936 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVIII. No. 730 



the wild ducks that frequent this brook through 

 the summer season. W. A. Mubeiix, 



Secretary pro tern. 



The club met at the American Museum of 

 Natural History on November 10, 1908, and was 

 called to order by Vice-president Burgess at 8:15 

 P.M. About 95 persons were present. 



After the reading of the minutes of the meeting 

 of October 29, Dr. N. L. Britton delivered the lec- 

 ture of the evening on " Trees of the Vicinity of 

 New York." The lecture was illustrated by lan- 

 tern slides from the Van Brunt collection and was 

 of a popular nature. The trees were taken up in 

 a biological order, beginning with the gymno- 

 sperms, and the photographs exhibited illustrated 

 both the general habit of the trees discussed and 

 the details of their flowers and fruit. 



Mabshall A. Howe, 

 Secretary pro tern. 



SECTION OF GEOLOGY AND MINEEALOGT OF THE 

 stew TOBK ACADEMY OP SCIENCES 



A EEGTJLAB monthly meeting of the section was 

 held October 5 in the academy rooms at the 

 American Museum of Natural History. Four 

 papers were presented, as follows: 

 Outline of the Geology of Long Island, N. T.: 



Professor W. O. Ceosby. 



Professor Crosby is of the opinion that the 

 Pleistocene history of Long Island is relatively 

 simple, and the known facts are accounted for by 

 a single ice-invasion. The recent reference of the 

 underlying lignitic and pyritic Chesapeake (Mio- 

 cene) clays and the Lafayette (Pliocene) yellow 

 gravel to the Pleistocene glacial series is believed 

 to be a mistake. From the early Pleistocene up- 

 lift dates the cuesta of Long Island, to which 

 Long Island Sound holds the relation of an inner 

 lowland. This lowland is still floored by Creta- 

 ceous clays and sands. The transverse valleys 

 and deep bays of the north shore of Long Island 

 are essentially preglacial, though greatly modified 

 by glacial erosion and deposition. 

 The Production of Low-grade Copper Ore in, the 



West: Professor James F. Kemp. 



The speaker presented a brief description of the 

 recent development of the so-called " low-grade " 

 copper mines in Bingham CaSon, Utah, and at 

 Ely, Nev. By means of maps the geographical 

 situation was made clear and the geological rela- 

 tions were outlined. The ores consist of bodies of 

 silicified and brecciated porphyry, impregnated 

 with chalcocite. They are mined by means of 



steam shovels, in huge open cuts. They range in 

 copper from less than two to two and a half per 

 cent. The operation and processes of the mills 

 and smelters were brieiiy outlined. The paper was 

 based upon visits made the past summer. 



limestones Interiedded with the Fordham, Qneisa 

 in New York City: Dr. Chaeles P. Bebkey. 

 The discovery of beds of limestone at three 

 points in such relation as to indicate interbed- 

 ding with the banded gneisses was announced. 

 This is an additional feature of similarity between 

 the gneisses of the Highlands and the Fordham at 

 its type locality. The largest bed is about 27 

 feet thick and is exposed in the east wall of the 

 new Jerome Park Reservoir at 205th Street. In 

 all cases these limestones are very impure and 

 coarsely crystalline, carrying many unusual min- 

 erals arising chiefly from recrystallization. Chon- 

 drodite and actinolite are abundant. Sphalerite 

 and galenite are also found. 



Continental Formations of the North American 

 Paleozoic: Professor A. W. Geabau. 

 The change of opinion in regard to conditions 

 under which many of the well-known sedimentary 

 formations are originally deposited was outlined. 

 A tabulated list of those formations of the Ap- 

 palachian region whose characters seem to indi- 

 cate continental origin was exhibited and the 

 evidence was briefly discussed. This article is to 

 be published in full in Science. 



Chaeles P. Beeket, 

 Secretary of Section 



WASHINGTON SECTION OF THE AMEBICAN 

 CHEMICAL SOCIETY 



The 185th meeting was called to order by 

 President Walker on Thursday evening, November 

 12. The attendance was 90, this large number 

 being due to the fact that many visiting members 

 of the A. O. A. C. were present. The following 

 papers were read: 



" Color of Lead' Chromate," E. E. Free. 



"Absorption of COa by Moist Oxide," W. O. 

 Robinson. 



"Solubility of Gold in Salt Solutions," W. J. 

 McCaughey. 



"The Distribution of NaNO, in the United 

 States," C. E. Munroe. 



Three members of the society were elected as 

 councilors to the American Chemical Society, viz., 

 L. M. Tolman, E. T. Allen and E. M. Chace. 

 J. A. LeCleec, 



Secretary 



