512 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLI. No. 1057 



ering with Leverett^ the so-called lowan glaeiation 

 contemporaneous with the lUinoian it is possible to 

 correlate the Gtinz glaeiation with the Nebraskan, 

 the Kansan with the Mindel, the Illinoian with the 

 Eiss and the Wisconsin, early and late, with the 

 Wurm. There are corresponding interglacial 

 stages. With the time units of Chamberlain and 

 Salisbury^ 2, 4, 8, 16, in mind for the duration of 

 the last three glaciations, based upon the degree 

 of weathering of American glacial deposits, it is 

 possible to construct a curve similar to Penck's, 

 but differing in length aad the number of units as- 

 signed to the interglacial stages. In tabular form 

 the data appear thiis: 



Estimated Duration of Pleistocene Oscillations 



Post-glacial .... 

 Fourth glacial. . 

 Third intergla- 

 cial 



Third glacial. . . 

 Second intergla- 



Second glacial. . 

 First interglacial 

 First glacial .... 

 Pre- transitional . 



25,000 

 25,000 



25,000 

 50,000 



100,000 150 

 25,000 175, 



200,000 

 25,000 

 75,000 

 25,000:500, 

 25,000525 



20,000 

 20,000 



60,000 

 20,000 



20,000 

 40,000 



100,000 

 120,000 



360,000 

 380,000 



240,000 



20,000' 



5 100,000i480,000 



11 20,000|500,000 



ll 20,000!520,000 



Geologic Deposits in Belation to Pleistocene Man: 



Chester A. Eeeds. 



The present known distribution of Pleistocene 

 man through southern Europe, the Mediterranean 

 border and Java, points to the conclusion that this 

 early man lived along the river courses, on the ad- 

 jacent uplands, in caves and grottoes which over- 

 looked well-defined river valleys and on the sea- 

 shore. Human remains have been found entombed 

 in a few caves within the region of mountain gla- 

 eiation — for example, Frendenthal, Kesslerlock 

 and Sohweizersbild in Switzerland — ^but most of 

 the finds have been made in the southern non- 

 glaeiated portions of Europe. The vicissitudes and 

 the ameliorations of climate during the glacial and 

 interglacial stages no doubt caused southward or 

 northward migrations of peoples or encouraged 

 congestion in the limestone caverns of Belgium, 

 France, Germany and northern Spain. With the 

 repeated formation of continental ice sheets on the 



sLeverett, F., Zeitschrift fiir GletcherJcunde, 

 Vol. IV., pp. 282-83, 1910. 



6 Chamberlain and Salisbury, ' ' Text -Book of 

 Geology," Vol. III., p. 414, 1906. 



Scandinavian plateau during periods of glaeiation 

 and their movement outward in all directions across 

 the adjacent basins and lowlands of northern Eu- 

 rope, together with the appearance of ice caps on 

 the high mountains of southern Europe, the lower- 

 ing of the snow line on the mountain slopes, the de- 

 velopment of snow caps on plateaus of but moder- 

 ate relief, the extension of the glaciers into aprons 

 and tongues on the piedmont areas and the choking 

 of the river valleys with ice and deposits, glacial 

 man must have felt that Snow and lee were the 

 governing forces. The warmer interglacial epochs 

 were more to his liking. In the present terrace and 

 loess deposits along the river courses and in the 

 cave and grotto fillings, eight human culture stages 

 have been delimited within recent years. They 

 have been called, beginning at the bottom, pre- 

 Chellean, Chellean, Aeheulean and Mousterian as 

 Lower Paleolithic and Aurignaoian, Solutrean, 

 Magdalenian and Azylian-Tardenoisan as Upper 

 Paleolithic. In the cavern and grotto deposits of 

 the Dordogne, southern Prance, most of the culture 

 stages appear in regular geologic sequence one 

 above the other. Human remains and culture sta- 

 tions of glacial, interglacial or post-glacial age 

 have been found in approximately three hundred 

 different localities. 



Physiographic Features of Western Europe as a 

 Factor in the War: Douglas W. Johnson. 

 Every military campaign is controlled to some 

 extent by the surface features of the country over 

 which the contending armies miist move. The 

 physiography of a region may therefore pro- 

 foundly affect both the detailed movements of 

 armies and the general plans of campaign. An ex- 

 amination of the physiographic features of western 

 Europe in the light of recent events enables one to 

 comprehend more fully the strategic importance of 

 many places mentioned in war dispatches and 

 throws valuable light upon the question as to why 

 the neutrality of Belgium was violated. 



John Boyd Thacher Park. The Helderherg Es- 

 carpment a^ a Geological ParTc: Geoege F. 



KUNZ. 



A most important benefaction to the state of 

 New York is the beautiful John Boyd Thacher 

 Park, opened with appropriate ceremonies Sep- 

 tember 14, 1914. During the winter of 1913-14 

 the American Scenic and Historic Preservation So- 

 ciety received word of the intention of Mrs. 

 Thacher, widow of John Boyd Thacher, to realize 

 her generous purpose of donating to the state a 

 superb trust of 350 acres of land for a public park, 



