April 7, 1899.] 



SCIENCE. 



517 



Die Continuitiit der AlommrkeUmig. Geoeg Hoe- 

 MANN". Jena, Gustav Fischer. 1899. Pi). 118. 

 Mark 3. 



Text-Bool: of Physics — Sound. J. H. PoVNiiNG and 

 J. J. Thomson. London, Charles Griflings & 

 Company ; Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott & Co- 

 Pp. x+163, 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 



The American Journal of Science contains the 

 following articles : 



Glacial Lakes Newberry, Warren and Dana, in 

 Central New York, H. L. Fairchild. 



Rapid Jlethod for the Determination of the Amount 

 of Soluble Mineral Matter in a Soil, T. H. Means. 



New Type of Telescope Objective especially adapted 

 for Spectroscopic Use, C. S. Hastings. 



Phenoorysts of Intrusive Igneous Rocks, L. V. 



PiRSSON. 



Occurrence, Origin and Chemical Composition of 

 Chromite, J. H. Peatt. 



Influence of Hydrochloric Acid in Titrations by 

 Sodium Thiosulphate, J. T. Norton, Jr. 



Rock-forming Biotites and Amphiboles, H. W. 



TOENEE. 



One Little Known and one Hitherto Unknown 

 Species of Saurocephalus, 0. P. Hay. 



Some American Fossil Cycads, G. R. Wieland. 



The American Geologist for April opens with 

 an extended article by Professor William M. 

 Davis on the peneplain, being a reply to an 

 article by Professor Tarr in a previous issue of 

 the journal. Professor Davis writes from 

 Cannes, France. Following are articles : By 

 Professor George E. Ladd, on the Cretaceous 

 Clays of Middle Georgia ; by Professor H. N. 

 Winchell, on the optical characters of Jackson- 

 ite, and by Professor C. H. Hitchcock, giving 

 an account of his observations in Australasia. 



The Journal of the Boston Society of Medical 

 Sciences contains a paper by Dr. Franklin G. 

 White on ' Blood Cultures in Septicemia, Pneu- 

 monia, Meningitis and Chronic Disease, ' in 

 which, among the conclusions reached, is that 

 the detection of specific bacteria in the blood in 

 cases of sepsis and pneumonia gives an un- 

 favorable prognosis. A brief but interesting 

 article by E. H. Bradford treats of the ' Move- 

 ment of the Fi-ont of the Foot in Walking ; ' and 

 Dr. John Dane follows with a ' Report of Some 

 Studies upon the Arch of the Foot in Infancy, ' 

 showing that this arch is present in infants but 

 is masked by a sustaining pad of fat. 



The frontispiece of the Osprcy for February 

 is a plate of the Hairy Woodpecker by Fuertes ; 

 the first article, ' Notes from North Dakota, ' 

 by E. S. Rolfe treats of egg collecting in the 

 vicinity of Devil's Lake. Mr. Geo. P. Bren- 

 inger has an article on ' Gambel's Quail ;' and 

 Eev. W. F. Henninger discusses ' The Scourge 

 of Egg Collecting ' in a manner perhaps a little 

 over-zealous, but with an array of facts that 

 merit serious consideration. The feature of the 

 number is Dr. Gill's long letter headed ' A 

 Great Work Proposed,' wherein he lays before 

 the readers at some length a number of sugges- 

 tions for a new history of North American 

 birds. The publication of the Osprey for March 

 brings this magazine down to date ; Julia S. 

 Robins contributes an article on Wilson enti- 

 tled 'Behind the Wedding Veil,' and Witmer 

 Stone follows with a too short paper on 'An Old 

 Case of Skins and its Associations,' being notes 

 on one of the earliest ornithological collections 

 in the United States. In ' Snap Shots with Pen 

 and Camera,' E. S. Rolfe gives us half a dozen 

 views of birds and nests, with accompanying 

 text. ' The Gourdheads in the Cypress Swamp 

 of Missouri,' by Otto Widmann, tells of the 

 habits of the Wood Ibis, gourdhead being a 

 local name for this bird. W. B. Davis has some 

 suggestive notes on 'Odd Actions of Birds Un- 

 explained,' and the customary notes, editorials 

 and reviews complete this unusually good 

 number. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 CHEMICAL SOCIETY OP WASHINGTON. 



The regular meeting was held on February 

 9, 1899. 



The first paper of the evening was read by 

 Mr. F. D. Simons, and was entitled ' The De- 

 tection of Caramel Coloring Matter in Spirits 

 and Vinegar,' by C. A. Crampton and F. D. 

 Simons. 



The paper states that the two principal 

 tests given in the books for the detection of 

 caramel coloring matter are, first, the reduction 

 of Fehling's solution, and second, the precipita- 

 tion of the caramel by means of paraldehyde. 

 Neither of these tests has given satisfactory re- 

 sults in the hands of the authors. 



