630 THE JOURNAL OF GEOLOGY. 



deposited at or near the surface. It was objected that the tubes 

 formed by roots would be closed in by lateral creep and not 

 from above. This, it may be here remarked, would depend 

 upon whether the lower part of the root decayed before the 

 upper part, or whether the decay proceeded from the surface 

 downward. It would also depend upon whether the exterior of 

 the roots rotted first or whether the bark resisted decay longest, 

 leaving the interior, at a certain stage, practically hollow. It 

 would appear that this subject has not received adequate atten- 

 tion, and that careful investigations respecting the growth and 

 decay of roots in such situations should be made, and the possi- 

 bilities of intrusion by means of them carefully determined. 

 Reference was also made to the possibilities of intrusion through 

 the agency of a similar succession of generations of burrowing 

 animals. In view of the fact that in the paper under discussion 

 only about twenty flaked stones of artificial origin were insisted 

 upon as occurring deep within the gravels, the question of the 

 possibilities of intrusion assumes very considerable importance. 

 A certain amount of intrusion can fairly be claimed as probable. 

 The vital question is, Can it be presumed to account for all cases 

 not otherwise accounted for? 



The admirable address of the retiring President of the 

 American Association, Dr. LeConte, appears in this number of 

 the Journal and needs no comment. We hope to publish Vice- 

 President Walcott's address in our next number. 



*, * 



The Woman's Section of the Geological Congress at 

 Chicago, assembled on Monday, August 21, and held short 

 sessions throughout the week. The following is the list of 

 papers : 



Methods of Teaching Geology, by Miss Mary Holmes, Ph.D., 

 Rockford, 111.; Physical Geology, by Miss Mary K. Andrews, 

 Belfast, Ireland ; Chemical Geology, by Miss Louise Foster, 

 Boston, Mass.; Granites of Massachusetts and Their Origin, by 

 Mrs. Ella F. Boyd, Hyde Park, Mass.; Artistic Geology, by 



