June 4, 1909] 



SCIENCE 



903 



evidence of its age. The identity of the 

 northern and southern portions of this belt 

 is thus shown, and the eastward metamor- 

 phosed extension of the rocks of the Wap- 

 pinger belt is likewise demonstrated. The 

 intrarelationships of the western Wappinger 

 are in some cases duplicated in part in the 

 eastern belt. With these facts in mind the 

 shading on the map is designed to show the 

 gradation in metamorphism to the eastward. 



To the east and south on the map are ex- 

 tensive areas of limestone and schist, for the 

 most part left unmarked and unbounded, the 

 satisfactory proof of the age of which awaits 

 demonstration. Smaller patches not repre- 

 sented on the map, more intricately involved 

 and often associated with igneous rocks, are 

 scattered here and there in the Highlands. 

 The great complex extends eastward into Con- 

 necticut, and southwestward into New Jersey, 

 and has its representatives to the north in 

 Vermont and Massachusetts. That it is a 

 puzzling area is stating the case mildly. It 

 must be attacked with a mind open for the re- 

 ception of data bearing on the question of the 

 possible genetic identity of extensive and dis- 

 connected masses or for the consideration of 

 features that point the other way. The struc- 

 ture of the region must be unraveled and 

 the earlier relationships of the component 

 rocks restored. Moreover, it may be consid- 

 dered an open question, if with the changes 

 that the pre-Cambric rocks had early under- 

 gone, the later deformations and metamorphic 

 agencies would not have produced a relatively 

 greater alteration in the younger rocks. 



It is purposed to discuss more fully certain 

 features of the general problem in a forth- 

 coming report on the geology of the Pough- 

 keepsie quadrangle. 



C. E. Gordon 



Amherst, Mass. 



THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE 



ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE 



SECTION G— BOTANY 



Section G of the American Association for the 



Advancement of Science met during convocation 



week at Baltimore, the sessions being held at the 



Eastern High School. The attendance of botanists 



was unusually large and representative, and so 

 many papers were offered tor presentation that it 

 was found necessary to divide into subsections. 

 In Subsection A were presented the papers in 

 morphology, physiology, ecology and taxonomy, 

 while the papers in pathology were presented in 

 Subsection B. Vice-president Richards presided 

 over Subsection A, and Dr. F. L. Stevens, of the 

 North Carolina College of Agriculture and Me- 

 chanic Arts, was chosen by the section to preside 

 over Subsection B. As at the Chicago meeting 

 the program of the section interlocked with that 

 of the Botanical Society of America, so that pro- 

 gram conflicts were reduced to a minimum. The 

 address of the retiring vice-president. Professor 

 Charles E. Bessey, on " The Phyletic Idea in Tax- 

 onomy," has been published in full in Science. 



The following officers were chosen: 



Vice-president — Professor D. P. Penhallow, Mc- 

 Gill University, Montreal, Canada. 



Member of the Council — Joseph N. Rose, U. S. 

 National Museum, Washington, D. C. 



Member of the Sectional Committee (five years) 

 — Dr. D. T. MacDougal, Carnegie Institution, Tuc- 

 son, Ariz. 



Member of the Getieral Committee — Professor 

 Aven Nelson, University of Wyoming, Laramie, 

 Wyo. 



In view of the increasing difficulty of arranging 

 the program in an equitable manner, the sectional 

 committee appointed the retiring vice-president, 

 Professor H. M. Richards, the incoming vice-presi- 

 dent, Professor D. P. Penhallow, and the secretary, 

 Dr. Henry C. Cowles, as a special program com- 

 mittee for the Boston meeting. In view of the 

 coming meeting of the British Association at 

 Winnipeg, the choice of a Canadian botanist for 

 the vice-presidency of the section is regarded as 

 most fortunate, and although no specific action 

 was taken by the section at Baltimore, it was the 

 general consensus of opinion that the American 

 botanists should do all in their power to make the 

 sojourn of the British botanists in America pleas- 

 ant and profitable. 



Abstracts of the technical papers presented at 

 Baltimore follow, arranged in the order given in 

 the respective subsections: 



subsection a 

 Bog Toxins and their Effect upon Soils: Alfred 



Dachnowski, Ohio State University, Columbus, 



Ohio. 



In a previous communication {Bot. Gaz., 46: 

 130-143, 1908) attention was called to experi- 



