Df.cembku 21, 1S8:!.] 



SCIENCE. 



801 



Tlie formation of imligo may thcivforo Ue shown 

 by Ihe equation — 



c.n, — CO CO — c.a, CsH. — CO co — Coii, 



11+11=11 II 11=0. 



UN — CHj CO-NH HK C = C — NH 



Ppeudo- Peeiido. ,. .. 



indoxyl. isatin. '"^'S"- 



— (Berichle deutsch. chem. geselhch., xvi. 21SS.) 



c. F. M. 1 511 



AGRICULTURE. 



Maintenance of fattened animals. — Kellner 

 having observed that simple maintenance-fodder was 

 sufiicient to prevent fatted slieep from losing weight, 

 Vossler has tried the same proceeding with sheep 

 and oxen, and confirmed Kellner's observation. — 

 {Biedeniidnn's centr.-blatt.. xu. 612,) n. p. .v. [512 



Relation of manure to quantity of seed. — In 

 experiments on tlie drill-culture of barley, Miircker 

 finds, that, as tlie distance between the drills is in- 

 creased, the yield decreases, unless more nitrogenous 

 ferlilizerisapplied. — (/6i(Z., xii. C20.) H. P. A. [513 



Seed-potatoes. — In an experiment with potatoes 

 at the New-York agricultural experiment-station, 

 single eyes gave better yields in proportion as tliey 

 were located near the terminal portion (seed-end) of 

 the tuber. — (X. V. agric. ejtp. stal., bull. Ixiv. ) 

 II. p. A. [514 



Potato-culture. — Previous experiments having 

 led to the hypothesis that the most favorable condi- 

 tions for the growth of potatoes are coolness and 

 moisture for the roots, and warmth and dryness for 

 the tubers, an attempt was made to test the hypothe- 

 sis by planting potatoes on ridges, and mulching the 

 intervals. The season, however, was very wet, so 

 that the desired conditions for the tubers were not 

 attained. As it was, the parallel plots imder ordinary 

 culture gave decidedly greater yields. — {Ibid., Ixv. ) 

 n. p. A. [515 



Fertilizers for tobacco. — Nessler has repeated 

 part of his well-known experiments on the effect 

 of various salts upon the quality of tobacco. The 

 present experiments consisted of a comparison of 

 the chloride, sidphate, and nitrate of potassium in this 

 respect, as well as of a few other fertilizers. The 

 results were essentially the same as those previously 

 reached : the sulphate and nitrate improved the 

 burning qualities, while the chloride, except in one 

 case, caused them to deteriorate. The chloride also 

 increased the percentage of chlorine in the ash. The 

 author recommends applying phosphalic and potassic 

 fertilizers to the preceding crop, and only nitrogenous 

 fertilizers directly to the tobacco. — {Landw. t'cr.?. 

 3tat., xxix. 309.) il. P. A. [516 



Olutamin in beet-juice. — In an earlier investi- 

 gation, Schulze and Urich obtained glutaminic acid 

 and ammonia by boiling beet-juice with hydrochloric 

 acid, and from this fact concluded that the juice 

 contained glutamin, a substance whicli had then 

 never been prepared. Schulze and Bosshard have 

 now succeeded in preparing glutamin from beet-juice. 

 The juice is first treated with lead acetate. The 

 filtrate from this precipitate is treated witli mercuric 



nitrate, and the resulting precipitate decomposed by 

 means of hydrogen sulphide. 



Glutamin crystallizes from aqueous solution in 

 fine, white, anhydrous needles, soluble in hot water 

 and dilute alcohol. It is readily decomposed by iicids 

 or alkalies into glutaminic acid and ammonia, the 

 decomposition taking place gradually, even in the 

 cold or on simple boiling with water. Consequently 

 ammonia cannot be determined in vegetable extracts 

 containing glutamin, either by Schliising's method or 

 by boiling with magnesia. — {Ibid., xxix. 295.) n. p. A. 



[517 



GEOLOGY. 



Correlation of Cambrian rocks. — Jlr. Charles 

 D. Walcott, of the l'. S. geological survey, has 

 recently reviewed the great Cambrian sections of 

 North America. He defines the Cambrian as the 

 formation characterized by the 'first fauna' of Bar- 

 rande. 



In New York, on one side of Lake Champlain, 

 near Chazy, the formation is constituted by the 

 Potsdam and calciferous; and the biologic transi- 

 tion to the Silurian, as represented by the Chazy, is 

 abrupt. In Nevaila there is a gradual passage from 

 the Potsdam fauna to the Silurian; and beneath the 

 Pot-dam are rocks containing the Olenellus fauna. In 

 northern Arizona tlie section exhibited by the Grand 

 Cafion of the Colorado shows at bottom the Grand 

 Cafion and Chu-:ir groups, which contain barely fos- 

 sils enough to characterize them as early Cambrian. 

 These were greatly eroded before the deposition of 

 the Tonto with a profuse fauna eciuivalent to that 

 of the Potsdam. The Silurian is absent, and the 

 Devonian rests on the Tonto. In Wisconsin the 

 Potsdam is underlain unconformalily by the fauna- 

 less Keweenawan, and overlain conformably by the 

 Silurian. In Vermont the Potsdam rests on the 

 Georgian group containing the Olenellus fauna. In 

 Tennessee the upper Cambrian is represented by 

 the Enos shale, and the lower by the Ghilhowee 

 sandstone and the Ocoee conglomerate. In New 

 Brunswick the St. John's group, and in Massachu- 

 setts the Braintree argillites, exhibit the Paradoxides 

 fauna. At the Straits of Belle Isle the section is not 

 continuous, but appears comparable with that of Ne- 

 vada. The anomalous relations reported at Point 

 Levis, in Canada, are attributed to error in the inter- 

 pretation of the stratigraphy. 



The Tonto group of Arizona and the Knox group 

 of Tennessee are recognized by Mr. Walcott as the 

 equivalents of the Potsdam of New York, Vermont, 

 and Wisconsin. The Olenellus horizon of Nevada is 

 correlated with tlie Georgian group of Vermont. The 

 Grand Cailon and Chuar groups of Arizona are pro- 

 visionally correlated with thct Keweenawan of Wis- 

 consin, and are regarded as older than the Georgian. 

 The St. John's group of New Brunswick is lield to 

 he older than the Georgian, and proliably younger 

 than the Keweenawan and Chuar. Tlie Chilbowcc 

 and Ocoee groups of Tennessee are provisionally 

 assigned to the horizons of the Georgian and St. 

 John's. 



