426 
degree rather than character. A paper of 
very general interest is that on the ‘ Action 
of the Larynx in Relation to the Pitch of 
the Voice’ by Thomas Fillebrowne showing 
that the larynx should not rise with the pitch 
if one wishes to retain the vocal powers. 
There are a series of abstracts of papers pre- 
sented at the Indianapolis meeting of the Pub- 
lic Health Association as follows : ‘ Observations 
on Methods for the Detection of B. coli com- 
munis in Water’ by E. E. Irons, ‘ Variation of 
the Properties of the Colon Bacillus, Isolated 
from Man’ by W. W. Ford, ‘Thermal Death 
Point of the Tubercle Bacillus and its Relation 
to the Pasteurization of Milk,’ by H. L. Russel 
and E. G. Hastings, ‘A Note on the Disinfect- 
ant and Deodorant Properties of Ammonium 
Persulphide,’ by M. P. Ravenel and S. H. Gil- 
liland, and ‘An Inquiry into the Role of the 
Domestic Animals in the Causation of Typhoid 
Fever,’ by W. R. Stokes and John S. Fulton. 
In The Popular Science Monthly for March 
Simon Newcomb continues his ‘Chapters on 
the Stars’ this instalment being devoted to 
statistical studies of proper motions, concluding 
that, so far as we can judge, our own system is 
near the center of the stellar universe. R. H. 
Thurston considers ‘The Law of Substance,’ 
substance being what we are familiar with as 
‘matter.’ Dudley Allen Sargent discusses 
‘The Height and Weight of the Cuban 
Teachers ’ who were in Cambridge last summer, 
showing that in these points they fall below the 
average of our own teachers. The reasons for 
this and the remedy are suggested. Hudson 
Maxim treats of ‘Throwing a High Explosive 
from Powder Guns’ considering that this prob- 
lem and that of firing high explosives through 
armor plate have been successfully solved. 
Harold W. Fairbanks describes ‘ Pyramid 
Lake, Nevada’ and its curious tufaceous for- 
mations, and William H. Hobbs deals with 
‘The Geologist Awheel’ believing that topo- | 
graphical work may be greatly expedited by 
the use of the bicycle. ‘The Formation of 
Habits in the Turtle’ by Robert Mearns Yerkes, 
describes a series of experiments showing how 
a turtle learned, or acquired, the shortest route 
around a numter of obstacles to its nest. In 
SCIENCE. 
[N.S. Von. XIII. No. 324. 
‘The Science of Distances,’ being the address 
of the President of the Geographical Section 
of the British Association, George S. Robertson 
shows how steam and electricity have shortened 
the time between distant places and hints at 
what may be hoped for in the future. Finally 
Havelock Ellis continues ‘A Study of British 
Genius,’ this instalment being devoted to a 
consideration of the influence of birth and race. 
Perhaps the most interesting of the brief articles 
are those discussing the relations between the 
Government and science. 
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 
THE 110th meeting was held at the Cosmos 
Club, February 13, 1901. The following papers 
were presented : 
Age of the Coals at Tipton, Blair County, Penn- 
sylvania: Mr. DAVID WHITE. 
It was shown that. the coals occur in a down- 
faulted block of coal measure beds surrounded 
by Pocous strata. 
Production of the B. & M. Plant at Great Falis, 
Montana: Mr. R. H. CHAPMAN. 
A view of the reduction works was shown 
and specimens of the copper products ex- 
hibited. 
Notes on Two Desert Mines in Southern Nevada 
and Utah: Mr. S. F. EMMONS. 
The Delamar mine is situated on the western 
slopes of the Meadow Valley Range in south- 
eastern Nevada. Its ore-body occurs in a 
heavy series of quartzite beds of Cambrian age, 
that strike in a northwesterly direction and dip 
23° southeast. The so-called vein is a fracture 
plane whose strike varies but slightly from that 
of the enclosing quartzite, but its dip is 70° to 
80° to the northwest, or nearly at right angles 
to the strata. It neither has vein-filling, nor is 
it mineralized to any considerable extent, but 
has zones or chimneys of crushed quartzite 
along it that have been mineralized and carry the 
ore values. Two granite-porphyry dikes about 
30 to 40 feet in width run nearly at right angles 
to the main fracture, and are crossed by a nar- 
row dike 6 to 10 feet wide of basic lamprophyric 
rock, so decomposed that its mineral composi- 
