.— |1I: 70 224, 380 Felis onca & |near adult. ce —- 165.— 224381 Felis onca ? ae ot -—— 160,— 228,154 Lynx canad. a adult. ur 14.969 69.5 Ty?) 205 224,809 Lynx rufus se es 6.350 65.— | 1: 98 oo Re aids oie Sia iy eee 94 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS ‘ [voL. 48 I. ARRANGEMENT BY SPECIES.—Continued. MAMMALS. FELID@: Cats and Lynxes. Dimensions of Animal. | Siege ue rPstaleoravd:l CWetsue eral Welget ued tee of hoes . e ate o = el re) el ce) 10n 0 i Ne: of Species. nH ia trition. Boog: Baan, Brain to ee af ae a Lente Body. Point of Tail. Foot. Tail. 228,129 Lynx ru-| 9; adult. emaciated.) 1719.5 56.7 Th Beye) fus texensis Lynx caracal | gf | 2days. | medium. | 175.— 8.6 120 224,908 maltese | 9 | young. ee 569.— 23.5 ih peppy cat (domestic) 224,953 maltese | g | adult. jemaciated.| 1392.— 29.65 HS IG] cat (domestic) 224,948 maltese | ee medium, | 1930.— 21.55 1: 89 cat (domestic) UrsID@&: Bears. 224,382 Ursus, | g | adult. medium. — 230.— — 149.9 cm., 12.7 cm., — American. 224,742 U. hor-| ¢ we ae 149.688 | 389.— I: 382 | 198.12, — = ribilis 224,386 U. tor-| g adult. we 69.860 | 269.— I: 260 quatus (3 years). 224,387 U. tor-| ¢ adult | somewhat — 282,.— — 132535 Gnas — quatus (3 years). |emaciated. 228,150Melursus | 9 | adult. medium. 136.080 | 267.— I: 510 ursinus 224,385 U.japon-| ¢ | adolescent < — 230.— = 89.— ho au icus 224,831 Helarc- | @ | adult. te 45.020 | 385.5 Le italy, tor malay. PROCYONID& : *Racoons, etc. 224,398 Procyon! 9 | young. | medium. | 1902,.— 39.— I: 49 48.7, 23.55 — lotor 228,125 Procyon} 9 | adult. es 5000. — 36.1 Lean lotor 224,817 Procyon | 9 ee “6 | 4819.5 61.5 1 fe: cancriv. | 228,127 Nasua| 9? cs Ge 3175.— 34.— 1 EP hp} : rufa | 228,103 Potos| g | adult. medium. | 1863.— Baan sess 81.— 40.— res : caudivolvulus ; ; MUSTELID& : Weasels, Otters, etc. 224,798 Mephitis | ? | adult or medium. | 380.— 6.52 1: 58 : meph. near. somewhat 224,964 Putorius| 9 | adult. emaciated.| 449.— 7.8 syst Asyte5 nigripes 224,798 Putorius | ¢ es | medium. | 915.— 7.87 ee eit) putor. ERINACEID : Hedgehogs. 224,797 Erina-| 9 | adult. | medium. | 453.— 8123 I: 140 | ceus europ, HRDLICKA | BRAIN WEIGHT IN VERTEBRATES 95 I. ARRANGEMENT BY SPECIES.—Continued. S MAMMALS. ORICID : Shrews., | Dimensions of Animal. ; Weieht of | Weight or | uoror | benat, eee Pe he tre \ etic. | Body. | ean, | Besinte') pour ce Length. Length Body. | Pointof Tail. Foot. Tail. Blarina brevi-| 9 | adult. medium. 14.—gr. 0.6 gr.| I: 23 gr cauda LEPORIDE: Hares and Rabbits. 224,428 Rabbit,| ? | young. | medium. 376.— 6.9 IRS dom., ordinary 224,429 Rabbit, | ? Gt 3 434.— 6.8 163 dom., ordinary 224,427 Rabbit, | ? adult. gu 1732.— 11.5 Kes Wain dom., ordinary Rabbit, wild,Md. | ? | young. s¢ 157.— 4.8 re33 224,974 Rabbit, | 9 ce 1210.5 Gy A) wey. wild, South Va. adult. 224,438 Rabbit, | ¢ cs 1247.5 8.7 Tense bag wild, South Va. oC 224,436 Belgian! 9 jnear adult. ol 1396.— 8.— | 1: 175 hare Belgian hare Suen BG Gs 1545.— 10167) | Ws L45 “ec “c fo) “cc 6é “ec 1771.— 8.8 I 201 224,943 Belgian| 9 | adult. os 1890.— Opeysi ap ree wove hare Belgian hare fe) Ee ge 1975.— 9.8 Tee 2O2 Re ae a <c or 2055.— 9.18 | 1: 224 ss sf 2 ce hs 2152.— 10.51 I: 205 ce “ Q oe “eé 2431.— 9.9 I 246 ee «6 zé ce somewhat | 2570.— 13235) | 2198 emaciated. 224,434 Belgian | 9 se medium. | 2987.— 10.5 I: 285 hare Belgian hare 2 GG at 3345-— 1-3 I: 296 CAVID: Cavies. Cavia cutleri ? ig medium. gI.5 2.95 ig St “ec “ec “ce ce “ce 131.— 2.95 I: 44 “e 6é e ee 6“ 13 }e\—= 3125 142 “e 6 6 6“ “eé 200;—— 3.42 I: 58 “6 73 6c 6< 66 ath ee 3.85 I: 55 6“ ce 66 73 6c 238.— 4.15 I: 57 “ec “é 3 ““ “cc 248.— Baqi, 1: 66 ce 6é (73 “e 6c“ 265.— 3.8 i: 70 “<é “ec “c (73 ““ 295.— 3.65 I: SI ““ 6“ ce e ““ 301.— 4.7 I: 64 oe ce ce oe ce 305.— 4.15 I . 73 “ce “6 “e “ec 6“ 337-— 4.28 I: 79 ce “se ee “e ce 353-— 4.5 I: 73 “<< &é | 66 66 “é 451.— 4.8 ies Bee 94 ce ce ce ce “ce 491.— 4.75 I 103 ce ce ce “e “e Sigh 4.57 I 112 224,431 Cavia! ‘ Ge oe 544.— 4-9 pe wii cutleri 224,935 Cavia| ‘ ot ot 700, — 4.35 Ic) Or cutleri 96 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 I. ARRANGEMENT BY SPECIES.—Continued. MAMMALS. DASYPROCTIDE : Agoutis. Dimensions of Animal. i) eiiee er letaee crt |.. Weeks Get) Weipiven nee oF Ieee . be age 0 age oO u- el re) el 1°) tion 0 i £ No. of Species. n te. Paul Body, BE. Brain to tet 45 ae em as Body. Point of Tail. Foot. Tail. 228,090 Dasy-| g| adult. | medium.) 1724.5 19.1 I: 90 procta aguti 228,114 Myo-| 9 | adult. medium. | 782,— 9.9 1279 procta acouchy HystTrRIicip& : Porcupines. 228,132 Hystrix| 9 | adult. medium. | 4763.— 24.2 1 Loy cristata ; MouriIb#: Rats, Mice, ete. Mus musculus g | adult. | medium. | 19.5 | 0.42 eceAo 224,914 Musmus-| ¢ st | ot | TOlG5) /MO:45 eee y, culus | | Mus musculus So ef ee 19.5 lp Ova2 I: 46 a6 Ge é eS es 14.75 0.5 Lcego “cc “ec | 2 “ee “ce 18 2 | 0.48 I: 38 “e ce 1°) ce ‘ 16.5 0.39 I: 42 ‘ Japanese mouse’) ? adult. | medium. 7.85 0.35 Tac ee2, “““ “ec ? a9 | 6c eo 0.33 I 22 White 30 Q ee a | 11.35 0.4 25) Black and White | ? oe us 8.8 (O32) || ThA fe) mouse Mus rattus an adult. | medium. | 99.5 Ay, MB) zfs: 224,966 Mus nor-| es Cy 543-5 2.6 | 1: 208 | vegicus | 224,987 Arvicola} ¢ ee | es 42.5 0.9 I: 47 agrestis ) 224,976 Fiber zi-| & bs Gu 1260,— 550). bt 2225 bethicus = ; GEOMYID#&: Pocket Gophers. 224,951 Geomys s adult. medium.| 108.— P23) WO bursarius ; | HETEROMYIDA: Kangaroo Fats. 228,144 Perodi- ¢ | adult. | somewhat | 989.— PLO 4| Leg || pus richards. | emaciated. | | Perodipus rich- g¢ | young. | medium. = 289.— Thole NhategesKo) | ards. est | : OcTODONTIDE : Spiny Mice. 228,135 Capro-| g | adult. | medium. 4989.5 11.9 I: 450 | mys pilor. it 222,600 Caco: | a | “ somewhat 2782.5 iii I: 251 | mys pilor. | emaciated. | 228,133 Capro- 9 | oe medium. 3429 — 10.55 | 1: 344 | mys pilor. | | HR&DLICKA ] BRAIN WEIGHT IN VERTEBRATES 97 I. ARRANGEMENT BY SPECIES.—Continued. MAMMALS. SCIURIDA : Sguirrels and Marmots. Dimensions of Animal, : ches Sy tte Propor -| Length, eet ree) eatin, |), aly. | Bicin, | Beninto,| ome ct Length Lepeen Body. Point of — Tail. Foot. Tail. 224,917 Sciurus| 9 jadolescent| medium. | 4o01.— 8.85 as 4 rufiventer Sciurus rufiventer | 2 oO se 403.— Teil ey 52 $e ee Q | adult. ee 522.5 8.95 1g ys. “é “ec a “<é “cc 559.— 9.15 Tt Ol 224,915 Sciurus| # 3 a 578.— 9.05 Le {oys! rufiventer Sciurus rufiventer | 9 aie oh 584.— 8.4 I: 70 6c 3 2 “cc “é 650.— 9.2 I: 71 Sciurus carolin. Q \adolescent a 300.— 6.44 P47, 224,437 Sciurus| 9 U6 ae 312.— 6.7 Tey carolin. Sciurus carolin. 2 ot St 321.— 6.83 ee yy) ae es 2 adult ee 364.— 7.02 Tp 52 | or near. ee OG Q adult. se 399.— hess Tse 53 “ec ce a “ce ce 401.— Tork qe is 52 “<“ a3 ie) 73 “c 404.5 7.6 I: 53 ce ce fe) 66 6“ 410.— 6.55 Tt: 63 (73 x3 ‘a “é (73 438.— Fa) Ts 61 “ce “6 2 ce 66 445.— 7.84 I: 57 cc 6“ Zz 66 66 459.5 ets I: 64 6“ 6“ fe) 6“ 6c 468:— 7.03 Tos 67 “ec 73 Q “ec “ec 470.— 8.22 1 aD 57 “ce “cc a “cc 3 502. — 7.67 I: 65 “ce “é Q ce ce 502 oa Terr I: 65 “é“ ce ce) 66 “c 510.—- 6.8 I: 75 “c 6“ é “6 66 514.— 7.58 Te (at at an 2 ae fc 522.5 8.95 I: 58.4 3 if z 6c a3 595.5 8.25 ing a2 224,901 Sciurus| ¢ |adolescent ag 100.— 4.09" TD S2q 455 hudson. Sciurus hudson. | 9 | 8 months. st 102.5 3.82 T27 6“ 6 a “cc 6c 140. — 4.05 Te 35 ub se Q |adolescent a 123,.— 3.94 Don «¢ ee 2 adult, ee 139.— 3.97 Te ah or near cf oe © | adult 6 145.— 3.87 cya, ce ia 2 ce “ce 147.— 4.— Ts 37 224,446 Sciurus| ¢ St Gi 152.5 4.43 lige YI hudson. 224,936 Sciurus| 9 OG a 158.— AE is) 39 hudson. 224,448 Sciurus| ¢ | 66 a 173.5 4.02 te le} hudson. Sciurus hudson. | 9 Ch ee 179.— 4.2 mes-4226 Sciuropterus g | young. Ch 32.— 2.6 13502 volans Sciuropterus Q jadolescent ue 51.— 1.65 inp e 3 volans Sciuropterus Q | adult. ss 55-— 1.84 WE Bie: volans 224,447 Sciurop- | ¢ UG ee 58.3 1.92 P:! 30 terus volans 98 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS I. ARRANGEMENT BY SPECIES.—Continued. MAMMALS. SCIURIDE: Sguirrels and Marmots. [voL. 48 = Dimensions of Animal. < x | Stageof |Stateof Nu-| Weight of | Weight of oe aq - cc ee Length Length No. of Species. | 8 | ” Life, trition. Body. Brain’) |\pesnito |-oNeceee See eee Body. Point of Tail. Foot. Tail. 224,715 Sciurop-| ¢ | adult. medium. 59.— 2.— ies 29.5, terus volans Sciuropterus fe) we oS 60.5 2a 129 volans ‘ Sciuropterus a oe ce 61.5 1.96 eg 2 volans Sciuropterus a oe OG 64.— 1.92 1 Geek volans | 224,977 Sciurop- | $ uC quite fat. 78.7 1.8 I: 44 terus volans | Bovip#@: Sheep, Cattle, etc. 224,932 Sheep, ! g| adult, | medium. | 23.134 gI1.— Ic 2h4 Merino or near. : 224,998 Sheep, | 9 |9 months. Es | 32.206 112.8 Tase205 Shropshire | 224,927 Sheep, |? | adult, SN 34474 OBi =" 92) 5 28952 Shropshire or near. 228,075 Ovis| g | I year. | medium. | 47.174 gr. | 215.— |1: 219 tragel. Sl 228,151 Ovis|Q | adult. au 56.700 209.5 ie yf tragel. 228,073 Ovis| Q| adoles- | somewhat) 26.536 198.— | 1: 134 canaden. cent. jemaciated. 228,065 Antelope| g | young. | medium. | 10.093 98.5 Ls 102 cervicapra 228,068 Antelope| ¢ | adult. a — 114.5 — cervicapra 228,155 Bosela-| ¢ ee — — 258.— — phus tragocam. 224,820 Bison| | 4 years. | medium. — 529.— — bison 213 cm. =. — ANTILOCAPRID& : Prong Bucks. 228,111 Antilo-| g | adult. | medium. | 34.474 130.2 | 1: 265 | capra amer. CERVID#: Deer, etc. 22h TAs) ANCES aul) RAdule. medium. 272.160 407.— |1: 669 | 244. —= — amer. 228.092 Alces| ¢ | adult or a — Ba 752 — 226. — — amer. near. 224,819 Alces|Q| adult. oe — 406.— — 236.2 — — amer. 224,805 Cervus| ¢ | new born. o 14.969 209.— |1: 7I canadens. 228,059 Cervus| ? | young. —_ — 374.8 -- canadens. 228,074 Cervus| g | 7 years. — — 461.1 = canadens. HRDLICKA | BRAIN WEIGHT IN VERTEBRATES Se I. ARRANGEMENT BY SPECIES.—Continued. MAMMALS. CERVIDA: Deer, etc. Dimensions of Animal. Wiehe oa wore No, and Species. |B) “fe” [tion | "Body. | “Brain. | Brainto | pomof Tength Leng Body. | Pointof Tail. Foot. Tail. 228,086 Odocoi-| 9 | young. | medium. 14.515 133-— | 1: 109 leus virgin. 228,087 Odocoi-| 9 | adult. |somewhat|} 33.566 174.7 I: 192 leus virgin. emaciated. : 224,828 Odocoi-| 9 “ medium. a 175.5 — leus virgin. 224,821 Odocoi-| 9 6 6 — 203.— —_ leus virgin. 224,823 Odocoi-| g ot 2 — 219.5 = leus virgin. 224,391 Odocoi-| g | young. cs 9412.— | 116.5 Les) OL leus hemion. 228,054 Odocoi- | 9 ot < — 78.— leus hemion. 228,078 Odocoi-| 9 | adult. OG — 128.2 — |10I,—cm.,12.cm.,36.—cm. leus hemion. 228,072 Odocoi- | 9 ce emaciated.| 10.319 II2.— | 1: 92 | 96.cm., 11.5cm., —cm. leus hemion. 228,066 Capreo-| 9 | young. |somewhat| 8165.— 85.— | 1: 96 lus caprea emaciated. 228,084 Capreo-| 9 | adoles- | medium. 13.154 go.— | 1: 146 lus caprea cent. 228,113 Capreo-| 9 | adult, or ce 12.706 94.5 Ee 134 lus caprea near. Capreoluscaprea | ¢ | adult. ge 14.062 93-— | 1: I51 228,088 Capreo-| 9 | adult. medium. 15.422 103.5 I: 149 |105 cm., —, 35 cm. lus caprea 228,140 Odocoil- | g ae ce 34.927 127.4 Ls 274 eus truei. 224,389 Odocoil- | ¢ es oe 39.010 129.— | 1: 302 eus truel. 228,147 Odocoil- | 9 ee somewhat] 33.113 188.3 12 7G eus columb. emaciated, | 228,079 Cervus| 9 « medium. 37-195 224.5 I: 166 dama, DICOTILIDA : Peccaries. 228,070 Tayassu | 9 adult. medium. 19.618 IOI.— |1: 194 tajac. SUID : Pigs. 224,904 Sus ? |adolescent) quite fat. | go. 720 130.— | 1: 697 famil. 224,907. Sus g| adult. medium. | = 186.— = scrofa DASYPOBID& : Armadillos. 224,393 Tatu no-} ¢ | adult. vemcinctum medium. | 4593.-— 14.— | 100 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS I. ARRANGEMENT BY SPECIES.— Continued. MAMMALS. BRADIPODIDA: SJoths. [voL. 48 | Dimensions of Animal. a’ | -Stadb-et | lenate'we mel Sweeesece Mmeer aren or: teres . age 0 ate 0 u- e€1 re) el ce) 10n o i No. of Species. PA Life. trition, Barly. oe Brain to Nace bas estes . Rae Body. Point of — Tail. Foot. Tail. 222,598 Cyclopes | ? | adolescent} medium. 907.— 24.2 A Sy didactyl. MACROPODIDE : Kangaroos. 224,392 Onycho-| g adolescent! medium. | 2722.— 12.7 I: 214 gale frenata | 224,397 Onycho-| ¢ | adult, “ — 14.— == gale frenata or near, 228,142 Onycho-| ¢ | adult. es 5216.— 16.2 D2 322 gale frenata 228,061 Macro-| 9 adult, ae — 29.1 = pus ceim. or near. 224,388 Macro-| 9 | adult. ce 10.206 37.— |1: 276 / pus, spec. ? | 228,148 Petro-| $ Bt & 11.794 34.5 I: 342 gale 228,149 Petro-| ¢ a 3 11.795 39.8 I: 296 gale PHALANGERID: Phalangers. 228,069 Tricho-| ? | adoles- | medium. | 825.— gr. | 8.97 gr. |I: 92 surus vulpec. cent. 228,128 Tricho-| Q | adult, or Ke Heya 9.7 I: 141 surus vulpec. near, 228,141 Tricho-| g | adult. es 1898.— Il.— |1: 172.5 surus vulpec. 222,599 ‘Tricho-| ¢ | adult, or ‘6 ee 12.9 |1: 246 surus fulig. near. 228,115 Tricho-| 9 | adult. mis 4196.— | 12.27 |1: 342 | 86.—cm., 33.5cm., 8.cm.— * surus fulig. DASYURID : Dasyures, etc. 224,818 Dasyurus | a | adult medium. | 355-— | 4.07 1: 87 macul. a | 228,120 Dasyurus 9 | o < | 420.— 5-35 E379) 40.2; 22 6.4 macul. hia 228,124 Thylaci- | ge me 14.969 43.— | 1: 348 nus cynocept. Lizards. 224,426 Alligator | ? | about half; medium. 11.340 5-— |1: 2835 mississip. ; grown. 224,952 Alligator | ? | very 3 39-5 0.83 |1: 48 mississip. ; young. | Alligator missis- | ? very ec / 32.— Orge. Sas 574 sip. | young. | | Anolis principal. | ? | ? es | o6.— | 1.15 Pg2 Snakes. Pine snake ? | 150.6 cm.) medium. 766.— | 0.45 1; 1702 | long. | “ a ? |181.2 cm. sub- 610.— 0.7 I Seyi long. medium. F Cuban tree boa ? | ? medium. 877.— || 0,48 I : 1828 ARDLICKA } BRAIN WEIGHT IN VERTEBRATES 101 _ I, ARRANGEMENT BY SPECIES. BIRDS. PASSERIFORMES : Corvide. Bleseeter peta | waht oe taaen of | EEE . * age oO ate 0 el oO e1lg 0. i Object. Pr Life. Body. Body, Brain. | no Body. 224,444 Corvus brachyrhyn- |} ? adult. medium. B02:0) Sale 7.0K Dar chus Corvus brachyrhynchus ? “ Se 341.0 Teas I: 44 224,930 Corvus brachyrhyn- | ? ne £6 352.0 75 eder ty chus Corvus brachyrhynchus & ee ae 359.0 9.3 UY) 224,443 Corvus brachyrhyn- | ? C6 we 440.0 8.9 I: 49 chus ee 224,986 Corvus brachyrhyn- | ? “ medium. | 459.2 8.55 I: 54 chus 224,956 Corvus brachyrhyn- | ? ob above 1134.0 8.75 1 se30 chus ( Domesticated ) medium. 224,941 Corvus brachyrhyn- | ? ok ahove 1134.0 8.75 i cO chus (Domesticated ) medium. 224,445 Corvus monedula ? ee / medium. 147.0 5-35 RB ey 224,996 Cyanocitta cristata | ? oe somewhat 88.0 2.98 1k Bio 224,956 ue ? at emaciated. 67.4 3.02 Tate 22 somewhat 228,105 Xanthura luxuosa | ? sh emaciated.| 44.5 2.4 Te 19 228,052 ? He medium. 60.0 2.4 Te fringillide. 224,954 Acanthis cannabina | ? adult. | medium 16.8 gr.| 0.69 gr.| I: 24 Passer domesticus B ue Gu 23.1 1.05 1 BG Melospiza cinerea melodia | ¢ ne “ 21.5 0.88 Tne Carpodacus purpureus fe) $s | a 19.7 0.85 L223 Gold Finch ? ? | somewhat 9.08 0.6 Ds D5 /emaciated. | es as f; ? ‘somewhat| 10.9 0.58 Ps 9 ‘emaciated. | a ie | ? adult. | somewhat Dg.2 0.6 i ea emaciated. fs ut ? ? | somewhat Tighe 0.55 Lenz emaciated. ce Ge ? ? _ somewhat 14.45 0.7 Leon emaciated. Bully ss ? ? somewhat 251 0.96 1: 20 emaciated. Serinus ? ? _ somewhat Wie29 0.53 Ten 2O | emaciated. oe Nets ? | somewhat 11.35 0.53 i eee emaciated. te ? ? | somewhat 21.5 0.60 1.819 ba emaciated. se lee ? | somewhat | 11.86 0.66 1: 18 emaciated. “s is ? _ medium. 12.55 0.53 24) oe ? ? | ee 13.4 0.58 lees a 2 | ? | sé E355 0.59 23 ef ? ? $s 14,02 0.52 Tes Bey me ? | adult. | C 14.2 0.65 Ve 102 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [vov. 48 I. ARRANGEMENT BY SPECIES. — Continued. BIRDS. Fringillide. wee Was Propor- . % | St f State of eight o ight of | ti f Object. ere ate lly Enea Body. se Brain to ody 224,903 Serinus cea ? medium. D452) SF.) Ol57. ob. 1) eens Serinus ? ? Gh 14.49 0.59 Tee 224,931 Serinus ? adult. ae 14.6 0.56 reco Serinus ? ee Ge 16.0 0.66 I: 24 ob |g ce ne 16.3 0.71 rc 23 ee 24) fe Be 16.45 0.6 Tae sé ? | ? “e aes 0.75 —— ot Ss adult. ae 17.9 0,72 P25 ge g | young 3 Ele) 0.7 I E(5) Cardinalis cardinalis Q | adult. ss 43-5 1.45 ee 27a) 228,098 Paroaria larvata ? ee ce 24.5 1.09 ernees Paroaria larvata ? a a 26.6 1.25 Lier 228,097 Paroaria larvata ? | a 2 28.0 Mostly L224 228,099 Paroaria cucullata | ? | oe s6 29.0 1.15 Hs 25 Paroaria cucullata ca “s ae 31.0 1.15 L327 = ae ? ee Ke 31.2 1.07 T2729 “ ss ? oc sf 32.5 1.30 1 c325 ce ce ? ce “ce 33-9 127, I: 27 a 2 > | é 3 gu. 2 1.32 ae, ue ce ? ke ae 35-5 1.32 tO ts ee ? ae ot 38.0 1.18 I: 32 Paroaria i ? ve 26.6 igi Leceon 224,934 Paroaria ce) adult. Ce 30.2 1.18 1: 26 224,450 Zonotrichia albi-| ¢ a a 31.6 1.07 Lce30 collis | Junco hyenalis ? a ce Liye 0.86 Hep esi Ploceide. Sporaeginthus amandava gf | adult. medium, he2 OTe. || O300T. | ears se = fe) oe x 6.2 0.42 1s 5 “e “e a “ec 6 6.7 0.45 ak 15 224,975 Munia P ‘6 somewhat 9.5 0.52 1B Tice! emaciated. Munia ? ee es 20.15 0.71 ee Ae: ue g ae i 30.0 0.88 1334 Munia oryzivora if < “ 19.6 0.9 Lip 3 es cs ? ce oe 21.0 0.85 ney 224,746 Munia oryzivora ? as “s 21.0 0.75 I: 28 224,940 Munia oryzivora ? os fe 23.0 0.8 13/29 Munia oryzivora Fal ae medium. | 20.5 0.7 1820 Munia malacca ao cr “6 10.8 0 56 IEE 11108) ; Laniide. 228,083 Lanius collurio ? | adult. |somewhat| 64.0 gr. 2.38 gr. 1c 7 | emaciated. Alaudide. 224,906 Alauda arvensis | ? | adult. | medium. 21.0\9r., |) O:7/or. 1 erage Octeride. Sturnella magna ? | adult. medium. | 135.0 gr. 2e310T: P5859 Agelaius phceniceus oH ce ot | 66.0 077 esi TiRDLICKA] BRAIN WEIGHT IN VERTEBRATES 103 I. ARRANGEMENT BY SPECIES.—Continued. BIRDS. Sylvide. Siete) otaeck | GWeigueot || Welw’ of | sister : * age o ate 0 el 0: eight o 1 Object. PA Life. | Body. Body. Brain. eee Body. 224,989 Sylvia atricapila | ? adult. medium. 12.9 gr. O875/ Ot |in Tac Turdide. 224,973 Merula merula So | adult. medium. | 88.ogr. 1.6 gr. 1: 55 224,933 Kittacincla ma-| ? rs somewhat| 19.6 0.9 Tes croura emaciated. Aedon luscinia 2 FR slightly 13.55 0.64 To 20 emaciated. Erithacus rubecula ? adult. medium. | 10.3 0.65 13) 16 224,983 Erithacusrubecula | ? a6 ce II.0 0.75 ia any Robin (American) e) ce Gt 91.5 1.72 e538 Mimide. Mimus polyglottus | & | adult. |somewhat| 29.5 gr. 1.6 gr. 1: 18 emaciated. ss ze ey oe 29.5 1.5 L520 222,442 Mimus polyglottus! ¢ | adult. medium. | 33.5 1.35 Le 25 224,990 os ? a ee 48.5 iow rig. Bay) Mimus polyglottus ? se KS 55.0 gis Tees 5 Crateropodide. 224,992 Leiothrix lutea ? adult. medium. 16.4 gr. TOP ebsites 5 Paride. Parus a ? - medium. g.0 gr. O:48)ex.)|| D2) 19 CORACIIFORMES : Alcedinide. 228,056 Dacelo gigas 2 adult. medium. | 210.0 gr. | 4.47 gr. | I: 47 COLUMBIFORMES : Columbide. 224,985 Columbig allina 2 | adult. medium. SOE ae OO any ee Rie Columbig allina ? Ge es 45-5 0.94 13) 48 224,923 Turtur risorius 2 ae oe 109.0 1.05 1s) 104 Turtledove ? ut es 72.0 1.08 EB 0}7/ #¢ ? se oC QI.5 1.35 1: 68 224,968 Ocyphaps lophotes | ¢ US oe _ 148.0 iy 1: 86 224,962 OC ae ? oC somewhat, 118.5 1.67 Dy) 7k emaciated. | Pigeon (domestic) B oc medium. | 188.5 1.9 I: 99 224,978 Pigeon (domestic) | $ a f 232.5 1.97 Th Mts) Pigeon (domestic) fe Xe somewhat; 154.0 2.02 7,0 emaciated. 224,911 Pigeon (Pigmy| ? ee medium. | 221.0 1.35 1: 163 Ponter ) | Pigeon (Pigmy Ponter) ? OC ae 227.0 1.87 Tea 2 224,918 Pigeon (Pigmy | ? a OG 232.5 2.0 I: 116 Ponter ) 224,945 Pigeon (lee) ¢ ee ce 184.0 2.12 Bis) Pigeon) 104 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS I. ARRANGEMENT BY SPECIES.—Cozntinued. BIRDS. COLUMBIFORMES : Columbide. [voL. 48 ° | Weight of Object. Baier | “aeae |) ey eee eee Body. Pigeon (Ice Pigeon) ? adult. | medium. | 186.0 aa 1939 224,905 Pigeon (Homer) a ot | Ke 260.0 Pos ts 116 PsITTAcl : Psittacide. Amazona panamensis ? adult. medium, | 266.0 gr. TAG 5 Gk Ol 85 ne es ? 3 somewhat) 279.0 9.26 1: 30 emaciated. aut ee ? ee medium. | 300.2 8.65 I: 35 224,928 Amazona pana-| ? as Le 330.0 8.45 139 mensis Amazona panamensis ? a ee 339.0 9.45 Lego 224,441 Amazona pana-| ¢ ve ee 368.0 8.35 I: 44 mensis 224,958 Amazona pana-, ? ub /somewhat 281.5 9.46 | Dc0 mensis emaciated. / 224,960 Amazona pana-| ? a somewhat) 282.2 8.9 Le 32 mensis emaciated. Amazona panamensis Le ne somewhat | 292.0 9.85 I: 30 emaciated. 224,980 Amazona pana-| ? a /somewhat |} 302.5 10.35 tT) 29 mensis | emaciated. Amazona panamensis (se es quite 270.0 9.8 12228 | ‘emaciated. ‘> oratrix ? young. | somewhat 49.0 2.4 De 20 emaciated. 224,955 Amazona ie adult. slightly 210.0 6.85 Lee 0 a ‘emaciated. 224,920 Amazona leuco-| ¢ “ medium. | 204.0 6.62 ee | cephala 224,921 Amaozna leuco-| ¢ sf re 236.5 5.8 To: ay cephala 224,963 Amazona leuco-| ? eg ce 247.0 5.8 Lats cephala | Amazona leucocephala ereen | ae as 253.0 6.8 | Laesy 224,919 Amazona leuco-| 9 &s | medium. | 268.0 6.9 | Laegg cephala | Ae Amazona leucocephala ? oF slightly 162.5 6.0 RA / emaciated. 224,926 Amazona leuco-| ? iy | slightly 197.0 Fae, 1s 27 cephala | emaciated. 224,972 Amazona leuco-|,? adult. | slightly 269.0 8.3 Ie cephala ‘emaciated. 224,947 Psittacus erithacus | Y ut somewhat| 254.0 8.7 rt 20) emaciated. 224,929 cc ce ne at medium. | 327.0 8.67 ges ys) 224,902 es 6 [ee ol ee 342.0 9.75 5 224,922 Melopsittacus un-| ? | <E ce 20.7 thy? 1 ee £7 / dulatus | 224,997 Melopsittacus un- |. ? ae £s 28.0 1.4 ter 2o dulatus Melopsittacus undulatus aa a slightly 16.0 1.02 12 alo emaciated. Paroquet ? Q ge medium. | 188.0 6.0 Les HRDLICKA ] BRAIN WEIGHT IN VERTEBRATES 105 I. ARRANGEMENT BY SPECIES.—Continued. BIRDS. PsITTACI : Psittacide. | Propor- : 7 Stage of State of Weight of | Weight of | en of Object. 3 | Life. Body. Body. | Brain. | Brain to | Body. 224,439 Callopsittacus no-| ¢ | adult. medium. SLO) OT. |) 2a7/5 OT: | I: 28 vee hollandize | Brotogerys jugularis fe a és 37.0 PO 2 ean 20 Cacatuide. Cacatua moluccensis ? ? | medium. | 335.0 gr. | 7.0 gr. | Llp 20s: RAPTORES : Lalconide. 224,957 Aquila chryszetos ie adult. medium. ~e Tf Dole | a= 224,747.. ~$ ee ? ee ee 52720 Ot wt O.OMy &|ebes) 202 224,995 Buteo lineatus & young. BC 337-0 7.4 |r: 46 Buteo lineatus ? adult. es 642.0 fst lake 690 224,912 Falco sparverius ? ? p 75.0 2276 WR 27 228,126 Maricoba Hawk ? adult. |somewhat| 330.0 6.05 | La 55 emaciated. | Cathartide. 224,449 Cathartes aura /Q@ | adult. medium. | 2381.4 gr Hineyeae: Mi 2 Bias 224,937 6c “ce ? 6c 66 == 10.2 easy Cathartes aura a -somewhat} 2065.0 10.8 Desa emaciated. a ae ? Ce somewhat) 1530.0 9.85 1, tus emaciated. Burbonide. 224,982 Megascops asio & | adult. medium. | 129.8 5.6 P23 228,081 Strix pratincola r os 26 405.0 6.7 I: 60 224,007.“ Be fr oe ee 419.0 8.0 Liee52 224,981 Sirnium varium ? ot Ce B25 12.5 PEs 46 224, O46, °° ot a vl ce 676.0 r20 te750 Nyctea nyctea ? oG | ac 1049.0 15.4 I: 68 224,827 Bubo virginianus ? ce | be 952.0 13.65 L370 225-110. *< ee ip os OF | 1232.5 14.42 TeseO5 rat STEGANOPODES : Anhingide. 228,053 Anhinga anhinga § g | adult. | medium. | 560.0 gr. | 4.23 gr. |x 132 228,051 s§ as fe) ss oe 610.0 4.55 I: 134 22BIOR Ta 1 ate ee a Of ot 1040.0 4.45 I: 234 HERODIONES : Ardeide. 228,071 Florida cerulea ? | adult Mediums eet 7ZO.5 Or: |) 35712rs || 1 48 228,091 ue ue ares ae uC 401.0 3.78 I: 106 Ardea herodias sl ? es 1900.0 8.85 L216 228,062 Ardea herodias fed & ae 2055.0 10.2 T2Ok 228,137 Ardea tricolor rufi- | ? adult | ee 324.5 3-45 L304 collis | 228,153. Botaurus lentigi- | ? - | ee 378.0 5-15 Teas 3 nosus | 228,121 Botaurus lentigi-| ? cs aL 429.5 4.4 I: 98 nosus 228,813 Nycticorax neevius | ? 6 a 420.0 7.0 1156, 1076) 106 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [vor. 48 I, ARRANGEMENT BY SPECIES.— Continued. BIRDS. Cicontide. ei oe Fes seacne | Setesiecof.-| Wenge? raseenert A x age of | ate o eight of | ei fo) i Object. a ife, Body. Body. Brit E Asian’ Body. Stork ? adult. | medium. | a 29.5 gr. — 228,145 Tantaulus loculator ? ee es 1955.3 gr. | 14.85 I: 138 224,832 at OY ? ue ‘emaciated. — 11.87 — Loidide. 228,093 Plegadis guarama | @ | adult. | medium. 301.0 gr. | 4.6gr. | 1: 65 ALECTORIDES: Radlide. 228, 102 Rail ee adult. medium. 34. SUSE. | DoE Bes 224,435 Fulica americana ? | not fully cs 383.0 afi T3) w42 adult. Golden Seabright Chicken | 2 i Ok 302.0 2.56 Ic 01S 224,942 Golden Seabright; g adult. bg 713.0 2.43 D2os Rooster Chicken 2 es a 975.0 20) I: 325 Rooster a ? ee 1508.0 3.45 Dia Chicken Q | adult. fs 2303.0 3.78 1: 609 224,938 ‘‘ Brahmer ”’ Q at above 3128.0 4.22 [2 74t Chicken medium. : GALLIFORMES : Phasianide. 224,432 Numida cristata ? ? medium. 467.0 gr. | 3.0 gr I: 155 224,924 Pavo cristatus ie) adult. a0 3060.0 (if I: 457 Tetraonide. 224,979 Lophortyx cali-| ? | adult. medium. | 151.8 gr. | 1.22 gr. | 1: 124 fornicus Lophortyx californicus ? Ks somewhat) 102.0 1.5 1: 68 | ‘emaciated. Calipepla squamata ? “s /somewhat| 99.0 1.5 1: 66 ‘emaciated. Colinus virginianus Q | of slightly 94.0 1,23 170 | emaciated. “ os Sy « | medium. | 95.0 1,23 Is 77 «ce 6“ ? “e eee 96.0 Teng I: 84 fe es 2 ie ee 99.0 1,22 te ot 66 66 Q 66 6“ 103.0 1.12 T2 wro 66 “ce o “<< ““ 105.0 Test I.: 80 a3 3 Q : ce “c 108.0 ; sey I: 79 «ce ‘e a | 6c 6“ [11.5 1.22 ir: gl “cc “ec ae | “cc “cc 112.0 15S Te: 95 ““ ““ Q | ““ “ce 114.6 123 shes ets fe: ce ce Q 6c “é 122.0 1.16 I: 105 ce 66 fe) ce 6c 129.0 1.22 Lr 106 “é “é Q e “cc 132.0 Tee ior I1IO z fe 2a ? « [S7.0.p% © | P25 Shs eee Bs ny g | adult He 139.0 1.24 Tete de wh ee | < ge 146.0 1.22 ese) ce ce io) | ee oe 147.0 U3 I Lip WA 224,909 Colinus virginianus | 9 ee ae 153.0 1.35 Tees Colinus virginianus a eae Rik ee 160.0 1.16 1: 138 224,433 Colinus virginianus | ? | WG Bs 198.45 12 I: 165 224,994 Borasa umbellus ON “ 299.3 2.7 ee i HRDLICKA] BRAIN WEIGHT IN VERTEBRATES 107 I. ARRANGEMENT BY SPECIES.—Continued. BIRDS. LIMICOLIFORMES: Charadriide. siceieaetee I deeetat Mt Wert eeul|, Weletrot'|: aor cr ma tage o tate o €1g) oO el oO i Object. 3 om Body. Body. Beak noe | | Body Oxyechus vociferus ? | adult. medium. 88.0 gr. 12200. es Laride. 228,096 Larus argentatus. adult medium. | 7A8.O10r. | “7235 (era | 1 2 102 224,954 — ** ot ? Gi BC | 1145.0 7.02 itatoe LAMELLIROSTRES: Phenicopteride. 228,064 Phcenicopterius | ? adult. | medium. | — 10.26¢r — ruber | | 228,067 Phcenicopterius | ? | ce UG | 1579.5 gr. | 10.55 rep ha Is{o) ruber. | / | Pheenicopterius ruber hae SS Gr | 1638.0 10.8 jl Beni 228,058 Phcenicopterius | ? « ec | 1720.0 11.65 I: 147 ruber Anatide. 228,146 Cygnus gilbus ? | adult. | medium. / 4989.6 gr. | 16.4 gr I: 304 Cygnus gilbus Hy “6 | somewhat | 4082.4 14.4 I: 284 emaciated. | | 228, 101 Cygnus olor te oe medium. | 5528.25 14.5 pas chet! 224,925 Aix galericulata Ms ? | at 299.0 4.22 Ipadie sa 225,00 Anas ? ripe adults | UG — 4.09 — 224,999 Anas ? Dal r “e — 4.19 — 228,130 Anas obscura al ot & 853.0 Wes eg araks, 228,152 Nettion carolinensis | ? eG ae 155-5 2045 TS 228,005 — “ G oe ct ¢é 187.5 je gets 11: 60 228,094 ‘ ot ? Ge “ 196.0 2.95 } 1: 66 Nettion carolinensis Q.| Ge fe 252.6 3-25 tes, 28 “cc (a3 a ““ | 6 Pag ita) 3.05 [Ins 89 224,949‘ White Pekin’ Duck | ? “ | “ — 6.18 ; oo CRYPTURI: Casuariide. ECats . E ‘ : 228,104 Casaurius galeatus | ? adult. | medium. a 30,788 -- Dromcaide. 282,077 Dromaius nove adult, | medium. | — | 20.3 gr | | hollandize |] | | 108 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [vot. 48 II. ARRANGEMENT BY AVERAGE OF RELATIVE BRAIN WEIGHY. MAMMALS. Proportion of Brain to Body. Species. Ss Fancy mice, 22 Blarina brevicauda, 23 Marmosets, 26 White mouse, 28 Cynopithecus niger, Ps Sciuropterus volans, 32 Geomys bursarius, gS a 38 Black and white fancymouse 38 a@ 38 Sciurus hudsonicus, BD ys Mus musculus, gO a 30 Arvicola agrestis, 47 @ 47 Cercopithecus callitr., SOY DAS O Potos caudivolvulus, ihe OS Phoca vitulina, Ey eke) Mephitis mephitica, 58 a 58 Sciurus carolin, G2 aah2 Sciurus rufiventer, O05; a8 Species. Sciurus rufiventer Macacus fascicul, Mus rattus, Procyon cancriv, Myoprocta acouchy, Dasyurus macul, Lemur macaco, Felis onca, Black and Tan Dog, Maltese cat, Dasyprocta aguti, Nasua rufa, Cavia cutleri, Lynx rufus, Canis mesomelas, Fox Terrier Dog, Putorius putor, Helarctos malay, Irish Terrier Dog, Wild Rabbit, Erinaceus europ., Procyon lotor, Retriever Dog, Capreolus caprea, Domestic Rabbit, Felis pardalis, Cervus dama, Trichosurus vulpec., Tayarsu tajac., Hystrix cristata, Mus norvegicus, Felis serval, Lynx canad., Fiber zibeth., Belgian Hare, Proportion of Brain to Body. ves igavcn DLO gas St ene ey d 70 é WI 07) "an Om Cas 78 «a 7 7S 78 LPIA YS 83 @ 79 6 87 87, =a nS b 99.5 87 a SF 88.5a 81 6 096 $9 a 89 go a 90 O93. a 03 97 a 64 b 73 EIUTS ad 79 e 94 J 103 ie TED h i112 z 161 98 a 98 TOL, VQ TOD Tog @ 100 6 118 TIO. 2 Ito Ly ae aA ANG? 7370 =a@ 130 197, a ae b 143 140 a 140 I4mt @ IAI 145° @ 145 I50 @ 149 & 151 C51 WO 150 164 a 164 166 a 166 Te eee IQ¢4 @ 194 197 & 197 209 @ 209 210 a 210 215 a 215 2a a2 2s 231.5 &@ 193 6 201 c¢ 202 ad 205 e 224 f 246 HRDLICKA ] BRAIN WEIGHT IN VERTEBRATES 109 II. ARRANGEMENT BY AVERAGE OF RELATIVE BRAIN WEIGHT.— Continued. MAMMALS. Proportion of | Proportion of Brain to Body. | Brain to Body. Species. ee Species. - -A-———-, Aver. Indvs. | ; Aver. Indvs. m to..; x to... | EXtOle-. Lato! a. Belgian Hare, h 296 | Onychogale frenata, 922), @ 322 Canis nubil., 25r a 251 | Tatu novemcinctus, 228 a 328 Sheep, merino, 254 @ 254 | Trichosurus fuligin., p42 &@ 342 Ursus torquatus, 260 «a 260 | Thylacinus cynoc., 348 a 348 Antilocapra amer., 265 a 265 | Sheep, Shropshire, EGR EE BIS? Ovis tragelaphus, 271% @ 271 | Felis concolor, Bis! 9 CBS) Macropus, 276 a 276 | Ursus horribilis, Buea a goe Odocoileus truei, 288 «a 274 | Capromys pilor, 397 + & 344 GE2025|| 6 450 Petrogale, 379 =a 296 | Melursus ursinus, Cp) Ep) & 342 | Alces americ., 669 a 669 BIRDS. Sporeeginthus amand., pn Lae 2 Paroraria, sp.? 25 a 24 6 15 b 26 Gok Bull Finch, ZOe ae 20 Leiothrix lutea, Z5 @ 15 | Munia oryzivora, 26.6 a@ 22 Erithacus rubec., 7 Seta an ps NC) 6 25 6 16 c 28 Sylvia atricapila, 7 Oe mele ad 29 Munia malacca, HO). 2 NS) é 20 Parus, 7g @ 1g | Falco sparverius, 27 tS H7, Gold Finch, 2r a 1g | Corvus monedula, Bye RG Pi] bo 2 Paroaria cucullata, AG (ti I meet fn (ls amet. cen26 Junco hyemalis, Zr oe 20 ah <P Passer domestic, 22> ian 22 e027 Xanthura luxuosa, 22) 2. 19 i 2h 6 25 & 29 Paroaria larvata, 227 2 h 32 6 23 | Callopsittacus n. holl., 28.28 c 24 | Brotogeris jugul., 20 aaa 29 Megascops asio, 23 @ 23 | Zonotrichia albicol., GO. id 30 Carpodacus purpur., 23 «@ 23 | Cardinalis cardin., Ona 30 Melopsittacus undul., 23.5 a@ 20 | Cyanocitta cristata, ef a 30 6 27 | Alauda arvensis, Sie Gh me eh Serinus, 23.9 @ 20 | Munia (‘‘ weaver-bird”’ ) 37 a) 28 DO b 34 ¢ 22 | Mimus polyglottus, Seine 1.25 d 23 b 35 Cares ¢ 37 f 23 | Psittacus erithacus, 36.5 a 35 g 24 & 38 A 24 | Agelaius phrenicus, Gi Sy 2 25 | Amazona panamensis, B7.& B35 J 25 Bess k 25 6.30 20 ad 39 Mm 27 Co aw. wz 27 | Amazona leucocephala, Qeisee Bu Acanthis cannabina, 24 @ 24 C37 Melospiza cinerea melod., Bi een, e039 Rail, AS! > PS Lea SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 II. ARRANGEMENT BY AVERAGE OF RELATIVE BRAIN WEIGHT.— Species, Amazona leucocephala, Corvus brachyrhynch, Dacelo gigas, Cacatua moluccensis, Columbig allina, Sirnium varium, American Robin, Merula merula, Strix pratincola, Sturnella magna, Nycticorax naevius, Plegadis guarama, Turtledove, common, Nyctea nyctea, Aix galericulata, Oxyechus vociferus, Nettion carolin. Florida cerulea, Bubo virginianus, Botaurus lentiginosus, Ocyphaps lophotes, Ice pigeon Buteo lineatus, Ardea tricolor ruficollis, Turtur risorius, Colinus virginianus, Continued. BIRDS, | Proportion of Brain to Body. Sas Species, Colinus virginianus, Domestic pigeon, Borasa umbellus, Homer pigeon, Anas obscura, Lophortyx californicus, Corvus brachyrhynchus, ( Domesticated ) Larus argentatus, ‘«Pigmy Pouter’’ pigeon, Tantalus loculator, Phcenicopterus ruber, Numidia cristata, Anhinga anhinga, Cathartes aura, Golden Seabright Chicken, Ardea herodias, Aquila chrysztos, Cygnus gilbus, Cygnus olor, Chicken, Pavo cristatus, Proportion of Brain to Body. ——-- 4“ —___ _ \ Aver. Indvs. TROiay an ecOrese Mee CE) 2 105 z 106 iG k 110 Sih 92 2 VIZ tine! o 116 p 120 g 138 Pe Slr 108.5 @ 99 6 118 LEE even 116 a 116 TIS. SALTS I2g4 @ 124 L30 @ 130 6 130 Ij2 § @ 102 b 163 133-3 @ 116 eae c 163 738 a 138 749-7 @ 147 b 150 c 152 pas tae tae 106.7 @ 132 b 134 € 234 205 @ 205 205.5 a 118 b 293 208.5 a 201 6 216 292 @ 292 jOfZ a@ 304 gEP: 22° BR 457 -@ 325 b 437 c 609 457 -&@ 457 BIBLIOGRAPHY Ebel, J. G. 1788 Observationes neurologice ex Anatome comparata. Trai. ad Viad., 1788, p. 9 et seq., tab. 1. Cuvier, G. 1805 Lecons d’anatomie comparée. Paris, 1805, 9me Legon. Serres, E. R. A. 1827 Anatomie comparée du cerveau. Paris, 1827, I, 13 et seq. Leuret et Gratiolet. 1857. Anatomie comparée du systéme nerveux. Paris, 1857, I, 249. Owen, R. 1866 On the Anatomy of Vertebrates. London, 1866. Brandt, A., jun. 1867 Sur le rapport du poids du cerveau a celui du corps chez différentes animaux. Bull. Soc. impér. naturalist de Moscow, 1867, No. 4, pp. 525-543. Colin, G. 1886 Traité de physiologie comparée. 3me ed., Paris, 1886, 1, 302-305. Manouvrier, L. 1888 Sur l’interpretation de la quantité dans l’encephale et dans le cerveau en particulier. Bull. Soc. d’Anthropol. de Paris, 2me Ser., 1—-m1, 137-323, 1888. Kiikenthal u. ‘Ziehen. 1889 Das Centralnervensystem d. Cetaceen. Denkschr. d. med. naturw. Gesell. zu Jena, 11, 124; Jena, 1880. Hancock, J. L. 1890 The Brain Weight of Birds. Amer. Naturalist, Phila., 1890, xxiv, 969. Mies, J. 1891 U. d. Gehirngewicht einiger Thiere. Verhandl. d. Gesellsch. deutsch. Naturf. u. Aerzte, 1890, Leipzig, 1891, LXIII, pt. I, 126-131. Snell, O. 1891 Die Abhangigkeit d. Hirngewichtes v. d. Kérpergewicht u. d. geisti- gen Fahigkeiten. Arch. f. Psychiatrie, 1891, xx1II, 436-446. 1891 Das Gewicht d. Gehirns u. d. Hirnmantels d. Saugethiere in Bezie- hung zu deren geistigen Fahigkeiten. Sitzb. d. Gesellsch. f. Morphol. u. Physiol., Miinchen, 1891, I-5. Keith, A. 1894-5 The Growth of Brain in Men and Monkeys, with a Short Criticism of the Usual Method of Stating Brain-Ratios. J. of Anat. and Physiol., xx1x, 1894-5, 282-303. Weber, M. 1896 Vorstudien tu. d. Hirngewicht d. Saugethiere. Festschrift f. Carl jie i I12 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 Gegenbaur, 1896, Leipzig, 1897, 11, pp. 103-123; Verslag v. d. Ver- gadering d. Kon. Akad. van Wetenshappen te Amsterdam, van 31 Oct., 1896. Dubois, E. 1897 Sur le rapport du poids de l’encéphale avec la grandeur du corps chez les mammiféres. Bull. Soc. d’anthropol. de Paris, 1897, 4me S., VIII, 337-376. Dubois, E. 1898 U. d. Abhangigkeit d. Hirngewichtes von. d. K6rpergrésse bei den Saugethieren. Verhandl. d. Kon. Akad. v. Wetenschappen to Am- sterdam, v, No. 10, April, 1897; Arch. f. Anthropol., xxv, 1898, pp. 1-28. Brandt, A. 1898 Das Hirngewicht u. d. Zahl. d. peripherischen nervenfasern in ihrer Beziehung z. Korpergrosse. Biol. Centralbl., Leipzig, 1898, xvu1, 475-488. Lapicque, L. 1898 Sur la relation du poids de l’encéphale au poids du corps. Compt. rend. soc. biol., Paris, 1898, 10 S., v, 62. Ziehen, T. 1901 U. verglichend anatomische Gehirnwagungen. Monatschr. f. Psy- chiat. u. Neurol., Berlin, 1901, Ix, 316-320. Spitzka, E. A. 1903 Brain Weights of Animals, with Special Reference to the Weight of the Brain in the Macaque Monkey. J. Compar. Neurol., Gran- ville, O., 1903, XIII, 9-17. NOTES SMITHSON MorRTUARY CHAPEL An account of ‘‘ The Removal of the Remains of James Smithson,” by S. P. Langley, appeared in the Smithsonian Quarterly in April of last year.t As stated in the article, James Smithson, the founder of the Smithsonian Institution, died on January 27, 1829, at Genoa, Italy. He was buried in the little English cemetery on the heights of San Benigno, in a tomb which until recently bore no reference to him as the founder of the Institution which bears his name. When this cemetery was expropriated for municipal purposes by the Italian Government in 1903, the Regents determined to bring Smith- son’s remains to Washington. Doctor Alexander Graham Bell, the committee appointed for this purpose, was successful in his mission, and on January 25, 1904, formally gave the remains into the hands of the Regents. i The body, upon its arrival in Washington, was placed temporarily - in a room in the Smithsonian building containing the relics of Smith- son. While resting there, the remains were examined by medical experts and found to be in a remarkable state of preservation. Mean- while a small mortuary chapel was prepared for them on the im- mediate left of the north entrance of the Smithsonian building, and on March 6, 1905, the remains were brought to this chapel and, in the presence of the Regents, replaced in the original tomb, shown in the illustration, where they will rest until Congress makes adequate provision for their fitting interment. INTERNATIONAL ORIENTAL CONGRESS AT ALGIERS, 1905 The following circular was distributed during the last week of Feb- ruary by the Institution : WaAsHINGTON, D. C., February 20, 1905. The Fourteenth International Congress of Orientalists will be held at Algiers, under the auspices of the Algerian Government, April 19-26, 1905. This Congress will be organized in seven sections: (1) Aryan (and other native languages of India), (2) Semitic (except Arabic), (3) Islamic (Arabic, Persian, Turkish), (4) Egyptian (African languages, including Madagascan), (5) The Far East, (6) Greece and the Orient, (7) African Archeology and Mohammedan Art. *“The Removal of the Remains of James Smithson,” by S. P. Langley, SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS (Quarterly Issue), Volume xtv, No. 1449, April 11, 1904. | a} [14 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 Papers on Oriental philology, archeology, history, geography, sociology, etc., may be presented in French, English, German, Spanish, Italian, Latin, or Arabic. On April 23 and 24 two excursions will be made, one to Western Kabylia and the other to Shiffa (Gorge de Chiffa), Shershel, and Tipaza. After the Congress two tours will be conducted, one to Oran and the others to Tunis. The Western Caravan will go to Oran by way of Perregaux, visiting Ain- Sefra, Beni-Oonif, Figig, in the south; then Tlemcen, in the north (Sidi Boo Mediine, Sidi-Yakoob, Mansoorah). It will last eight days (April 27 to May 4) and cost about $22.00, including meals, lodgings, and transporta- tion (except by rail). The Eastern Caravan will go to Tunis, visiting Biskra, Batna, Timgad, Constantine. This tour will last five days (April 27 to May 1) and will cost about $20.00, including meals, lodgings, and trans- portation (except by rail). Special excursions to Carthage, the Boo-Kor- nine, Kairooan, etc., at the rate of about $2.00 per day (except railroad tick- ets), will be arranged at Tunis, May 2-8. The Algerian, Tunisian, French, and Italian railroads will allow the mem- bers of the Congress a reduction of 50 per cent. from April 10 to May Io. The Mediterranean lines between Marseilles and Algeria will grant a reduc- tion of 30 per cent. (Adria Line, Fiume, 50 per cent.). Cards of membership ($4.00 for.men) entitle the holder to all the publi- cations of the Congress, the receptions, fetes, etc., and reduced rates of trans- portation. Tickets for ladies, granting the same privileges, except copies of the transactions of the Congress, are issued at $2.00. It will be necessary to indicate the French railways by which the member of the Congress intends to go to Marseilles, and the European address to which the cards and cer- tificates are to be sent. Dr. Cyrus Adler, Librarian of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C., has been appointed the official representative in the United States of the Committee on Organization of the Congress. Blanks for application for membership and for transportation certificates, and circulars giving lists of sections, their respective Presidents and Secretaries, programs of excursions, may be obtained from him, and he will also receive and transmit payments for membership certificates and titles of communications to be presented to the Congress. \ ~ RECENT PUBLICATIONS OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION CoNTINUED FROM List oF May, 1905, IN PuBLicATION No. 1559 No. Title Series Price 1571 BRowNING, P. E. Index to the Literature of Tnidiviim: 0863-1908... 5.0... cael ee eM en aoe ere M.C. XLVI .05 1572 Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, vol. xtvt. M.C. XLVI 1573 Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections (Quar- Len yl SSthe> VOL. AI); “VGle xCViLIn ster ee etary M.C. XLVII 1574 Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Quarterly Issue, vol. 111, part I (containing 1575-1583).. M.C. XLVIII .50 1575 Mascua, E. The Structure of Wing Feathers (Quarterly issue oe Cat ee ee eee iY On. @ Bava nil 10 ————OOOOOOOOOEOOeeE eee eee eer VONZD ‘ANSLSW30 ONDINSG NVS 3HL NI GWOL 3HL GNNOYV DNITIVY WOY¥S SQVW AVMALVD NOY! ONIMOHS “TWadVHO AYVNLYOW NOSHLINS OL YOOd Bit TELL LTT ee Oe ee ee ee eee ee ee es IGPRRRRRRRRRRE) XXX "Id ‘8b “TOA SNOILO31109 SNOANVTISOSIN NVINOSHLIWS TadVHO AYVNLYOW NOSHLINS 4O YOIYSLNI IIXXX "Id ‘Lb "10A SNOILO31100 SNOANV113S0SIW NVINOSHLIWS NOTES 1576 Girt, THroporE. The Tarpon and Lady-fish IO LEIT CREW PSR era, thre ode Gin ete e'n oP Aveta s ss 1577 TruE, F. W. A Fossil Sea Lion from the Mio- cene of Oregon (Quarterly Issue)............ 1578 Mann, Apert. Diatoms, the Jewels of the Plant: World “(Quarterly [ssuey soca <6 o0 sige : 1579 OBERHOLSER, H. C. Notes on the Nomenclature of Certain Genera of Birds (Quarterly Issue) . 1580 McPrxr, E. F. The Bibliography of Halley’s Wont (OUarter ly. USSWA) a syeca cate een ye eeavele!s 1581 Wuite, C. A. The Ancestral Origin of the North American Unionide (Quarterly Issue) . 1582 Hroticka, ALES. Brain Weight in Vertebrates CO RERTECI NOL SSME NY toh cas ok on tue eee 1583 Notes to Quarterly Issue, Volume 1, Part 1. Smithson Mortuary Chapel. Congress of Ori- entalistss Itsiob publications... 45-4 404-0 M.C. M.C. M.C. M.C. M.C. M.C. M.C. XLVIII XLVIII XLVIII XLVIII XLVIII XLVIII XLVIII > VIET en -? ral ae ; Ler. “ya ¥ a? rae ye Fore a = he ‘pie “s Faith Sas ens at, {Sa a2. wig : Aine shee 7 ; ean ne ie i ae (one VOL. 48 1905 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. Ill QUARTERLY ISSUE PART 2 ioe OtPLOMATIC SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES WITH SOME HINTS TOWARD ITS REFORM? By ANDREW D. WHITE, LL:D., D.CL. REGENT OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, SOMETIME PRESIDENT OF* CORNELL University, MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY AT ST. PETERSBURG AND AMBASSADOR AT BERLIN Remarks of Mr. S. P. Langley, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, introducing Doctor White. A number of years ago Mr. James Hamilton left a small bequest to the Smithsonian Institution, the income of which was to be “ appro- priated biennially by the secretaries, either in money or a medal, for such contribution, paper, or lecture on any scientific or useful subject as said secretaries may approve.” The Regents of the Institution decided to let this small sum accu- mulate, and it is only recently that the Secretary has found himself able to commence to employ the income as a lecture fund. The lectures may be on any scientific or useful subject, but surely no subject is more useful or important than that which tends to pro- mote a general peace among mankind, and I am fortunate in being able to present to you to-day one who can speak with authority on the diplomatic service of our country, which has at all times signally and successfully aided in promoting this great object of the peace of the world. I have now particular pleasure in introducing to you as the first lecturer in the series one whose name is so prominent in these annals of American diplomacy, as that of the Honorable Andrew D. White. Mr. President, Ladies, and Gentlemen: Some years since, a very eminent American journalist,.in d’s- cussing our diplomatic service, proposed what he was pleased to An address delivered before the Smithsonian Institution at Washington, March 9, 1905. 117 118 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 call “a reform.” His plan was exceedingly drastic. For it was nothing less than that the entire existing system be extirpated, root and branch,—in fact, “ reformed off the face of the earth,” and that in place of it, whenever our Government should have any business with any other, it should seek out a suitable agent, make a fair bargain with him for his services, send him to attend to the matter, and then recall him as soon as he had finished it. Although this advice has often been cited as a piece of political wisdom, has lingered vaguely in the public mind, and has, indeed, been recently sanctioned by a very eminent American citizen, it seems not difficult to show that such a departure from the practice of the whole civilized world would be a misfortune,—not only to our country in general, but especially to our political, commercial and financial interests ; that our guiding idea in any reform of the diplo- matic service, as in every other true reform, should be, not revolu- tion but evolution ; not an adoption of the idea dear to so many so- called reformers, that “ whatever is is wrong,” but the recognition in our existing system of what is good, and the development out of this, by simple common sense and statesmanlike methods, of some- thing better. For, in view of all the interests of our country, ever extending, ever becoming more complex, ever demanding, more and more, quick sight and prompt action, what is it that we need? Is it men to be sought and selected and passed upon and haggled with and sent across the ocean to see if, perhaps, they can mitigate serious and even disastrous international trouble after it has got under full headway? Is it not, rather, to have thoroughly trained men on the spot, who shall foresee trouble, prevent it, attenuate it, disperse it, be in touch with the right men, know the right means, speak the right word, at the right moment, in the right quarter? Some years since, at Constantinople, I asked the cause of the widespread conflagrations which had so often devastated that capi- tal. The-answer was that the city had a very peculiar fire depart- ment—that when a fire broke out in any house, the proper and usual way was for its owner to seek someone who owned a hand fire engine, to find, by proper examination, whether he was trustworthy, whether his helpers were robust, whether his-fire apparatus was effective ; and then to make a bargain with him and his helpers and conduct them to the fire. There was usually, so | was informed, not much trouble in finding the fire, for, by the time the machine had been approved and the firemen selected and bargained with and got to the spot, the conflagration was amply evident. WHITE] DIPLOMATIC SERVICE OF UNITED STATES I19 Whether this alleged method really existed or not among the Turks, it is certainly the sort of thing contemplated in the proposal I have just mentioned, regarding the beginnings of international conflagrations. As a matter of historical fact, this system of special and tem- porary diplomatic agents was fully tried during the Middle Ages, with the result that for hundreds of years Europe was furrowed and harrowed with perpetual war, whereas the modern system, with all its defects, has come into existence by an evolution due to the environment of an ever increasing civilization, has certainly prevented very many germs of international trouble from develop- ing, and has given the world long periods of peace. Many examples might be mentioned, showing what can be done by the right man, saying the right word, at the right time, and in the right place, but I will remind you of just one, well known, as typical—that of Mr. Charles Francis Adams, our Minister to Great Britain during the most trying period of our Civil War. He was a very capable man, and was especially known as a very cool man. You may remember that one very hot summer, in Kansas, when great injury was done to cattle and crops by drought, various news- papers proposed that he should be sent for and asked to travel through the State in order to reduce its temperature. A crisis had come in the relations of the United States and Great Britain. It looked much as if a number of additional cruisers, nominally American but really British, were to be let loose to prey upon our commerce. The British Minister of Foreign Affairs at that time was Earl Russell, a man whom Carlyle would have called “a solemnly constituted impostor ” ; and as he had not prevented the sailing of the previous cruisers, it did not seem likely that he would prevent the sailing of these. But, just as they were ready to depart on their mission of devastation, Mr. Adams wrote Earl Russell, stated the case very simply, and used these memorable words, “ It would be superfluous in me to point out to your lordship that this is war.” This cool, plain, straightforward statement, made in the right manner, to the right man, at the right moment, stopped the cruisers, and war was prevented—immensely to the advantage of American commerce and of all the interests of our country. For, of all the calamities to the world which one can imagine, there can hardly be anything more fearful than a war between the two great English speaking nations. Indeed, nothing could be worse, unless it were the relinquishment of international righteous- 120 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 ness, or the sacrifice of the just position of our country, or of the self-respect of its citizens. A special reason for the maintenance of an organized diplomatic service is found in the need of making or modifying treaties. Here it is that a minister permanently residing at a foreign court has a decided advantage. He notes the progress of affairs, watches for oppportunities, makes the acquaintance of statesmen and other men of influence in the country to which he is accredited, and is thus able to suggest and to secure treaties and modifications of treaties much earlier and more easily than could possibly be done from the center of a distant government. Even if special commissioners be sent to make a treaty, a resident representative is sure to be of the utmost value. ys An excellent example is seen in the late George Bancroft during his career as Minister of the United States at Berlin—a career which lasted about eight years. Up to his time, Germans who had become American citizens and afterward revisited their own country were constantly liable to arrest or annoyance with reference to their military and other duties to the country of their birth: there was then a frequent asser- tion in all parts of Europe of the old principle, “once a subject, always a subject,” and the result was very great hardship to large numbers of worthy men, great distress to many families, and con- stant danger of hostile relations between our own country and various German states; relations which might have resulted in seri- ous injury to our manufactures and commerce, costing us in a few months a far greater sum than our diplomatic establishment would cost in many years. In the struggle between Prussia and Austria, which led to the establishment of the North German Confederation, and in the re- sultant desire of Prussia for a friendly attitude of the United States, Mr. Bancroft saw his opportunity. He secured with much labor and skill, concessions which at any other time would have been with- held. The German government maintained that permission to Ger- man-Americans to return and remain in Germany had led to a wretched prostitution of American citizenship; that great numbers of young men, just about arriving at the military age, had no sooner been naturalized in the United States than they hurried back to their fatherland, claiming the privileges of both countries, but discharging the duties of neither. In the treaties now obtained, the right of the former subjects of various German states naturalized in our own country to revisit the place of their birth, was defined, and most WHITE] DIPLOMATIC SERVICE OF UNITED STATES I21I favorably to them. As a rule, they were allowed to return to the German Confederation freely and to remain there for two years, with the understanding that they should then make choice be- tween the country of their birth and the country of their adoption. The whole sysem was thus made perfectly intelligible, preventing any further trouble, so long as Germany remained what it then was. Still more than that, as the great war between Germany and France drew on, Mr. Bancroft, being still on the ground, watching public affairs, saw that here was the opportunity to extend the treaties still further. This he did, and at last brought them upon an admirable footing, laying the foundations for permanent good will between the new Empire and the United States. He did this as no one could have done it without his experience in public affairs gen- erally, and in German affairs specially, and certainly as no one could have done it unless upon the ground, carefully watching the progress of events, and skillfully making the most of them in behalf of his country. I may say, in passing, that the most amazing tour de force in his negotiations was his persuading both Prince Bismarck and himself that one basis of his claim for a better treaty was a striking similarity between the new constitution of the North German Con- federation and the constitution of the United States. Never was a conviction less founded or more opportune. Still another advantage of having a resident representative is that of creating an atmosphere in which the germs of international trouble are kept from developing, and in which troublesome ques- tions between his own nation and that to which he is accredited may be easily settled. The French have a well-worn proverb, but a proverb which wears as well to-day as ever: “ Absent people are always inthe wrong.” (“Les absents ont toujours tort.’) English speaking peoples have another, much to the same effect: “ The man I don’t like is the man I don’t know.” A representative of the United States, fitted for his place, at any important capital, finds, at various receptions, evening gatherings, festivities, official and unofficial, the ministers and leading men in the Government to which he is accredited, men of influence in executive departments, in parliament, in the press, and in social circles; and in this atmosphere learns beforehand of matters likely to create trouble, and is able to avert difficulty. By a word in the proper quarter, he can thus easily take the life out of whole flocks of canards let loose into the political atmosphere by men engaged in stock-jobbing or sensation mongering. So, too, a minister frequently receives, from this friend in public service or that friend in society, aed SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 hints regarding questions likely to arise, or information which it is desirable to have, in the interest of his own country. Among typical examples of men who have served our country admirably in this way, in days gone by, are such as Elihu B. Wash- burne at Paris during the most critical moments of the Franco- Prussian War, the Invasion, and the Commune. Typical also, in a very different way, was George P. Marsh, first at Constantinople, and afterward in Italy, at the formation period of the present Italian kingdom. In his quiet way, he prevented no end of difficulties, first throughout the Levant and later along the whole Northern coast of the Mediterranean. Mention may also here be made of the late Henry Shelton San- ford. Though a minister to one of the smaller European powers, he became one of Secretary Seward’s most valuable representatives in Europe during our Civil War, and did much, both by direct political and by well arranged social means, to ascertain the ten- dency of leading European statesmen and to influence them favor- ably toward American ideas and interests during that most critical period. It is in this field that the statesmanship of Great Britain has shown its wisdom. Our mother country has by no means been a popular nation in the world. She seems to have preferred the respect of the world to its love; she has been at times too aggressive to be pleasing; but no one can deny that the way in which that little group of islands has baffled great despots like Louis XIV., Napoleon, and Nicholas I., has brought hundreds of millions beneath its sway, and has stretched its sceptre over every continent, without giving up its own constitutional liberty, is one of the wonderful things in human history. Whether we like it or not, we cannot but respect it. Yet a main factor in the accomplishment of this result is found not merely in the fleets and armies of Great Britain, but in the common sense of her diplomacy. As a rule, she has taken pains to send thoroughly fitted men into important diplomatic positions and to keep them there as long as they have done well. More than this, she has supplied them with the means to do their work: she has not stinted them; and the common sense of the English people is seen in the fact that at-the great capitals of the world where her influence is to be exercised, she has always a large, commodious, and attractive residence for her representative, and makes his remun- eration such that he can afford to devote all his thoughts to her interests. The demagogue may denounce this sort of thing; the doctrinaire may pooh-pooh it; but the fact remains that humanity, WHITE] DIPLOMATIC SERVICE OF UNITED STATES ’ 123 as it is really constituted, is largely influenced in what are known as social ways, and for these Great Britain has always made abun- dant provision. Her embassy or legation in every capital. of the world is a center, and generally a most influential center. Men may declaim against her; may even detest her, but, none the less, in every capital her embassy or legation stands as a power, social, and, largely on that account, political. Another duty of our foreign representatives is the collection of information bearing on large questions important to our country. Of this information, that which relates to the actions of foreign powers in anticipated crises is frequently of the utmost importance. Grant that our diplomats have not the prophetic gift, still at every time since the formation of this Government, and never more than now, it has been of great importance to this country, politically and commercially, to have, at various centers of information throughout the world, thinking men with access to the best sources of news, who can constantly keep the home government advised as to the probable action of foreign powers. At this moment, when Europe is one great group of fortified camps, and great changes are taking place in Asia and Africa, and troublesome questions are arising in South America, it cannot but be of immense value to our manufacturing, commercial, and indeed all other interests to have the best and most recent information regarding the outcome of warlike operations, the drift of public opinion, and settlements likely to be made; and such information is obtained by our representatives at the lesser capitals almost as frequently as at the greater. Then, too, there are other subjects of importance. Every year our State Department issues sundry volumes entitled ‘ Diplomatic Relations.” These are made up of selections from the dispatches of our representatives abroad. Among these are found not only dis- patches on current international business, but valuable reporis on leading subjects of public interest; and of these I may mention, in recent times, reports on systems of finance in foreign countries; on their supply and management of the circulating medium; on the administration of cities; on government railway systems; on public museums ; on educational institutions; and the like. It may be said that the newspapers and magazines give us these; but the difficulty is that information thus supplied is too frequently sketchy and scrappy.. I do not underrate the newspaper correspondent; he is one of the wonders of the world; but, after all, the diplomatic repre- sentative has certain decided advantages: he has easy access to men controlling every sort of institution, he can ask for interviews, 124 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [vor. 48 information, documents and the like with every probability of obtain- ing them, and this is not the case with the great majority of unofficial persons. . The social intercourse to which I have referred also affords a special means of casually obtaining important facts which one outside the diplomatic circle cannot reach. The “Diplomatic Relations of the United States” are a great depository of information of all sorts, and are becoming more and more valuable. In proof of this assertion I would gladly refer to the despatches of many recently or at present in active diplomatic life; but, as that might seem invidious, I may at least say that a large number of them are models of wise observation, clear statement, and cogent reasoning. Any one looking over the main dispatches of our representatives abroad will see that their positions are not mere sinecures, but full of earnest and lucid thought for the highest interests of their country. Another duty of a foreign representative of our country is to protect Americans within the country to. which he is accredited. No doubt there are many in our own land who care little for this: it is very easy to say in an off-hand way, that if people go abroad as missionaries or for business, health or pleasure, they must take their chances; but as civilization has developed there has been evolved a better feeling which I trust may become deep and permanent throughout the country, and that is, that our citizens are to be fully protected in all parts of the world, at any cost. The famous boast “T am a Roman citizen,” which was the passport and armor of the Roman in any part of the world, gives the idea of what ought to be the claim of the American citizen. Our own history in this respect has at times been creditable to us, but here, too, our mother country sets the world an example. Let any British subject in any part of the world be maltreated, and immediately it is a matter of interest to the home government. The resident minister feels himself false to his duty, or, if he deos not feel so, knows that he will surely be denounced by the press and in Parliament, if he be remiss in securing redress for any wrong thus committed. The most striking example of this, which now occurs to me, took place in the early part of this century in Lower Italy. An English gentleman and his wife were on their way from Naples to the ruins of Paestum. Having stopped over night at a town on the way, they took from their traveling carriage a dressing case in which the uten- sils were of silver, and this fact having been communicated from the servants at the inn to the neighboring brigands, these robbers on WHITE] DIPLOMATIC SERVICE OF UNITED STATES 125 the following day stopped the Englishman’s carriage and demanded his “ silver chest.” The Englishman did not at first know what was meant, but presently it occurred to him, and he stooped to take out the case and hand it to the brigands; when, thinking that he was stooping to get his weapons, they fired into his carriage, killing him and his wife. Many countries would have contented themselves with the profuse palaver with which the Neapolitan Government tried to cover the matter, but such was not the case with the govern- ment of Great Britain. Not long afterward a frigate bearing the British flag sailed into the harbor of Naples, and the British min- ister made a formal demand. The immediate result was that eighteen brigands were hanged and the final result was that for a long time afterward, whomever brigands along the Mediterranean might murder, they very carefully spared Englishmen. But here I wish to do what is possible for me, toward putting to rest a calumny against our own country as to the protection of her adopted citizens abroad. It has not infrequently been stated that Great Britain and various other countries are more careful in guard- ing the interests of their adopted citizens than is the case with our own Government. The very contrary is the truth. The rule in most, if not all, other countries, and especially in Great Britain, is to protect the interests of their adopted citizens in all other countries save that of their birth ; but to leave them, when visiting their native country, to the tender mercies of that country. The rule of Great Britain is that when a naturalized subject visits the land of his birth, he does so at his own risk and peril. The American Govern- ment, on the other hand, exerts itself to the utmost to protect its adopted citizens in the land of their birth. Our country has taken the greatest possible pains to make careful treaties for this pur- pose, and in nothing has she been more constantly strenuous than in seeing that there be no infraction of such treaties. For many years it seemed to be the main business of American representatives abroad to struggle for the interests of our adopted citizens against every possible construction of treaties which might in any way curtail their interests. Any person looking at what are known as the “budget dispatches’ from our embassies abroad will see most ample proofs of this. And here a tribute ought not to be omitted to our recent and, indeed, present Ministers to Turkey and China:—a long series of them in both these regions have done their duty nobly. Still another of the functions of an American diplomatic repre- sentative is to cooperate with the consuls of his government, promot- 126 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 ing by all honorable means the interests of American agriculture, manufactures, and commerce. The value of this kind of service was amply shown by the late Townsend Harris, in Japan. Having been sent to that country by President Peirce and Secretary Marcy, as Consul General, he was afterward given the powers of a special envoy, and finally promoted to the position of a Minister Res- ident. To him, more than to any other man, is due the opening of Japan to the commerce of America and of the world. His high character and skill inspired a confidence which enabled him to make that great treaty which marks a new point of departure in modern civilization. The value of the diplomatic service to commerce was also shown more recently by the successful efforts of our ministers, Mr. Reid at Paris and Mr. Phelps at Berlin, in breaking the Euro- pean barriers hitherto maintained against some of the principal products of American agriculture. And, finally, perhaps the highest incidental work in which a diplo- matist can engage is the development of international law. The Law of Nations is not made; it grows,—and in many ways; among others, by the labors of men employed in making treaties, or in conducting negotiations between different governments. The development of international law since the great work of Grotius in the seventeenth century is one of the noblest things in human his- tory. In no field, perhaps, has so much been done to diminish un- merited suffering. Among those who have taken noble part in it are such as Franklin, Jefferson, John Adams, Jay, and, in more recent times, Wheaton, Dana, Lawrence, Bancroft, and Schenck. Of these, Henry Wheaton, who represented the United States from 1827 to 1846 at Copenhagen and Berlin deserves special mention. His works on International Law have become classics,—held in high honor at Oxford and Cambridge, at Paris and London, and even at Pekin, where his principal work has received the honor of a Chinese translation. Nor is this good development by any means ended. It may be within the power of any diplomatist, at any time, to exert a control- ing influence in favor of arbitration between states which might otherwise be plunged into war, and thus to promote the substitution of arbitration for war in the gradually strengthening code of Inter- national Law. And there is yet another great principle to be pressed upon the world, and an especially American principle. I refer to the exemp- tion from seizures on the high seas of private property, not contra- band of war. This is one of those. great, steady, efforts for the WHITE] DIPLOMATIC SERVICE OF UNITED STATES pez evolution of right reason, of mercy, and of a higher civilization which has been urged by American diplomatists steadily and on every possible occasion, from the days of our famous treaty with Frederick the Great, down to these times, when the American Dele- gation at the Hague Peace Conference has secured a place for dis- cussion of this great subject on the programme of the next general conference of the civilized world. In view of these great possibilities for a better future to the various nations and to universal humanity, there is no more prom- ising field for fruitful effort than the American diplomatic service ; —when it shall have been properly reorganized. Hence it is, especially, that every thinking lover of his country must look with longing to the day when there shall be in all our leading universities young men in training for that service. The first argument of those who declaim against any permanent diplomatic service or who would keep it in its present state of ar- rested development is that it is costly. But I think that you will see in it, really, “the cheap defense of nations.” The loss by a misun- derstanding, which would bring injury upon American commerce, or by a failure to secure speedy information which would enable us to protect our interests in a foreign war, might be greater than the cost of our diplomatic establishment for many years. The loss by a war, which might have been averted by a well trained diplomatist on the ground, might be far more than enough to maintain the whole diplomatic corps of the United States for decades if not for centuries. As a matter of fact, the entire annual appropriation for the diplomatic service of the United States during each of several recent years has been about $500,000, but the cost of military and naval operations during our Civil War was, to the United States, between one and two millions for each day. The cost of military opera- tions during the Franco-Prussian War, if divided equally between the two nations, would have amounted each day, for each, to considerably more than $3,000,000. It is clear then that, even if war, with all its improved methods, should cost no more than it did thirty years ago,—which is a decidedly violent supposition,—the entire expenditure for our diplomatic corps for one year would be only about the expenditure for war during four hours; and if, which may Heaven forbid, we should be so unfortunate as to have a war break out with any foreign power, our diplomatic service would pay for itself during about six years, if it shortened the war by a single day. It is altogether probable that Mr. Charles Francis Adams, by his timely words to Earl Russell, prevented a prolongation of 128 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 our Civil War, which would have cost us more than the entire diplomatic service during centuries.* It is also urged that residence abroad makes men “ un-American.” This is one of those vague charges to which a thinking man will gen- erally attribute little importance. But even if there were some truth in it, as regards an ill balanced individual here and there, there can be set against it a more than countervailing advantage, which is, that our diplomatic service sends abroad, for a term of years, citizens from various parts of the country, who, after dis- charging their duties abroad, return with valuable experience to various stations at home—some like the Adamses, Jefferson, Monroe, Van Buren, and Buchanan, carrying their experience into the Chief Magistracy; some, like those just named, and Marshall, Clay, McLane, Forsythe, Legaré, Everett, Cass, Bayard, Foster, and Hay, into the Secretaryship of State; some into other Cabinet places; some into either house of Congress; some into the press; and some into other positions which give opportunities for enlightening influ- ence upon public opinion. And it is sometimes said, in the jaunty, off-hand way, so often used in dealing with important questions, that the diplomatic ser- vice is, after all, mainly recreation. Any American representative | who goes abroad with this idea will soon find that he has made a serious mistake. A minister or secretary who does his duty, finds his leisure absolutely eaten up by multitudes of international matters, some large, some small, but all demanding attention. Were there time, I could give abundant examples of this. There is in every American embassy and legation a constant succession of matters re- quiring constant vigilance and the judicious exercise of firmness and conciliation. Even what is called recreation is frequently hard work. I re- member a dispatch from Mr. Lowell, in which, alluding to the fatigue of a great court function, he said that he relied upon it to make up in another world for a multitude of his sins in this. Many a diplomatist has had occasion to remember the remark that “ life would be tolerable were it not for its pleasures.” And now, as to the present condition of the American diplomatic service. It is in many respects excellent; but it is badly organized, 1A century of our diplomatic service, at its present rate, would cost about fifty millions of dollars. A year’s prolongation of our Civil War, by the interference of Great Britain, would have cost us, reckoning nothing for the increased expenditure to meet British hostilities, one thousand millions at least. WHITE] DIPLOMATIC SERVICE OF UNITED STATES 129 insufficiently provided for, and, as a rule, has not the standing which every patriotic American should wish for it. And yet it could easily be made one of the best, and quite possibly the best, in the world. The most essential and desirable improvements which I would pre- sent are, in a general way, as follows: I. As regards the highest grade in the diplomatic service, that of Ambassadors, | would have, say, one-half their number ap- pointed from those who have distinguished themselves as Ministers Plenitopentiary, and the remaining posts filled, as at present, from those who, in public life or in other important fields, have won recognition at home as men fit to maintain the character and watch the interests of their country abroad. And as to this highest rank, I would observe, as regards, say, one-half those holding it, the general rule of promotion for good service, and from the less im- portant to the more important capitals. II. As regards the second grade in the service—namely, that of Ministers Plenipotentiary—I would observe the same rule as in appointing Ambassadors, having, say, one-half of these at the more important capitals appointed for such as have especially distin- guished themselves at the less important capitals, and, say, one- half of the Ministers Plenipotentiary at these less important capitals appointed from those who have distinguished themselves as Minis- ters Resident, or as Secretaries of Embassy or of Legation. III. As to the third grade in our service, that of Ministers Resi- dent, I would observe the general rule above suggested for the appointment of Ambassadors and Ministers Plenipotentiary ; that is, I would appoint one-half of them from among those ‘who shall have rendered most distinguished service as first Secretaries of Em- bassy or of Legation. When once appointed I would have them advanced for distinguished service from the less to the more im- portant capitals, and, as far as possible, from the rank of Minister Resident to that of Minister Plenipotentiary. IV. As to any lower, or special, or temporary grades, whether that of Diplomatic Agent, or special Chargé d’Affaires, or Com- missioner, I would have appointments made from the diplomatic or consular service, or from public life in general, or from fitting men in private life, as the President or Secretary of State might think most conducive to the public interest. V. I would have two grades of Secretaries of Legation and three grades of Secretaries of Embassy. I would have the lowest grade of secretaries appointed on the recommendation of the Secretary of State from those who have shown themselves, on due examina- 130 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 tion, best qualified in certain leading subjects, such as international law, the common or civil law or both, including, as absolutely neces- sary, some practice in one or the other of these, the history of treaties, general modern history, political economy, a speaking knowledge of French and a reading knowledge of at least one other foreign language. As to the practice of the law, I would demand that every candi- date should have been admitted to the bar and have been in practice at least two years. You ask, perhaps, why I lay such stress on the actual practice of the law. My reasons are two. First, in the interest of the service, I wish every Secretary to have been in touch with real men and real activities. Secondly, in the interest of the candidates, I do not wish to see a diplomatic proletariate. Bear in mind that the number of candidates for a regularly organized ser- vice would doubtless be large, and that the number to be appointed is small. Without this practical requirement we should have great numbers of ingenuous youth left with no occupation save cursing the unfitness of the Secretary of State or the stupidity of the ex- aminers: with this requirement, the rejected would simply pursue the even tenor of their profession—all the better fitted for it by their diplomatic studies. I would make the examination in all the above subjects strict, and would limit the selection of Secretaries of Legation and Em- bassy to the men thus presented. But, in view of the importance of various personal qualifications which fit men to influence their fellowmen, and which cannot be ascertained wholly by examination, I would leave the Secretary of State full liberty of choice among those who have honorably passed the examinations above required. The men thus selected and approved I would have appointed as Sec- retaries of the lower grades—that is, Third Secretaries of Embassy and Second Secretaries of Legation—and these men when once appointed should be promoted for good service, to the higher secre- taryships of Embassy and Legation, and from the less to the more important capitals, under such rules as the State Department might find most conducive to the efficiency of the service.. No new Secre- taries of any grade should thereafter be appointed who had not passed the examinations required for the lowest grade of secretaries as above provided; but all who had already been in the service dur- ing two years should be eligible for promotion for good service, from whatever posts they might be occupying. VI. I would attach to every Embassy three secretaries, to every Legation two, and to every post of Minister Resident, at least one. WHITE] DIPLOMATIC SERVICE OF UNITED STATES 131 One of the thoroughly wise arrangements of every British Em- bassy or Legation—an arrangement which has gone for much in Great Britain’s remarkable series of diplomatic successes throughout the world—is to be seen in her maintaining at every capital a full number of Secretaries and Attachés. These serve, not only in keep- ing the current office work in the highest efficiency, but become, as it were, the antenne of the ambassador of Minister—additional eyes and ears to ascertain what is going on among those most influential in public affairs. Every Embassy or Legation thus equipped serves also as an actual and practical training-school for the service. VII. I would appoint each Attaché from the ranks of those espe- cially recommended and certified to in writing by leading authori- ties in the department for which he is expected to secure information : as, for example, Political Attachés by the State Department ; Military Attachés by the War Department; Naval Attachés by the Navy Department ; Financial Attachés by the Treasury Department ; Com- mercial Attachés by the Department of Commerce; Agricultural Attachés by the Department of Agriculture; but always subject to the approval of the Secretary of State as regards sundry qualifica- tions, hinted at above, which can better be ascertained by an inter- view than by an examination. I would have a goodly number of Attachés of these various sorts, and, in our more important Embassies, one representative from each of the departments above named. Every Attaché, if fit for his place, would be worth far more than his cost to our government, for he would not only add to the influence of the Embassy or Legation, but to its efficiency. As a rule, all of them could also be made of real use after the conclusion of their foreign careers: some by returning to the army or navy and bring- ing their knowledge to bear upon those branches of the service; some by taking duty in the various departments at Washington, and aiding to keep the government abreast of the best practice in other countries; some by becoming professors in universities and colleges, or writers for the press, thus giving us, instead of loose guesses and haphazard suggestions, information based on close knowledge of international problems and of their solution in coun- tries other than our own. From these arrangements I feel warranted in expecting an evolu- tion of better out of present good in our diplomatic service. Thus formed, it would become, in its main features, like the military and naval services, and, indeed, in its essential characteristics as to appointment and promotion, like any well organized manufacturing ie 2 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS’ COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 or commercial establishment. It would absolutely require ascer- tained knowledge and fitness in the lowest grades, and it would give promotion for good service from first to last. Yet it would not be a cast iron system. For, it would admit and might well be con- strued to require the appointment of fully half of the Ambassadors, Ministers Plenipotentiary, and Ministers Resident from those who have shown decided fitness in high public positions at home, whether in important branches of public or private business, whenever the President should deem that the public interest requires it. But the system thus proposed, while allowing the frequent bring- ing in of new and capable men from public life at home, re- quires that one-half of all representatives in each grade above that of Secretary (save certain special Diplomatic Agents, Special Commissioners, and the like), shall be appointed from those thor- oughly trained for the service; and that all Secretaries, without ex- ception, shall be thoroughly trained and fitted. Scope would thus be given to the activity of both sorts of men, and the whole system made sufficiently elastic to meet all necessities. In the service thus organized, the class of Ambassadors and Min- isters fitted by knowledge of public affairs at home for important negotiations abroad, but without experience in diplomatic life or in foreign usages and languages, would be greatly strengthened by Secretaries who had passed through a regular course of training and experience. An American diplomatic representative without diplomatic experience, on reaching his post, whether as Ambassador or Minister, would not find—as was once largely the case—Secre- taries as inexperienced as himself in diplomatic business, but men thoroughly prepared to aid him in the multitude of minor matters, ignorance of which might very likely cripple him as regards very important business: Secretaries so experienced as to be able to set him in the way of knowing, at any court to which he is accredited, who are the men of real power, and who mere parasites and pre- tenders ; what relations are to be cultivated and what avoided ; which are the real channels of influence, and which mere illusions leading nowhither. On the other hand, the Secretaries thoroughly trained wouid doubtless, in their conversations with a man fresh from public affairs at home, learn many things of practical use and be kept in closer touch with American ideas and affairs. Thus, too, what is of great importance throughout the entire ser- vice, every Ambassador, Minister Plenipotentiary, or Minister Resi- dent would possess, or easily command, large experience of various men in various countries. At the same time, each representative WHITE] DIPLOMATIC SERVICE OF UNITED STATES 133 would be under most powerful incentives to perfect his own training, widen his acquaintance, and deepen his knowledge—incentives which, under the old system—with its lack of appointment for ascer- tained fitness, lack of promotion for good service, and lack of any certainty of tenure—exist very rarely if at all. The system of promotion for merit throughout the service is no mere experiment; the good sense of all the leading nations of the world, except our own, has adopted it, and it works well. In our own service the old system works badly. For excellent men, both in its higher and lower grades, have been frequently crippled by want of proper experience or aid. We have, indeed, at this moment several admirable Secretaries—some of them fit to be Ambassadors or Ministers—but all laboring under conditions the most depressing —such as obtain in no good business enterprise. During my stay as Minister at St. Petersburg, the American Secretary of Legation, a man ideally fitted for his post, insisted on resigning. On my en- deavoring to retain him, he answered as follows: “I have been over twelve years in the American diplomatic service as Secretary ; I have seen the Secretaries from other countries, with whom I began my diplomatic career promoted until all of them still remain- ing in the service are in higher posts, several of them Ministers, and one an Ambassador. I remain as I was at the beginning, with no promotion and no probability of any. I feel that, as a rule, my present colleagues, as well as most officials with whom I have to do, seeing that I have not been advanced, look upon me as a failure. They cannot be made to understand how a man who has served so long as Secretary has been denied promotion for any reason save inefficiency. I can no longer submit to be thus looked down upon, and I must resign.” But here it ought to be acknowledged that various recent adminis- trations have taken steps toward a system of promotion in our diplo- matic service; and the present administration, more broadly and logically than any other. While thus adopting a system of promotion based upon efficiency, I would retain during good behavior, up to a certain age, the men who have done thoroughly well in the service. Clearly, when we secure an admirable man,—recognized as such in all parts of the world,—like Mr. Wheaton, Mr. Bancroft, Mr. Charles Francis Adams, Mr. Marsh, Mr. Townsend Harris, Mr. Washburne, Mr. Lowell, Mr. Bayard, Mr. E. J. Phelps, Mr. Walter Phelps, and-others who have passed away, not to speak of many now living, we should 4 134 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 keep him at his post as long as he is efficient, without regard to his politics. This is the course taken very generally by other great nations, and especially by our sister republic of Great Britain (for Great Britain is simply a republic with a monarchical head lingering along on good behavior); she retains her representatives in these positions, and promotes them without regard to their party rela- tions. During my first official residence at Berlin, although the home Government at London was of the Conservative party, it retained at the German capital, as Ambassador, Lord Ampthill, a Liberal; and as first Secretary, Sir John Walsham, a Tory. The same indifference to party claims was evident at St. Petersburg during my two residences there, and at Berlin during my stay just closed. From every point of view, the long continuance, in diplomatic positions, of the most capable men would be of great advantage to our country. But, as the very first thing to be done, whether our diplomatic service remains as at present or be improved, I would urge, as a con- dition precedent to any thoroughly good service, that there be in each of the greater capitals of the world at which we have a repre- sentative, a suitable embassy or legation building or apartment, owned or leased for a term of years by the American Government. Every other great power, and many of the smaller nations, have pro- vided such quarters for their representatives, and some years ago President Cleveland recommended to Congress a similar policy. Under the present system the head of an American Embassy or Legation abroad is at a wretched disadvantage. In many capitals he finds it at times impossible to secure a proper furnished apartment ; and, in some, very difficult to find any suitable apartment at all, whether furnished or unfurnished. Even if he finds proper rooms, they are frequently in an unfit quarter of the town, remote from the residences of his colleagues, from the public offices, from everybody and everything related to his work. His term of office being gener- ally short, he is usually considered a rather undesirable tenant, and is charged accordingly. Besides this, the fitting and furnishing of such an apartment is a very great burden, as regards trouble, ex- pense and time. Within my knowledge, two American Ministers abroad have impoverished their families by expenditures of this kind, and, without doubt, there have been many others. But this is not the worst. The most serious result of the existing system concerns our country. It is within my personal knowledge that in one very important international question our mistaken policy in this WHITE] DIPLOMATIC SERVICE OF UNITED STATES 135 respect recently cost the United States a sum which would have forever put that embassy on the very best footing,—as regards a permanent official residence. If an American Ambassador is to exercise a really strong influence for the United States as against other nations, he must be properly provided for as regards at least his residence ;—not provided for, indeed, so largely as some repre- sentatives of other nations, for I neither propose nor desire that the American representatives shall imitate the pomp of certain Ambas- sadors of the greater European powers ;—but he ought to be enabled to live respectably and discharge his duties efficiently. There should be, in this, what Thomas Jefferson acknowledged in the Declaration of Independence as a duty,—“a decent respect to the opinions of mankind.” The present condition of things is frequently humiliat- ing,—and not only to the Ambassador or Minister, but to every thoughtful American traveller. In the greater capitals of Europe the general public know the British, French, Austrian, Italian, and all other important Embassies or Legations, except that of our country. The American Embassy or Legation has no settled home, is some- times in one quarter of the town, sometimes in another ;—sometimes almost in an attic, sometimes almost in a cellar ;—generally inade- quate in its accommodations, and frequently unfortunate in its sur- roundings. Personal experience in various European capitals has shown me that one secret of the great success of British diplomacy in all parts of the world is that especial pains are taken regarding this point, and that, consequently, every British Embassy is the center of a widespread social influence which counts for very much indeed in its political influence. The United States, as perhaps the wealthiest nation in existence,—a nation far reaching in the exercise of its foreign policy, with vast and increasing commercial and other interests throughout the world,—should, in all substantial matters, be equally provided for. Take our relations with Turkey. We have constantly a vast number of Americans of the very best sort, and especially missionaries, teachers, and men of business, who have to be protected throughout the whole of that vast empire. Each of the other great powers provides for its representative at Constantinople a residence honorable, suitable, and within a proper enclosure for its protection; but the American Minister lives anywhere ‘and everywhere,—in such premises, over shops and warehouses, as can be secured,—and he is liable, in case of trouble between the two nations, to suffer personal violence and to have the house sacked by a Turkish mob. No foreign people, and least of all an Oriental people, can highly respect a diplomatic representative who, by his 136 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 surroundings, seems to them not respected by his own people. The American Government can easily afford the expenditure needed to provide proper houses or apartments for its entire diplomatic corps, but it cannot afford not to provide these. Full provision for them would not burden any American citizen to the amount of a Boston biscuit. Leaving matters in their present condition is in the long run far more costly. It seems incontestable that our diplomatic service ought not to be left in its present slipshod condition. It ought to be put on the best and most effective footing possible, so that, everywhere, the men we send forth to support and advance the manifold interests of our country shall be thoroughly well equipped and provided for. But whether the system I have indicated be adopted or not, whether salaries be increased or not, the permanent possession of a suitable house or apartment in every leading capital is absolutely the fore- most and most elementary of necessities. And, in order to free my mind, I will add that, while the provision for a proper embassy or legation building is the first of all things necessary, it might also be well to increase somewhat the salaries of our representatives abroad. These may seem large even at present; but the cost of living has greatly increased since they were fixed, and the special financial demands upon an Ambassador or Minister at any of the most important posts are always far beyond the present salary. It is utterly impossible for an American diplomatic representative to do his duty on the salary now given, even while living on the most moderate scale known in the diplomatic corps. To attempt to do so would deprive him of all opportunity to exercise that friendly, per- sonal, social influence which is so important an element in his success. To sum up my suggestions as to this part of the subject, I should say: First, and foremost, as essential, that there be provided, at each diplomatic post where the United States has a representative, a spacious and suitable house or apartment, either bought by our Government or taken on a long lease. Secondly, as highly desir- able, that American representatives of all grades should have their salaries increased by from twenty-five to fifty per cent. Thirdly, that an additional number of Secretaries and Attachés should be provided in the manner and for the reasons above mentioned. Even if the carrying out of these reforms should require an appropriation to the diplomatic service sixty per cent. higher than it now is, which is an amount greater than, in my opinion, would be really required by all the expenditures I propose, including interest WHITE] DIPLOMATIC SERVICE OF UNITED STATES DSi upon the purchase money of appropriate quarters for our representa- tives abroad,—the total additional cost to each citizen of the United States would be but a trifle over one-quarter of one cent per year. As to suitable requirements for secretaryships, and proper pro- motion throughout the whole service, they would vastly increase its attractiveness, in all its grades, to the very men whom the country most needs. They would open to young men in our universities, col- leges, and schools of all grades a most honorable career leading such institutions to establish courses of instruction with reference to such a service—courses which were long since established in Germany, but which have arrived nearest perfection in two of our sister republics—at the University of Zurich in Switzerland, and in the Ecole Libre des Sciences Politiques in Paris. And now, a few words in conclusion. You will have observed that my attempt has been to develop my subject in the simplest manner possible. I have carefully avoided the profounder questions connected with the subject: discussions of present and future Amer- ican policy and the like, for the reason that I have wished to give merely those elementary considerations which may enable any Amer- ican citizen to draw from them a straightforward conclusion as to things fundamentally necessary. A word also in self-defense. My own connection with the foreign service of the United States has extended over fifty years, during which at various periods and posts, I have discharged diplomatic or quasi-diplomatic duties. In speaking of the defects of our present system and their remedies, I would above all things wish it to be understood that I am not a man with a grievance—that I have no complaints to make, whatever. On the contrary, I feel profoundly gateful to the various administrations—of both parties—under which I have served, for their support and kindness. This paper is the result of a decision made many years ago, that after the conclusion of my connection with the diplomatic service—when no human being could charge against me a desire to do anything for my own personal comfort or satisfaction—I would present, in the simplest and clearest manner possible, my view of the best course to be taken in develop- ing and improving our diplomatic establishment—in the interest of our country; and in no other interest whatever. It seems to me certain that a proper development of the existing service, on the general lines I have presented, would not only increase the prestige and influence of the United States among her sister nations, but, purely from a commercial point of view, would amply 138 ’ SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 repay us. To have in diplomatic positions at the various capitals a large proportion of men thoroughly fitted, not only as regards char- acter and intelligence, but also as regards experience and acquaint- ance, and to have them enabled to exert their abilities under the best conditions, would be, from every point of view, of the greatest advantage to our country, materially and politically, and would give strength to our policy throughout the world. NIMG1V8 ‘H ‘V ‘(YW AG SHdVHYDOLOHd GNV NIMS SHL WOYs S0VW ‘ValIuO1d 4O LSVOO NO G3GNVYLS NOGONIHY 4O SNIMVYC HSVM SNOILO311090 SNOANVIISOSIN NVINOSHLIWS AIXXX “Id ‘8b “1OA TE STORY OP ThE WHALE SHARK: (RHINODON Pye US oMiELEH) By BARTON A. BEAN In the month of April, 1828, there was captured by fishermen in Table Bay, Cape of Good Hope, one of the most interesting of living animals, being remarkable not only for its unusual structure but for the huge size it attains. The whale shark unlike other sharks has a terminal mouth, and the jaws are provided with ribbon-like dental plates of extremely numerous and minute teeth. This shark is said to grow to a length of sixty feet and is exceeded in size by no living animal other than the whale-bone or right whale. As Dr. Gill has expressed it to the writer it is: “ The greatest, the most gigantic, of the sharks, not uncommon in the Indian Ocean, but which, on ac- count of its great size, is represented by remains in few museums and is but little known.” This huge animal, like its relative of the north—the basking shark —and like the whale, lives on minute animals such as copepods, other crustaceans, and mollusks, which flourish in great abundance about the surface of the ocean. We find nothing recorded as to its manner of reproduction, but assume that like its related forms it is ovoviviparous. It is a slow moving, apathetic shark, harmless to man, and is often found basking or sleeping on the surface of the sea. It is known in the Indian Ocean as “Mhor,” at the Seychelles as “ Chagrin,” in the Gulf of California as “ Tiburon Ballenas ” or whale shark, in the Gulf of Panama the natives call it “ tintoreva,” and the one stranded on the coast of Florida was referred to as an “ East Indian basking shark.” We find little recorded as to the use made of this gigantic shark. In a letter on shark fishing at Kurrachee, province of Scinde, British © India (to which Dr. Gill has kindly called my attention), Dr. Buist in 1850 wrote: “The great basking shark or mhor, is always harpooned; it is found float- ing or asleep near the surface of the water; it is then stuck with a harpoon of the size and form indicated in the annexed woodcut. “The fish, once struck, is allowed to run till tired; it is then pulled in, and beaten with clubs till stunned. A large hook is now hooked into its eyes or nostrils, or wherever it can be got most easily attached, and by this the shark 139 140 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [vou. 48 is towed on shore; several boats are requisite for towing. The mhor is often 40, sometimes 60 feet in length; the mouth is occasionally 4 feet wide.” The fins of the sharks are exported from Bombay to China. The specimen on the Cape fortunately fell into the hands of Dr. Andrew Smith, Surgeon to the Forces, then resident at Cape Town, who records that “the specimen described was the only one that had been seen at the Cape within the memory of any of the fishermen. At the time is was discovered it was swimming leis- urely near the surface of the water, with a cer- tain portion of the back above it. When ap- proached it manifested no great degree of fear and it was not before a harpoon was lodged in its body that it altered its course and quickened its pace.” Dr. Smith first described the animal in the Zoblogical Journal in 1829, where he gave what I believe to be the first notice and description of this interesting species. The title of his article is “Contributions to the Natural History of Fic, 17.—Harpoon South Africa, etc.,” and contains in addition to used in capture of //inodon, misspelled Rhincodon, descriptions of Shark at Kurrachee. new species of mammals and reptiles. I quote verbatim the original description: “Fam. SQUALID. Genus Ruincopon Mihi. “Dentes graciles breves leniter curvati, ordinibus longitudinalibus ita dis- positi ut lineae in anteriore maxillae, nec non et mandibulae parte jacentis, speciem habeant; caput latum, depressum, quadrangulare, os ad apicem capitis cui latitudine feré par est; latera liris longitudinalibus et carina perquam distincta in utroque caudae latere; spiraculum a tergo utriusque oculi; pinna analis alteri pinnae dorsalis pene opposita. “Rhincodon typus, mihi. “Supra viridi-griseus maculis et lineis albis numerosis; subtus rubroalbus ad rubrum transiens; dorso ante anteriorem suam pinnam carinato, post ro- tundato, deinde plano. “Colour of back and sides greenish gray, with numerous white spots, vary- ing in size from that of a sixpence to a halfpenny; also several white lines on the sides of the head, body and about the branchiae; below reddish white, passing into vermillion red, anterior part of back carinated, posterior rounded or flat. Length of the specimen from which the description was taken, fifteen feet; greatest circumference, nine feet. Was caught by fishermen in Table Bay, during the month of April, 1828, and the skin was purchased for £6 sterling, and forwarded to the Paris Museum.” There followed considerable confusion in the name of Dr. Smith’s new genus. He evidently first intended to use the name Rhineodon ADSO1O0Z NVOIYSAY HLNOS 4O SNOILVYLSNIT SiHLINS JO 96 ALVId “SNOIdAL NOGONIHY . fone AXXX “Id “8b "100A SNOILO31109 SNOANVIISOSIN NVINOSHLIWS BEAN] HISTORY OF THE WHALE SHARK I4I and the name as printed, Rhincodon, was probably a mistake of the printer, so that we deem it best to now use the name finally adopted by Dr. Smith in his illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa, wherein a figure of the species is given, plate 26, published in March, 1845, and a description published in the following October. In his account of the distribution of vertebrate animals, C. L. Bonaparte in 1832 listed the name Rhincodon (p. 121). Muller and Henle in 1838 used the name Rincodon, and in the same year (1838-1839) William Swainson refers to this fish under the name Rineodon, (1, p. 142), Rhineodon, (11, p. 191), and Rhiniodon (11, p. 317). Swainson seemed to be under the impression that at least two differ- ent sharks were in question, or else he was careless in the construc- tion of his artificial keys. In two places he refers to the small spir- acles (II, pp. 191, 317), while in another key he says “ spiracles wanting ” (11, p. 314). In their valuable work entitled “ Systematis- che Beschreibung der Plagiostomen,” pp. 77 to. 78, Berlin, 1841, Muller and Henle used the name Rhinodon typicus. The year in which Dr. Smith founded this genus Rhinodon (mis- spelled Rhincodon) has all along been erroneously given as 1841— see the nomenclators—instead of 1829; the correct date being en- tirely overlooked by authors. We shall endeavor, in the bibliography appended to this paper, to give ready references to the literature and thus save future students much loss of time and avoid as far as possible chance for confusion in adding to the history of this shark. Thirty years after the capture of the Cape of Good Hope specimen of Rhinodon the Smithsonian Institution received from Captain Stone a dental plate and other parts of the same shark, taken in the Gulf of California. On account of the erroneous descriptions of the teeth by Smith, and figure of the same by Muller and Henle, Dr. Gill was misled and described the California example as a new genus and species (Micristodus punctatus), properly referring it to the family Rhinodontide. Dr. Gill’s notice and description of this specimen was published in the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, 1865, p. 177, and reads as follows: “ON A NEW GENERIC TYPE OF SHARKS. By THEoporE GILL. “In the year 1858 the Smithsonian Institution received, from Capt. Stone, the jaws and vertebre of an enormous species of shark existing in the Gulf of California and known to the inhabitants of the neighboring regions as the ‘Tiburon ballenas,’ or ‘whale shark.’ The specimen represented by the spoils was said to have been ‘twenty feet long,’ with a ‘head six feet wide,’ ‘ pec- torals three feet long’ and ‘flukes six feet between tips.’ ‘The back from 142 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 the head to first dorsal fin, brown with reddish spots.’ The head is repre- sented as truncated in front. “The dried dentigerous band of the upper jaw is slightly curved forwards, about nineteen inches between the extremities, and somewhat more than an inch in width in front. The teeth are fixed and extremely minute, the largest being little more than a line in length, and decrease towards the ends of the jaw; they are disposed in regularly transverse rows, of which there are over one hundred and sixty (164-167) on each side, while in front there are from thirteen to sixteen in each transverse row; each tooth is recurved backwards and acutely pointed, swollen and with a heel-like projection in front rising from its base. “This type will be seen, therefore, to be very distinct, but is evidently related to the South African genus Rhinodon, and must be referred to the family of Rhinodontide with the name of Micristodus punctatus.” In 1868, Dr. Percival Wright, on a visit to Mr. Swinburn Ward, Civil Commissioner of the Seychelles, met with this shark, which is not rare in this archipelago. Dr. Wright saw specimens exceeding fifty feet in length and one actually measured by Mr. Ward was more than forty-five feet long. It is not at all rare around the Seychelles, but is seldom recorded owing to its huge size and dif- ficulties attending its capture. In 1878 a specimen was captured at Callao, Peru. Prof. W. Nation examined this specimen and a por- tion of the dental plate was sent to the British Museum. In 1883 this shark was obtained on the west coast of Ceylon, the specimen being a female, 23 ft. 9 in. long. This was reported upon by Mr. A. Haly, Director of the Colombo Museum. We next quote from the voyage of the Italian Corvette, Vettor Pisani, by G. Chierchia : “While fishing for a big shark in the Gulf of Panama during the stay of our ship in Taboga Island, one day in February (1883?), with a dead calm, we saw several great sharks some miles from our anchorage. In a short time several boats with natives went to sea, accompanied by two of the Vettor Pisani’s boats. “Having wounded one of these animals in the lateral part of the belly, we held him with lines fixed to the spears; he then began to describe a very narrow curve, and irritated by the cries of the people that were in the boats, ran off with a moderate velocity. To the first boat, which held the lines just mentioned, the other boats were fastened, and it was a rather strange emotion to feel ourselves towed by the monster for more than three hours with a velocity that proved to be two miles per hour. One of the boats was filled with water. At last the animal was tired by the great loss of blood, and the boats assembled to haul in the lines and tow the shark on shore. “With much difficulty the nine boats towed the animal alongside the Vettor Pisani to have him hoisted on board, but it was impossible on account of his colossal dimensions. But, as it was high water, we went towards a sand beach with the animal, and we had him safely stranded at night. “With much care were inspected the mouth, the nostrils, the ears, and all BEAN] HISTORY OF THE WHALE SHARK 143 the body, but no parasite was found. The eyes were taken out and prepared for histological study. The set of teeth was all covered by a membrane that surrounded internally the lips; the teeth are very little and almost in a rudi- _ mental state. The mouth, instead of opening in the inferior part of the head, as in common sharks, was at the extremity of the head; the jaws having the same bend. “Cutting the animal on one side of the backbone we met (1) a compact layer of white fat 20 centimetres deep; (2) the cartilaginous ribs covered with blood vessels; (3) a stratum of flabby, stringy, white muscle, 60 centi- metres high, apparently in adipose degeneracy; (4) the stomach. “By each side of the backbone he had three chamferings or flutings, that were distinguished by inflected interstices. The color of the back was brown with yellow spots that became close and small toward the head, so as to be like marble spots. The length of the shark was 8.90 m. from the mouth to the pinna caudalis extremity, the greatest circumference 6.50 m., and 2.50 m. the main diameter (the outline of the two projections is made for giving other dimensions). “The natives call the species tintoreva, and the most aged of the village had only once before fished such an animal, but smaller. While the animal was on board we saw several Remora about a foot long drop from his mouth; it was proved that these fish lived fixed to the palate, and one of them was pulled off and kept in the zoological collection of the ship.” In February, 1889, a rhinodon 22 ft. in length was cast ashore at Madras, and in April, 1890, another specimen 14 ft. 6 in. in length was caught off Bambalapitiya, Ceylon. These were reported upon by Edgar Thurston, Sup’t. of the Madras Government Museum, in his very interesting paper, published in Bulletin No. 1, pp. 36 to 38, 1894, of that Museum. Under date of July 22, 1901, Kamakichi Kishinouye, of the Im- perial Fisheries Bureau, Tokyo, Japan, reported the capture of this shark in Japanese waters, and described it as a new species (R. pen- talineatus). With Dr. Gill the writer believes the Japanese fish to be identical with R. typicus. The following are Mr. Kishinouye’s very interesting notes upon the fish in question: “cs. A RARE SHARK, RHINODON PENTALINEATUS n. sp. “By KAMAKICHI KISHINOUYE, IMPERIAL FISHERIES BUREAU, ToKyYoO. “ (WITH 2 FIGS.) , “eingeg. 22. August I9oI. “On toth of June 1901 a rare and gigantic shark was caught by drift net off Cape Inubo. Mr. Tsuratame Oseko who keeps a collection of rare things for show in Asakusa Park, Tokyo, bought the fish and brought its skin to Tokyo to be stuffed, notwithstanding many difficulties, accompanying its enor- mous size and ponderous weight. The external part is complete, except the portion between the anal fin and the caudal. “The general appearance of the fish is very ugly, with the flat and blunt head, straight, terminal mouth and the small eyes. The skin is fine-grained, 144 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [vo. 48 except five longitudinal smooth bands one dorsal median and two pairs lat- eral. The ventral lateral band seems to be continuous to the keel on each side of the tail (fig. 1). “The eyes very small, situated at the sides of the head near the margin of the colored portion of the head. The nictitating membrane wanting. The spiracles are nearly the same in size and are on the same level, with the eyes. The nostrils are at the anterior extremity of the head. They open at the labial boundary of the mouth. “The mouth is nearly straight and opens at the anterior extremity of the head too. A labial fold from the nostril to the corner of the mouth on the upper jaw and a shorter fold from the corner of the mouth on the lower jaw (fig. 2). “The teeth are very minute and numerous. They are nearly equal in size and shape. Each tooth is acutely pointed, laterally compressed and with an ellipsoidal root. The band of teeth on the upper jaw is curved a little and at each end of the band there is a detached group of teeth. The band on the lower jaw is crescent shaped. In each band the teeth are arranged in a great many transverse rows, about 300 in number. In the middle part of the band we count 16-30 teeth in one row. “The gill openings are five in number and are very wide. The second pair is widest and measures 86 cm. The last pair is most narrow, it opens above the base of the pectoral fins, where the body is very broad and high. The pectoral fins are large and strong. The first dorsal fin is inserted a little behind the middle of the body. The second dorsal fin is very small. The ventral fins are inserted below the first dorsal. The clasper is simple with a dorsal groove. The anal fin is very small. It is just below the second dorsal. The caudal fin is large and lunate. Its ventral lobe is well de- veloped. “The color is greyish brown with white round spots and transverse bands, but the ventral side is colorless. The white round spots are small and crowded near the anterior end of the body but become gradually larger and fewer backwards. The caudal fin, the second dorsal the ventrals and the anal are destitute of white markings. “The stuffed animal now measures 800 cm in length and 365 cm in cir- cumference, behind the pectorals. Mr. Oseko tells me that the skin has shrunk much and that the fish measured nearly 1000 cm when fresh. He says, moreover, that the shark was covered with many sucking fishes and one of these fishes and a pole made of oak (ca. 30 cm long) were found in the stomach. “Though the hitherto-known allied species (Rhinodon typicus Smith and Micristodus punctatus Gill) are described insufficiently, I am inclined to be- UU Fie. 18.—Section of dental plate. Fic. 19.—Teeth of Rhinodon typicus as represented by Muller and Henle. BEAN ] HISTORY OF THE WHALE SHARK lieve that this fish is a new species of the Genus Rhinodon, as it differs from these species in the form of teeth and the labial fold. Hence I propose the name of Rhinodon pentalineatus for this species. “Tokyo, 22 July, 1901.” (Zoologischer Anzeiger, Leipzig, 25 November 1901, pp. 694-695, figs. 2.) The recorded range of this shark was much enlarged by the stranding of an 18 ft. spec- imen on the beach 3 miles north of Ormond, Florida, January 25, 1902, this being the first record of the occurrence of the genus on the Atlantic coast of America. The National Mu- seum was fortunate in obtaining a good skin of this animal; a notice of its capture was pub- lished in Science, February 28, 1902. Dr. Max Weber, in his account of the Siboga Expedition, 1899 to 1900, published in January, 1902, refers on page 88 to the presence of what he believed to be examples of FR. typicus between the islands of Buton and Muna, Celebes. Un- successful efforts were made to capture one of these sharks, much to the regret of the scientists aboard. The following measurements were obtained by the writer from the skin of the animal stranded on the Florida coast: Total length, 18 it. engin to root-ef caudal’: 14 ft.,-6. 1m; Length of maxilla, 21 in. Mandible, 20 in. Width between nostrils, 21 in. Eye, 2 in. Spiracle, 14 in. (doubtful measurement). Gill slits measure in inches as follows: 18, 20, 19, 16 and 13. The distance from the first to the fifth gill opening is about 15 in. The third gill open- ing is slightly in advance of the pectoral, the fourth and fifth slits being over the anterior portion of the pectoral. Width of base of pec- toral, -184—- ine . Length of, péeforal,’ 37. in: Length of first dorsal base, 17 in. The second dorsal fin measures as follows: Base 7 in.; height of front margin II in.; top margin 84 in.; hind margin 7 in. The ventral base 94 in.; 145 Fic. 20.—Dental plate of upper jaw of Florida specimen. 146 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 front margin 10 in.; lower margin 10 in. The anal base 64 in.; front margin 10 in.; hind margin 7 in.; lower margin 9g in. Fic. 21.—Teeth of Florida specimen enlarged. Teeth in lower jaw in fourteen longitudinal rows; in upper jaw there are thirteen longitudinal and about three hundred vertical rows of developed teeth. The lower dental plate is more tapering than the upper; the plate of Doctor Gill’s type of Micristodus punctatus, preserved in the U. S. National Museum, has the teeth in fourteen horizontal and about three hundred and thirty-eight vertical rows. The accompanying photograph of these teeth, by Mr. T. W. Smillie, gives an accurate idea of their form. The example stranded on the Florida coast was dark brownish gray, the carinated longitudinal lines chocolate colored; paler underneath; head profusely spotted with light dots, which also were present on the body though fewer and larger. No trace of the vertical light-colored transverse bands shown in Dr. Smith’s illus- tration, and mentioned by Mr. Kishinouye, present in this specimen, which is number 50,227 of the U. S. National Museum, and pre- served as a dried skin. BIBLIOGRAPHY Smith, Andrew. 1829 Contributions to the Natural History of South Africa. Zool. Jour., No. xvi, pp. 443-444, Jan—May, 1829, London. Smith, Andrew. 1845 Illustrations of the Zool. of South Africa. No. xxm, pl. 26, Lon- don, 1845. Bonaparte, C. L. 1831 Saggio di una Distribuzione Metodica Degli Animali Vertebrati, p. 121, Rome, 1831 (1832). (Giornale Arcadico di Scienze, etc., Vol. 52.) Bonaparte, C. L. 1838 Selachorum Tabula Analytica, p. 10, 1838. SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 48, FL. XXXVD ‘ PHOTOGRAPH OF VERTICAL ROW OF TEETH FROM DENTAL PLATE OF “ MICRISTODUS PUNCTATUS” GILL (Twelve times enlarged.) oh bas wJ hehe BEAN] HISTORY OF THE WHALE SHARK 147 Muller and Henle. 1838 On the Generic Characters of Cartilaginous Fishes, with Descrip- tions of New Genera. Mag. Nat. Hist., Vol. 2, new series, p. 37, London, 1838. Muller and Henle. 1841 Systematische Beschreibung der Plagiostomen, pp. 77-78, Berlin, 1841. Swainson, William. 1838-39 On the Natural History and Classification of Fishes (etc.). Lardner’s Cabinet Cyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 142, Vol. 2, pp. 191, 314, 317. London, 1838-1839. Buist, Dr. 1850 On Shark Fishing at Kurrachee. Proc. Zool. Soc. London, Part 18, 1850, pp. 100-102. Gray, John Edward. 1851 List of Specimens of Fish in the Collection of the British Museum (Chondropterygii). Part 1, pp. 66-67. London, 1851. Dumeéril, Aug. 1865 Hist. Nat. Poissons, 1, Elasmobranches, Plagiostomes, etc., pp. 428- 429, Paris, 1865. Gill, Theodore. 1865 On a New Generic Type of Sharks. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., p. 177, 1865. Gill, Theodore. The Whale Shark (Rhinodon typicus) as an American Fish. Sci- ence, N. S., Vol. xv, No. 386, pp. 824-826, May 23, 1902. Gunther, Albert C. L. G. 1870 Cat. Fishes in Brit. Mus., vim, p. 396, London, 1870. Gunther, Albert C. L. G. 1880 An Introduction to the Study of Fishes. Edinburgh, 1880, p. 323. Gunther, Albert. 1884 Voyage of the “Vettor Pisani.” Nature, Aug. 14, 1884, pp. 365-366. Wright, E. Percival. 1870 Notice of the occurrence of Rhinodon about the Seychelles. Speci- logia Biologica, Dublin, 1870. Animal Life, 1879. Lutken, Christian. 1873 Oversigt over det K. Denske Videns. Selskab Forhandlinger, 1873, pp. 47-66. See basking shark, Selachus maximus. Haly, A. On the occurrence of Rhinodon on the west coast of Ceylon. Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 5th Series, x11, pp. 48-49. Chierchia, G. 1884 The Voyage of the Vetter Pisani. Nature, London, xxx, 1884, p. 365. Thurston, Edgar. 1894 Inspection of the Pearl Fisheries of Ceylon. Bulletin No. 1 of the Madras Museum, 1894, pp. 36-38, pl. 11. 148 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 Jordan and Evermann. 1896 Fishes of North and Middle America. Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. Mus., p. 52, 1806. (Micristodus punctatus Gill.) Kishinouye, Kamakichi. tgor A rare shark, Rhinodon pentalineatus n. sp. Zool. Anzeiger, xxIVv, 1901, pp. 694-695. Weber, Max. 1902 The Siboga Expedition, Livr. 11, Leiden, 1902, p. 88. Observations on large sharks and rays in the Celebes. Bean, Barton A. tgoz2 A Rare Whale Shark. Science, N. S., Vol. xv, No. 374, p. 353, Feb. 28, 1902. Bridge, T. W. 1904 The Cambridge Nat. Hist., Vol. 7, pp. 287, 454, London, 1904. THE AVIAN GENUS BLEDA BONAPARTE AND SOME OF ITS ALLIES By HARRY C. OBERHOLSER The group of Pycnonotidae called Bleda, or until recently Xeno- cichla, has long been known as a very heterogeneous assemblage. No satisfactory arrangement of this genus has yet been published, nor indeed do scarcely any two authors agree concerning the proper limits of the group. It is evident on even the most superficial examination that Bleda, constituted for instance as it is in Dr. Sharpe’s recent work,’ contains species of several very different types of structure, which are sufficiently well characterized to war- rant generic segregation. Most assuredly they are quite as different as the reasonably and almost universally recognized genera Jvono- tus, Phyllastrephus, Chlorocichla, Andropadus, Alophoixus, and even Trichophorus (Criniger Auct.), so that if the current components of Bleda are to be considered congeneric, there is no good reason for not merging all the above mentioned genera into one great group, which shall include Bleda also. ‘There is, in fact, no middle ground here, and if any criterion is to be set for generic subdivision, that criterion should be adhered to with at least measurable consistency. There is no difficulty in defining the groups recognized in the present revision unless they are connected by species not examined by the author, which from the descriptions of such seems not to be the case. Very naturally the proper division and arrangement of Bleda has involved other closely related genera, and in order that their rela- tionships might be best shown, these groups have been included in the succeeding exposition. . The principal measurements of which use is hereinafter made have been taken as follows: Wing.—The distance from the bend of the wing to the tip of longest primary, taken with dividers without straightening the quills. Tail—tThe distance from the coccygeal insertion of the middle feathers to the tip of the longest rectrix. Exposed culmen (length of bill).—The chord of the culmen, taken from its tip to the point where the feathers of the forehead impinge on its base. * Hand-List Gen. and Spec. Birds, 111, 1901, pp. 320-323. 149 I50 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 Tarsus.—Measured from the center of the heel eae behind to the edge of the last tarsal scute in front. This paper is based about equally on the collection of the United States National Museum and that of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, and the writer would here express his con- sequent obligations to the authorities of these institutions. TRICHOPHORUS Temminck Tricophorus (err. typ.) TEMMINcK, PI. Col. 11, livr. 15, 1821, pl. 88 (type Trichophorus barbatus Temminck). Trichophorus TEMMINck, PI. Col. m1, livr. 15, 1821, pl. 88 (type Tricho- phorus barbatus Temminck). Criniger TEMMINCK, Pl. Col. ut, livr. 15, 1821, pl. 88, footnote (type Trichophorus barbatus Temminck). Trichas GLoceER, Froriep’s Notizen, xvi, 1827, p. 278 (type Trichophorus barbatus Temminck). Hypotrichas HEINE, Journ. f. Ornith., 1860, p. 138 (type Trichophorus calurus Cassin). Chars. gen.—Similar to Bleda, but head conspicuously crested; throat feathers lengthened ; nuchal hairs long, not branched; bill not higher than broad at base, its height at base more than one-third of exposed culmen, the culmen curved from base, the gonys not strongly ascending. Description.—Tail shorter than wing, but usually not less than five-sixths of it; throat feathers lengthened; tarsus scutellate; wing 4% to about 5% times the length of the tarsus; tarsus not shorter than exposed culmen, sometimes 1% times as long; head dis- tinctly crested; nuchal hairs long (25 mm. or more), not branched ; rictal bristles long, reaching at least about half way to end of bill; bill stout, rather short, somewhat compressed, higher than broad at anterior edge of nostrils, but at base equal in height and breadth, or broader than high; height of bill at base more than one-third the length of exposed culmen; culmen curved from base; gonys only slightly ascending; maxillar tomium with only one subterminal notch; nostrils rounded oval, slightly or not at all operculate an- teriorly, but distinctly, sometimes broadly so posteriorly; frontal feathering not extending beyond posterior edge of nostrils ;* bristles of nostrils long and rather numerous. Type.—Trichophorus barbatus TEMMINCK. This ends as here restricted differs from all its allies below 1 This means that no feathers grow above or below the nostrils, although those inserted behind sometimes project over or beyond the posterior portion of the open nares. OBERHOLSER] THE AVIAN GENUS BLEDA I51 treated in the possession of a well-marked crest, and from the various individual genera in also other respects which will be evident in the following diagnoses. The name Criniger, by which this group has been usually desig- nated, is untenable, and should be replaced by Trichophorus. It will readily be seen, on examination of the original description of Criniger’ that the characters there given might with equal pro- priety apply to any of several African genera of Pycnonotidae; no particular species is mentioned in connection with the name; and it is said to be founded on five undescribed species from western Africa! In fact Criniger is here a nomen nudum, and is identifiable only by Temminck’s later statement in his larger work where he proposes Trichophorus for the same birds and explicitly repudiates Crimger.* In this place, after giving a detailed diagnosis of his genus Trichophorus he makes the following observation: “ Ce genre a été indiqué dans l’Analyse du systéme, voyez Manuel d’Ornith- ologie, page Lx”; to which he adds the following footnote: “(1) Le genre 12° de la page citée renferme d’analyse du genre Crinon, que nous avions nommé en latin Criniger. Cette dénomina- tion ayant été jugée vicieuse, nous proposons celle de Trichophorus, pour nom scientifique du genre.” In view of this, there seems to be no way to avoid the rejection of Criniger and the acceptance of Trichophorus. The former, moreover, should date from the same place, but only as a synonym of Trichophorus. A word might also be said regarding the proper spelling of Trichophorus. Where the term first appears, as a heading to the generic diagnosis,® it is spelled Tricophorus, but in the above quoted footnote on the same page, as well as in the succeeding description of Trichophorus bar- batus, it is written Trichophorus, which fact seems to furnish ample justification for regarding the form “ Tricophorus” as a typo- graphical error, and for consequently accepting the proper spelling Trichophorus. The removal of several East Indian forms which are clearly not congeneric leaves this genus a fairly homogeneous one, and admits of a satisfactory diagnosis. Some of the African species have rather *Temminck, Man. Orn., 1, 1820, p. 1x. 2“ Formé de cing espéces nouvelles qui n’ont point de type parmi celles connues; toutes sont de cotes occidentales d’Afrique; plusieurs ont un bouquet de crins a la nuque.” Jdem, Ibid., pp. 1x—Ixi. SP Colvaimt livieers, 1621, pl Ss. SPisColetieslivas 15, o2t> ple so. 5 Tbid. 152 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS __ [VOL. 48 broader bills with a more extended nasal operculum, and vary some in other proportions, but the differences do not seem sufficiently marked to render advisable at present a further subdivision of the group. Of the species now to be referred to this genus, one, Trichophorus gularis (Horsfield),* requires to be renamed, since its present title is preoccupied by Turdus gularis Latham? which is Cinclus merula (SCHAFFER) (== aquaticus Auct.) ; and it may be known as Tricho- phorus xanthizurus. A list of the species of this genus follows: Trichophorus chloronotus Cassin. Trichophorus calurus Cassin. Trichophorus verreauxi verreauxt (Sharpe). Trichophorus verreauxi ndussumensis (Reichenow). Trichophorus flaveolus Gould. Trichophorus frater (Sharpe). Trichophorus burmanicus (Oates). Trichophorus griseiceps (Hume). Trichophorus salangae (Sharpe). Trichophorus xanthizurus Oberholser (= gularis Horsfield, nec Latham). Trichophorus tephrogenys Jardine and Selby (= gutturalis Bonaparte). Trichophorus sordidus (Richmond). Trichophorus henrict (Oustalet). Trichophorus pallidus (Swinhoe). Trichophorus ruficrissus (Sharpe). Trichophorus sumatranus (Wardlaw-Ramsay). Trichophorus barbatus Temminck. Trichophorus conradi (Finsch). Trichophorus finschi (Salvadori). Trichophorus palawanensis (Tweeddale). * ALOPHOIXUS Oates. Alophoixus Oates, Fauna Brit. India, Birds, 1, 1889, p. 259. Chars. gen.—Similar to Trichophorus, but differing chiefly in having no occipital crest, and a much less evident nasal operculum. Description.—Tail about five-sixths of wing; throat feathers lengthened; tarsus scutellate; wing about 41% times the length of the tarsus; tarsus 114 to 114 times the length of exposed culmen ; head not crested ; nuchal hairs long (25 mm. or more), not branched ; rictal bristles reaching at least half way to end of bill; bill stout, rather short, moderately compressed, higher than broad at anterior edge of nostrils, slightly broader than high at base, its height at base more than one-third the length of exposed culmen; culmen curved 1Turdus gularis Horsfield, Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond., x11, 1821, p. 150. *Turdus gularis Latham, Suppl. Ind. Orn., 1801, p. xl. OBERHOLSER] THE AVIAN GENUS BLEDA 153 from base; gonys slightly ascending ; maxillar tomium with but one subterminal notch; nostrils much rounded, scarcely operculate, and if at all, only posteriorly; frontal feathering not extending beyond posterior edge of nostrils; bristles of nostrils long and rather numerous. Type—tIxos phaeocephalus HArTLAvus. This is a small group apparently well entitled to generic rank, though in most respects very similar to Trichophorus, with which of course it has closest affinity. Its long, unbranched nuchal hairs and lengthened throat feathers will serve readily to distinguish it from other allied genera which have rounded nostrils. The only species of this group are: Alophoixus phaeocephalus (Hartlaub). Alophoixus diardi (Finsch). IDIOCICHLA’ gen. nov. Chars. gen.—Similar to Bleda, but bill much shorter, its height at base decidedly more than one-third of exposed culmen; culmen not straight; tarsus at least 114 times exposed culmen. Description.—Tail about nine-tenths of wing; throat feathers not lengthened; tarsus scutellate; wing about 4 times the length of tarsus; tarsus 14%4 to 1% times exposed culmen; head not crested; nuchal hairs short (less than 20 mm.), much branched ; rictal bristles strong, reaching at least two-thirds the length of the bill; bill stout, rather short, compressed, much higher than broad at anterior edge of nostrils, about equal in height and breadth at base, its height at base more than one-third of exposed culmen; culmen somewhat curved; gonys decidedly ascending; mixillar tomium with but one subterminal notch; nostrils rounded oval, only slightly operculate, and that posteriorly ; forehead feathered to posterior edge of nostrils ; nasal bristles long and numerous. Type.—Trichophorus notatus CASSIN. This group is most closely allied to Bleda, and scarcely needs com- parison -with other genera unless possibly with Thescelocichla, Alophoixus, and Trichophorus, for all the others with superficial re- semblance have linear or lengthened nostrils. The species are: Idiocichla notata (Cassin). Idiocichla canicapilla (Hartlaub). 1idvoc, distinctus; KivAy, turdus. ? Postea, p. 154. 154 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 BLEDA Bonaparte Bleda Bonaparte, Rev. et Mag. Zool., Feb., 1857, p. 50 (type, Dasy- cephala syndactyla Swainson). Xenocichla Hartitaus, Orn. Westafr., 1857, p. 86 (type, Dasycephala syndactyla Swainson). Chars. gen.—Resembling Alophoixus, but throat feathers not lengthened ; nuchal hairs short (less than 20 mm.), much branched : tarsus about equal to exposed culmen; height of bill at base not more than one-third of exposed culmen; gonys strongly ascending; bill longer and more compressed, the culmen straight except at decurved tip ; nasal operculum more evident. Description.—Tail about nine-tenths of wing; throat feathers not lengthened ; tarsus scutellate; wing about 4% times the tarsus; ex- posed culmen and tarsus about equal; head not crested ; nuchal hairs short (less than 20 mm.), much branched; rictal -bristles long, reach- ing about half way to end of bill; bill large and stout, decidedly com- pressed, higher than broad at base and at anterior edge of nostrils, the height at base about equal to one-third of exposed culmen, but sometimes less; culmen straight, except of course at decurved tip; gonys strongly ascending, the angle conspicuous; maxilla with but one subterminal notch; nostrils rounded oval, somewhat operculate, chiefly posteriorly ; frontal feathering not extending beyond hinder edge of nostrils; nasal bristles long and rather numerous. Type.—Dasycephala syndactyla SwAINsON. As here constituted, this is a fairly well defined group, and by reason of the structure of the nostrils much more nearly related to Trichophorus, Alophoixus, Idiocichla, and Thescelocichla than to several other groups that have, like the two latter, often, if not usually, been considered congeneric. The species here included in this genus are: Bleda syndactyla (Swainson). Bleda eximia (Hartlaub). Bleda xavieri (Oustalet). Bleda multicolor (Bocage). THESCELOCICHLA’ gen. nov. Chars. gen.—Similar to Bleda, but rictal bristles weak ; bill shorter, not so stout, its height less than its breadth at base, but more than one-third of exposed culmen; culmen curved at least on distal two- thirds; gonys almost horizontal; tarsus about 114 times exposed culmen. 19écKxezoc, mirabilis; «/y27, turdus. OBERHOLSER] THE AVIAN GENUS BLEDA 155 Description.—Tail about nine-tenths of wing; throat feathers not lengthened ; tarsus rather lightly scutellate; wing about 414 times the tarsus ; tarsus about 114 times exposed culmen; head not crested; nuchal hairs short (less than 20 mm.), branched; rictal bristles weak, reaching only about one-third the length of the bill, not ex- tending beyond the anterior edge of nostrils; bill rather strong, moderately lengthened, somewhat compressed, higher than broad at anterior edge of nostrils, but broader than high at base, its height at base more than one-third of exposed culmen; culmen curved almost from base; gonys only slightly ascending; maxillar tomium with but one subterminal notch ; nostrils rounded oval, a very little or not at all operculate, posteriorly; frontal feathering not extending beyond posterior margin of nostrils; bristles of nostrils few and short. Type.—Phyllastrephus leucopleurus Cassin. This genus is so different from Bleda (syndactyla) that it seems rather remarkably to have escaped separation until now. Of its other allies possessing roundish nostrils it needs further comparison with only Idiocichla, from which, however, it is easily distinguished. Apparently the only species belonging here 1s: Thescelocichla leucopleura (Cassin). ATIMASTILLAS’ gen. nov. Chars. gen.—Resembling Bleda, but nostrils lengthened; rictal bristles weak; height of bill at base much more than one-third of exposed culmen; culmen curved from base; gonys but slightly ascending, the angle not conspicuous; tarsus much longer than cul- men; bristles of nostrils few and short. Description —Tail about equal to wing or slightly less; throat feathers not lengthened; tarsus scutellate; wing about 41% times the tarsus; tarsus about 13g times the exposed culmen; head not crested ; nuchal hairs short, branched; rictal bristles weak, reaching not more than one-third the length of bill, and not beyond anterior edge of nostrils; bill stout, rather short, somewhat compressed, higher than broad at anterior edge of nostrils, about equal in height and breadth at base, its height at base nearly one-half the exposed culmen ; culmen much curved from base; gonys only a little ascend- ing; maxilla with but one subterminal notch; nostrils lengthened oval, operculate ; frontal feathering not extending beyond posterior edge of nostrils; nasal bristles very few and short. *ariuaotoc, neglectus; ‘AAdc, turdus. 156 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 Type.—Haematornis flavicollis SwAINSON. This genus is superficially close to Thescelocichla, but aside from the lengthened, conspicuously operculate nostrils, by which it may be readily distinguished, it has a somewhat shorter tail, and a much more arched bill. The four forms here referred to this genus are apparently only subspecifically distinct : Atimastillas flavicollis flavicollis (Swainson). Atimastillas flavicollis shelleyi (Neumann). Atimastillas flavicollis pallidigula (Sharpe). Atimastillas flavicollis tlavigula (Cabanis). PROSPHOROCICHLA’ nom. nov. Pyrrhurus Cassin, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1859, p. 46 (type Phyllas- trephus scandens Swainson) (nec Pyrrhura Bonaparte). Chars. gen.—Similar to Bleda, but nostrils lengthened, conspic- uously operculate; rictal and nasal bristles weaker; culmen curved from base; gonys only slightly ascending ; bill shorter, somewhat de- pressed, its height less than its breadth at base, its height at base more than one-third the exposed culmen; tarsus about 1% times the length of exposed culmen. Description.—Tail about nine-tenths of wing, or slightly more; throat feathers not lengthened ; tarsus scutellate ; wing 4 to 41% times the tarsus; tarsus 1% to 134 times the exposed culmen; head not crested; nuchal hairs rather long, much branched; rictal bristles rather weak, not reaching half the length of the bill; bill of moderate length, somewhat depressed, higher than broad at anterior edge of nostrils, broader than high at base, the height at base more than one- third the exposed culmen; culmen curved almost from base; gonys but slightly ascending; maxilla with but one subterminal notch; nostrils lengthened oval, operculate throughout; frontal feathering not extending beyond posterior edge of nostrils; nasal bristles few and rather short. Type.—Phyllastrephus scandens SwAINSON. Captain Shelley has united Ptyrticus Hartlaub with the present group,” but an examination of even the description and figures of Ptyrticus® seems quite sufficient to indicate that it is very different; furthermore, it apparently does not belong in the same family! This genus was long ago named Pyrrhurus by Cassin,* but 1 rpdogopoc, similis; K/xAy, turdus. 2 Ibis, 1899, p. 373. ®Hartlaub, Zool. Jahrb., 1, 1887, p. 314, pl. x1, fig. I. * Proc. Acad. Nat. S: 3. Phila., 1859, p. 46. OBERHOLSER | THE AVIAN GENUS BLEDA 157 Pyrrhurus is preoccupied by Pyrrhura Bonaparte’ given to a group of Psittacide; and, as there are no synonyms, it has been renamed as above. An examination of the specimens of Prosphorocichla scandens from the Ogobai, or Ogowe, River, Gabun, recorded by Cassin as Pyrrhurus pallescens,? and still in the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, has developed the fact that they are very different from true scandens of Senegal. Since Trichophorus pallescens Hart- laub? is based on specimens from Gambia, and is identical with scandens, the Gabun bird is apparently without a name. Through the courtesy of Mr. Witmer Stone it is here described, and called: PROSPHOROCICHLA SCANDENS ACEDIS subsp. nov. Chars. subsp.—Similar to Prosphorocichla scandens scandens, but decidedly smaller; entire upper parts, with sides of head, darker, the lores barely paler than the crown, and together with the back and scapulars, less ochraceous (more grayish), the rump less tawny ; superior wing-coverts and outer vanes of primaries much more grayish (less rufescent), barely different from the back ; under wing- coverts darker, more grayish; lower parts, excepting the crissum, grayish white without buff or cream color, except for a faint tinge on the middle of lower breast and abdomen. Description.—Type, adult, sex unknown, No. 17,028, collection Academy Nat. Sci. Phila.; Ogobai River, Gabun, western Africa, 1858; P. Du Chaillu. Head brownish slate, lighter on forehead; back and scapulars grayish brown; rump more rufescent; upper tail-coverts and tail tawny, the shafts paler; wing-quills and their superior coverts grayish brown, scarcely more rufescent than the back, the exterior margins of most of the outer primaries a little paler; lores and sides of head and neck brownish slate gray about like the forehead but rather more brownish; lower parts dull white, shaded with gray across the breast and with brownish gray on the sides and flanks, the center of abdomen and lower breast slightly washed with yellowish; crissum buff; under wing-coverts olive gray mixed with yellowish. From Prosphorocichla scandens orientalist this new form differs *Bonaparte, Naumannia, 1856, p. 352 (table); Souancé, Rev. et Mag. Zool., 1857, p. 97; Bonaparte, Compt. Rend., xiv, 1857, p. 538. 2 Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1859, p. 46. 3 Orn. Westafr., 1857, p. 86. * Xenocichla orientalis Hartlaub, Journ. f. Ornith., 1883, p. 425 (Tamaja, British Equatorial Africa). 158 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 in larger size; much darker top and sides of head; darker sides of neck; and less yellowish lower surface. Comparative measurements of the three forms are as follows: Name. | Locality. Wing. | Tail. aa Tarsus. ges Prosphorocichla scandens | Senegal. 118 109 15.52 | oy.5 fone scandens. | : ‘ Prosphorocichla scandens | Ogobai River, 96 88 T5528 16 acedts.} Gabun. | Prosphorocichla scandens | Ogobai River, 100 96 15.5 | 25 16.5 acedts. | Gabun. | Prosphorocichla scandens | Tamaja, British 93 80 15 | 22 — orientalis.? Equatorial Africa. | This genus apparently comprises only the following: Prosphorocichla scandens scandens (Swainson) (= pallescens Hartlaub). Prosphorocichla scandens acedis Oberholser. Prosphorocichla scandens orientalis (Hartlaub). BAEOPOGON Heine Baeopogon Herne, Journ. f. Ornith., 1860, p. 139. Chars. gen.—Somewhat resembling Bleda, but tail very much shorter; nostrils linear, operculate; bill shorter, much depressed, broader than high at base, the culmen curved almost throughout, the gonys but slightly ascending ; rictal and nasal bristles much shorter ; tarsus relatively longer. Description—Tail about three-fourths of wing; throat feathers not lengthened ; tarsus strongly scutellate; wing nearly 5 times the tarsus; tarsus 114 times the culmen; head not crested; hairs on nape short, much compound; rictal bristles reaching about one-third the length of the bill, not beyond the anterior margin of nostrils; bill rather short and stout, decidedly depressed, much broader than high both at base and anterior edge of nostrils, its height at base about equal to one-third the length of exposed culmen ; culmen moderately curved almost or quite from. base; gonys but slightly ascending ; maxillar tomium with only one subterminal notch; nostrils linear, strongly operculate, the frontal feathering not extending beyond their posterior margin; nasal vibrissae few and short. Type.—Criniger indicator VERREAUX. This very distinct genus may easily be distinguished from all its * Type. 2 Measurements from original description, loc. cit. * Imperfect. OBERHOLSER] THE AVIAN GENUS BLEDA 159 allies by its much abbreviated tail, as well as by various other ex- cellent characters. The species are: Baeopogon indicator (Verreaux) (= batesi Sharpe). Baeopogon clamans (Sj6stedt). IXONOTUS Verreaux Ixonotus VERREAUX, Rev. et Mag. Zool., 1851, p. 306. Chars. gen.—Similar to Prosphorocichla, but nuchal hairs shorter, not branched ;.tarsus relatively shorter ; bill shorter, equal in height and breadth at anterior edge of nostrils, its height at base about equal to one-third the length of exposed culmen. Description.—Tail about nine-tenths of wing; throat feathers not lengthened; tarsus scutellate; wing about 4% times the tarsus; tarsus about 13 times the exposed culmen; head not crested ; nuchal hairs very short, not branched; rictal bristles not reaching half the length of the bill—but little beyond anterior edge of nostrils; bill rather short, somewhat depressed, with height and breadth about equal at anterior edge of nostrils, the height less than the breadth at base, the height at base about equal to one-third the exposed cul- men; culmen curved from base; gonys only slightly ascending ; maxilla with only one subterminal notch; nostrils almost linear, operculate, the frontal feathering extending only to their posterior margin ; nasal bristles few and short. Type.—Ixonotus guttatus VERREAUX. This genus is apparently most closely allied to Prosphorocichla, from which it differs as above stated, but these characters are by no means as great as those separating Prosphorocichla from Bleda; and Ivonotus, so many and decided are its differences, hardly needs comparison with Bleda as here restricted. The two species of this group are: Ixonotus guttatus Verreaux. Txonotus landanae Oustalet. . PHYLLASTREPHUS Swainson Phyllastrephus Swatnson, Fauna Bor. Amer., 1, 1831, p. 486 (type Le Jaboteur, Levaillant). Phyllostrophus Sunpevatt, Av. Disp. Tentamen, 1872, p. 20 (nom. emend. pro Phyllastrephus). Chars. gen—Similar to Ixonotus, but bill longer, more slender, somewhat compressed, higher than broad at anterior edge of nostrils, the culmen almost straight except at tip; nostrils more oval; nuchal hairs much branched. 160 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 Description.—Tail less than wing, but usually at least nine-tenths of it; throat feathers not lengthened ; tarsus scutellate; wing 314 to 4% times the tarsus ; tarsus 1144 to 1% times the culmen ; head not crested ; nuchal hairs short, much branched; rictal bristles rather weak, not reaching beyond the middle of the bill; bill rather long and slender, somewhat compressed, higher than broad at anterior edge of nostrils, approximately equal in height and breadth at base, the height at base about equal to one-third.the length of exposed culmen; culmen almost straight except at tip; gonys nearly straight—only slightly ascending ; maxillar tomium with but one subterminal notch; nostrils lengthened oval, operculate, the frontal feathering not extending to their posterior margin; nasal bristles few and short. Type.—Phyllastrephus terrestris SWAINSON. The rather long, slender bill, and straight culmen, in combination with various other characters, render this genus easily distinguishable _ from all its allies. The following species appear to be referable to this group, though ° a few of them are somewhat aberrant: Phyllastrephus terrestris terrestris Swainson (= capensis Swainson) .* Phyllastrephus terrestris suahelicus (Reichenow). Phyllastrephus strepitans strepitans (Reichenow) (=sharpet Shelley). ‘Phyllastrephus strepitans rufescens (Hartlaub) (= pauper Sharpe, et par- vus Fischer and Reichenow). Phyllastrephus cerviniventris Shelley. Phyllastrephus fulviventris Cabanis. Phyllastrephus simplex (Hartlaub) (= harterti Reichenow, et marchei Oustalet). Phyllastrephus placidus (Shelley). Phyllastrephus poensis Alexander. Phyllastrephus cabanisi cabanisi (Sharpe). Phyllastrephus cabanisi sucosus (Reichenow). Phyllastrephus baumanni Reichenow. Phyllastrephus flavostriatus (Sharpe) (= tenuirostris Fischer and Reiche- now). Phyllastrephus alfredi (Shelley). Phyllastrephus debilis (W. Sclater). Phyllastrephus fischeri (Reichenow). Phyllastrephus kretschmeri Reichenow and Naumann. ARGALEOCICHLA? gen. nov. Chars. gen.—Similar to Phyllastrephus, but bill more depressed, much broader than high at base, about equal in height and breadth at anterior edge of nostrils, the height at base much less than one- *Cf. Richmond, Auk, 1900, p. 179. 2apyanéoc, difficilis; xixAy, turdus. : : OBERHOLSER] THE AVIAN GENUS BLEDA 161 third the length of exposed culmen; nostrils more lengthened; tarsus less than 114 times the length of exposed culmen; nuchal hairs less branched ; rictal and nasal bristles decidedly longer. Description—Tail about nine-tenths of wing; throat feathers not lengthened ; tarsus scutellate; wing about 4 times the tarsus; tarsus 1¥% times the exposed culmen; head not crested; nuchal hairs short (less than 20 mm.), slightly branched; rictal bristles long, reaching about two-thirds the length of the bill; bill long, rather slender, de- pressed, equal in height and breadth at anterior edge of nostrils, much broader than high at base, its height at the latter point much less than one-third the length of exposed culmen; culmen, except at tip, straight or even slightly concave; gonys somewhat ascending ; maxilla with one subterminal notch; nostrils linear, operculate, the frontal feathering extending only to their posterior margin; bristles of nostrils long and rather numerous. Type.—tTrichophorus icterinus BONAPARTE. The present more careful examination has convinced us that we were wrong in considering the type of this genus congeneric with Bleda syndactyla. It is in reality very distinct, differing from Bleda in its linear nostrils; less branched nuchal hairs; relatively longer rictal bristles ; more slender, depressed bill, with less sharply ascend- ing gonys; and longer tarsus, as compared with length of culmen. The generic separation of this species from Criniger ictericus Strick- land will doubtless do away with all objection to the use of its earliest and therefore correct specific name icterina. Some doubt exists regarding the reference of Xenocichla polio- cephala Reichenow to this genus, as the species has not been avail- able for examination. It certainly does not belong in Bleda, nor do its characters, in so far as they have been expressed in published diagnoses, seem to fit any other genus so well as Argaleocichla. It is even possible that a new genus will be necessary for its reception. The only species that appear to belong under this heading are: Argaleocichla icterina (Bonaparte) (= tricolor Cassin). Argaleocichla poliocephala (Reichenow). THAPSINILLAS? gen. nov. Chars. gen.—Similar to Trichophorus, but head not crested ; throat feathers not lengthened; nuchal hairs short; nostrils linear, opercu- late ; tarsus much shorter than culmen, and more than 5% times con- *Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xx, 1899, p. 14. 2Oapiwoc, flavus; iAAac, turdus. 162 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 tained in the length of wing; bill longer and relatively more slender, the culmen almost straight; rictal bristles much weaker. Description.—Tail about nine-tenths of wing; throat feathers not lengthened ; tarsus slightly scutellate; wing about 534 to 6 times the length of tarsus; tarsus only about five-sixths of exposed culmen; head not crested; nuchal hairs short, not branched; rictal bristles rather weak, reaching about one-third the length of bill, and scarcely beyond the nostrils; bill lengthened, somewhat compressed, higher than broad at anterior edge of nostrils; not quite so high as broad at base, the height at base about equal to one-third the exposed culmen; culmen only slightly curved—almost straight except at tip; gonys distinctly ascending; maxillar tomium with but one sub- terminal notch; nostrils more or less linear, much operculate, the frontal feathering not extending beyond their posterior edge; nasal vibrissze long and moderately numerous. Type.—Criniger affinis HoMBRON and JACQUINOT. The species of this genus, though heretofore included in Tricho- phorus, are really very different in structural details from the typical members of the latter, and indeed are much more closely allied to Phyllastrephus, Argaleocichla, and several other African groups. From all the related genera with lengthened nostrils Thapsimillas may easily be distinguished, however, by its very short tarsus, this being considerably less than the exposed culmen. The following species belong here : Thapsinillas affinis (Jacquinot and Pucheran). Thapsinillas mystacalis (Wallace). Thapsinillas longirostris (Wallace). Thapsinillas platenae (W. Blasius). Thapsinillas aurea (Walden). ACRITILLAS’ gen. nov. Chars. gen.—Somewhat similar to Bleda, but nostrils linear, operculate ; nuchal hairs not appreciably branched ; bill much shorter, more slender, depressed, the culmen curved from base, the gonys nearly or quite horizontal; tarsus decidedly longer than culmen. Description.—Tail a little more than nine-tenths of wing; throat feathers not lengthened ; tarsus at least slightly scutellate; wing 4% to 434 times the tarsus; tarsus 1% times the exposed culmen; head not crested; hairs on occiput and nape short, not branched; rictal bristles reaching from one-third to one-half the length of the bill; bill rather slender, somewhat depressed, higher than broad at anterior 1 axpitoc, confusus; tAAac, turdus. OBERHOLSER ] THE AVIAN GENUS BLEDA 163 edge of nostrils, broader than high at base, its height at the latter point about equal to one-third of the exposed culmen ; culmen curved from base; gonys straight or very nearly so; maxilla with but one subterminal notch; nostrils linear, strongly operculate, the frontal feathering extending not beyond their posterior margin; bristles of nostrils rather few and of moderate length. Type.—Criniger ictericus STRICKLAND. In many of its characters this genus is far removed from Bleda, and is indeed much nearer even Thapsinillas. Its points of difference from all neighboring groups may be easily seen by consulting the diagnoses given. Apparently the only species referable here are: Acritillas icterica (Strickland). Acritillas chloris (Finsch). Acritillas lucasi (Hartert). ARIZELOCICHLA’ gen. nov. Chars. gen.—In some respects resembling Bleda, but nostrils linear, strongly operculate, the basal half of the operculum more or less feathered; bill much shorter, more turdine, depressed at base, its height at this point decidedly more than one-third the length of exposed culmen; culmen curved from base ; gonys almost horizontal ; tarsus very much longer than exposed culmen. Description—Tail about nine-tenths of wing, or somewhat more ; throat feathers not lengthened; tarsus scutellate; wing 334 to 44 times the tarsus; tarsus 124 to 134 times the exposed culmen; head not crested ; nuchal hairs short, much branched; rictal bristles reach- ing about half way to end of bill; bill moderately slender, very thrush- like, somewhat depressed, higher than broad at anterior edge of nostrils, decidedly broader than high at base, its height at base more than one-third the length of exposed culmen; culmen curved nearly or quite from base; gonys only slightly ascending; maxilla with but one subterminal notch; nostrils linear, much operculate, the frontal feathering extending more or less continuously above them to about the middle of the operculum ; nasal bristles few and rather short. Type.—Xenocichla nigriceps SHELLEY. Excellent evidence of the hitherto unsatisfactory generic position of the type and several other species of this group is the manner in which various authors have treated them, placing them first in one genus, then in another, with scarcely any uniformity or agreement. Least of all the genera to which they have been at times referred lapitnaAoc, evidens; Kix/A7, turdus. 164 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 do they belong in Bleda; but find apparently their nearest ally in Chlorocichla, from which, however, they may be readily distin- guished. The species are: Arizelocichla nigriceps (Shelley). Arizelocichla olivacea (Swainson). Arizelocichla albigularis (Sharpe) (=leucolaema Sharpe). Arizelocichla fusciceps (Shelley). Arizelocichla falkensteint (Reichenow). Arizelocichla chlorigula (Reichenow) (=chlorolaema Sharpe). Arizelocichla striifacies (Reichenow and Neumann). Arizelocichla kikuyuensis (Sharpe). Arizelocichla milanjensis (Shelley). Arizelocichla kakamejae (Sharpe). Arizelocichla tephrolaema (Gray). CHLOROCICHLA Sharpe Chlorocichla SHarpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., v1, 1881, p. 112. Chars. gen.—Similar to Arizelocichla, but tail about equal to wing ; nuchal hairs rather shorter ; bill stouter, more compressed, and rela- tively shorter, the frontal feathering extending farther out on nasal operculum. Description.—Tail equal to wing, or very slightly shorter; throat feathers not lengthened; tarsus strongly scutellate; wing about 334 times the length of tarsus; tarsus about 114 times the exposed cul- men; head not crested; hairs on nucha short, branched; rictal bristles rather weak, reaching about half way to end of bill; bill moderately short, somewhat stout and compressed, higher than broad at anterior edge of nostrils, broader than high at base, the height at base, however, more than one-third the length of exposed culmen; culmen curved from base; gonys slightly ascending; maxilla with one subterminal notch; nostrils almost linear, operculate, the basal three-fourths of the operculum more or less feathered ; nasal bristles few and short. Type.—Trichophorus flaviventris SMITH. This excellent genus is very different from both Bleda and Phyllastrephus, under each of which it has at times been placed. All its forms appear to be subspecies of a single species. They are: Chlorocichla flaviventris flaviventris (Smith). Chlorocichla flaviventris mombasae (Shelley). Chlorocichla flaviventris centralis (Reichenow). Chlorocichla flaviventris zambesiae (Shelley). Chlorocichla flaviventris occidentalis (Sharpe). OBEREOLSER ] \ THE AVIAN GENUS BLEDA 165 STELGIDILLAS Oberholser Stelgidillas OBERHOLSER, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xxu, 1899, p. 30. Chars. gen.—Similar to Arizelocichla, but maxilla with several (3 to 4) subterminal notches; bill proportionately longer and more slender, its height at base less than one-third the length of exposed culmen, the culmen nearly straight except’ at tip; rictal bristles much shorter ; nuchal hairs not noticeably branched. Description.—Tail slightly more than nine-tenths of wing, but not equal to wing; throat feathers not lengthened; tarsus rather lightly scutellate ; wing about 4 times the length of tarsus; tarsus about 14 times the exposed culmen; head not crested; nuchal hairs short, not appreciably branched; rictal bristles short and weak, reaching but little beyond the anterior edge of nostrils; bill rather long and comparatively slender, depressed, equal in height and breadth at anterior edge of nostrils, broader than high at base, the height at the latter point less than one-third the length of exposed culmen; culmen only slightly curved—nearly straight, except at tip; gonys almost horizontal, though a little ascending; maxillar tomium with several (3 to 4) subterminal notches, of which the distal one is the most pronounced ; nostrils almost linear, much operculate, the oper- culum feathered, though rather sparsely, on its basal half; nasal bristles few and rather short. Type.—Andropadus gracilirostris STRICKLAND. This peculiar genus forms the first transition step from the long billed forms with a single subterminal maxillar notch, to the short billed ones with a serrate maxilla. The unbranched nuchal hairs show some relationship with Trichophorus, while the much length- ened nostrils indicate its affinity with such groups as Arizelocichla, Acritillas, and Argaleocichla. There seems to be but a single species referable here, which with its several subspecies, is as follows: Stelgidillas gracilirosiris gracilirostris (Strickland). Stelgidillas gracilirostris liberiensis