Brain of a Fossil Mammal

Abstract

IN NATURE (vol. xvii. p. 222) is an account of some remarkable characters of the brain of Coryphodon, as determined by Prof. Cope, and recently published in the Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, vol. xvi. It may interest some of the readers of NATURE to know that the subject had been previously investigated by the writer, who published a description and figures of the brain cast of Coryphodon in the American Journal of Science, vol. xi. p. 427, May, 1876, more than a year before the article above quoted appeared. Prof. Cope made no reference to my paper, although perfectly familiar with it. His figures moreover do not represent, even approximately, the brain of Coryphodon, owing to serious errors in his observations, which were based upon an imperfect specimen, as I have shown elsewhere (American Journal of Science, vol. xiv. p. 83). One of the most glaring of these errors is seen in the supposed olfactory lobes which, as figured, include no small part of the nasal cavities, and naturally add a very remarkable feature to this brain cast. The specimens from which my figures and description were taken are in excellent preservation, and are in the Yale College Museum, where they have been examined by Prof. Huxley and many other anatomists.