Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/456

 phia academy, conaists of a broken cranium, some fragments of antlei's, and two metacar- pals. Assuming the coirectness of this iden- tification, a very short examiDatioii of the Princeton slceleton suffices to show that the species in qnestion is most distinctly uot a Cer^'us at all, but is much more like an Alces. It is, howeier, sufflcientlj' different from the last-named form to necessitate the formation of a new genus for its reception. For this I have proposed the name Cervalces, which serves to indicate its relationship. The spe- cific name given by Harlan must, of course, he retained, so that the full name will be Cerval- ces americanus.

��and differs from the stags, in having the lowei ends of the lateral metacarpals present (Tele- metacarpalia of Biooke).

Altc^ether, the fossil gives ns much welcomaf light on the obscure relationships of the e to the other members of the deer family, show-l ing that that curious form was derived from i type very like Cervus, but having the latera metacarpals complete throughout. Cer\'alceK U not one of the steps of direct descent, but i shows what that descent must have been.

It is certainly a very remarkable fact that auM animal which in quateroarj' times was proba-T bly most abundant in this country should! represented in the collections \)y onlj- two-l specimens. The superb specimen at Princeton' J is practically a perfect skeleton; for, escept.fl two or three caudal vertebrae, the few missing's bones are represented by their fellows of thaX op[H>3ite side. The skclctou has l>eea most ] skilllilly restored and mounted by Curator F. C. Hill'. A full description, with plates, will shortly appear in the Proceedings of the Phila- delphia academy. W. B. Sctyrx.

��Cervolceu was a very large animal, with lai^e head, shoit neck and trunk, and exceedingly long legs (much longer than in the great Irish deer). The antlers are palmated, though far less so than in the moose, as in that form they have horizontal beams, no brow-antlera, and a dicbotomous division of the tines; but they do possess, as the moose-antler does not, a liczant- ler, and a posterior tine given off from the beam opposite to it. These processes occur in the antlers of Duma (the fallow deer) and Klega- ceros (the extinct Irish deer). In Cervalces the two tines named are connected by a Haring process of bone, which descends below the level of the eye, and present a most peculiar type of antler, altogether different from any thing known in any member of the deer tribe.

The nasal bones are much longer, and the nostrils much smallei'. than in the moose, showing that there was no such prolioscis-like snout as in that animal. The premasillae are shaped as in the stag, and join the nasals. The skull is broader and shorter than in the moose, and in many respects like that of the true deer. There are also cervine features in many parts of the skeleton, together with peculiar characters. Cervalces agrees with the moose.

��GEOGRAPHICAL NEWS. liisv. WiLi.iAU E. Fat of the west central Afrlcaivl mUsion cuiitrltiul«s tlirec Bmnll maps of the n, tween BenguelA and Ulhd to the Mimionanj kerald The irail was surveyed with a prismatic conip*aa,J ths dislances determined by the pedometer, and a~ tudes along the line cheeked by observations for ti boiling-point. The route was passed over four ti and the maps, while confessedly approzin form a distinct advance over Uie rec by Cameron, which, up to the present time, has b the only authority for this region. The new Hketcha coverall area about sixty miles wide north and sc and extending some tour degrees in longitude, changes of scenery between Benguela and the ii rior are numenms and slriking. First, the ronUiJ passes along tU« level sands of the const, under ■ tropical buii. From Catumbella it strikes Inlau^ ascending the highlands at nnce, anil traversing i rocky desert which separates the coast from the for tile lands beyond, rich In tropical verdure. £ " asceuding, the well -remembered features of the t< perate zo[ie are seen on every side. Descending, K the eastern fuot of the range are the Qrst humutl habitations. About one huudred miles from I coast, the Bailorabo Klver, in wet seasons, Is spanned I by a native bridge, whose builders take toll, as more civilized lands. The mission village Ilea about east longitude 16°, and south latitude 12°: south-east from the omMa of Ewikwi, ruler of tl Bailuodu region. This Is a broad and beautiful v ley, densely populated, and lying eastward from ■

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