72 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIV. No. 1124 



the labels pasted on them containing the initials 

 "J. S. N. " were placed there by J. S. Newberry 

 and that these were the identical specimens de- 

 scribed in Vol. 1, Paleontology of the Ohio Geo- 

 logical Survey, under the names Orodus and 

 Ctenacanthus from the ' ' Waverly Shale ' ' exposed 

 at Vaneeburg, Ky. It was the finding in this de- 

 posit of the teeth of the fish which had been named 

 Orodus in such close juxtaposition with the spines 

 of the fish which had been named Ctenacanthus, 

 that led Professor Newberry to conclude that these 

 two structures belonged to one and the same spe- 

 cies. 



Eeference was made to a previous account of 

 these remains given by Professor Andrews in a 

 volume of the , Ohio Survey published in 1870 on 

 work done in 1869, in which these specimens were 

 credited to a Captain James Patterson, who found 

 them in the Upper Black Shale (Sunbury Shale) at 

 Vaneeburg, Ky. — presumably in the course of 

 quarrying the shale for oil distillation, an indus- 

 try started in this country in the fifties or sixties 

 of the last century, but speedily abandoned, when 

 the discovery by Silliman, of Yale, led to the ob- 

 taining of paraffin more cheaply from petroleum. 



Comment was made in this connection on how 

 paleontology is indebted to commercial operations 

 for some of its more interesting fossil remains. 



A New Form of Frequency Meter: N. F. Smith. 



A rotating disc marked off in sectors alter- 

 nately black and white is illuminated by an A. C. 

 arc light. Since the light comes principally from 

 the positive carbon, the illumination of the disc 

 is intermittent. Therefore a stroboscopic effect is 

 produced, and with proper speed of rotation the 

 disc appears to stand still. Prom the rate of ro- 

 tation of the disc, the frequency of the current is 

 at once determined. 



The Dr. Robert Peter Herbarium of the University 

 of Kentucky: Frank T. McFarland. 

 The paper shows the value of the Peter Her- 

 barium as compared with the herbarium of the 

 University of Kentucky. 



In the University of Kentucky Herbarium are 

 4,106 specimens, of which 3,157 were collected by 

 Dr. Robert Peter and Dr. Charles W. Short, of Lex- 

 ington, from 1832 to about 1835. For the state, 

 Dr. Peter has listed a total of 1,205 species, but 

 only 470 mounted species are in the Herbarium. 

 Only 592 species for the state are listed in the 

 University of Kentucky Herbarium, with which 

 the Peter Herbarium is consolidated, much fewer 

 than the actual number in the state. 



"Stem Mot" of Alfalfa and Clovers Caused by 



Sclerotinia Trifoliorum, Erik: Alfred Hollet 



Gilbert. 



The paper contains reference to previous obser- 

 vations, as reported in Kentucky Experiment Sta- 

 tion Circ. No. 8, 1915; also a brief resume' of 

 the history of the disease in Europe and America, 

 and a report of a recent attack upon crimson clover 

 in Kentucky. 



Since the causal organism is a soil fungus and 

 sclerotia may remain in the soil, retaining their 

 vitality, possibly, for several years, a rotation of 

 crops in which no one of the several legumes which 

 serve as hosts for the fungus is grown for at least 

 three years, is recommended as a control measure. 

 The host plants so far as known are all the culti- 

 vated clovers and alfalfa. A common weed, 

 Abutilon, was also observed to act as a host plant. 



On the Distribution of Phosphorus in a Section of 



Bluegrass Soil: Alfred M. Peter. 



Analyses of soil samples from each 6 inches, 

 from the surface to the rock, showed strikingly 

 different percentages of phosphorus, ranging from 

 0.258 in the second to 6.692 in the twentieth 6 

 inches, with other maxima in the fifteenth and 

 twenty-fifth 6 inches. 



These differences are similar in degree to those 

 existing between different layers of the phos- 

 phatie Lexington limestone, and are accounted for 

 by supposing that the calcium carbonate of the 

 limestone has been dissolved away, leaving most 

 of the phosphate in layers of greater or less rich- 

 ness, according as the limestone layers were more 

 or less phosphatic. 



Precipitation of Cobalt and Nickel Salts in Gels: 



C. A. Nash and John Ardery. 



The following paper was read by title: 



"Note on a Specimen of Radioactive Mineral," 

 by J. W. Pryor. 



At the afternoon session Dr. F. R. Moulton, of 

 the University of Chicago, delivered an illustrated 

 lecture on "Some Recent Discoveries in the Sider- 

 eal Universe," in which the present methods of 

 determining the distances and motions of the fixed 

 stars were explained in a popular way. 



The election of officers was as follows: Pro- 

 fessor A. M. Miller, president; Dr. Garnett Ryland, 

 vice-president; Professor P. P. Boyd, treasurer; 

 Dr. A. M. Peter, secretary. 



About forty members of the academy were in 

 attendance and a large number of guests. 



A. M. Peter, 



Secretary 



