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378 those of the Parrebeate Indians, better known as the Parrintintins, who inhabit the land of the upper Tapajos. They are mostly taken in war and kept as trophies, and are preserved by smoke from a root which they call carrocopowpow. "They are very much as they appear in life, except that a cord is put in the mouth to carry them by, and the eyes are covered with a mass of wax. The practice was current among the Mundurucu tribe long since, but now appears to be practised only among the wild tribes which inhabit the country near the sources of the Tapajos and Hingu Rivers. The heads were taken about two years ago." One of the heads is that of a woman. Mr. Morris is now on his way to the Amazon for further exploration, and a part of the collection is offered for sale in his interest; the rest will be placed in the museum of the Long Island Historical Society.

A New Japanese Fruit-Tree.—We have received from Prof. R. H. Wildberger, of the Kentucky Military Institute, some of the fruit of the Guikgo biloba. This fruit was matured on a tree growing in the institute grounds, and is supposed to be the first ever produced in the United States. In a communication to the editor, Prof. Wildberger says that the tree is a native of Japan, and has been largely introduced into the United States and Europe, on account of its ornamental appearance. The one in the Military Institute flowered and fruited in June; in September the fruit began to turn yellow, and, after one or two frosts in October, to fall. This tree, which is about thirty feet in height, stands about eighteen feet from another of the same species which bore no fruit. Being absent at the period of flowering, our correspondent was unable to determine whether the species is diæcous, i. e., bearing pistillate flowers on one tree and staminate on another. Of the fruit he writes that it is a drupe or stone-fruit, about the size of a common wild-plum, much resembling it while green; but when mature it has a shriveled appearance, and is yellow in color. The sarcocarp, or fleshy part, is easily separable, disclosing the putamen, or stone, which is smooth and thin-walled, containing a kernel as large as a plum-stone, which has a pleasant taste. The sarcocarp has an acid, astringent taste, and a rather fetid odor. The kernel is said to be highly prized in Japan, and to be served at all banquets, being supposed to promote digestion and prevent flatulence.

New Order of Extinct Reptilia.—The museum of Yale College lately received the greater portion of a huge reptilian skeleton, found on the eastern flank of the Rocky Mountains, in beds that have been regarded by Prof. Marsh as corresponding nearly to the Wealden of Europe, and which may be classed as Upper Jurassic. Prof. Marsh writes that the remains are well preserved, but imbedded in so hard a matrix that considerable time and labor will be required to prepare them for a full description. The characters already determined point to affinities with the Dinosaurs, Plesiosaurs, and more remotely with the Chelonians, and indicate a new order which may be termed Stegosauria. The animal was probably thirty feet long, and aquatic; the body was protected by large bony dermal plates, which appear to have been in part supported by the elongated neural spines of the vertebræ. One of these dermal plates was over three feet in length.

Origin of the Moral Sense.—According to Darwin's theory the moral sense, conscience, is a development of the animal instinct of self-preservation. The scope of this instinct was at first confined within the individual; it was next extended to the group of animals in which it lived. In a low stage of human development, man would be bound by the ties of moral obligation at the most to those of his own tribe; but as he advances in civilization, and small tribes are united into larger communities, "the simplest reason," says Darwin, "would tell each individual that he ought to extend his social instincts and sympathies to all the members of the same nation. This point once reached, there is only an artificial barrier to prevent his sympathies extending to the men of all nations and races." Moral sense, in this theory, is an enlargement of an animal instinct, illumined by the light of reason. To many persons this way of accounting for the origin of morality is an abomination; it is supposed that thereby