786 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IX. No 231. 



the slow process of natural selection, were not 

 likely to be cliauged. The general impression 

 that the seal is a very intelligent animal was 

 thought to be partly explainable by the fact 

 that its nou migratory relatives, such as the sea 

 lion and the hair seal, are in reality much more 

 adaptable, not being possessed of the powerful 

 and unvarying instincts of the fur seal. 



O. F. Cook, 

 Secretary. 



GEOLOGICAL CONFERENCE AND STUDENTS' CLUB 

 OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 



Students'' Geological Cluh, February 14, 1899. 

 Mr. A. W. G. Wilson gave a ' Demonstration 

 of Mineral Determination by Volatile Iodide 

 ■Coatings.' After presenting a brief resumS of 

 Dr. Haanel's paper ' On the Application of 

 Hydriodic Acid as a Blowpipe Reagent,' he de- 

 monstrated the use of plaster of paris tablets as 

 supports, and of hydriodic acid as a reagent for 

 the determination of a number of the common 

 and some of the rarer elements. 



Geological Covference, February 21, 1899. 

 Mr. J. E. Woodman spoke on ' Notes on the 

 Glacial Geology of Nova Scotia. ' The Province 

 is divided into two parts by fairly sharp 

 boundaries. In the south is the lake region, 

 characterized by till, without distinct form, or 

 in the form of moraines and occasional drumlins, 

 and a little stratified drift. In the north, lakes 

 are largely absent, and there is a considerable 

 amount of stratified drift, with few morainal 

 deposits. In the center, near the northern edge 

 of the lake region, drumlins of a very elongate 

 form are abundant. 



Throughout the countrj' the direction of ice- 

 movement was controlled by pre-Pleistocene 

 topography to an extent seldom seen in New 

 England. Thus, in Cornwallis and Annapolis 

 valleys the ice followed the same lines as 

 present drainage ; in the center of the Province 

 it ran southward, and along the north shore 

 east of Pictou it ran eastward. The short 

 distance of carriage of much of the drift is 

 noticeable. Changes in the character of the 

 drift follow quite closely those of the larger 

 features of bed-rock geology. 



The center and eastern part of the Province 



shows little stratified drift. The northwestern 

 portion shows a considerable amount, chiefly in 

 the form of eskers and kame-terraces. Many 

 fine eskers can be followed on the road from 

 Yarmouth to Windsor, but east of there few 

 occur. The absence of coarse material in the 

 central part of the peninsula is very noticeable. 

 "Few surface boulders are seen along the rail- 

 road line after leaving the lake and morainic 

 country at Windsor Junction, until well on 

 toward the Strait of Canso, where a few mo- 

 rainic accumulations were noted. All along the 

 north coast the drumlins are indistinct in out- 

 line, being, with very few exceptions, mere 

 drumlinoid hills. In the Strait, ice-motion 

 changed from east to south along the now 

 sunken valley. 



In Cape Breton the obedience of ice-motion 

 to topography is still more marked. The mass 

 appears to have moved, in the interior, from 

 the low region of the Bras d'Or lakes north- 

 ward along the valleys of rivers which now flow 

 south. This motion did not continue far, and 

 the higher parts of the islands are all un- 

 glaciated. On the west and northwest coast 

 the ice aflPected only the bordering Carbonifer- 

 ous lowland, penetrated a very short distance 

 up the wider valleys, and left the central pene- 

 plain, on granite and schist, untouched. 



J. M. BOUTWELL, 



Recording Secretary. 



THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE OF ST. LOUIS. 



At the meeting of the Academy of Science of 

 St. Louis, on the evening of May 15, 1899, thirty 

 persons present, the Secretary presented, by 

 title, a paper by Professor P. E. Nipher, on 

 'Temperatures of Gaseous Nebulae.' 



Professor E. M. Shepard exhibited an inter- 

 esting series of lantern slides and ethnological 

 specimens procured by him during a i-ecent ex- 

 tended trip through the islands of the South 

 Pacific, especially New Zealand, Fiji and Samoa, 

 illustrating the natural history and ethnology 

 of those islands. 



Two persons were proposed for active mem- 

 bership in the Academy. 



William Teeleasb, 

 Recording Secretary. 



