Decembee 6, 1895.,] 



SCIENCE. 



779 



of action, mijoneures. The latter term may 

 perhaps be improved. Further subdivisions 

 could readily be made when found necessary. 



Prof Edw. L. Greene read a paper on some 

 fundamentals of nomenclature. 



F. A. LucASj Recording Secretary. 



NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, NOVEM- 

 BBB 18, 1895. 



The Academy met vs^ith Vice-President 

 Stevenson in the chair. The Section of Geol- 

 ogy and Mineralogy immediately organized. 



The first paper was read by Prof. J. J. 

 Stevenson : ' Geological Notes on the Indian 

 Territory. ' 



During a visit to Indian Territory in 1895 

 some observations were made which may aid in 

 bringing together the results obtained in Ar- 

 kansas and Indian Territory by Messrs. Wins- 

 low, Hill, Chance and Griswold, and which 

 suggest relationships between the Carboniferous 

 of Arkansas, Indian Territory and Texas. 



The grouping of the coal measures presented 

 by Mr. Winslow for Arkansas answers almost 

 equally well for the eastern part of Indian Ter- 

 ritory, as appears from Dr. Chance's sections, 

 though some of the sub-divisions are wanting 

 in the Territory and the bottom of the section 

 is not reached, there being, yet lower, a very 

 important limestone in the Choctaw nation. 

 The workable coal beds of the territory are in 

 the lower portion of the section, — the Booneville 

 stage of Arkansas, at least 2,000 ft. lower than 

 the Spadra semi-anthracites. At present they 

 appear to be available only within the Choctaw 

 nation, along the Choctaw and the Missouri, 

 Kansas & Texas railways. The limestone, of 

 undetermined thickness, belongs to the coal 

 measures as is shown by the fossils. An asphaltic 

 limestone occurs near Dougherty in the Chicka- 

 saw nation, apparently not far from the same 

 horizon. Its fossils show it to belong to the 

 Bend stage of Texas. 



The Ouachita mountain system of Arkansas 

 and eastern Indian Territory appears to be in- 

 dependent of the Tishomingo and Arbuckle 

 mountain system, which is in the Chickasaw 

 nation and apparently older than the other. 

 The structure of the Ouachita system is beau- 

 tifully simple and thoroughly Appalachian, 



while that of the Chickasaw system is exceed- 

 ingly complex. The curving trend shown by 

 the Ouachita is so characteristic that one may 

 venture to suggest that in Arkansas it may 

 prove continuous with folds extending into 

 Missouri. Its southern continuation appears to 

 be buried under the Cretaceous overlap of 

 Texas, which, as described by Prof. Hill, com- 

 pletely masks the older structure. 



The paper will appear in full in the trans- 

 actions of even date. 



The second paper of the evening was read by 

 Prof. J. F. Kemp : ' Zinc and Lead Mines in 

 Southwestern Virginia. ' 



The paper was based on a visit of the speaker 

 to the mines the past summer. He first showed 

 their geographical distribution and the general 

 geology of the country. By means of lantern 

 views from photographs taken on the spot, the 

 excessive sub-aerial decay of the blende-bearing 

 limestones was made clear, and the occurrence 

 of the zinc in the mineral calamine as crusts upon 

 the undecomposed limestone and beneath the 

 overlying mantle of clay. It was stated that the 

 chemical reactions which had led to the forma- 

 tion of the ore must have taken place at the or- 

 dinary temperatures, and must have been pro- 

 duced by common agents, such as carbonated 

 atmospheric waters, sulphuric acid and sulphate 

 of zinc, produced by the decay of the blende, 

 and silicic acid from the silica in the original 

 limestone. The speaker did not attempt to 

 elucidate the matter further, but cited it as an in- 

 teresting subject for experiment and investi- 

 gation. J. F. Kemp, 



Recording Secretary. 



AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, MEETING OP 

 NOVEMBER 8, 1895. 



The regular meeting was held in the hall of 

 the Mott Memorial Library at 64 Madison 

 avenue. Prof. P. T. Austen in the chair. 



The minutes of the previous meeting were 

 read and approved. 



The Secretary reported that the letter author- 

 ized to be prepared in regard to the death of 

 Louis Pasteur had been received from the Com- 

 mittee and duly forwarded to the French Chem- 

 ical Society. 



Prof W. P. Mason's paper on ' The Chemical- 



