474 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIX. No. 1272 



ihe publications at Oxford University, and in 

 the pages of the Annals of Medical History. 

 EoY L. Hoodie 

 Univeesitt op Illinois, 

 College of Medicine 



SPECIAL ARTICLES 



NOTES ON CERTAIN CONGLOMERATIC STRUC- 

 TURES IN LIMESTONES IN CENTRAL 

 PENNSYLVANIA 



The following notes may be of value to 

 those interested in the origin of limestone 

 conglomerates in the Wittany valley, Penn- 

 sylvania. 



Last summer vrhile collecting extensively 

 from the Stonehenge and Axemann lime- 

 stones, fossiliferous members of the Beekman- 

 town series, in the Bellefonte quadrangle the 

 ■writer found repeated occurrences of fossils 

 in the conglomeratic, or pseudo-conglomeratic 

 beds. In some cases the fossils were sparingly 

 disseminated among structures prevailingly 

 conglomeratic and apparently of inorganic 

 origin. In other instances fossil layers them- 

 selves assumed a conglomeratic appearance in 

 cross-section, especially if slightly weathered. 

 It was often impossible to determine in the 

 field whether a structure, apparently conglom- 

 eratic, owed its superficial appearance to a 

 strictly inorganic origin or rather to an as- 

 semblage of fossils in a more or less clastic 

 fashion. Gradually the impression grew upon 

 the observer that fossils worked over mechan- 

 ically in some way prior to burial formed the 

 basis of some of the so-called limestone con- 

 glomerates. Anent this possible method of 

 formation the following observation is offered 

 for what it is worth. 



Several years ago the writer had occasion 

 to collect fossils from the Warrior limestone 

 (Buffalo Run limestone of Moore and Wal- 

 cott) of Upper Cambrian age and found one 

 outcrop which could be interpreted as the 

 result of the mechanical breaking up of an 

 organism. A small reef or cluster of Crypto- 

 zoon, seen in cross-section, appeared broken 

 or flaked off in such a manner that the 

 cemented rubble much resembled " edgewise " 

 conglomerate. The area on the rock surface 



was small, but the occurrence is deemed 

 significant. 



Caution should be used by the field worker 

 in interpreting probable conglomeratic struc- 

 tures in these limestones, as a cross-sectional 

 view alone may be misleading unless the pos- 

 sibility of fossils is constantly kept in mind. 



The paper by Mr. Eichard M. Field^ on 

 these obscure structures deserves commenda- 

 tion. His many field observations and sum- 

 mary of previous literature render the work a 

 distant contribution to knowledge whether or 

 not one agrees with his theory of origin. The 

 reader is referred to this paper for a fuU 

 treatment of the subject, -g^j^-g^ jj_ Eaton 



Stkacuse Univeesitt 



MINUTES OF THE COMMITTEE ON 

 POLICY OF THE AMERICAN ASSO- 

 CIATION FOR THE ADVANCE- 

 MENT OF SCIENCE 



The Committee on Policy met on Monday, 

 April 28, 1919, at 5 p.m., at the Cosmos Club, 

 with Mr. Ifichols in the chair, and Messrs. 

 "Woodward, Merriam, Humphreys, MacDougal, 

 Cattell, iN'oyes, Ward and Howard also 

 present. 



On motion, Professor Dimon Kellogg, of 

 Columbia, Mo., was elected to membership, 

 made a fellow and, on nomination from the 

 sectional committee of Section A, was elected 

 vice-president and chairman of that section. 



On motion, Dr. David Jayne Hill, was 

 elected to membership, made a fellow and, on 

 nomination from the sectional committee of 

 Section I, was elected vice-president and 

 chairman of that section. 



On motion. Dr. C. Kenneth Leith, of Madi- 

 son, having been nominated by the sectional 

 committee of Section E, was elected as vice- 

 president and chairman of that section. 



On motion, A. S. Langsdorf, of Washing- 

 ton University, was elected as secretary of 

 the council in place of Dr. J. F. Abbott, re- 

 signed. 



1 " A Preliminary Paper on the Origin and 

 Classifloation of Intraformational Cong^loinerates 

 and Breccias," Richard M. Field, Ottmua Nat- 

 uralist, vol. 30, nos. 2-6, May-Sept., 1916, pp. 

 29-36, 47-52, 58-66. 



