52 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VII. No. 159. 



a brief description of the curious volcanic 

 plugs now remaining as Mt. Koyal and 

 several others in an easterly line from it, 

 and in a few words referred to their inter- 

 esting petrographical character. The re- 

 markable survival of Lower Helderberg 

 strata in a patch of a few square feet on an 

 island in the St. Lawrence, near Montreal, 

 excited great interest, especially in their 

 bearing on the views lately advanced by H. 

 S. Williams on the line of entry of the late 

 Silurian fauna into New York. The post- 

 Pliocene deposits in the shape of the boul- 

 der clay; the bouldery gravels and stiff 

 overlying clay ; the Leda-clay and the 

 Saxicava sand, all of which are carved into 

 the marine beaches which now form the 

 terraces on which the city is built, received 

 passing mention. The way in which the 

 geological structure had determined the 

 location of the city and the settlement of 

 the country was the closing topic of the 

 paper. 



The discussion turned at first on the de- 

 termining factors in the present relations of 

 of the ancient crystallines and the paleozoics, 

 and whether the rather straight contact 

 shown on the map is the result of faulting 

 or of the creeping-up of the Cambrian sea 

 on an even shore-line. Dr. George Dawson 

 and several other Canadian geologists said 

 that there were no faults, but that the inroad 

 of the sea had brought about the phenomena. 

 The discussion then turned on the course of 

 events, in the region in the times after the 

 latest paleozoic sediments and before the 

 superficial deposits had accumulated, and 

 developed the fact that it is easy to ask 

 questions which no Fellow can answer. 

 The discussion also turned on the Helder- 

 berg outlier and its relation to the older 

 Ordovician strata. It was shown to rest on 

 a curious tufa deposit, but, as remarked by 

 H. M. Ami, the Devonian to the east rests 

 unconformably on the Cambrian. The dis- 

 cussion was participated in by H. P. Gush- 



ing, H. M. Ami, W. M. Davis, George M. 

 Dawson, J. H. Tyrrell, R. W. Ells and F. 

 B. Taylor. 



Marine Cretaceous Formations in Deep Wells in 

 Southeastern Virginia. 'N. H. Darton. 

 The paper was read by W. N. Rice, in 

 the absence of the author. It recorded the 

 sections recently revealed by deep wells at 

 Norfolk, Va., Fortress Monroe, Lambert's 

 Point and Jetty Point. They show that 

 the marine Cretaceous, which was thought 

 to be growing thin in southern New Jersey; 

 thickens again farther south. 



The Cretaceous Series of the West Coast of 

 Greenland. Charles Schuchert and 

 David White. 



The paper was presented by David White 

 and described the results obtained the past 

 summer while exploring the plant beds 

 along the Nugsuak peninsula. On a base of 

 gneisses lie 3,000 feet of sediments forming 

 the plant beds, and on these, 4,000 feet of ba- 

 salt flows. The beds dip away from the 

 gneisses and are available between tidewater 

 and the basalt, which covers their upturned 

 edges and pierces them in dikes. The 

 stratigraphical section, with the European 

 equivalents, is as follows : 



Patoot = Senonion ~j 



Atane = Cenomanian V Cretaceous 



Kome = Urgonian J 



All corresponded to the American Po- 

 tomac formation, except, perhaps, the 

 Patoot. Marine fossils were also found, 

 giving the ofishore equivalents of the plant 

 beds. The latter are remarkable in afford- 

 ing dicotyledons. W. B. Scott asked about 

 the equivalency of the Potomac, to which 

 the speaker replied that it would be fully 

 discussed in an early paper by Dr. L. F. 

 Ward. T. C. Chamberlin inquired as to 

 the climatic conditions as indicated by the 

 Potomac floras north and south. Mr. 

 White replied that they showed no climatic 



