Rccieics — Geology of Wisconsin. 329 



III. — Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey. — The 

 results of a Hecotmoisscmce Soil Survey of part of North- d'estern 

 TFisconsin, by Mr. S. Weidman, assisted by Messrs. E. B. Hall and 

 F. L. Musback, have been published (Bulletin No. xxiii, Economic 

 Series, No. 14, 1911). The foundation rocks of the area consist of 

 Pre-Cambrian granite, schists, and quartzite, with Keeweenawan trap ; 

 of Potsdam Sandstone with shale and Magnesian Limestone of Cambrian 

 age ; and of St. Peter Sandstone and Trenton Limestone of Ordovician 

 age. Superficial formations consist of clays, sands, gravels, and 

 boulder-beds of Glacial age ; of loess mainly of wind-drifted character 

 and of later Glacial age ; and Alluvial sand and gravel. A clearly 

 printed map shows by colour fourteen kinds of soils over an area of 

 6,700 square miles, on a scale of one inch to 3 miles. 



The soils (a term used to include surface soil and subsoil) are 

 mostly derived from the suj^erficial deposits, glacial drifts, and loess, 

 but partly from the older rocks which appear in ridges and on some 

 of the uplands. The land, however, is mostly of low elevation, few 

 hills rising more than 200 or 300 feet, and occasionally 400 to 500 feet 

 above the valleys. It is remarked that the character of the surface 

 formation (Drift, etc.) is often largely determined by the underlying 

 rock, and hence the various older geological formations are important 

 factors in determining the character of the overlying soils. 



Of the fourteen soils, seven are derived from the weathering of 

 glacial drift, one from the loess, and five from the alluvial accumu- 

 lations, including the ' muck ' of the marsh and swamp lands. Twelve 

 of these surface soils, mostly 6 to 8 inches deep, are described as 

 loams, sandy or silty, and the subsoils are mostly of similar character, 

 here and there a little more clayey, or containing in the case of one or 

 two of the variable soils a little more coarse sand or gravel. These 

 loams have been separated mainly on account of the differences in 

 their mode of occurrence and the physical features of the land. The 

 map is thus practically a map of the soils and subsoils, and the 

 mechanical analyses are given from both. 



Although large areas are covered by dense growths of woodland, 

 evidence has been obtained to show the uniformity of many of the 

 soils and subsoils over extensive tracts. The object is to point out 

 the general character of the soils, the physical features of the land, 

 and the climatic and agricultural conditions throughout the area. 

 A detailed study of the soils in the populated areas is jDromised. 



IV. — Fossil Human Kemains from Peku. — The discovery of pre- 

 liistoric human bones in the Cuzco Basin in the Central Andes of Peru 

 is announced by Mr. Hiram Bingham, Director of the Yale Peruvian 

 Expedition. {Amer. Journ. Sei., xxxiii, p. 297, 1912). The geological 

 relations of the remains are described by Mr. Isaiah Bowman. The 

 floor of the basin is from 11,000 to 11,500 feet above sea-level, and 

 into it flow numerous streams which have dissected the marginal belt 

 of alluvium and also the alluvial floor, bearing down quantities of 

 land-waste. In one. of these ravines are exposed the gravel deposits 

 in which the human remains were found. Evidence of the occupation 

 of the higher grounds by man is found in the presence of ashes, 



