July 25, 1919] 



SCIENCE 



95 



chart the corresponding red lettering can not 

 be shown. 



The chart is 98" X '^^"• 



An analogous chart of the aliphatic series 

 ■was described in Science. 



Alexander Lowy 



University of Pittsburgh 



THE KENTUCKY ACADEMY OF 

 SCIENCE 



The Kentucky Academy of Science held its sixth 

 annual meeting at the University of Kentucky on 

 Saturday, May 3, 1919, with J. E. Barton, presi- 

 dent, in the chair. After a brief business session 

 at which a number of new members were elected, 

 the following program was presented: 



President's address, by J. E. Barton, "The re- 

 lation of private forestry to the economic interests 

 of Kentucky. ' ' 



It was brought out that there are no public for- 

 ests in Kentucky, the large bodies of forest lands 

 being privately owned, mainly by coal companies. 

 The preservation of timber in Kentucky is there- 

 fore a problem in private forestry. It was con- 

 sidered desiraJble that the legisla,ture should pass 

 some law regulating private forests and stimulat- 

 ing timber development by suitable modification of 

 the methods of taxing timber land. 



New fossil inverteirates from a new fossil hori- 

 zon in tJie coal measures of eastern Kentucky: W. 

 E. JiLLSON, state geologist. A new fossiliferous 

 limestone horizon in the Coal Measures of eastern 

 Kentucky has been discovered by the author who 

 has done sufficient field work on it to demonstrate 

 that it possesses features of fundamental strati- 

 graphic importance to the unmapped geology of 

 this section. A comprehensive collection of inver- 

 tebrates taken by the author from an outcrop of 

 this horizon on the Dr. G. T. Kendrick farm on the 

 headwaters of Cow Creek, Floyd county, and iden- 

 tified by Professor Charles Schuchert, shows an 

 incomplete list of about forty species of which ten 

 are new and about sixteen very rare. It is a very 

 unusual Pottsville fauna with the characteristic 

 index forms absent. Three other widespread fos- 

 siliferous limestones in this same area are noted, all 

 of which possess virgin stratigraphic potentialities. 

 The author tentatively correlates them into the 

 Norton (Middle) and Wise (Upper) Pottsville. 



A phase of evolution: W. S. Anderson. In 

 every breed of animals it is found that a few are 

 exceptionally potent in passing on their good quali- 



ties. The author illustrated this from certain fam- 

 ilies of horses and advanced some speculations as to 

 the possible cause. 



Electrolytic solution glow: Dean W. Maetin. 

 In December, 1917, the author observed a glow on 

 the aluminum terminal of an electrolytic rectifier 

 with lead and aluminum electrodes in a 10 per 

 cent, solution of sodium phosphate. It was found 

 possible to produce the glow with solutions of 

 many different salts, of different concentrations, at 

 temperatures from to 100° and with electrodes of 

 aluminum, zinc or magnesium and with voltages 

 ranging from 80 to 1,500. A simple apparatus was 

 exhibited and production of the glow was demon- 

 strated. The observation is published for the pur- 

 pose of learning whether others have noted or in- 

 vestigated the phenomenon. 



The bacteriological descriptive group number: 

 D. J. Healt. The author has found it necessary 

 to develop the group number of the Society of 

 American Bacteriologists in such a manner that it 

 will indicate the action of soil bacteria on nitro- 

 genous compounds, organic acids and sulfur. The 

 group number, enlarged in this manner, has proved 

 valuable in the study of soil bacteria. 



A brief discussion of Lexington sewage purifica- 

 tion: H. D. Spears. A modern sewage-disposal 

 plant operated by gravity takes care of 3,000,000 

 gallons containing 2 J tons of suspended soUds. The 

 sewage passes through bar screens and grit cham- 

 bers into ImhofE tanks, where bacterial action 

 takes place and sludge is deposited. The effluent 

 passes into "dosing tanks" which empty auto- 

 matically every 15 minutes into filter beds, 2 acres 

 area, of coarsely broken limestone covered with 

 broken granite, together 6 feet deep. Thence the 

 effluent passes through secondary sedimentation 

 tanks and into a near-by stream. It is clear, odor- 

 less and has a "relative stability" of about 95 

 per cent. The sludge from the Imhofif tank is 

 drawn off periodically into drying beds whence it 

 is returned to the soil, when spadable. 



A specimen of lodestone from Kentucky: A. M. 

 Peter. A specimen of titaniferous magnetite pos- 

 sessing polarity was exhibited, which had been sent 

 in from Edmondson county. 



The composition of the ash of crab grass (Digi- 

 taria sanguinalis) as affected by the soil in which 

 it is grown: G. Davts Buokner. Crab grass 

 {Digitaria sanguinalis) , when grown in garden soil, 

 contains an ash which is 16.1 per cent, larger than 

 the ash of the same species when grown in a 4-inch 

 limestone roadway. The comparative composition 



