FRAGMENTS OF SCIENCE. 



567 



the most convincing character. The pas- 

 sage from the yellow till into the blue till, 

 and the occurrence of occasional strata of 

 gravel, are characteristic of the glacial de 

 posits of northern Ohio ; and the axe had 

 been subjected to oxidizing agencies charac- 

 teristic of the deeply covered strata of that 

 immediate vicinity. The Trenton discovery 

 is interpreted as showing that there was a 

 clearly marked succession of human occu- 

 pancy in the Delaware Valley, in which, from 

 the sole use of argillite implements, a tran- 

 sition occurred to the use of flint and jas- 

 per in later times; while in the Ohio dis- 

 covery the conditions were such as appar- 

 ently to exclude every supposition but that 

 of the contemporaneous age of the imple- 

 ment with the formatiom in which it was 

 found. 



Nature Study in the Chieago Schools. A 



plan for systematic outdoor or field work iu 

 connection with Nature study, to be carried 

 on by the pupils of the public schools of 

 Chicago, has been reported by a committee 

 of sixty teachers which was appointed m 

 May, 1896, by the Chicago Institute of Educa- 

 tion. The features of the plan may perhaps 

 be best understood by indicating the duties 

 of the subcommittees which the general 

 committee has instituted to care for its vari- 

 ous special features. First is the executive 

 committee, the purpose of which is to devise 

 ways and means for carrying the whole into 

 effect and to second the efforts and work of 

 the other subcommittees. A committee on 

 maps will prepare maps of the environs of 

 Chicago to assist the pupils and teachers in 

 a systematic study of the country at a con- 

 venient distance around the city ; these maps 

 to comprise large maps, each including only 

 one of the most conspicuous geographo-geo- 

 logic features, and smaller maps showing de- 

 tails the location of the specific features of 

 interest. The maps already made by Prof. 

 T. C. Chamberlin, and kindly offered by him, 

 will be used as the basis of this work. A 

 committee on syllabi is to prepare printed 

 outlines and suggestions which will intelli- 

 gently and economically direct pupils and 

 teachers in their consideration of the dif- 

 ferent areas and subjects chosen for study. 

 The syllabus should not be compiled infor- 

 mation, but should simply suggest the prob- 



lems that are furnished for study by each 

 area and indicate lines and methods of in- 

 vestigation. A fourth committee will look 

 in the libraries after the books that may be 

 useful to the pupils engaged in Nature study 

 and available for their use. A committee on 

 instruction and school exhibits will make 

 themselves acquainted with the work of Na- 

 ture study in the schools and with the teach- 

 ers engaged in it, and make monthly reports 

 to the committee of sixty of what is actually 

 being accomplished, and will establish at 

 some suitable place a permanent exhibit il- 

 lustrating the character of the work. A 

 committee of public information will see 

 that all these things are made known and 

 kept in mind. A committee on transporta- 

 tion will try to interest the railroads, etc., in 

 the scheme, and to secure convenient facili- 

 ties and privileges for the tranfportation of 

 pupils and parties going out to fields of Na- 

 ture study. Arrangements will be made for 

 frequent trips of small numbers rather than 

 for larger excursions at longer intervals, 

 which might give the affair too much the 

 air of a picnic. Hence it is suggested that 

 only the pupils of one or two rooms be sent 

 out at a time, under the immediate super- 

 vision of their teachers. A committee on 

 finance and a conference committee are also 

 instituted for the purpose indicated by their 

 titles. It is anticipated by the committee of 

 sixty that, when once under way, this plan 

 will be expanded to include every depart- 

 ment of school work. 



Spitzhergen Explored. The principal 

 geographical work of the Conway expedition 

 to Spitzbergen was the first crossing of the 

 island, from Advent Bay to Agardh Bay. 

 The country traversed was mapped, its geol- 

 ogy was examined, and collections were made 

 of its plants and animals. Afterward the 

 whole expedition sailed northward to the 

 Seven Islands, and through Kinlopen Strait 

 and across Olga Strait to near King Charles 

 Island. An attempt to complete the cir- 

 cumnavigation of Spitzbergen was blocked 

 by ice. The highest peak in the island was 

 ascended. The land animals observed were 

 the bear, arctic fox, and reindeer, of which 

 the last are abundant. Birds are individu. 

 ally numerous, but of few species. All the 

 twenty- five recorded species were observed, 



