IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 43 



specimen taken in Emmet county. He found the material to represent a species 

 new to science and gave it the name of Citpressiiw.cijlon ghtsrioiri, after its discov- 

 erer. He concludes that it represents a horizon which is Cretaceous in age. In 

 the absence of anj* information to the contrary it is fair to assume that the speci- 

 men came from the rocks in situ but, if so, it is the only case on record of the 

 occurrence of silicified wood so situated in the limits of the State. It would be 

 interesting to institute studies of these woods in connection with the great masses 

 of silicified woods found so abundantly along the upper Missouri; such study 

 might serve to indicate the real origin of these straggled specimens. 



In the Pleistocene of this State occasional large examples of silicified wood 

 have been found; the ones examined by Professor Knowlton were small. The 

 writer has noted two or three, in and about the city of Des Moines, that would 

 weigh an hundred pounds or more; the largest of these was little water-worn. 



Throughout the central and east-central portions of the State, and occasionally, 

 in other parts of the commonwealth, large trunks of coniferous trees are reached 

 in well and coal borings. I'hese belong, without question, to that earlier. Pleisto- 

 cene stratum which many geologists denominate "the forest bed." In the debris 

 which was thrown out of the famous Belle Plaine artesian well, when water was 

 found, there came from this stratum large masses of coniferous woods, sometimes 

 quite large logs, mingled with sands and gravel. They constituted one of the 

 features which made the well famous. 



Similar woods have occured in deep wells within the city of Des Moines, even 

 when the highest lands within the city were penetrated. The writer has now in 

 his possession fine examples of such wood taken from a well thirty-six feet in 

 depth in the heart of the city. They are much crushed and twisted, one end of 

 one piece being broken or crushed into fibers by some heavy grinding weight, and 

 give clear evidence of the harsh treatment which they have received. In no case 

 have these fossil woods been compared with those which are silicified; so that 

 identity in generic relation cannot be postulated. It is fair to remark, however, 

 that no member of the forest bed proper has yet furnished a single example of 

 silicified wood; that is no specimen of wood which became silicified since burial in 

 that particular stratum. It would appear, therefore, that the real origin of the 

 silicified woods found in the Pleistocene of this state must be sought outside of its 

 imits. 



THE FISHES OF THE DES MOINES BASIN. 



BY R. ELLSWORTH CALL. 



To one familiar with so much of the literature of science as pertains to the 

 natural history of the State of Iowa it is surprising that so little has been done in 

 relation to its fishes. A list designed to stand for the icthyic fauna of the State has 

 yet to be compiled. There have appeared but three papers devoted to Iowa 

 fishes. Of these three oiie was published under the auspices of the United States 



