NOVKMBEK 23, \SS3.] 



SCIENCE. 



685 



shall these lieviations be viewed? Is the foliage <;f the 

 sassafras pa--siiig through a period in which differeiit 

 forms of leaves are being tried to see which is best 

 adapted to the surroundings? It may be that there 

 is a tendency from the simple towards the more com- 

 plex; and fig. 3 shows the form which may be finally 

 adopted. This is a subject about which even the 

 philosophic botanists know but little; but, when one 

 finds these deviations from the common form, he can- 

 not help wondering after what end the plant bearing 

 them is striving. Btrox D. Halsted. 



The thickness of the ice in New England in 

 glacial times. 



In the issue of Scienck fftr Sept. 28, Professor 

 Wright corrects a reported statement of wliat he said 

 about the depth of ice over Xew England, changing 

 600 feet to «,000 feet, and giving as "proof the well- 

 known fact that Mounts Mansfield and Washington 

 show ice-action to a height above sea-level of between 

 five and six thousand feet. 



It seems to me that the depth GOO feet must be 

 more nearly correct than 6,000 feet. The ice-sheet 

 over >few England must have had a thickness equal 

 to the height of these mountain peaks above the level 

 of the contiguous valleys. From the nature of the 

 case we cannot well prove a greater thickness, though 

 from theoretical considerations we may believe the 

 ice to have been much thicker. 4,370 feet, the ap- 

 proximate difference between the top of Mount 

 Washington and the Crawford House, must cover the 

 greatest differences in elevation between neighboring 

 valleys and mountains. The aver.age thickness of 

 the ice-sheet must have been much less (from this 

 proof), possibly not more than 1,000 feet. This thick- 

 ness would accord with what is believed to be the 

 thickness of the ice to the north-westward. 



The glacial striae and drift-bowlders upon Mount 

 Washington at an elevation of 6,000 feet do not neces- 

 sarily lead to the supposition that the upper ice-sur- 

 face had that level in northern New England, and a 

 greater elevation to the north-westward ; for local 

 accumulations of snow and consequent ice must have 

 existed about the summits of the White, Green, and 

 Adirondack Mountains, as in Switzerhand and in 

 Greenland at the present time, and have constituted 

 the source of much of the ice which spread south- 

 ward over southern New England and New York. 



L. C. WOOSTER. 

 Kurektt, Kan., Nov. 7. 



Museum of the Indiana university. 



In the account of the burning of the museum 

 building of the Indiana university, given in Science 

 for July 27, are one or two errors which need correc- 

 tion. 



The Owen collection of minerals and fossils was 

 not entirely destroyed. Eight large cases, including 

 the great majority of the typical specimens of David 

 Dale Owen, were saved. The very perfect skeleton 

 of Megalonyx Jeffersoni was also saved. 



No specimens belonging to Yale college or to Cor- 

 nell university were in the museum at the time of 

 the fire. About two thirds of the very large collec- 

 tion m.ade by Professor Gilbert on the Pacific coasts 

 of Mexico and Central America were destroyed; the 

 remaining third having been returned to the U. S. 

 national museum, to wliich institution it belonged. 

 f lA new fire-proof museum building is to be erected 

 at once, and the restoration of the collections lost 



is rapidly progressing 

 BlouiDington, Ind. 



D. S. JORDAX. 



THE riSH-COMMISSrON BULLETIN. 



Bulletin of the U.S. Fish-Commiision, vol. ii., for 



1882. [Edited by Charles W. Smilev, A.M.] 



Washington, Government, 1883. 467 p., illustr. 



8°. 



Ix looking over the pages of this book, we 

 find several papers of marked scientific value, 

 written bj- eminent specialists in biology and 

 fish-culture. — aiticlos which of tliemsclves are 

 sullicient to give this document a prominent 

 place upon the book-shelves of naturalists, and 

 to render it a valuable book of reference, espe- 

 cialh- to embryologists and fish-culturists. 



The articles written by J. A. R^xler deserve 

 prominent notice ; for not only do tiiey have 

 an important bearing upon the subject of em- 

 bryology, but they also show the importance 

 of scientific treatment in hatching and matur- 

 ing fish-eggs. The two most important papers 

 by this author are, 1°, The absorption of the 

 yelk in the embryo shad ; 2°, ■Microscopic sex- 

 ual characteristics of the American. Portuguese, 

 and common edible oyster of Europe com- 

 pared. Several smaller papers by the same 

 author have especial bearing upon the success- 

 ful hatching and rearing of the food-fishes of 

 the Potomac. 



The papers upon tiie distribution and spe- 

 cific character of fishes, with descriptions of 

 new species, will be of special interest to sys- 

 tematic ichthyologists. A large part of the 

 book is cora|)Osed of letters of greater or less 

 importance, written to the commissioner, main- 

 ly relating to the movements of fish in certain 

 districts. We are of the opinion tiiat a great 

 many of these letters might have been left out 

 entirely, without any serious loss to science. 

 They might at least have been judiciously cut 

 down, and published together as a series of 

 notes ; thus giving the important points, and 

 omitting the great preponderance of useless 

 words and sentences which one so frequently 

 finds in these letters. The last article in the 

 book is entitled, " A geographical catalogue of 

 persons who have stated that they are inter- 

 ested in fish-culture," by C. W. Smiley. 



Sandwiched between these various papers, 

 we find one, which, in our estimation, is gross- 

 ly unfit for a scientific publication 'of such a 

 high standard. The title of this article is 

 ' Life in the sea,' by J. B. Martens. It is 

 a translation from the Dutch ; and the author 

 is teacher of natural sciences at the seminary 

 of St. Nikolas, Belgium. From beginning to 

 end, it is an absurd misrepresentation of facts, 

 and deserves the severest condemnation. For 

 instance : we find in the introductory para- 

 grapli the statement that '' life in the sea 



