December 27, 1900] 



NATURE 



21 



M. Trillat for his applications of formaldehyde to industry, and 

 to MM. Sevene and Cohen for their use of phosphorus sesqui- 

 sulphide in the manufacture of matches in the place of ordinary 

 phosphorus ; the Cuvier Prize to M. Antoine Fritsch for his 

 treatises on European Birds and on Palaeontology, the Wilde 

 Prize to M. Delepine, for his experimental researches on alde- 

 hydes ; the Vaillant to M. Henri Gautier, for his work on 

 alloys and on the atomic weight of boron ; and to M. F. 

 Osmond, for his researches on iron and steel ; the Fremont 

 Prize to M. Ch. Fremont, for his results on the testing of the 

 resistance of metals ; the Gegner Prize to Mme. Curie ; the 

 Delalande-Guerineau Prize to M. Maurain and M. Lacombe, for 

 their work on the measurement of an arc of meridian at Quito ; 

 the Jerome Ponti Prize to MM. P. Girod and Massenat ; the 

 Tchihatchef Prize to M. de Loczy, for work on the Physical 

 Geography and Geology of Eastern China ; the HouUevigne 

 Prize to M. Wallerant, for his researches in Crystallography. 

 The Boileau Prize is divided between M. Sautreaux, M. Delemer 

 and M. Nau ; the Cahours Prize between M. Mouneyrat, M. 

 Metzner and M. Defacqz. 



The Saintour Prize is awarded to M. Debureaux, the prize 

 founded by the Marquise De Liplace to M. Macaux, and the 

 prize founded by M. Fe'ix Rcvot to MM. Macaux, de Schlum- 

 berger, Martinet and Hardel. 



UNITED STA TES GEOLOGICAL SURVE Y. 

 'T'HE work of the Geological Survey of the United States 

 comes before us in almost overwhelming amount, and yet, 

 as we take note of the publications, we have no sentiment but 

 that of admiration for the evidence they give of brilliant, 

 useful and painstaking research : research, too, of very varied 

 character. 



Bulletins. 



A dozen numbers of the Bulletin, dated 1898 and 1899, have 

 all been received since midsummer of this year. 



Nos. 156 and 162 on the Bibliography of North American 

 Geology for 1897 and 1898, contain the titles with, in many 

 cases, brief notes of the contents of all geological publications 

 dealing with the United States and Canada. Seven hundred 

 and forty-two articles are recorded for 1897, and 941 for 1898. 

 Here, indeed, is the index to a vast amount of information, 

 which to be made available for general reference requires, 

 ultimately, to be tabulated and summarised under many 

 subjects. 



Bulletin No. 154 is "A Gazetteer of Kansas," containing a 

 list of all hamlets, post villages and townships, with, as far as 

 possible, notes of their area, population and altitude ; the whole 

 prefaced with general statistics. No. 160 is the third edition of 

 ** A Dictionary of Altitudes in the United States," a work of 

 775 pages, arranged alphabetically, according to the localities in 

 the several States. In Nos. 155 and 161 we find records of the 

 earthquakes which happened in California in 1896, 1897 and 1898. 

 A scale, divided into ten numbers, is given for estimating the 

 intensity of shocks Thus No. vi. notes " general awakening of 

 sleepers ; general ringing of bells ; swinging of chandeliers ; 

 stopping of clocks ; visible swaying of trees ; some nervous 

 persons run out of buildings; window glass broken"; while 

 No. X. tells of " Great disasters ; overturning of rocks ; fissures 

 in the surface of the ground ; mountain slides." 



We pass on to other Bulletins, and in No. 152 have "A 

 Catalogue of the Cretaceous and Tertiary Plants of North 

 America," by Mr. F. H. Knowlton ; and in No. 152, "A 

 Bibliographic Index of North American Carb )niferous Inverte- 

 brates," by Mr. Stuart Weller. These works must prove of 

 the greatest value for reference. They are clearly printed, the 

 synonyms are recorded, and there are lists of works on the 

 subjects dealt with. 



Other numbers of the Bulletin are of a different character. 

 In No. 151 we have an account of "The Lower Cretaceous 

 Gryphseas of the Texas Region." by Messrs. R. T. Hill and 

 T. W. Vaughan. Fossil oysters have always been regarded as 

 a troublesome and variable group, mainly, as the authors be- 

 lieve, because they have not been properly understood and 

 classified. These fossils are, however, important, not merely 

 from a zoological, but from a stratigraphical point of view, as 

 shown by certain deep borings for artesian water in Texas. 

 Abundant material is to lie found in that country for their study. 

 They lie strewn upon the surface in such numl^ers that they are 



NO. 1626. VOL. 63] 



sometimes used for road material or collected and burned into 

 lime. Extensive masses of indurated strata are composed of 

 them. T'he pebbles in the streams are largely made up of 

 oysters. They represent many genera and species, and are of 

 all sizes, from individuals less than an inch in length to shells 

 which weigh 5 lbs. and more. They are found at various 

 horizons throughout 4000 and more feet of rocks constituting 

 the Cretaceous system in Texas. There is thus ample material 

 for a study of the fossils from a phylogenelic and morphologic 

 standpoint, and the authors here give their special attention to 

 the Gryphseas. The work is admirably illustrated, and it is 

 not obscured in any way by the indiscriminate naming of 

 specimens. 



No. 157, on "The Gneisses, Gabbro-schists and Associated 

 Rocks of South-western Minnesota," by Mr. C. W. Hall, No. 

 158, on "The Moraines of South-eastern South Dakota," by 

 Mr. J. E. Todd, and No. 159, on "The Geology of Eastern 

 Berkshire County, Massachusetts," by B. K. Emerson, are all 

 well illustrated, full of information of local importance and of 

 much that is of general interest. 



Indiana Report. 



The geology and natural resources of Indiana are treated of by 

 Mr. W. S. Blatchley, the State geologist, in the twenty-fourth 

 annual report of the department (1899). The volume is one of 

 1078 pages, and is largely occupied with a catalogue, by Mr. S. 

 Coulter, of the flowering plants and of the ferns and their 

 allies indigenous to Indiana. A considerable portion is also 

 taken by a descriptive and illustrated catalogue of the m'jllusca 

 of the State, by Mr. R. E. Call. These include a large number 

 of Unios. The dragon flies of Indiana are enumerated and de- 

 scribed by Mr. E. B. Williamson, and there are notes on the 

 batrachians and reptiles of Vigo county, by Mr. W. S. Blatchley. 

 The economic resources of Indiana include coal, petroleum, 

 natural gas, stone and clays. The amount of natural gas is 

 restricted, and a failure of supply is expected. A great increase 

 of activity in the coal regions is noted. There is estimated to 

 be forty billions of tons of coal in Indiana, of which one-fifth 

 is reckoned as workable under present conditions. Excellent 

 coal for steam and household purposes and for blast-furnaces is 

 obtained. Dr. A F. Foerste contributes an article on the 

 Middle Silurian rocks of the Cincinnati anticlinal. 



U.S. Annual Reports. 



Parts i., iv. and vi., and portions of Part ii. of the nineteenth 

 annual report were noticed in Nature for April 19. We have 

 since received Parts ii., iii. and v., four volumes, including an 

 atlas. Part ii., which comprises 958 pages and 172 plates, is 

 somewhat heavy and unwieldy as a work of reference. Of 

 articles not previously noticed, one by Mr. C. W. Hayes deals 

 with the physiography of the Chattanooga district in Tennessee, 

 Georgia and Alabama. The city of Chattanooga lies almost 

 in the centre of this district, and the term physiography is used 

 in a purely geographical sense. The article is an essay on 

 denudation, written according to the principles of modern 

 geography. The author deals with the formation of "three suc- 

 cessive peneplains, and shows how the drainage has been modi- 

 fied and diverted until the present topographic features were 

 developed. The peneplains are considered as the product of 

 subaerial erosion. The term geomorphology is used for the 

 description, classification and correlation of the land forms ; 

 and geomorphogeny for the natural processes by which these 

 forms have been developed. The author gives definitions of 

 other physiographic terms, which are being introduced at a 

 somewhat alarming rate. 



Another article in Part ii. is on the Geology of the Richmond 

 Basin, Virginia, by Messrs. N. S. Shaler and J. B. Woodworth. 

 The area is important from an economic point of view as it 

 contains the only free-burning coal immediately a Ijacent to tide- 

 water in the eastern portion of the United States. The strata 

 are of Jura-Trias age, the fossils from the lover portion of them 

 being more closely related to the Rhretic deposits of Europe 

 than to those of any other horizon. The beds are grouped as 

 the Newark formation, and they rest locally on a surface of 

 igneous and crystalline rocks. Natural coke occurs in the 

 strata, and is due to the intrusion of igneous rocks ; it is denser 

 than artificial coke. The bituminous coals are sharply parted 

 from the cokes as the effects produced by the igneous rocks end 

 abruptly. Mr. F. H. Knowlton contributes some notes on 

 fossil coniferous wood from the Richmond Basin. 



