January 28, 1898.] 



SCIENGR 



lit 



sarily separate it from the glacial deposited 

 beds, although it points to such a separation. 

 If it is wind-blown sand, then the red- 

 dish layer between it and the cross-bedded 

 sand and gravel probably represents the 

 upper surface of the Trenton gravel and 

 was the terrace surface during the interval 

 between the accumulation of the glacial 

 gravel and the wind-blown sand. This 

 layer was examined very carefully in the 

 hope of finding proof of its being an old 

 soil. No humus staining, however, was 

 observed, and its absence may be an argu- 

 ment against the view here advanced. It 

 is not a fatal objection, however, since its 

 absence can be satisfactorily explained by 

 the oxidation and leaching which the whole 

 mass has undergone. This action is still 

 going on, for the humus staining is being 

 leached out of the underside of the present 

 soil, as is indicated by its mottled appear- 

 ance through a zone five or six inches thick. 

 4. The presence of at least one wind- 

 eroded pebble in the sand lends some 

 strength to this interpretation, although in 

 the light of the studies of Davis and Wood- 

 worth on Cape Cod it cannot be regarded 

 as conclusive. 



The presence of scattered pebbles in the 

 sand, too large to have been moved by the 

 wind, may at first sight seem to be fatal to 

 this view, but when all the facts are con- 

 sidered it is not so. That man was present 

 is indicated by the artifacts found. The 

 bank from which the pebbles may have 

 been carried by human agencies is hardly 

 more than a hundred feet away. Although 

 the presence of the pebbles may, to some 

 degree, weaken the argument it is not fatal 

 to it. 



My conclusions are, therefore, that the 

 artifacts are probably found in situ. There 

 is no positive evidence that the sand de- 

 posit is water-laid, and there are strong 

 reasons, although perhaps not conclusive, 

 that it is wind-blown. In the latter case it 



may date from a period much later than 

 the accumulation of the Trenton gravel. 

 It seems most reasonable to suppose that it 

 had accumulated after the river had cut its 

 channel somewhat below the level of the 

 terrace and formed a freehly-cut bluff, from 

 which the sand was derived. The localiza- 

 tion of the sand along the present bluff and 

 the reported greater abundance of the arti- 

 facts in the sand nearest the bluff supports 

 this conclusion. 



Substantially these same conclusions were 

 reached by me at the time of my first visit 

 to this locality, and my later observations 

 served only to confirm them. In a letter 

 to Professor Mercer, written about July 1st, 

 I stated this view as to the origin of the 

 sand, and the same conclusions were ex- 

 pressed to Professor Smock even earlier. 

 Ever since my first visit to this locality I 

 have been of the opinion that these de- 

 posits are probably seolian and that they 

 certainly do not represent the closing stages 

 of the Trenton gravel. 



Heney B. Kummel. 



Lewis Institute, October 25, 1897. 



SOCIETY FOE PLANT MOBPHOLOQY AND 

 PHYSIOLOGY. 



The first meeting of this Society was held 

 in conjunction with the meeting of the 

 American Society of Naturalists and the 

 Afiiliated Societies at Sage College, Cornell 

 University, December 28 and 29, 1897. 

 The following papers were presented : 



1. A Mycorhiza in the Boots of the lAliaceous 

 Genus Philesia. Dr. J. M. Macfaelane, 

 University of Pennsylvania. 

 A NEW case of this kind of Symbiosis was 

 fully described and the conclusion reached 

 that while the fungus might for many gen- 

 erations aid the host in the elaboration of 

 protein compounds, ultimately though very 

 gradually the fungus proved a destructive 

 agent. 



