260 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. LVI, No. 1444 



Then for any chemical equation: 



c = 2x -\- r 



c 2x r 



- or fc ^= — _|_ - 



y y ' y 



hy — 2:r = r, which is an expression in which 

 the difference between x and y is fixed by k 

 and r. 



The preponderance of binary and ternary 

 compounds in inorganic chemistry, with occa- 

 sional appearance of single elements would 

 readily lead one to give fc an average value in 

 the neighborhood of 2.25. The actual average 

 for h in the fifty equations referred to above is 

 2.285, the extreme values being 1.5 and 3.1. 



The repetition of acid radicals in many of 

 the reagents of inorganic chemistry, coupled 

 with the fact that it is seldom possible to deter- 

 mine the products of a reaction amongst more 

 than three substances, results in an average 

 value of r, not far from that for h. Actual 

 average for fifty equations is 2.44. 



These average values for k and r require 

 that the average value for x and y should not 

 differ widely. 



Harry A. Curtis 



South Clinchfield, 

 Virginia 



THE IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



The academy held its thirty-sixth annual 

 session with Drake University, Des Moines, on 

 Friday and Saturday, April 28 and 29. After 

 a short business meeting President Morehouse 

 gave his presidential address on "The cosmol- 

 ogy of the universe." The academy then 

 divided into sections for the reading of papers, 

 and at six o'clock the sections met for dinners. 

 In the evening President Edgar 0. Lovett, of 

 Rice Institute, Houston, Texas, gave the public 

 address on "Some aspects of science." This 

 address and the reception which followed were 

 given at the splendid new municipal observa- 

 tory, built by the city of Des Moines in one 

 of its public parks and dedicated to Dr. More- 

 house, the astronomer of . Drake University. 

 Opportunity was given the members for in- 

 specting the equipment of the observatory and 

 seeing the stars through the nine-inch tele- 

 scope. 



On Saturday morning the sections resumed 



their meetings, and at ten o'clock the academy 

 convened to hear some papers of general 

 interest. The following were elected as officers 

 for the ensuing year: 



President, E. B. Wylie, State University, Iowa 

 City; vice-president, O. H. Smith, Cornell College, 

 Mount Vernon; secretary, James H. Lees, Geolog- 

 ical Survey, Des Moines; treasurer, A. O. Thomas, 

 State University; chairmen of sections: Botany, 

 H. S. Conard, Grinnell College, Grinnell; chem- 

 istry, Edward Bartow, Staite University; F. E. 

 Brown, State College; geology, S. L. Galpin, 

 State College, Ames; mathematics, C. W. Em- 

 mons, Simpson College, Indianola; physics, L. D. 

 "Weld, Coe College, Cedar Eapids; zoology, H. W. 

 Norris, Grinnell College. 



Eesolutions were adopted favoring refor- 

 estation and conservation, and opposing the 

 transfer of public forests to the Department of 

 the Interior. 



The following papers were presented: 



ARCHEOLOGT 



Tlie new Albin insoriied tablet: Ellison Oek. 

 - Decorative markings on some fragments of 

 Indian pottery from Mills Cortnty, Iowa: Paul 

 E. EowE. 



GEOLOGY 



Recent studies of the Pleistocene in western 

 Iowa: G. F. Kay. 



Till-like deposits south of Kansas Siver in 

 Douglas County, Kansas: Walter H. Schoewe. 



Status of sedimentation in loiva : A. C. Trow- 



BRIDOE. 



Origin of limestone conglomerates: Miss 

 Louise Fillman. 



Classification of lenses : Miss Louise Fillman. 



Notes on some mammalian remains reported in 

 Iowa during the past year: A. 0. Thomas. 



Eccords of Paleozoic glass-sponges in Iowa: 

 A. 0. Thomas. 



An Iowa Cambrian eurypterid: 0. T. Walter. 



The Laramie hiatus in the southern Sochies: 

 Charles Keyes. 



Horizontal oblique faulting in inclined strata: 

 Charles Keyes. 



Taxonomic rank of Pennsylvanian grouping: 

 Charles Keyes. 



A deposit of pyrites in coal: John M. Lindly. 



The deep well at Winfield: John M. Lindly. 



The structure of the Fort Dodge beds: James 

 H. Lees. 



The area near Stuart, Iowa: John L. Tilton. 



