ASSOCIATIONS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. (AMERICAN.) 



Subsequently the following-named papers were 

 read ana discussed before the section : " Outline 

 Map of tin- (Jeoluiry of Southern New England," by 

 Benjamin K. Emerson; "Basins in Glacial Lake 

 Deltas" l>y Herman L. Fairchild ; "An Exhibition 

 <>f the Rare Gems and Minerals of Mount Mica," 

 by Augustus C. Hamlin; "The Hudson River 

 Lobe of the Laurentide Ice-sheet," by Charles II. 

 Hitelieiick : "Tlie Age of the Amboy Clay Series as 

 Indicated by its Flora," by Arthur Hollick; "The 

 Origin of the Limoiiite Ores of Xittany Valley, 

 Pennsylvania," by Thomas C. Hopkins; "The Re- 

 gion of the Causses in Southern France," by Horace 

 C. Ilovey; "The Washington Limestone in Ver- 

 mont." liy C. H. Richardson : "Fluctuations of 



St. Croix Valleys,'' by Warren "Upham ; "Changes 

 in the Drainage System in the Vicinity of Lake 

 Ontario during the' Glacial Period," by Major A. 

 Veeder; " Recent Severe Seismic Movements in Ni- 

 caragua," bv John Crawford ; " Supposed ' Corduroy 

 Road' of Late Glacial Age, at Amboy. Ohio," 

 "The Age of Niagara Falls as indicated by the 

 Erosion at the Mouth of the Gorge," and " A Re- 

 cently Discovered Cave of Celestite Crystals at Put- 

 in-Bay, Ohio," by G. Frederick Wright; "Geog- 

 raphy and Resources of the Siberian Island of Sak- 

 halin," by Benjamin Howard ; " Another Episode 

 in the History of Niagara River." and "Evidence 

 of Recent Great Elevation of New England," by 

 John W. Spencer ; " The Oldest Palaeozoic Fauna," 

 by George F. Matthew ; " The Oldest Known Rock " 

 and " The Origin of the Archean Igneous Rocks," 

 by Nathaniel II. Winchell; "Joints in Rocks," by 

 Charles R. Van Ilise; "Notes on some European 

 Museums," by Edmund O. Hovey; "History of the 

 Blue Hills Complex," by William 0. Crosby; " Pa- 

 la 1 ' .ntology of the Cambrian Terranes of the Boston 

 Basin," by Amadeus W. Grabau ; " The Norseman 

 the Conqueror of Britain," by Paul Du Chaillu ; 

 " Diamonds in Meteorites," by Mrs. E. M. Sou- 

 vielle ; and " The Periodic Variations of Glaciers," 

 by Harry F. Reid. 



On May 25 the National Geographic Society met 

 with this section, and the following-named papers 

 were presented : " The Venezuela-British-Guiana 

 Boundary Dispute," by Marcus Baker; "Considera- 

 tions governing Recent Movements of Population," 

 by John Hyde ; " Some New Lines of Work in Gov- 

 ernment Forestry," by Gifford Pinchot; "The 

 Development of the United States," by W J Mc- 

 Gee; "Atlantic Estuarine Tides," by M. S. W. Jef- 

 ferson ; " The Forestry Conditions of Washington 

 State," by Henry Gannett; "The Five Civilized 

 Tribes and the Topographic Survey of Indian Ter- 

 ritory," by Charles H. Fitch : and " Bitter Root 

 Forest Reserve," by Richard U. Goode. 



F. Z<>r>l<njii. This section was presided over by 

 Prof. Alphens S. Packard, of Brown University, who 

 delivered an address iiefore the section on "A Half 

 Century of Evolution, with Special Reference to the 

 Effects of Geological Changes on Animal Life." 

 Prof. Packard began: "Only a little less than fifty 

 years have passed since the publication of Dar- 

 win's 'Origin of Species' and the general accept- 

 ance by naturalists of the theory of descent. Since 

 1848 the sciences of embryology, cytology, and mor- 

 phology have been placed on a 'firm oasis. It is 

 but little over half a century since the uniformita- 

 rian views of Lyell were promulgated. The cell 

 doctrine was born in 1839; the view that proto- 

 plasm forms the basis of life was generally received 

 forty years since ; fifty years ago the doctrine of 

 the conservation <>f the forces was worked out. and 

 already by this time had the idea of the unity of 



Nature dominated the world of science. On the 

 fiftieth anniversary, therefore, of our association, it 

 may not be out of place first briefly to inquire into 

 the present state of evolution, and then to dwell 

 more at length on the subject of the effect of geo- 

 logical changes on animal life. To use a current 

 phrase, he continued, the evolution theory has come 

 to stay. It is the one indispensable instrument 

 upon which the biologist must rely in his work. 

 Not only has zoology been benefited by the accept- 

 ance of evolution, but every important department 

 of intellectual thought has been rejuvenated and 

 rehabilitated by the employment of the modern 

 scientific method. Progress itself is dependent on 

 the evolutionary principle involved: adaptation, 

 the disuse or rejection of the unfit, the use or sur- 

 vival of the fittest, with the mechanical principle 

 of economy of material. Though the chief argu- 

 ments in favor of evolution have been drawn from 

 observations of our own planet, and the life exist- 

 ing upon it, the nebular hypothesis teaches us that 

 the same process has determined the origin of other 

 worlds than ours, and applies in fact to all the 

 members of the solar system, and with but little 

 doubt to all the individual bodies in the universe." 

 Prof. Packard then passed in review the more im- 

 portant revolutions in geological history, showing 

 wherein the different classes of animals arose, 

 noting especially the effect of the uplifting of the 

 great Appalachian chain. This occurred near the 

 close of the Palaeozoic, and, with the exception of 

 that time, when all the great ranges of the conti- 

 nents were upheaved, is the most extensive and, 

 from a biological point of view, the most notice- 

 able event in geological history. The speaker re- 

 ferred to the origin of new forms and new classes, 

 showing their relations to the geological revolu- 

 tions, but being careful to indicate that their prob- 

 able origin lay rather as the results of the grad- 

 ual extension of the land masses and the opening 

 of new areas. Finally he reviewed the effect of 

 other revolutions and conditions of affairs, mark- 

 ing with some detail the effects of each of them on 

 the forms of animals, showing how the enormous 

 number of reptiles retarded the development of 

 mammalian forms, how as the reptiles succumbed 

 to new conditions the higher forms of life became 

 stronger, how with these forms animal shrewdness 

 and brain power increased until the line of devel- 

 opment culminated in man." In closing, he said : 

 " So strong is the testimony that geology affords to 

 support the theory of evolution, that if it should be 

 necessary to abandon evolution it would at the same 

 time be necessary to give up gravitation, the corre- 

 lation of physical force, and the conception of the 

 unity of Nature." 



At Detroit, Dr. Charles W. Stiles was chosen sec- 

 retary of this section, but as Dr. Stiles was sent to 

 Berlin as scientific attache, to the United States 

 embassy there, he resigned, and Prof. Robert T. 

 Jackson, of Harvard University, was chosen to fill 

 the vacancy. 



The following-named papers were read and dis- 

 cussed before the section: " Evolution and Migra- 

 tion of Hawaiian Land Shells " and " A New Classi- 

 fication of Fossil Cephalopods," by Alpheus Hyatt ; 

 " Notes on the Habits of Some Burrowing Bees " 

 and " A New Method of studying Underground 

 Insects," by John B. Smith ; " On the Systematic 

 Position of the Trilobites," "On the Carboniferous 

 Fauna of Rhode Island." and "On the Markings of 

 Nbdontian Larvae." by Alpheus S. Packard ; " Some 

 Points in the Oogenesis of Virbius zostericola 

 Smith " and " A New Species of Pigment producing 

 Pathogenic Bacillus," by Frederic P. Gorham ; 

 " On the Types of Vertebrate Embryos " and " On 

 the Embryology of the Rabbit," by 'Charles S. Mi- 





