November 27, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



769 



referred it. This difference in opinion is un- 

 important, as this is the lowest bed of the 

 Allegheny in the region and is at only 10 to 

 30 feet above the sandstone which forms the 

 top of the PottsviUe. 



This supplementary report is merely synop- 

 tical and it will be supplemented in turn by 

 county reports giving the structure in detail. 

 The plan and execution of the survey work are 

 admirable; the measurements are very numer- 

 ous and the correlations have been made with 

 patient study; the analyses are in great part 

 both proximate and ultimate and the number 

 of them is unusually large. The new ma- 

 terial, bearing on the origin of coal and the 

 accumulation of coal beds is perplexingly im- 

 portant; if miich more of this sort be pre- 

 sented, reconstruction of many familiar 

 hypotheses will be necessary and much fine 

 writing, of which the authors were justly 

 proud, will become merely historical lumber. 

 John J. Stevenson 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES 

 The Museums Journal of Great Britain for 

 October, under the title " Board of Education : 

 Circulation Department," states that the Vic- 

 toria and Albert Museum contemplates extend- 

 ing the operations of its circulation department 

 which is concerned with the loan of collections 

 to provincial museums. In " Notes on an 

 Eighteenth Century Museum " Thomas South- 

 well gives much information about the Mu- 

 seum BouUerianum a typical institution of 

 its period. This contained many objects 

 brought home by Capt. Cook, including speci- 

 mens of Hemignathus ohscurus and Vestiaria 

 cO'Ccinea. The article on " The Lund Museum 

 for the History of Culture " contains a brief 

 discussion of the extent and character of 

 restorations of art objects. 



The American Museum Journal for No- 

 vember contains a brief account of " Cuthbert 

 Eookery," the last of any size left in the state, 

 and information as to " The Stefansson- An- 

 derson Arctic Expedition " which is at work 

 on the northeast coast, while Harlan I. Smith 

 presents some of the results of " The Archeo- 

 logical Reconnaissance of Wyoming." It is 



noted that the Tuberculosis Exhibit will be 

 opened the latter part of November. The 

 number contains the lecture programs of vari- 

 ous courses. 



The Bulletin of the Charleston Museum for 

 October notes the installation of the Museum 

 Library in the new building and calls atten- 

 tion to the fact that it is the first free public 

 reading-room in the city. The offices and 

 workrooms are also in the new building and 

 the re-arrangement of the collections is pro- 

 ceeding as fast as is possible. 



The Zoological Society Bulletin for October 

 contains an illustrated account of the elephant 

 house soon to be opened to the public, and 

 probably the most complete structure of its 

 kind extant. In a note on " A Large Sea 

 Turtle " (Dermochelys) it is stated that " It 

 is not likely that any species of sea turtle ex- 

 ceeds 1,000 pounds in weight." This is prob- 

 ably true ; it is surprising how animals shrink 

 before tape line or scales and so far as we 

 know the 840 pounds of this turtle is the 

 maximum actually recorded. Mr. Beebe pre- 

 sents Part I. of an illustrated article on the 

 " New World Vultures." He remarks that 

 they apparently lack the sense of smell, but 

 per contra it is to be noted that the olfactory 

 lobes of Cathartes are weU developed, being 

 much larger than those of other birds. And 

 what are olfactory lobes for but to record 

 smells ? Attention is called to the necessity 

 for raising a fund for the purchase of bison 

 for the Montana herd for which the govern- 

 ment has provided a range. 



The tenth volume of the Transactions of 

 the Texas Academy of Science, including the 

 proceedings for 1907, has just been published. 

 Its contents includes the following papers: 

 " The Eesistive Powers of the Animal Organ- 

 ism," the annual address by the president, Dr. 

 James E. Thompson, professor of surgery in 

 the medical department of the University of 

 Texas, Galveston; "A Theory of Ferments 

 and their Action," by Dr. James W. Mc- 

 Laughlin, Austin; "Soil Fertility and Phos- 

 phoric Acid," Dr. George S. Frapps, state 

 chemist, College Station; "Lord Monboddo^ 



