SCIENCE 



A Weekly Journal devoted to the Advancement 

 of Science, publishing the official notices and 

 proceedings of the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science, edited by J. McKeen 

 Cattell and published every Friday by 



THE SCIENCE PRESS 



I I Liberty St., Utica, N. Y. Garrison, N. Y. 



New York City: Grand Central Terminal 



Annual Subscription, $6.00 Single Copies, ,15 Cts. 



Entered as second-class matter January 21, 1922, at the 



Post Office at Utica, N. Y., under the Act of M'arch 3, 1879. 



Vol. lvi August 18, 1922 No. 1442 



CONTENTS 



Geology of the Colorado Biver Basin with 

 reference to Engineering Problems: Pro- 



FESSOK B.ULEY WlLLIS - 177 



The Expeditions of the American Museum of 



Natural History 182 



The Proposed Federation of the American 

 Biological Societies: PBorBSsoR A. Frank- 

 lin Shull 184 



Huia Onslow: Professor T. D. A. Cockerell 185 



Scientific Events: 



Illuminating Engineering Nomenclature 

 and Photometric Standards; French Vital 

 Statistics for 1931; Production of Dyes in 

 the United States; Fellowships for Medical 

 Research; The Second National Highway 

 Conference : 186 



Scientific Notes and News 190 



University and Educational Notes 194 



Discussion and Correspondence: 



Pasteur on Science and the Applications of 

 Science: Dr. Charles Eobertson. Culti- 

 vation and Evaporation: Dr. . Jerome 

 Alexander. Depositories for Scientific 

 Publications: Dr. W. E. Allen. Alfred ' 

 Goldsborough Mayor: Dr. T. C. Menden- 

 HALL 194 



Scientific Books : 



Stevenson on Terrestrial and Celestial 

 Globes: Professor L. C. K-arpinski 199 



Special Articles: 



The Effect of Absorbed Hydrogen on the 

 Thermo-electric Properties of Palladium. 

 R. M. Holmes. The Effect of Sperm 

 boiled in Oxalated Sea-water in initiating 

 Development: Dr. E. E. Just 201 



The Western Society of Naturalists: Dr. 

 Chester Stock 0Q4 



GEOLOGY OF THE COLORADO 



RIVER BASIN WITH REFERENCE 



TO ENGINEERING PROBLEMSi 



Ant account of the geology of the Colorado 

 River basin falls naturally into two parts : that 

 which deals with the life of the Colorado River 

 and that which describes the preceding ages 

 l)efore the river began to flow. Professor Pack 

 has presented the life history of the river. It 

 is my task, to sketch the earlier history of this 

 part of the continent. With reference to the 

 engineering problems, the geologist is con- 

 cerned with three questions relating to the sta- 

 bility of the dam as affected by, possible earth- 

 quakes, the nature of the foundation rocks, and 

 the durability of the rocks used in construction. 

 Reference will be made to these matters after 

 the geology has been described. 



We have become familiar with moving pic- 

 tures, which present a succession of views, each 

 one of which differs so slightly from the pre- 

 ceding that the eye sees their sequence as a con- 

 tinuous movement. The intervals are fractions 

 of a second. The action is timed to our human 

 scale. Geographic changes are exceeding slow. 

 If we would present a moving picture of a 

 succession of landscapes, the intervals between 

 the views would be a hundred thousand or even 

 a million years. Even so, the eye would see a 

 continuous procession of views. Mountains 

 would grow to majestic heights and waste away 

 till their sites became plains. Rivers would 

 develop and competing for territory would be- 

 come master streams or tributaries according 

 to the law of the strongest. Seas would invade 

 the land and retreat from it after ages of occu- 

 pation. Climates, floras and faunas would 

 change. Such is the moving picture of geologic 



1 Presented in the Symposium on ' ' The Prob- 

 lems of the Colorado Eiver" at the Salt Lake 

 City meeting of the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science and the Pacific Division. 



