140 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



void of organic remains. Only unsatis- 

 factory results have followed the search 

 for them in Europe, and America did 

 not seem to promise a much better re- 

 turn. Nevertheless, the indications of a 

 fauna obtained in the maritime prov- 

 inces of Canada seemed to afford a hope 

 that somewhere " these basement beds of 

 the Paleozoic might yield remains in a 

 better state of preservation. The au- 

 thor, therefore, in the summer of 1898, 

 made a visit to a part of Newfoundland 

 where a clear section of sediments had 

 been found below the horizons of Para- 

 (lo.rkles and Afirnulos strenuus. These 

 formations were examined at Manuel's 

 Brook and Smith's Sound. In the beds 

 defined as Etchemenian no trilobites 

 were found, though other classes of ani- 

 mals, such as gastropods, brachiopods, 

 and lamellibranchs, occur, with which 

 trilobites elsewhere are usually associ- 

 ated in the Cambrian and later geological 

 systems. The absence, or possibly the 

 rarity of the trilobites appears to have 

 special significance in view of their 

 prominence among Cambrian fossils. The 

 uniformity of conditions attending the 

 depositions of the Etchemenian terrane 

 throughout the Atlantic coast province 

 of the Cambrian is spoken of as surpris- 

 ing and as pointing to a quiescent pe- 

 riod of long continuance, during which 

 the Ui/nUtJiidm and Capidid(V developed 

 so as to become the dominant types of 

 the animal world, while the brachio- 

 pods, the lamellibranchs, and the other 

 gastropods still were puny and insig- 

 nificant." ^Ir. Matthew last year exam- 

 ined the red shales at Braintree, Mass., 

 and was informed by Prof. W. O. Crosby 

 that they included many of the types 

 specified as characteristic of the Etche- 

 menian fauna, and that no trilobites 

 had with certainty been obtained from 

 them. The conditions of their deposition 

 closely resemble those of the Etcheme- 

 nian of Newfoundland. 



The Paris Exposition, 1900, and 

 Congresses. — The grounds of the Paris 

 Exposition of 1900 extend from the 

 southwest angle of the Place de la Con- 

 corde along both banks of the Seine, 

 nearly a mile and a half, to the Avenue 

 de Suffren, which forms the western 

 boundary of the Champ de Mars. The 

 principal exhibition spaces are the Park 

 of the Art palaces and the Esplanade 



des Tnvalides at the east, and the Champ 

 de Mars and the Trocadero at the west. 

 Many entrances and exits will be pro- 

 vided, but the principal and most impos- 

 ing one will be erected at the Place de 

 la Concorde, in the form of a triumpluil 

 arch. Pailways will be provided to 

 bring visitors from the city to the 

 grounds, and another railway will make 

 their entire circuit. The total surface 

 occupied by the exposition grounds is 

 three hundred and thirty-six acres, while 

 that of the exposition of 1889 was two 

 hundred and forty acres. Another area 

 has been secured in the Park of Vin- 

 cennes for the exhibition of athletic 

 games, sports, etc. The displays will be 

 installed for the most part by groups in- 

 stead of nations. The International Con- 

 gress of Prehistoric Anthropology and 

 Archaeology will be held in connection 

 with the exposition, August 20th to 

 August 25th. The arrangements for it 

 are under the charge of a committee 

 that includes the masters and leading 

 representatives of the science in France, 

 of which ]\I. le Dr. Verneau, 148 Rue 

 Broca, Paris, is seci-etary general. A 

 congress of persons interested in aerial 

 navigation will be held in the Observa- 

 tory of Meudon, the director of which, 

 M. Janssen, is president of the Organ- 

 izing Committee. Correspondence re- 

 specting this congress should be ad- 

 dressed to the secretary general, M. Tri- 

 boulet. Director de Journal I'Aeronaute, 

 10 Rue de la Pepiniere, Paris. 



English Plant Names. — Common 

 Englisli and American names of plants 

 are treated byBritton and Brown, in their 

 Illustrated Flora of the Northern United 

 States, Canada, and the British posses- 

 sions, as full of interest from their origin, 

 history, and significance. As observed in 

 Britton and Holland's Dictionary, " they 

 are derived from a variety of languages, 

 often carrying us back to the early days 

 of our country's history and to the va- 

 rious peoples who, as conquerors or col- 

 onists, have landed on our shores and left 

 an impress on our language. Many of 

 these Old-World words are full of poet- 

 ical association, speaking to us of the 

 thoughts and feelings of the Old-World 

 people who invented them; others tell of 

 the ancient mythology of our ancestors, 

 of strange old mediaeval usages, and of 

 superstitions now almost forgotten." 



