January 21, 1898. J 



SCIENCE. 



87 



August, and the meeting of Eastern and 

 Western flora in this region were dis- 

 cussed. 



Professor T. H. Macbride read a paper 

 on ' The Myxomycetes of the Black Hills.' 

 These minute and interesting organisms 

 which thrive in moist climates exist here 

 under conditions that would seem very 

 unfavorable. They are, however, much 

 dwarfed as compared with those occurring 

 in most localities in eastern Iowa, and, 

 while affording an abundant variety, are 

 such as would be recognized anywhere as 

 very peculiar and poor. 



' Idiocerus and Pediopsis,' by Herbert Os- 

 born and E. D. Ball, included a discussion 

 of generic afiinities and species occurring in 

 North America. Some of the species are 

 abundant on various trees and of economic 

 importance. 



Papers by Professor Fitzpatrick on ' The 

 Flora of Northeastern Iowa' and ' The Flora 

 of Southern Iowa ' were read by title. 



What proved to be a very spirited discus- 

 sion on the formation of the loess of the 

 western part of the State and other portions 

 of Iowa was opened by the paper of Profes- 

 sor B. Shimek on ' Is the Loess of Aqueous 

 Origin ? ' followed by one on ' The Degrada- 

 tion of the Loess,' by Professor J. E. Todd, 

 State Geologist of South Dakota. Professor 

 Shimek presented a vast array of evidence, 

 mainly from the occurrence and distribu- 

 tion of the mollusca, to support his view 

 that parts at least of this formation could 

 not have been deposited in water. The 

 facts presented had been gathered with 

 the greatest care, and the evidence most 

 thoroughly sifted so that the conclusions 

 must command wide attention. 



Professor Todd presented numerous cases 

 where the loess material gave evidence of 

 creeping and ravining, and the formation of 

 secondary deposits in which the determina- 

 tion of fossils became difficult. 



Dr. C. R. Keyes presented a paper on 



' The Carboniferous Formation of the Ozark 

 Region,' embracing results of recent work 

 and a statement of equivalent formations 

 for different parts of the area. 



Professor Calvin, in a paper on ' Some 

 Anomalous Valleys and Paradoxical Di- 

 vides in Delaware County, Iowa,' called 

 attention to the peculiar habit, noted in the 

 eastern part of the State, of streams turning 

 aside from low plains to follow chasms cut 

 in highlands that rise from forty to fifty 

 feet above the plains from which the stream 

 turned aside. 



One of the most interesting features was 

 a symposium on interglaeial formations in 

 Iowa, and participated in by Messrs. Cal- 

 vin, Leverett, Bain, Udden and Fitzpatrick. 



Professor Calvin opened with a discussion 

 of the ' Interglaeial Deposits of Northeast- 

 ern Iowa,' describing the forest beds and 

 gravel formations and discussing the sig- 

 nificance of the gravels and the availability 

 of the term Buchanan as a name for an 

 interglaeial stage. 



In papers on ' The Weathered Zone 

 (Sangamon) between the lowan Loess and 

 the Illinoisan Till Sheet ' and ' The Weath- 

 ered Zone (Yarmouth) between the Illi- 

 noisan and Kansan Till Sheets,' Mr. Lev- 

 erett discussed the characteristics of the 

 deposits and proposed names for each soil 

 horizon. Mr. Bain considered ' The Afto- 

 nian Deposits of Southwestern Iowa,' loca- 

 ting typical exposures and presenting evi- 

 dence to show that in southwestern Iowa 

 there are cases of a drift sheet of unknown 

 extent earlier than the Kansan and sepa- 

 rated from it by an interval of unknown 

 but considerable length. It is believed to 

 represent one of the theoretical earlier and 

 minor advances of the ice. 



The paper by J. A. Udden, on ' Preglacial 

 Peat Beds,' was a consideration of the peat 

 beds and soils under all the drift and upon 

 the rock surface. 



Professor T. J. Fitzpatrick discussed 'The 



