FEBEDARY25, 1898.] 



SCmNGE. 



287 



structure of the Cretaceous rocks was deter- 

 mined more completely, and, as it has important 

 economic bearings in connection with artesian 

 water, a special sheet is devoted to its presenta- . 

 tion. In a plaster model the upper surface of 

 the Dakota sandstone was restored so as to ex- 

 hibit its flexures and faults, and a lithographic 

 plate was prepared from a photograph of this 

 model. The general trend of the flexures is 

 NNW, and the faults have the same course. 



The flext rocks have been subjected to erosion 

 during a large part of Tertiary time, with the 

 result that the relief expresses the principal 

 facts of structure with great fidelity. Inclined 

 outcrops of the resistant Dakota sandstone 

 form monoclinal ridges from 600 to 1,200 feet 

 in height. A limestone at the base of the 

 Niobrara formation is exprest in a system of 

 sloping plains, mesas and ridges, which the de- 

 tails of structure render somewhat complex. 

 The outcrop of another limestone is markt 

 through a wide range of territory by a charac- 

 teristic terrace, and other terraces are de- 

 termined by Neocene and Pleistocene alluvial 

 formations. 



Among the economic materials are sandstones 

 available for structural purposes, limestones 

 available for lime, and flux, gypsum and fire- 

 clay. Artesian water, contained in the Dakota 

 sandstone, underlies nine-tenths of the quad- 

 rangle, and the structural relations indicate 

 that in about one-sixth of the quadrangle the 

 head is suflicient to carry it to the surface. A 

 special map indicates its distribution, showing 

 separately the flowing and pumping areas and 

 indicating by contours the estimated depth of 

 the water below the surface of the ground. 



The text is adjusted to the needs of lay 

 readers ; technical language is avoided, so far 

 as may be, and where avoidance is impracti- 

 cable the terms used are explained. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON, 286TH 



MEETING, SATURDAY, JANUARY 29. 



Me. William Palmee read a paper on the 

 Birds of the Pribilof Islands, Alaska, stating 

 that 69 species were known from that locality. 

 Of these, 18, mostly stragglers, are American, 



28 are exclusively Pacific, 17 are circumpolar 

 and but 6 Asiatic. None of the Asiatic species 

 breed on the islands, and but one of the Amer- 

 ican species. Seventeen of the Pacific forms 

 and four of the circumpolar, however, breed on 

 the Pribilofs. With the exception of eleven 

 land birds, four of which are common and breed, 

 the entire avifauna is composed of water birds 

 and waders. Thousands of birds pass south- 

 wards through the Aleutian Islands during the 

 autumnal migration to their winter homes on 

 the coast of Asia. Others journey direct to the 

 Hawaiian and other islands of the Middle and 

 South Pacific, thus making the longest trans- , 

 oceanic journeys known to be- made by birds. 



Dr. L. O. Howard presented, under the title 

 ' The European hornet in America,' some brief 

 notes about Vespa crabro. He exhibited speci- 

 mens of the larva and pupa of this insect taken 

 by Dr. E. G. Love from a nest found near Ja- 

 maica, Long Island. He also showed photo- 

 graphs of the nest, both in longitudinal and 

 horizontal section. He showed that this insect 

 has been present in this country in the vicinity 

 of New York City certainly since 1848, but that 

 during that time it has spread less than 150 

 miles from its point of introduction, the most 

 distant point at which it has certainly been 

 found being Anglesea, N. J. Eeported occur- 

 rences in Maryland and North Carolina were 

 considered doubtful by the speaker. He further 

 called attention to the fact that, while in Europe 

 the species usually inhabits outhouses, in this 

 country its nests have almost invariably been 

 found in hollow trees. 



F. A. Lucas, 



Secretary. 



THE academy of science OP ST. LOUIS. 



At the meeting of the Academy of Science of 

 January 17, 1898, seventeen persons present, 

 a paper by Charles Robertson, entitled ' New or 

 Little Known North American Bees,' was read 

 in abstract and referred to the Council for pub- 

 lication. Dr. A. C. Bernays addressed the 

 Academy on biological facts as evidence of 

 man's place in nature. He illustrated certain 

 facts from the ontogeny of man by description 

 and blackboard sketches, and tried to explain 

 the anatomical peculiarities in the structure of 



