80 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VII. No. 160. 



The paper was read by the SecretarJ^ 

 In discussion David White referred to Sir 

 William's long service in paleobotany, he 

 having begun the study of fossil plants in 

 1843, at the same time with Ettingshausen 

 and Geinitz. 



OmphalopJiloios, a New Lepidodendroid Type. 



David White. 



Mr. White described a Lepidodendron 

 trunk that had been found in the Des 

 Moines series (Lower Carboniferous), at 

 Clinton, Mo. After a review of the forms 

 of the common leaf-scars on Lepidodendrons 

 and an explanation of their functions so 

 far as understood, the peculiar features of 

 the one in question were outlined. The 

 paper requires cuts to make these clear. 

 It was discussed by H. L. Fairchild. 



The Mastodon in Western Ontario. H. M. 



Ami. 



Mr. Ami described the exhuming of two 

 mastodons in Ontario, one in Essex county, 

 north of the west end of Lake Erie, and 

 one in Norfolk county, at the east end of 

 the same lake. In the former case the sec- 

 tion of six to eight feet that was dug up 

 involved the following from below upward, 

 at the bottom clay and boulders ; then 

 gravel, the bones, sand and shell marl, 

 sand and peat,, gray sand, sand and ochre 

 yellow sand. The remains were fragmen- 

 tary. In Norfolk county the pit was three 

 to four and one-half feet ; at the base was 

 clay; then shell marl, mottled sand, gray 

 sand and peat. The skull extended from 

 the clay through the others. In addition, 

 25 ribs, 40 feet-bones, 2 tusks and many 

 vertebrae were recovered. In the peat 

 deer-bones and arrow-heads were found- 



Mastodon and Mammoth Remains found near 

 Hudson Bay. Robert Bell, Ottawa, 

 Canada. 



The paper gave an account (1) of the 

 discovery of some mastodon bones in 1877, 

 near the junction of the Mattagomi and 



Missinaibi Eivers, to form the Moose River 

 in the southern part of the basin of Hudson 

 Bay, and described the superficial deposits 

 in that region ; and (2) of the finding of a 

 peculiarly small mammoth's tooth on Long 

 Island, off the Eastmain coast of Hudson 

 Bay. It discussed the question of the 

 specific identity of this small northern 

 mammoth with the common species of more 

 southern latitudes in North America. 



The first mentioned specimen was dis- 

 covered by an Indian, who chopped out a 

 tooth from a skull lying in the river and 

 then left the latter. The speaker passed 

 the spot at high- water and could not secure 

 the bones. The other was found on the 

 bare rock. 



Fossil-like Forms in the Sault Ste. Marie Sand- 

 stone. Robert Bell, Ottawa, Canada. 

 In the bottom of the pit which was ex- 

 cavated in the sandstone for the canal lock 

 on the south side of the Sault Ste. Marie, in 

 1891, a bed was found covered with very 

 distinct markings, which in some respects 

 resemble large plant remains, but they are 

 probably casts of desiccation cracks. The 

 author's remarks were illustrated by photo- 

 graphs, of four large specimens. The re- 

 mains were surprisingly like fossils, but all 

 present agreed with the speaker in their in- 

 terpretation. 



Syenite-porphyry Dikes in the Adirondack Re- 

 gion. Henry P. Cushing, Cleveland, O. 

 Recent field work in Clinton county, N. 

 Y., has shown the existence of dikes be- 

 longing to the syenite -trachyte family of 

 eruptive rocks, which are of different age 

 from the bostonites described by Kemp and 

 Marsters from the near vicinity. They are 

 older than the Potsdam sandstone, as they 

 have furnished pebbles to its basal con- 

 glomerate. On the other hand, the older 

 rocks of the region were metamorphosed 

 before their extrusion. Together with the 

 associated diabases they show great resem- 



