174 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. LVI, No. 1441 



THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR 

 THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE^ 



SECTION E— GEOLOGY AND GEOGRAPHY 

 AND ASSOCIATED SOCIETIES 



The American Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science and Canadian Geology: A retro- 

 spect: W. G. Miller, provincial geologist, 

 Toronto, Ontario. The working together of 

 Canadians and Americans in the association has 

 done much to promote pleasant relations between 

 the two countries and to advance science. When 

 the association was founded, over seventy years 

 ago, prominent Canadian geologists were among 

 its first members and contributed important 

 papers, some of which, especially that one which 

 introduced the terms Huronian and Laurentian 

 have become classic. Certain views held concern- 

 ing the age relations of pre-Cambrian rocks iu 

 the earlier years of the association are con- 

 trasted in the paper with those which are at 

 present current. 



Some physiographic forms of western North 

 Dakota: Haret N. Eaton. Illustrations of the 

 Bad-land topography of the Little Missouri Eiver 

 Valley; the Missouri Eiver escarpments and flood 

 plain, vrith erosional details of the Tort Union 

 formation; the Missouri Coteau; the Altamont 

 moraine; slump topography; clinker buttes, etc. 



Mineralography or the microscopy of the ore 

 minerals: Ellis Thomson, University of Toronto. 

 The history of the study; technique and equip- 

 ment employed in the preparation of polished 

 sections; microscopic examination; microphotog- 

 raphy and the practical application of the 

 method. 



A new genus and species of dinosaur from the 

 Belly Siver beds of Alherta: "W. A. Paeks. A 

 description of a remarkable new genus of dino- 

 saur found recently in the Cretaceous beds on 

 the Bed Deer Eiver. It has a pecuUar projection 

 backward over the neck of the bone of the skull 

 into a prong over four feet in length. 



Tuesday Afternoon Session, Decembee 27 



This session was largely given up to the dis- 

 cussion of glacial geology. 



The glacial period: its record in Iowa: Geoege 

 F. Kat. For many years Iowa has been recog- 

 nized as one of the most important areas in the 

 world for the study of the Glacial Period. Dis- 

 tinctive deposits mark five glacial epochs and four 



1 Toronto, December 27, 1921. 



interglaeial epochs. Attention is directed to the 

 significance of the gombotils, which on account of 

 their distinctive characters and wide distribution 

 are considered to be among the best of horizon 

 markers. They strengthen the view that the 

 Glacial Period was probably hundreds of thou- 

 sands and possibly millions of years in length. 



Some recent and pleistocene glaciers of Argen- 

 tina and Bolivia: A. P. Coleman. 



The drumlins: Colonel John Millis. Sines 

 in the opinion of the writer the conditions favor- 

 able for drumlin formation are basin-shaped 

 areas with impeded drainage, the radial move- 

 ment of ice from these basins produced crevasses 

 which became filled with water in summer. On 

 freezing in winter, it produced pressure resulting 

 in a buckling of the drift beneath the ice. 



Stratigraphy and paleontology at Toronto : 

 W. A. Paeks. The Paleozoic rocks in this dis- 

 trict are overlain by the remarkable series of 

 glacial and interglaeial beds which have been 

 formerly so fully described by Dr. Coleman and 

 which contain evidences of interglaeial epochs 

 warmer than the present climate of the region. 

 The Paleozoic rocks which consist of shales and 

 limestones are exposed at a few rather widely 

 separated points and while there are some varia- 

 tions in the fossil characters indicating different 

 zones there are no physical unconformities in the 

 series. 



Outline of the physiographic history of north- 

 eastern Ontario: W. H. Collins. A summary of 

 the data showing what important diastrophie 

 movements have occurred in this area and the 

 evidence which fixes the periods in which these 

 revolutions have occurred. 

 Wednesday Moeninq Session, Decembee 28 

 Address of Dr. Eliot Blackwelder, the retiring 

 vice-president of the section, on "The Trend of 

 Earth History." 



The remainder of the morning session was 

 mostly taken up with papers bearing on sedi- 

 mentation. 



Sedimentation in iafee Louise, Alberta: W. A. 

 Johnston. The sediments being formed in the 

 lake are glacial silts derived from Viotoria glacier 

 near the head of the lake. Conditions of sedi- 

 mentation are somewhat similar to those which 

 existed in northwestern America at the close of 

 the Ice Age. Core samples from the bottom of 

 the lake taken by means of a bo-ttom sampler 

 and sounding machine show fairly distinct band- 

 ing believed to be seasonal. 



A natural classification of sedimentary rocks: 

 BiCHAED M. Field. Owing to the increased 



