472 



NA rURE 



[March lo, 1905 



graphical invesligation in South Africa, and in a Uible he 

 gives the groupings successively introduced by A. C Bain, 

 A. Wyley and others up to those of G. A. K. Molpngraart 

 and K. H. Hatch. 



We have received from the Minister of Mines, \ ictoria, a 

 diagram, compiled and drawn up by the director of the 

 Geological Survey, Mr. E. J. Dunn, shoviring the yield of 

 gold and other statistics from 185 1 to 1903. The gross 

 value of the gold is stated to be 2bb,945,344/. The 

 greatest yield was in 185b. 



We have received the annual progress report of the 

 Geological Survey of Western Australia for 1903, by Mr. A. 

 Gibb Maitland, Government Geologist. This includes ob- 

 servations on the Pibara and Murchison gold-fields, on the 

 Arrino copper deposits, the Irwin River coal-field, &c., mis- 

 cellaneous notes on minerals, including gypsum and 

 diatomite, and notes on water supply. The report is 

 accompanied by several maps. 



The progress of vertebrate pala.'ontology in Canada forms 

 the subject of an essay by Mr. Lawrence M. Lambe {Trans. 

 Roy. Soc. Canada, series 2, vol. x.). .\s he remarks, our 

 knowledge of this life-history began when Sir William 

 Logan, in 1841, discovered amphibian footprints in the 

 Lower Coal-measures at Horton bluff in Nova Scotia. 

 Since then remains of vertebrates have been found in rocks 

 from the Silurian to the Pleistocene, and a full list is given, 

 together with a bibliography of the subject. 



In the American Journal of Science (December, 1904) two 

 new species of reptiles from the Titanothere Beds (Oligo- 

 cene) of Dakota, are described by Mr. F. B. Loomis. These 

 are Crocodilus prenasalis and Chrysemys inornata. Some 

 derived Cretaceous fossils are recorded also from the same 

 strata, which form a part of the White River formation, and 

 the author is led to regard the beds as of fluviatile origin. 



The American Journal of Science for January contains an 

 article on the submarine great canyon of the Hudson 

 River, by Dr. J. W. Spencer. The early work of the Coast 

 Survey brought to light a depression extending from near 

 New York to the border of the continental shelf, and 

 J. D. Dana was the first to recognise this feature as the 

 submerged channel of the Hudson River, formed when the 

 continent stood at a greater altitude above the sea than it 

 does now. Later on. Prof. A. Linden Kohl discovered that 

 the channel became suddenly transformed into a canyon 

 near the continental border, reaching to a depth of 2400 feet 

 below the surface of the submerged plain, which was then 

 about 400 feet beneath sea-level. Following on to these 

 observations. Dr. Spencer has pointed out that the channel 

 was traceable to much greater depths — the canyon section 

 having sunk from 6000 to 7000 feet, and the valley beyond 

 to 9000 feet. He maintains that the period of great eleva- 

 tion coincided with the early Pleistocene. Since then there 

 has been a subsidence to somewhat below the present level, 

 followed by a re-elevation of 250 feet, as seen in the shallow 

 channels of the shelf. 



The American Journal of Science for February contains 

 an important essay on the isomorphism and thermal pro- 

 perties of the feldspars, bv Mr. .Arthur L. Day and Mr. 

 E. T. .Mien. To the same 'journal Dr. .Mbrecht "Penck con- 

 tributes an interesting article on climatic features in the 

 land surface, and indicates how the features of past as well 

 as present climates may be discerned. Instances are seen 

 in areas that were formerly covered by ice and are now 

 exposed to river action. They are seen in desert regions, 

 as in those of the Great .Salt Lake and of the Sahara, 

 where ancient shore lines and old river valleys have been 

 traced. In some mountain areas evidence of river action. 

 preceding glacial action, has been noticed. Dr. Penck points 

 out that a study of the oscillations in the situation of the 

 climatic belts of the earth is fraught with interest, and th;it 

 observations on the erosional forms of rocks and on the 

 corresponding deposits derived from them assist in the inter- 

 pretation of climatic conditions. 



In the Bulletin from the Laboratories of Natural History 

 of the .State University of Iowa (vol. v.. No. 4) there is 

 a series of papers on the loess by Prof. B. Shimek. The 

 loess of Natchez and of the lower Mississippi valley is of 

 special interest, inasmuch as in that region loess was first 

 recognised in America by Lyell in 1846. The researches 

 of the author afford arguments against both the aqueous 



NO 1846, VOL. 71] 



and glacial theories of its origin. The characteristic fossils 

 are terrestrial upland species of land snails. Even the ex- 

 tremely delicate shells of snails' eggs are preserved in the 

 loess. Natchez lies far south of the limits of glaciation, 

 and the moUuscan fauna does not support the notion of a 

 glacial climate. The aolian theory offers the best explana- 

 tion. The discovery of human remains in a deposit re- 

 garded as loess near Lansing, in Kansas, is discussed, and 

 Prof. Shimek concludes that the deposit is not loess, but a 

 talus. Considering, again, the relations of loess to the 

 lowan drift, the author points out that there were several 

 periods of loess formation, inter-Glacial and post-Glacial. 

 Far beyond the border of the newer drift sheets, however, 

 the sharp lines of distinction between the successive accu- 

 mulations disappear, and there the deposits of loess probablv 

 represent the combined accumulation of several inter-Glacial 

 and later drift periods. The essays are illustrated by 

 pictorial views and figures of the mollusca. In another 

 article Mr. V. J. Seaver describes and illustrates the Dis- 

 comycetes of eastern Iowa. 



The " Materials and Manufacture of Portland Cement," 

 by Mr. E. C. Eckel, with an essay on the cement resources 

 of Alabama, by .Mr. E. A. Smith, form the contents of 

 Bulletin No. 8, Geological Survey of Alabama. In that 

 State there is found an extensive series of limestones capable 

 of furnishing material for the manufacture of Portland 

 cement, while clays and shales necessary to complete the 

 mixture are abundant. 



In an article on the genesis of the magnetite deposits in 

 Sussex Co., New Jersey {Mining Magazine, December, 

 1904), Mr. Arthur C. Spencer concludes that they are con- 

 nected in origin with intrusive dioritic pegmatites. To the 

 same magazine Mr. W. H. He)drick contributes a paper 

 on the physical and commercial conditions of the Kansas 

 oil-fields. The area extends over more than ten thousand 

 square miles. In 1889 the yield was 500 barrels of oil, 

 while in ten months during 1904 the yield was more than 

 four million barrels. 



.\ reconnaissance in Trans-Pecos Texas, by Mr. G. B. 

 Richardson (Univ. of Texas, Mineral Survey, Bulletin 

 No. q), was undertaken mainly to determine the conditions 

 of occurrence of underground water. The author was 

 enabled, however, to make general observations on the suc- 

 cessive formations from the pre-Cambrian to the Cretaceous 

 and Quaternary, and on the occurrence of coal, salt, 

 petroleum, and sulphur. The presence of underground 

 water was found to be widespread, but in a number of 

 places the wells contain much gypsum and other salts. 

 The report is accompanied by a geological map and pic- 

 torial views. 



Some account of the exploration of the Potter Creek 

 Cave in California, is given by Mr. W. J. Sinclair (Univ. 

 of California Publications, Amer. Archaeol. and Ethnoh. 

 vol. ii., No. i). The cave is about one mile .south-east of 

 the United States fishery station at Baird, on the McCloud 

 River, and it lies in a belt of carboniferous limestone at an 

 elevation of 1500 feet above sea-level, and about Soo feet 

 above the river-level at the mouth of Potter Creek. Remains 

 of various vertebrate animals were obtained from fan-like 

 deposits of earth and stalagmite-cemented breccia, which 

 formed the floor in a large chamber, above which there 

 were vertical chimney-like openings. With the exception 

 of the stalagmitic growths and fallen blocks, the entire 

 cave deposit was brought in through the vertical chutes. 

 .\part from fragments, more than 4(100 determinable speci- 

 mens were collected of dissociated limb bones, jaws, and teeth. 

 Complete skeletons were not common. Associated parts of 

 the skeletons of squirrels and wood-rats, of a snake 

 (Crotalus), and a bat were found ; also several complete 

 liinbs of Arctotherium simum, remains of Megalonyx, Masto- 

 don, Eleplias primigeiuus, and a new genus named Eucera- 

 therium, a member of the cavicorn division of .Artiodactyla. 

 which combines characters of several groups. Of the fifty- 

 two species listed, twenty-one belong to extinct forms. No 

 human remains were found, but some very doubtful 

 " implement-like bone fragments " are described and figured. 

 The cave-fauna is older than the Glacial period in Cali- 

 fornia, and it is remarked that the 1500 foot contour marks 

 approximately the present elevation of an earlier valley 

 stage beneath which the existing cations are trenched. 



