292 ROCHESTER ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. [Oct. 23, 



Some of the rarer native plants exhibited were Ardhusa bidbosa 

 L., Calopogon ptdchelhis R. Br., Pogonia ophioglossoides Nutt., 

 Triglochin palicstris L. , Tofieldia ghdinosa Willd. , Linncsa borealis 

 Gronov. , Habyiaria dilatata Gray, Spiranthes latifolia Torr., and 

 Ledum latifolmm Ait. 



A gigantic specimen of seaweed from the Pacific coast, presented 

 to the Academy by Professor Henry A. Ward, attracted much 

 attention, and a fine display of cultivated plants from the parks added 

 much to the pleasure of the evening. 



October 23, 1900. 



The meeting was held at the Reynolds Library ; President 

 Fairchild in the chair; thirteen persons present. 



The President spoke briefly of his summer's work tracing the 

 Iroquois shoreline in Jefferson county, and the Whittlesey and Warren 

 shorelines in Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties. In the two 

 counties last named particularly fine glacial stream channels were 

 observed. 



Mr. H. K. Phinney spoke of observations made on the road 

 which is the extension of Hudson Avenue from Norton street to the 

 Ridge. This road has lately been graded down through a cliff which 

 was the actual shore of Lake Iroquois, the predecessor of Lake 

 Ontario, making a section ten feet in depth and several rods long. 

 The section is of decomposed shale interbedded with thin layers of 

 limestone, and several features suggest that the decomposition of the 

 shales began in preglacial time. 



Mr. Phinney exhibited specimens of peat derived from sphagnum 

 moss, which were taken from pits dug for the foundations of the new 

 building of the Mechanics Institute, at the corner of Plymouth avenue 

 and Spring street. He stated that shell marl had been found under 

 the peat, and above both were five feet or more of swamp muck and 

 an equal depth of made soil. Old maps of Rochester show that a 

 spring was situated on the south side of Spring street at this point, 

 and that a brook ran from it northward across Main street, flowing 

 into the river at Piatt street. The marl and peat show that there was 

 once a pond here which was filled up by vegetable growth and silting 



