SCIENCE. 



[jST. S. Vol. VII. No. 160. 



Drift Section and Glacial Striae in the Vi- 

 cinity of Lamoni.' 



The facts brought together in this sym- 

 posium serve to clear up a number of de- 

 bated questions relating to the glacial and 

 interglacial deposits in Iowa, and must 

 serve as a most substantial basis for any 

 further studies of this interesting and im- 

 portant subject. 



The following papers read by title were 

 referred to the Secretary for publication in 

 the Proceedings : 



L. H. Pammel, J. E. Bumip and Hanna 

 Thomas, ' Comparative Study of Berberida- 

 cese.' 



L. H. Pammel, ' Notes on Fungi in Iowa 

 for 1896-7.' 



G. W. Carver, ' Notes on Fungi in Iowa 

 for 1895-6.' 



This meeting of the Academy was one of 

 the best attended and most interesting in 

 its history. 



Its next annual meeting will be held in 

 December, 1898. 



The following oiScers were elected for 

 the ensuing year : President, Professor T. 

 H. Macbride, Iowa City ; First Vice-Presi- 

 dent, Professor B. Fink, Fayette; Second 

 Vice-President, Professor M. F. Arey, Cedar 

 Falls ; Secretary-Treasurer, Herbert Os- 

 born, Ames ; elective members of Executive 

 Committee, Professors S. W. Beyer, Ames ; 

 A. C. Page,- Cedar Falls ; and W. H. Nor- 

 ton, Mt. Vernon. 



Herbert Osboen. 



Secretary. 



CURRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY. 

 THE PKE-MYCENiEAN CULTURE. 



A SCORE of years ago the early history of 

 Greece was bounded by a Homeric fog, a 

 thousand years or so B. C. Then came 

 the brilliant researches of Schliemann at 

 Hissarlik, Tirjms and Mycense, and the fog 

 lifted to reveal the vivid and potent Myce- 

 nfean culture at its acme, about 1500 B. C. 



Now, once more, the clouds have rolled 

 away, and investigations on the islands of 

 the Archipelago and the mainland of Greece 

 have disclosed to us, with abundant clear- 

 ness, the ' pre-Mycensean ' culture, extend- 

 ing from about 2000 to 3000 B. C. 



It is simple and rude, that of the Grecian 

 folk before they had been touched by the 

 Promethean fire which transformed them 

 to the noblest artists of all time. The 

 statues of stone are misshapen and incom- 

 plete; the pottery is generally coarse, and 

 it is doubtful if its moulders knew the pot- 

 ter's wheel; its decoration is in lines and 

 spirals onlj^, animal figures being unknown; 

 neither the sword nor gold had yet been dis- 

 covered; tattooing was common; and the 

 general condition was that of barbarism. 



A full, well illustrated and instructive 

 article on this culture is that of C. Blink- 

 enberg, in the Memoires de la Societe Roj'- 

 ale des Antiquaires du Nord, 1896. 



CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE STUDY OF THE 

 STONE AGE. 



Professor Enrico H. Giglioli, of Flor- 

 ence, has recently published a number of in- 

 teresting papers bearing on the industries of 

 the stone age in various parts of the world. 



In one he describes, from an unpublished 

 MS., the stone age in New Caledonia as it 

 now exists. It is in the neolithic stage, 

 but the period is not far distant when it 

 emerged from paleolithic types. Another 

 article describes various stone implements 

 still in use among the tribes of the Eio 

 Napo, in South America. They are princi- 

 pally axes of various sizes and forms. 

 Again, from Melaneria, he figures and de- 

 scribes the formidable maces of the natives 

 of New Britain, made of hard wood, the 

 end armed with a perforated stone, sphe- 

 roidal in shape. Finallj', in a note with sev- 

 eral illustrations, he explains the use of the 

 stone-armed threshing machine still a com- 

 mon implement in Tunisia. These and 



