bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Clinal variation in the evolution of Ectenocrinus simplex
Authors: Titus Robert
Published: August 2016

The crinoid Ectenocrinus has unusual trimeric columnals which make it instantly recognizable. In northern New York State such columnals first appear in the deep shelf facies of the lower Trenton Group (the Sugar River Limestone). In these strata the columnals display nearly triangular shapes with triangular lumina and represent a new species, E. triangulus. A small minority of the columnals of these early forms are round with five-pointed lumina.

A definite cline had developed by middle Trentonian time. Deep-water columnals display the ancestral triangular form, whereas adjacent, shallow-water forms are rounder and have the five-pointed or pentagonal lumina. These round types came to be the beneficiaries of middle Trentonian facies changes. This was a time when the eastern bank margin steepened and narrowed. The deep shelf habitat shrank to the east and disappeared. Trapped in this shrinking sea floor setting, the populations of the deep-water members of the cline dwindled and disappeared before late Trentonian time. Only the round form with a pentagonal lumen survived. This form, Ectenocrinus simplex, was a great success; its numbers increased and its range expanded throughout the remainder of Trentonian time.

The transition from Ectenocrinus triangulus to E. simplex is seamless. No boundary, other than an arbitrary one, can be recognized. A simple and gradual shift of phenotype abundance characterized the event.
New archaeocyathan occurrences in the upper Harkless Formation (Lower Cambrian of western Nevada)
Authors: Savarese Michael , Signor Philip W.
Published: August 2016

A newly discovered assemblage of archaeocyathans, dominated by the unusual genus Retilamina, occurs in outcrops of the upper Harkless Formation in Esmeralda County, Nevada. These rock units have been correlated with the Saline Valley Formation in the Bonnia–Olenellus Zone (late Early Cambrian) of eastern California, making this the youngest known occurrence of archaeocyathans in the White–Inyo region.

Although the assemblage contains a variety of different organisms (including the alga Renalcis, trilobite and echinoderm debris, bivalves?, and Chancelloria spines), it is dominated by archaeocyathans. Diplocyathellus, a conical form with a complex inner wall, is the only genus of regular archaeocyathan in the assemblage. The irregular archaeocyathans Arrythmocricus and Metaldetes exhibit dendroid branching and cylindroconical morphologies, respectively. A third irregular, Retilamina debrennei n. sp., is an atypical archaeocyathan with a sheetlike or shallow convex dome morphology. Retilamina formed natural cavities that sheltered cryptobionts. Unlike coelobiont communities reported from other Lower Cambrian cavities where the diversity of the supported biota is relatively high, the Harkless cavities contain only the alga Renalcis. While the undersurfaces of Retilamina are consistently encrusted by Renalcis, the upper, exposed surfaces typically lack epibionts. Similar morphologies and associations for Retilamina have been reported from bioherms and biostromes from southern Labrador and western Newfoundland. Unlike most archaeocyathans, Retilamina had a solitary, free-lying life habit. Retilamina's broad base and low profile provided stability in episodically turbulent conditions or on biologically disturbed substrates.

This occurrence demonstrates that the disappearance of archaeocyathans from the stratigraphic record of the southern Great Basin in the late Early Cambrian is a paleoecological artifact. Archaeocyathans were extant in the region in the late Early Cambrian but the habitats conducive to archaeocyathan growth or preservation are, for the most part, not represented in the preserved strata.
The aglaspidid arthropod Beckwithia from the Cambrian of Utah and Wisconsin
Authors: Hesselbo Stephen P.
Published: August 2016

New specimens of Beckwithia typa, from the upper Middle Cambrian of Utah, show that, contrary to previous descriptions, the animal had at least 10 tergites (possibly 12) and probably a tail-spine. There is no evidence for a fused tail-plate, the one character that made Beckwithia appear anomalous with respect to other aglaspidid arthropods. It did, however, differ from most other aglaspidids in having a single series of axial spines along the trunk, but this cannot be regarded as a basis for continued separation of Beckwithia into a monogeneric family. A possible relationship with Kodymirus vagans is suggested by the presence of axial spines, although there may have been significant differences in the nature of the ventral sclerites. Beckwithia? major from the Upper Cambrian of Wisconsin is known only from fragmentary specimens and no evidence of a fused tail-plate has been found. Beckwithia? daubikhensis from the Khanka Massif, Soviet Union, is unlikely to be a member of this genus; the single specimen on which the taxon was based may be a poorly preserved Khankaspis bazhanovi.
A pteranodontid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Peru, with comments on the relationships of Cretaceous pterosaurs
Authors: Bennett S. Christopher
Published: August 2016

The first occurrence of a pterosaur fossil from the Early Cretaceous of Peru is reported. The specimen consists of a nearly complete right humerus of a pteranodontid pterosaur preserved in three dimensions, presumably in a concretion. The Pteranodontidae is rediagnosed, and included genera and materials are listed. The Nyctosauridae and Dsungaripteridae are also diagnosed on the basis of postcranial characters, and the relationships of those three taxa plus the Azhdarchidae are discussed. The speciesSantanadactylus spixiWellnhofer (1985) is reassigned to the Dsungaripteridae.
Blastulospongia polytreta n. sp., an enigmatic organism from the Lower Cambrian of Hubei, China
Authors: Conway Morris S. , Menge Chen
Published: August 2016

Blastulospongia is an enigmatic siliceous fossil with affinities proposed amongst both the sphinctozoan-grade sponges and radiolarians. Blastulospongia polytreta n. sp. extends the record of this genus into the Lower Cambrian (Shuijingtuo Formation) and represents its first occurrence in China (Taishanmiao section, Hubei Province). It differs from previously described species in size and pore spacing. The first evidence for benthic attachment is presented. A relationship with sphinctozoan-grade sponges is considered unlikely, but firm support for a place in the radiolarians is lacking.
Silurian Heliolitidae (Anthozoa, Tabulata) from the Chaleurs Bay region, Canada
Authors: Young Graham A. , Noble James P. A.
Published: August 2016

The Early to Late Silurian sedimentary rocks of the Limestone Point and La Vieille Formations of northern New Brunswick and the Anse à Pierre-Loiselle, La Vieille, and Gascons Formations of the Gaspé Peninsula possess diverse and abundant tabulate coral faunas that include six species of Heliolitidae distributed amongHeliolitesandStelliporella.Two species,Heliolites laxusandHeliolites distinctus, are new. A revised concept of the genusHeliolitesis proposed. The Heliolitidae from this region show a substantial degree of endemism and are most similar to northern European faunas.

The distribution of individual heliolitid species was under a high degree of facies control. The heliolitids are more restricted in distribution than are other groups of Tabulata in this region and are most abundant in open shelf and carbonate bank facies.
Permian corals of Bolivia
Authors: Wilson Edward C.
Published: August 2016

Permian corals of Bolivia are confined to the Lower Permian (Wolfcampian, Leonardian) Copacabana Limestone. The coral fauna of the formation in the Lake Titicaca to the centralaltiplanoareas of the Department of La Paz consists of two solitary rugose coral species, two colonial rugose coral species (one each of fasciculate and cerioid), and two tabulate coral species. New taxa areStylastraea branisain. sp.,Durhamina pandolfin. sp.,Michelinia escobarin. sp., andCladochonus carrascoin. sp.Lophophyllidium striatum(d'Orbigny, 1839), based on Bolivian specimens, is redescribed, a lectotype designated, and the range extended to North America. Although the fauna is small, its taxonomic composition shows clear affinity with faunas of similar age northward through South and Central America to Mexico and the USA Texas-Oklahoma-Midcontinent region. The Bolivian fauna thus is confirmed as belonging to the Cyathaxonid Coral Province, which is restricted to the above areas. A species ofDurhaminapreviously erected for Guatemalan specimens occurs in the Copacabana Limestone of Peru and strengthens the province assignment of the formation.
New species of the bivalve Anomia from lower and middle Turonian parts of the Greenhorn Limestone, central Kansas
Authors: Hasenmueller Walter A. , Hattin Donald E.
Published: August 2016

Anomiid bivalves are abundant locally in a few beds of the Jetmore and Pfeifer Members (Turonian) of the Greenhorn Limestone of central Kansas. Our collection comprises nearly 500 whole and fragmentary specimens that are assigned to two new species, Anomia cobbani and A. pfeiferensis, based on external morphology and biometry. Occurrence of delicate Anomia valves in just a few beds of the Jetmore and Pfeifer reflects selective preservation that resulted from unusual taphonomic and diagenetic conditions rather than restricted stratigraphic and geographic range. Variations in curvature of the commissure and close association of Greenhorn Anomia with molds of small baculitid cephalopods suggest that these bivalves were epizoic on the baculitids. On the basis of close morphologic similarity, stratigraphic proximity, and geographic occurrence of the two new species, A. pfeiferensis n. sp. is believed to be the direct evolutionary descendant of A. cobbani n. sp.
Neoinoceramus Ihering, 1902 (Bivalvia: Limidae) from the Tertiary of Patagonia (Argentina): its systematic and stratigraphic position
Authors: Parma Sara G. , Morra Guillermo A. , Camacho Horacio H.
Published: August 2016

Neoinoceramus Ihering, 1902, hitherto placed in the family Pernidae, is shown to be a member of the family Limidae, according to its edentulous hinge, well-defined ligamentary pit, and biauriculated shell. It was an epibenthonic bivalve living attached by a byssus to the hard substrate in a platform environment where some epibionts (muricaceous gastropods, sponges) were fixed on its shell.
On the presence ofMixosaurus(Ichthyopterygia: Reptilia) in the Middle Triassic of Nevada
Authors: Sander P. Martin , Bucher Hugo
Published: August 2016

The small ichthyosaurMixosaurusis the most widely distributed ichthyosaur. It is known from Lower Triassic rocks of British Columbia, Canada (Callaway and Brinkman, 1989), and Middle Triassic rocks of northwestern North America (Alaska, British Columbia), China, Timor, the western Tethys (Switzerland, Italy, Turkey), the Germanic Triassic, and the high Arctic (Spitsbergen, Exmouth Island) (Mazin, 1986; Callaway and Brinkman, 1989; Callaway and Massare, 1989). The presence ofMixosaurusin one of the richest ichthyosaur provinces, the Middle Triassic of Nevada (Merriam, 1908), has been difficult to establish. The history of this problem is very colorful and is the topic of this note together with the description of a new specimen from the Nevada Middle Triassic.
Evidence for juvenile groups in the ornithopod dinosaur Tenontosaurus tilletti Ostrom
Authors: Forster Catherine A.
Published: August 2016

When the existence of juveniles, eggs, and nesting sites of the hadrosaur Maiasaura peeblesorum and the hypsilophodontid Orodromeus makelai from the Upper Cretaceous Two Medicine Formation of western Montana were reported, they provided powerful insights into the reproductive strategies of these animals (Horner and Makela, 1979; Horner, 1982, 1984; Horner and Weishampel, 1988). Dinosaur eggs had been known since 1923 when nests attributed to the ceratopsian Protoceratops andrewsi were discovered in Mongolia (Brown and Schlaikjer, 1940), but there was no direct information about behavior or survival strategies in hatchling dinosaurs until the Maiasaura and Orodromeus findings. These recent discoveries have generated a number of hypotheses on the reproductive behavior of dinosaurs relating to the extent of parental care, fidelity in nesting sites, and the aggregation of juveniles into groups.
Stromatoporoids from the allochthonous reef facies of the Stuart Bay Formation (Lower Devonian), Bathurst Island, arctic Canada
Authors: Stearn Colin W.
Published: August 2016

Fourteen taxa of stromatoporoids are described from allochthonous blocks of reefal limestone embedded in siltstones of late Gedinnian to Siegenian age. The fauna is a mixture of genera that characterize Ludlovian–Gedinnian rocks (Actinodictyon, Parallelostroma, Syringostromella) and those that characterize Emsian–Eifelian rocks (Atopostroma, Anostylostroma, Habrostroma, Syringostroma). The following new species are described: Gerronostroma franklinense, Gerronostroma nivale, Actinodictyon venustum, and Syringostromella praecox. The new genus Belemnostroma with type species B. hastatum n. sp. is established for stromatoporoids with the basic structure of Anostylostroma but penetrated by large, rodlike megapillars. Species with long coenosteles are excluded from Stromatopora on the basis that they are not congeneric with the type species and many species assigned to Ferestromatopora should be reassigned to Stromatopora. Previously described species of Atopostroma, Stromatopora, and Parallelostroma are recognized and redescribed.
Ontogenies and astogenies and their significance in some favositid and heliolitid corals
Authors: Noble J. P. A. , Lee D.-J.
Published: August 2016

The level of colony integration in tabulate corals is the degree of colony unity with respect to behavior, physiology, and development of individual organs or organ complexes within colonies. These are difficult to assess in fossils, but the level of colony integration can be tested by analyzing ontogenies and astogenies of two common Paleozoic tabulate coral groups, favositids and heliolitids. Favositids have been previously interpreted as highly integrated colonies, but results of the present examination suggest that the level of colony integration in favositids was rather lower than hitherto assumed. The ontogenies and astogenies in favositid colonies are not correlatable; thus, the significance of ontogenetic and astogenetic variations for systematic and phylogenetic resolution in favositids is difficult to assess at present. In contrast, astogenetic developmental sequences are recognized in heliolitids. Ontogenies in heliolitids were subordinated to the astogeny of the colony. This is closely related to the high degree of colony integration with respect to behavior and physiology of individual organs or organ complexes within colonies. Individual corallites were well linked and coordinated so that the whole colony could have functioned as a single individual. As a result, evolution in heliolitids operated at the colony level and by heterochronic (and other) modifications of astogenies rather than of ontogenies.
The Upper Devonian (Frasnian) conodont sequence in the Lime Creek Formation of north-central Iowa and comparison with Lime Creek ammonoid, brachiopod, foraminifer, and gastropod sequences
Authors: Day Jed
Published: August 2016

The Upper Devonian (Frasnian) conodont fauna of the Lime Creek Formation of north-central Iowa is dominated by species of Polygnathus. Patterns of species composition and abundance are consistent with the Polygnathus biofacies described from the Frasnian of the Northwest Territories of western Canada. Consequently, the standard Frasnian conodont zones, defined on sequences developed in the Palmatolepis biofacies, are not applicable to the Lime Creek sequence. The Lime Creek conodont sequence correlates with Zones 4, 5 and Faunal Interval 7 of the Frasnian conodont sequence in the Alberta Rockies and with similar sequences in the southwestern United States. The Pb elements of Palmatolepis semichatovae Ovnatanova and Ancyrognathus? deformis (Anderson) are described and illustrated for the first time.

In the Lime Creek Formation of north-central Iowa, brachiopods of the lowermost part of the Nervostrophia thomasi Zone of Day (1989a) occur in Zone 4, brachiopods of most of the N. thomasi, Douvillina arcuata, and Cyrtospirifer whitneyi Zones span conodont Zone 5, and the Elita inconsueta and Iowatrypa owenensis Zones occur in Faunal Interval 7. Species of the ammonoid Manticoceras and of the gastropods Floyda, Turbonopsis, and Westerna are restricted to Faunal Interval 7. Species of the calcareous foraminifer Nanicella first occur in Zone 5, and are joined by species of Multiseptida high in Zone 5.
Local variability of taphonomic attributes in a parautochthonous assemblage: can taphonomic signature distinguish a heterogeneous environment?
Authors: Staff George M. , Powell Eric N.
Published: August 2016

Taphofacies have been based on the likelihood that considerable variability exists in taphonomic processes between different environments and that this variability produces predictable variations in taphonomic signature between assemblages. Three stations above storm wave base that differed little in sediment texture and depth were sampled on the inner continental shelf of central Texas. Taphonomic analysis revealed subtle gradients in sediment grain size and water depth that would not be revealed by most other analyses. These gradients may exist over very small spatial scales, equivalent to those within a single extensive outcrop. Not all taphonomic attributes are equally likely to be preserved in the fossil record. Those varying with depth in our study area, such as fragmentation and articulation, are more likely to be preserved than those documenting changes in sediment texture, such as variation in the frequency of dissolution features on the shells. Nevertheless, siting and sampling protocols are important when characterizing a taphofacies because within-habitat variation is potentially as large as between-habitat variation. Description of the average taphofacies for an environment must include documentation of the variation in taphonomic attributes within the sampled area because few conservative taphonomic attributes exist. Fragments, even those that are unidentifiable, retain significant taphonomic information and should not be ignored. Careful sampling should permit the simultaneous description of general taphofacies as well as the detection of important but unsuspected gradients in the environment.
Note on the missing figures for T. A. Conrad's 1838–1841 papers
Authors: Bailey J. B.
Published: August 2016

As first State Paleontologist of New York, T. A. Conrad is widely recognized as an important pioneer of American paleontology. Highlights of his career and tragic personal life, as well as his portrait, are given by Merrill (1906, p. 344, 354–357).
A new name for the Uralian Lower Carboniferous genus Cribrella Lipina, 1989 (Foraminiferida)
Authors: Lipina O. A.
Published: August 2016

The genus Cribrella Lipina, 1989, with type species Cribrella mstaensis Lipina, was described from the Lower Carboniferous (middle Visean) of the southern Urals, and placed in the family Lituotubellidae (Lipina, 1989, p. 40, PL II, figs. 1–4). As the generic name is preoccupied by Cribrella Agassiz, 1835, an echinoderm, Cribrella Schmid, 1892, a sponge, Cribrella Cossman, 1906, a bryozoan, and Cribrella Gawor-Biedowa, 1987, a foraminifer, the new name Cribroaperturata is herein proposed for Cribrella Lipina. The type species of the genus thus becomes Cribroaperturata mstaensis (Lipina).
Three-dimensional measurement of microfossil morphology
Authors: Lazarus David
Published: August 2016

Micropaleontologists can benefit from measurements of microfossil morphology in studies of taxonomy, stratigraphy, and evolution. Morphometric data can be used to clarify evolutionary relationships, increase biostratigraphic resolution within lineages, and identify ecophenotypes. Morphometric data also provides a means for objectively reporting and summarizing large numbers of microscopic observations.
Conodonts from a platform-to-basin transect, lower Ordovician to lower Silurian, northeastern British Columbia, Canada
Authors: Pyle Leanne J. , Barnes Christopher R.
Published: August 2016

The conodont fauna from nine sections across a platform-to-basin transect in northeastern British Columbia includes species of Early Ordovician (Tremadocian) to Early Silurian (Llandovery) age. A collection of 9,110 conodont elements was recovered from 205 samples taken from nine stratigraphic sections that preserve the platform succession of the Kechika, Skoki, Beaverfoot, McCusker and Nonda Formations and their off-shelf equivalents, the Ospika, Robb, Kenny and Laurier Formations of the Road River Group. The fauna is assigned to 106 species representing 67 genera; the Ordovician species are representative of two faunal realms. One new genus, left in open nomenclature, is described. Five new species includeDrepanoistodus latusand four new species left in open nomenclature assigned to the following genera:Walliserodus, Multioistodus?,Pseudooneotodus, andBelodina. The Midcontinent Realm zones recognized include, in ascending order, theAcodus kechikaensis, Oepikodus communis, Jumudontus gananda, Tripodus laevistoPlectodina aculeatazones,Phragmodus undatusandGamachignathus ensifer? zones. Zonal species of the Atlantic Realm areMicrozarkodina flabellum, Eoplacognathus suecicus, Baltoniodus variabilis, Pygodus anserinus, andAmorphognathus tvaerensis. The Silurian fauna, of lower diversity than the Ordovician fauna, is representative of theDistomodus staurognathoidesandPterospathodus amorphognathoideszones.
First record of Megaramphoprion (Annelida; Polychaeta) in Laurentia
Authors: Eriksson Mats E. , Dattilo Benjamin F.
Published: August 2016

The Huntington cluster (USNM 536849; Fig. 1) measures 4.1 mm in total length and is comprised of five elements of the maxillary apparatus; the first and second pair of maxillae (right and left MI and MII) and the basal plate (Bp) fitted into the bight of the right MI (for descriptive terminology for ramphoprionids, see Kielan-Jaworowska, 1966; Eriksson, 2001; Fig. 2). Both the MI are broken and lack approximately a third of the anterior end. The right MI also lacks part of its posterior denticulated ridge; the posteriormost tip (p in Fig. 1.2) is, however, still preserved and partly embedded in the slab. Most of the right MII is missing and only a thin rim is exposed, showing the outline of the element. The left MII is almost complete, lacking only a fifth of the anterodorsal end. The basal plate is well preserved and can be seen in full detail, except for a part of the antero-dextral flange, which is broken off (Fig. 1.3). Adjacent to the maxillary apparatus are other fragments that might be the carriers (Fig. 1.4), i.e., the posteriormost, supporting elements of the apparatus. Except for these possible carriers, all elements are more or less in natural position.
Sedilichnus, Oichnus, Fossichnus, and Tremichnus: ‘Small Round Holes in Shells’ Revisited
Authors: Zonneveld John-Paul , Gingras Murray K.
Published: August 2016

Small round pits and holes in fossil skeletal material are found in a wide variety of invertebrate substrates from diverse environmental settings. They are associated with parasitism, predation and commensal attachment. Four ichnogenera have been proposed for these trace fossils: Sedilichnus Müller, Oichnus Bromley, Tremichnus Brett and Fossichnus Nielsen, Nielsen and Bromley. Previous authors have established that Tremichnus is a junior synonym of Oichnus. Herein we show that Oichnus and Fossichnus are junior synonyms of Sedilichnus.

Sedilichnus, as defined herein, includes 10 ichnospecies. Sedilichnus spongiophilus, S. simplex, S. paraboloides, S. ovalis, S. coronatus, S. gradatus, S. halo, S. asperus, S. excavatus and S. solus. Consistent with previous work Sedilichnus ichnospecies are defined solely by morphological criteria and not by a priori assumptions regarding depositional environment or tracemaker. Thus, this ichnotaxon is recognized in both marine and continental settings on a wide variety of invertebrate skeletal tests. As is true with many ichnotaxa, Sedilichnus ichnospecies represent end-members in morphological spectra, however each ichnospecies is clearly differentiable from the others.

Sedilichnus spongiophilus are circular, non-penetrative pits in shells. Sedilichnus paraboloides are penetrative holes with spherical paraboloid forms and typically have larger external openings and smaller internal openings. Sedilichnus simplex are simple cylindrical borings that have both penetrative and non-penetrative forms. Sedilichnus coronatus differ from other forms by the presence of an etched or granular halo surrounding the boring. Sedilichnus gradatus have two concentric parts, an outer boring and an inner shelf of smaller diameter. Sedilichnus ovalis and S. asperus are both oval in outline differing in the presence of tapering paraboloid margins in S. ovalis and margins perpendicular to the substrate in S. asperus. Sedilichnus excavatus and S. solus are primarily non-penetrative and differ from other Sedilichnus by the presence of central, raised bosses or platforms. These two ichnospecies differ in the shapes of their external walls and the proportional thickness of the bounding groove.
Devonian (Givetian) Hyolitha from the Kersadiou Formation, Massif Amoricain, France
Authors: Malinky John M. , Racheboeuf Patrick R.
Published: August 2016

Among hyoliths from the Givetian Kersadiou Formation in northwestern France one form is assigned to Hyolithes triliratus Hall, 1879, which is used as the basis for Brittanella new genus. The occurrence of this species in France supports affinity for fauna in that region to the Eastern Americas Realm. Other hyoliths from this unit include one species of Hyolithes Eichwald, which is left in open nomenclature, and one conch and one platyclaviculate operculum that cannot be identified to genus. The occurrence of these fossils in concretions in an oxygen-stressed dark gray shale supports the notion that this environment served as a refuge for taxa that were less efficient competitors with other normal marine benthos in the Devonian.
Early Cambrian brachiopods and other shelly fossils from the basal Kinzers Formation of Pennsylvania
Authors: Skovsted Christian B. , Peel John S.
Published: August 2016

An assemblage of seventeen species of Small Shelly Fossils, dominated by the brachiopod Eothele tubulus and species of the mollusk Yochelcionella, is described from the basal Kinzers Formation of Thomasville, Pennsylvania. The occurrence extends southwards the distribution of an Early Cambrian fauna (Cambrian Series 2, Stage 4) that is otherwise characteristic of the eastern shelf of Laurentia from New York to Greenland. The poorly known acrothelid brachiopod Eothele tubulus is redescribed based on large collections of ventral valves. The shell structure of E. tubulus is characterized by orthogonal baculae, and represents the oldest known example of a baculate shell structure, indicating that this type of shell structure evolved already in the Early Cambrian.
Art. III.—Dissertation on the River Indus
Authors: McMurdo James
Published: August 2016

The following, from Colonel Frederick, bears such honourable testimony to the character and merits of the much-lamented author of the accompanying Dissertation, that the Council deems it highly deserving of being recorded.
Art. VI.—Account of a Ceremonial Exhibition of the Relic termed “the Tooth of Buddha,” at Kandy, in Ceylon,in May 1828. Translated and abridged from the original Singhalese, drawn up by a Native Eye-witness
Authors: Colebkooke W. M. G.
Published: August 2016

On the full-moon day of the month Wes´k (Thursday, the 29th of May, 1828), the principal chiefs and other Kandyans, zealous professors of the Buddhist religion, celebrated the festival Dalada Pink´ma, when the following arrangements were made.
Art. XVII.— Translation of an Inscription on an Ancient Hindú Seal
Authors: Wilkins Charles
Published: August 2016

The accompanying plate is a representation of the cast of an ancient seal, in the possession of the late Sir Charles Wilkins, the circumstances of the discovery of which will be best explained by the following letter: —

“The impression of a Hindú seal, which Captain Colebrooke had the honour of laying before Mr. Wilkins to be deciphered, was found by him at Asseer-ghur, a fortress belonging to Dowlut-Rao Scindia, eleven miles and three-quarters north, 9° east of Burhanpoor; in latit. 21° 27′ north, and forty-eight miles east of the meridian of Aurungabad.
Art. VII.—Remarks on a Phœnician Inscription presented to the Royal Asiatic Society
Authors: Bart Grenville Temple
Published: August 2016

This inscription is a powerful evidence in support of my hypothesis, for it proves two very important facts: first, “that the Phœnician language is the same as the Irish,”—secondly, “that the Irish character is a modification of the ancient Phœnician.”
Art. IX.—The Medical Art amongst the Chinese
Authors: Gutzlaff C.
Published: August 2016

“The following paper on the state of the Medical Art amongst the Chinese, has been recently presented to the Royal Asiatic Society, by the Right Hon. Alexander Johnston. He, as Chairman of the Committee of Correspondence of the Society, has for some time instituted a variety of inquiries into the state of that art, in the different parts of Asia. This paper has been sent to him by the Rev. Mr. Gutzlaff, the intelligent and zealous Protestant Missionary in China, who forwarded to him, some time ago, the very curious and interesting analysis of the Chinese work, called the Yi She, which has been published in the last number of the Journal. The extent of the Chinese empire; the number of its inhabitants; the progress which they are known to have made from the earliest times in arts, manufactures, agriculture, and different branches of civilization; the nature and value of the mineral and vegetable productions of their country; the knowledge which they possess of the properties and uses of those productions; the variety of the climates to which they are subject in the different parts of the empire; the nature of the numerous diseases from which they suffer; the jealousy with which the Chinese Government have hitherto excluded foreigners from all intercourse with the people, and the obstacles which they have opposed to the acquisition by foreigners of all authentic information relative to their country, render a paper of this description, at the present moment, when the Parliament of Great Britain has opened the trade with China to all British subjects, an object of interest and public utility, the more so, as Sir Alexander Johnston, having submitted it for perusal to Sir Henry Halford, has received from that gentleman, who is so distinguished in his profession, and has transmitted to China a set of queries which are calculated to elicit from the Chinese such information as is deemed valuable by those who are professionally acquainted with the subject in this country.”
Art. V.—Account of some Inscriptions found on the Southern Coast of Arabia. Communicated to the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, by the Government of Bombay
Authors: Hulton J. G. , Smith J.
Published: August 2016

The accompanying Inscriptions were found in the neighbourhood of “Dees,” a Bedouin town, a few hours' distant from Ras Sherma, on the southern coast of Arabia.

The natives who came off to the ship, represented it as a populous well-cultivated district, abounding in vegetables and fruit of various descriptions. Having learned from these persons, that there were many ancient buildings, and some writing in a character unknown to the Arabs, we naturally felt an inclination to make a personal inspection of them; and to effect this with security, Captain Haines sent our pilot, a native of the place, on shore, to request the ruling Shaikh to grant us his firman, and a few Bedouin attendants. In reply, a letter was sent off, making a most exorbitant demand of money, rice, copper, and sundry other very useful articles, specifying the individual quantities with much nicety and precision, as the price of his protection: this, of course, was politely declined; and from a subsequent conversation with some of the party themselves, they appeared not only to regret the exercise of their cupidity, which had deprived them of, at least, a few presents from the ship, but seemed to be sensibly ashamed of a conduct so much at variance with the hospitable treatment we had universally met with, since leaving Maculla.
A Chinese Bronze Ritual Vessel
Authors: Yetts W. Perceval , Hopkins L. C.
Published: August 2016

THE archaic Chinese bronze, which is the subject of this article, is in the collection of Captain the Hon. E. G. Spencer-Churchill. It belongs to the class called chüeh, which, among the ritual wine vessels, has the smallest capacity. A Chinese tradition assigns the origin of the peculiar shape to the form of a bird's head, and some support for this view is derived from supposed pictograms which are accepted as having been used to write chüeh in archaic script. On the other hand, certain pottery vessels, found recently at Hsiao-t'un , in Honan, the site of a late Yin capital, suggest a more plausible explanation. The place is famous as one where the inscribed bones first came to light about 1899, and often afterwards it has been claimed as the source of many ancient objects offered for sale.
On Some Assyrian Minerals
Authors: Thompson R. Campbell
Published: August 2016

Consider the following passages from vocabularies:—

(1) CT. xiv, 3, K. 4325, iv–vi, 11. 18–25: ib. 5, K. 4368, iv–vi, 11. 8–16; and for col, iv, presumably 81–7–27, 147 (Meissner, Suppt., pl. 27):—

(2) CT. xiv, 14, K. 4396, 11. 10–13, dup. ib., S. 995, rev. 4–7:—
The Date of the Malacca Legal Codes
Authors: Winstedt Richard
Published: August 2016

About the date of the Maritime Code (or more strictly Digest) of Malacca, Malay copyists have gone out of their way to create confusion. Maxwell Malay MS. 47 in the Library of the Royal Asiatic Society, London, relates how sea-captains went to Bendahara Paduka Sri Maharaja to approach Sultan Muhammad (d. ca. A.D. 1446) to ratify maritime laws, and Raffles MSS. 33, 34, and 74 cite both Paduka Sri Maharaja, Bendahara to Sultan Mahmud (asc. 1488, d. 1530), and at the very end of the same paragraph Sri Nara 'diraja, Bendahara to Sultan Muhammad. Raffles MS. 68 ascribes both the Malacca Code and Maritime Laws to Muhammad. Most MSS. ascribe the latter to Mahnaud's reign and all of them are marked by Bugis maritime terms. There is no record of Bugis ships frequenting Malacca as early as 1446 and there seems no doubt that scholars have been right in assigning the Maritime Digest to the time of Sultan Mahmud.
Notes on the Future System in Middle Indo-Aryan
Authors: Schwarzschild L. A.
Published: August 2016

The formation of the future tense is often mentioned in discussions on the classification of the modern Indo-Aryan languages. An -s- type of future occurs in Gujarati, Lahnda, and Jaipuri, an -h- type of future exists side by side with participial formations in Marwari, Hindi (Braj), and Bundeli, and in Bhojpuri and Awadhi (in the third persons only), as well as in Kashmiri, where it has assumed the meaning of a past conditional. Despite this Marwari belongs to the -s- group, forms with -h- being found in those dialects of Marwari that regularly have voiceless -h- < -s-. The explanation of the Kashmiri forms is similar (ś > h and -ṣy- > -śś- > -h- in Kashmiri). Thus -s- forms in principle are found over a large part of the North-West and West of India. Attempts have been made to trace back the modern conditions to earlier stages, and S. Sen claims that the two types of future go back to different Indo-European originals: “From early times there were dialectal forms with the base-affix -ha-, which became quite dominant in Apabhraṃśa.” (This is incorrect.) “The origin seems to have been the I.E. stem affix *-so-, OIA. -sa-, occurring in the desiderative, the aorist, and as a root-determinative.” The accepted opinion is that the two types of future have the same origin, the OIA. future suffix -i-ṣya-, and that differentiation did not take place till the Middle Indo-Aryan period. As has been shown conclusively by Turner and by Bloch, the future suffix of Sanskrit could have in MIA. a special development into -h- instead of -ss- which is phonetically regular, because it was in a weak position, being a terminational element.
Nūr al-Daḳā'iḳ by the Sumatran mystic Shamsu 'l-Dīn ibn 'Abdullāh
Authors: Johns A.
Published: August 2016

In MS. 104 of the Maxwell collection of the Royal Asiatic Society is a tract entitled Nūr al-Daḳā'iḳ. It is attributed to Shamsu '1-Dīn ibn 'Abdullah, the Sumatran mystic who died in 1630. This manuscript was unknown to van Nieuwenhuijze when he wrote his thesis, but he has dealt with Arabic texts of the same title, and printed extracts from them. In Leiden Cod. Or. 1945 which he hasanalysed are three passages which correspond in part with the Arabic text and the Maxwell manuscript, although none of these run parallel to this Maxwell version in its entirety. Taken together, however, these texts provide a complete second reading of the Maxwell text, and make it possible to amend several corrupt passages. When for a few words the Arabic text has provided the better reading, it has been easy to insert the equivalent in the Malay text. By this means it has been possible to produce a tolerable Malay text, and since none of Shamsu '1-Din's Malay works have been published this may be of interest.
EXPANDING EVIDENCE-BASED TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT FOR COVERAGE IN WASHINGTON STATE
Authors: Landaas Erik J. , Franklin Gary , Thompson Jeff , Lessler Dan , Morse Josiah , Mootz Robert , Hammond Steven G. , Sullivan Sean D.
Published: August 2016

Objectives: We describe a new evidence-based method for screening and evaluating emerging medical technologies. Washington State agencies, under legislative direction, have granted authority to its agency Medical Directors and policy leaders to make coverage decisions on medical technologies using a “dossier” process. The dossier process is employed when technology advocates or manufacturers request Washington State healthcare purchasers to pay for new and emerging technologies. This offers the advocate an opportunity to submit scientific evidence and information classically associated with a more formal health technology assessment.

Methods: The submitted information is independently reviewed and summarized for Washington State's public healthcare purchasers allowing a more standardized coverage decision for all public purchasers in Washington State.

Results: This process has allowed Washington State to make twelve evidence-based coverage decisions at a fraction of the cost of classic technology assessment. To date, of twelve reviews over 6 years, one health technology was approved for coverage, ten were not covered and one did not require a coverage decision.

Conclusions: This evidence-based dossier process has yielded high-value coverage decisions of new and emerging medical technologies for public healthcare purchasers in Washington State.
LOCAL HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT IN CANADA: CURRENT STATE AND NEXT STEPS
Authors: Martin Janet , Polisena Julie , Dendukuri Nandini , Rhainds Marc , Sampietro-Colom Laura
Published: August 2016

Objectives: Canada has witnessed expansion of the health technology assessment (HTA) infrastructure in the last 25 years. Local HTA entities at the hospital or regional level are emerging to assist decision makers in the acquisition, implementation, maintenance, and disinvestment of healthcare technologies. There is a need to facilitate collaboration and exchange of expertise and knowledge between these entities regarding the role of local HTA in Canada.

Methods: In November 2013, the pan-Canadian Collaborative hosted a symposium, Hospital/Regional HTA: Local Evidence-based Decisions for Health Care Sustainability, bringing together over 60 HTA producers, researchers, stakeholders, and manufacturers involved in local HTA across Canada. The objective was to showcase the diversity of local HTA in Canada, while highlighting common gaps to be addressed.

Results: The Symposium focused on current practices in local HTA in Canada to support informed decision making, and opportunities for information sharing and provide equal access to timely evidence-based information to decision makers. The main themes included assessment of evidence for local HTA, contextualization, stakeholder engagement in local HTA, knowledge translation and impact of recommendations, and challenges and opportunities for local HTA.

Conclusions: Local HTA in Canada complements HTAs conducted at the provincial and federal levels to improve the efficient and effective health service delivery in institutions or regions faced with limited resources. Some challenges faced by local HTA producers to influence hospital policies and clinical practice involve the engagement of healthcare professionals and potential lack of training and support necessary for the introduction of a new technology.
HOSPITAL-BASED HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT (HB-HTA): A 10-YEAR SURVEY AT ONE UNIT
Authors: Grenon Xavier , Pinget Christophe , Wasserfallen Jean-Blaise
Published: August 2016

Introduction: Hospital-based health technology assessment (HB-HTA) has been introduced to help hospital management in decision making about the adoption of new health technologies (HTs). We reviewed the accuracy of the expected medical impact of HTs assessed at our hospital, as well as the acceptance of this process by clinicians.

Methods: For each HT adopted between 2002 and 2011, a semi-structured interview with the involved clinician was conducted, assessing (i) the perceived utility of the HB-HTA process, (ii) the accuracy of the new HT's expected medical impact as compared with observed patient data from the year 2012, and (iii) the compliance with the indications of the HB-HTA report.

Results: Over the 10-year period, forty HB-HTAs were carried out, of which thirty-four led to acceptance. Twenty-seven of the twenty-eight clinicians involved in these thirty-four HTs accepted the interview and 85 percent acknowledged the utility of the HB-HTA process. Five of the thirty-four HTs were no longer in use. For the twenty-nine remaining HTs, observed patients’ number was as expected in eight, higher in four, lower in fifteen, and not available in two cases. Available average length of stay was 61 percent longer than expected. Two HTs had a higher complication rate and three a lower success rate. Indications evolved in 55 percent of HTs after a few years (seven restrictions, six broadenings, and three other changes).

Conclusions: A HB-HTA process is useful to improve quality in decision making. Follow-up analysis should routinely be performed to adapt HB-HTA reports’ conclusions to practical experience and new scientific evidence.
The Encounter of Buddhism and Law in Early Twentieth-Century Korea
Authors: Nathan Mark A.
Published: August 2016

Law is central to an understanding of the development of modern Korean Buddhism. New legal and regulatory structures that were introduced during the first two decades of the twentieth century in Korea significantly impacted the course of modern Korean Buddhist history. The relationship between modern secular laws and Buddhist organizations during this period, however, was forged chiefly in the context of increasing Japanese political control over Korea, especially after the start of direct colonial rule following annexation in 1910. Therefore, the critical legal issues involved in the historical development of early modern Korean Buddhism have typically been subsidiary to the analyses of Japanese colonial policies toward the monastic community. The precise contours of the relationship between Buddhism and law in the modern period remain largely unexplored and thus indistinct because the focus in previous studies has been placed on the confrontation between thesanghaand the colonial state.
Religion, Democracy and the Public Schools
Authors: Davis Michael J.
Published: August 2016

In the six decades since it began adjudicating issues involving religion and K-12 education, the United States Supreme Court has issued numerous opinions on various aspects of that relationship. Several of the Court's viewpoints have changed over time. It explicitly reversed itself on the constitutionality of using publicly-paid specialists in parochial schools, and dramatically changed its perspective on public funds flowing to those institutions. But the Court has never wavered on issues regarding religious activities in public schools—it has struck down every policy or program it has chosen to review. No opinion was unanimous, and rationales changed. But no result has diverged from the Court's original perspective that the Establishment Clause's brightest line ran just outside the public school grounds.

This piece begins with first doctrinal, then policy reviews of the Court's nine school prayer decisions. Parts I and II analyze the decisions as constitutional doctrine, dividing them along parallel lines of time and quality. In Part I, I show that the holdings and rationales of the Court's early school prayer decisions are both sound and commendable as constitutional doctrine. Part II takes a longer look at the remaining later decisions however, and reveals a struggling Court often relying on specious, fabricated or a priori reasoning to reach the apparently inevitable, but questionable, conclusion of unconstitutionality. Part III takes up the effects of the Court's decisions on social and political policy. I argue that the early decisions, though controversial, freed America from a past of sectarian domination, while the later decisions helped sow the seeds of several related and unhappy developments, especially ones promoting the very religious divisions they purported to guard against.
ĀDĀB AL-BAḤTH WA-AL-MUNĀẒARA: THE NEGLECTED ART OF DISPUTATION IN LATER MEDIEVAL ISLAM
Authors: Belhaj Abdessamad
Published: August 2016

Is it possible to invent a science that sets the rules for an ethical, logical and effective debate? Shams al-Dīn al-Samarqandī (died in the first half of the 14th century), a logician and Ḥanafī jurist thought it possible. He undertook the task of developing a general theory of scientific discussion that had a tremendous success and impact on Muslim scholarship. Ādāb al-baḥth wa-al-munāẓara, as he called it, is a set of ethical and logical principles, taken from Aristotelian logic and Islamic law. His major treatise Risālat Ādāb al-baḥth, initiated a new discipline in which dozens of treatises, commentaries and glosses were written. In my contribution, I will shed light on this neglected science, describe its structure, expose its functions and highlight its significance for the development of debates and intellectual dialogues in the later medieval Islam.