THE LOESS AND THE LANSING MAN. 



The discovery of certain human remains near Lansing, 

 Kansas, has provoked much discussion* which reveals a differ- 

 ence of opinion as to the value of the discovery. The writer 

 has nothing to contribute directly to the facts concerning the 

 Lansing remains, as his knowledge of them and their environ- 

 ment was gained at second hand. f But an effort has been 

 made to correlate the Lansing skeletons with the formation of a 

 supposed loess horizon, ff and the theory of the glacio-fluviatile 

 origin of the loess has been resurrected to form the basis of 

 an estimate of their age. It is to this that the writer desires 

 to give attention. 



Notwithstanding the fact that many trained geologists have 

 in recent years been engaged in field work in the loess-covered 

 regions of the Mississippi valley, no material facts have been 

 added in a dozen years past to the support of the fluviatile 

 theory, which was formerly generally maintained in this coun- 

 try in various modified forms. The recent arguments in its 

 support are not based on additional observations and field in- 

 vestigations, but are specifically founded J upon the great 

 works of Chamberlin and Salisbury on "The Driftless Area of 



*S. W. Williston, Science, vol. xvi, pp. 195-6, Aug. 1, 1902. War- 

 ren Upham, Science, vol. XVI, pp. 355-6, Aug. 29, 1902; Am. Geolo- 

 gist, vol. XXX, pp. 135-150; Sept., 1 902. N. H. Winchell, Am. 

 Geologist, vol. XXX, pp. 189-194; Sept., 1902. T. C. Chamberlin, S. Cal- 

 vin, and R. D. Salisbury, Jour, of Geol. , vol. X., pp. 745, et seq. , Nov., 

 1902. Warren Upham, Am. Geol., vol. XXXI, pp. 25-34, Jan., 1903. N. 

 H. Winchell, Bull. Geol. Soc. of Am. , vol. 14, pp. 133-152, Apr., 1903; 

 Am. Geol., vol. xxxi, pp. 263-308, May, 1903, etc. 



tSee additional notes at the close of this article. 



tt Warren Upham, Science, 1. c. ; Am. Geol., vol. xxx, p. 143, etc. ; 

 vol. xxxi, pp. 25-34. N. H. Winchell, Bull. Geol. Soc. of Am. , vol. 

 xiv, p. 141; Am. Geol., vol. xxxi, p. 268, etc., May, 1903. 



tSee Amer. Geol., vol. xxxi, pp. 26-27; 268; 278; etc. 



