Page:Cope December 6th 1870.pdf/1

 7. TÆNIDIESTES, Reich.

Gen. Char. Bill robust, varying in color with the sex, as also does the plumage; lower mandible deep, nail prominent, lamellæ not projecting. Feet robust, varying in color with the sex, tarsus shorter than middle toe with claw. Colors of female with metallic reflections on the speculum.

Species Tænidiestes antarctica, Gm. Southern extremity of S. America, and adjacent islands; Chili.

 December 6th.

The President,, in the Chair.

Thirty-three members present.

made some observations on a number of species of from the   , which he had recently studied. He stated that the specimens included parts of ' Cope, ' Cope, ' Cope, and two new s, which he named ' and  respectively. They both belonged to the division with , and the L. ictericus was near  Cope,  , but exhibited a less , and less prominent  external angle of the. which Prof. Cope stated indicated a less extensive flexibility of the  of the.

In L. mudgei the angle was still more, and the pterygoid teeth were not , as in . Remains of the cranium indicated a reptile of 30 feet in length, while those of the L. ictericus belonged to two individuals of 40 and 50 feet in length. A third new of the size of the L. mudgei was described under the name of . It was stated to be much the largest species of the genus, and to differ from the three now known in having the plane of the articular extremities at s to the long axis of the centra, and not to it. From near ; described by Prof. B. F. Mudge. He described a third new Liodon, of gigantic size, stating it to exceed by very much the, and even the Mosasaurus brumbziM. brumbyi [sic] Gibbes, which was till now the largest known species. He pointed out the characters of the vertebræ, which were very much depressed as to the centrum, which measured inches in diameter. It was allied to the , but differed in having a strong of the articular faces to accommodate the. He named it .

also exhibited the and  of Polycotylus, which were like those of , and measured 18 inches in length.

exhibited several specimens of the Maclura aurantiaca, the common osage orange, in which the plants were inarched together in pairs in a remarkable way. He said the osage orange was extensively grown as a hedge plant, and in digging up the one year plants, these united twins were usually found in the proportion of about one score in ten thousand. Double kernels were common occurrences in many seeds. There were double peaches, almonds, and double yolks in eggs. But these all had their separate seed coverings or membranes, and the yolks their own albuminous envelopes, consequently the separate embryos produced distinct plants. But these indicated that there had been two separate embryos under one seminal covering, and that the radicular portions of this double embryo, having no membrane to separate them, had inarched themselves together while passing to the ground. If this was the true explanation, he thought there was no such case recorded. That it was true seemed probable, from the fact that all the specimens were united in exactly the same manner, showing that time, place, and the circumstances of the union were uniformly the same. The scars showed Rh