Septembek 7, 1883.] 



SCIENCE. 



327 



eozoic ages may have preceded the great development 

 of acrogens in the later paleozoic. 



In the discussion which followed. Dr. Dawson dis- 

 claimed any intention to assert that the Sporangites 

 were the sole source of the bituminous matter. 



Rensselaeria and a fossil fish from the Hamil- 

 ton group of Pennsylvania. 



BY E. W. CL.VVI'OI.K OF XKW Itl.OOMFIKI.D, PKX.V. 



The Hamilton sandstone of Pennsylvania is found 

 in ridges just before we come to the Blue Mountains. 

 The sand tapers oft from a centre in these ridges 

 both ways. At places it is eight hundred feet in 

 thickness, some of it quite hard and llinty. Perhaps 

 this sand was left by rivers; but, at all events, where 

 it is missing it must have been cut away by erosion. 

 The author believed that an ancient river had occu- 

 pied nearly the place of the present Susquehanna, but 

 running in an opposite direction, — to the norlh, — 

 and probably debouching where the city of llarrisburg 

 ncrw stands. That locality had previously been below 

 the sea: it was raised so as to become dry land 

 through which this river runs. That land and that 

 river again sank slowly. Then the sunken land re- 

 ceived sand from the river. Afterward this region 

 became the bed of a sea. It is a fan-shaped deposit, 

 thickening toward the centre of the fan. 



The author exhibited a model of a fish whose re- 

 mains were discovered in this sandstone. He also 

 showed specimens of alleged Rensselaeria found in 

 the riamilton sandstone. The latter were shown to 

 Prof. James Hall, during the reading of the paper. 

 Mr. Claypole thought them identical with the Rens- 

 selaeria of the Oriskany sandstone, there being a 

 difference of a thousand feet between the two hori- 

 zons; and he believed this the first instance of such 

 discovery. The strata were tilted on edge in the lo- 

 cality where the fossils were found. Mr. Cl.iypole 

 made a diagram of the geological structure of the 

 region. The fossils were in the middle of the sand- 

 stone, which is six hundred to eight hundred feet 

 thick. A Spirifer very much like S. formosa is found 

 there in great quantities. 



Professor Hall, after a brief examination, said that 

 anybody was excusable for supposing the fossils to be 

 Rensselaeria. The differences between them and the 

 Oriskany fossil were slight though well marked. 

 Professor Hall described some of these differences, 

 and Mr. Claypole acknowledged that a certain V- 

 shaped groove was wanting in his specimens. Pro- 

 fessor Hall thought that possibly the fossils should be 

 referrred to Amphigenia, which had many similari- 

 ties to Rensselaeria. Professor Newberry thought 

 the fish fossil new. 



A large crustacean from the Catskill group of 

 Pennsylvania. 



jy E. W. CI.AYPOI.K OF .NEW BI.OOMI-IEM), TEN-V. 



Of this fossil the author exhibited a cast. It 

 showed no evidence of lish structure. Its apparent 

 affinities were with the king crab, yet it was not a 



true Limulus nor even a limuloid. A cast in gutta- 

 percha was also shown, which better exhibited the 

 markings. There was a resemblance in the fine sur- 

 face-marks to Kurypterus. IJut the curypterids, with 

 a single exception, were all found in strata vertically 

 distant six thousand feet. 



Professor Hall said that the curypterids were widely 

 distributed. They were found in the coal-measures, 

 in the VVaverly sandstone, and perhaps — though that 

 was not quite certain — in the Purlage group. 



Animal remains from the loess and glacial 

 clays. 



BY WILLIAM McAD.VJIS OP ALTON, ILL. 



The drift clays proper at Alton, III., had a maxi- 

 mum thickness of about one hundred feet, and the 

 bluff clays were nearly of the same thickness. These 

 clays were remarkably rich in animal remains, such 

 as teeth and bones, attached to calcareous nodules 

 or claystones. Remains of thirteen different species, 

 •now perhaps all extinct, had been found. The ro- 

 dents were well represented in the bones of seven 

 species, incliuiing three or more beavers and some 

 gophers. Nearly seventy teeth were found in the 

 quaternary deposits, a majority of them in a single 

 quarry. 



A new vertebrate from the St. Louis lime- 

 stone. 



BY WILLIAM M<-ADAMS OF ALTON, ILL. 



One of the groups of subcarboniferous limestone 

 is quarried extensively near Alton and St. Louis. It 

 lies beneath the coal, and in some places the coal 

 rests directly upon it. A number of vertebrate re- 

 mains have been found in one of the quarries near 

 Alton. Specimens were shown by the author of the 

 pajier. In the judgment of Professor Newberry, the 

 fossils shown were the bones of some large fish. 

 One appeared to be the mandible or dental bone of 

 the lower jaw. Without pronouncing a final opinion, 

 he would say that it bore a general resemblance to a 

 group of fossil fishes in which the teeth were in- 

 serted in sockets; but the animal itself was large and 

 hitherto unknown. 



List of other papers. 



The following additional papers were read in this 

 section, some of them by title only: Thermal bells, 

 by J. W. Chickerin;/. Tlie Hamilton sandstone of 

 middle Pennsylvania, by E. l\'. Claypole. Evidences 

 from southern New England ag.ainst the iceberg 

 theory of the drift, by J. D. Dana [this paper will ap- 

 pear in full in Science]. Topaz and {issociated min- 

 er.ils from Stoneham, Oxford county. Me.; Colored 

 tourmalines and lepidotile crystals from a new 

 American locality; -V note on the finding of two 

 American beryls; Andalusite from a new American 

 locality; tJn a white garnet fronj near Hull, Canada, 

 — by (.'. F. Kunz. The genesis and classification of 

 mineral veins, by J. S. Sewherry. 



