32 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. III. No. 53. 



GrEO. F. Becker. During the past summer the 

 author was sent by the U. S. Geological Survey 

 to investigate the gold resources of Alaska. 

 This paper is a very brief resume of the results. 

 He finds nothing phenomenally rich, but that 

 there are paying quantities of gold in several 

 localities seems clear from his account. 



In this number there is a new department, 

 viz : Authors' Abstracts. Under this will be 

 found abstracts of a variety of geological publi- 

 cations, including some of the new U. S. Geo- 

 logical Atlases. 



AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 



The January number opens Volume I. of the 

 Fourth Series, or Volume GLI. since the estab- 

 lishment of the Journal in 1818. The leading- 

 article is by W. M. Davis upon the quarries in 

 the Lava Beds of Meriden, Conn. This locality 

 exhibits with great distinctness at the present 

 time the two lava beds composing the ridge at 

 that point, and the fractures by which the beds 

 are faulted. These igneous outflows in common 

 with most of the others which characterize the 

 Triassic of Connecticut are viewed as extrusive 

 lava beds, once horizontal and continuous, but 

 now tilted, dislocated and denuded. The present 

 paper discusses in detail the present relations of 

 the outflows, with a number of idealized illustra- 

 tions showing their position with reference to 

 the accompanying sandstone and shales. It is 

 urged that the former may be used as well as 

 the latter in the study of the stratigraphy. A 

 second geological paper is by Stanton and Vau- 

 ghan, and describes minutely, with a diagram, 

 the Cretaceous section exposed in Mexico and 

 New Mexico, near the Initial Monument of the 

 Mexican boundary survey, three miles west of 

 El Paso. G. W. Littlehales discusses, from a 

 mathematical standpoint, the form of isolated 

 submarine peaks with reference to their rela- 

 tion to the intervals at which deep-sea sound- 

 ings should be taken in searching for probable 

 shoals in the open ocean. E. H. Forbes gives 

 an analysis of the epidote from Huntington, 

 Mass. , with a discussion of its optical properties 

 and, further, their relation in general to the 

 composition of the species. H. L. Wells and 

 H. W. Foote describe a series of double fluorides 

 of Csesium and Zirconium ; analyses of the salts 



2 Cs.ZrF,, also CsF.ZrF,.H,0 and 2 CsF.SZrF., 

 2H2O are given. Other chemical articles are by 

 F. A. Gooch and A. W. Peirce on the iodometric 

 determination of selenious and selenic acids, and 

 by P. E. Browning on the interaction of chromic 

 and arsenious acids. A. M. Mayer gives a note 

 on the Analysis of Contrast-Colors by viewing, 

 through a reflecting tube, a graded series of 

 gray discs, or rings, on colored surfaces. This 

 is based upon the fact, noted by Rood, that the 

 mixing of black with certain colors simply 

 darkens them, while with other colors the effect 

 is to change the hues. A new form of cathetom- 

 eter of simple construction is described by F. 

 L. O. Wadsworth, with a series of figures and a 

 half-tone plate showing the instrument in use. 

 The novel feature is the employment of a light 

 silvered mirror mounted on a vertical axis just 

 in front of the objective. By means of this the 

 comparison of the object to be measured with 

 standard scale is readily made. It is shown 

 that highly accurate results may be obtained 

 with this instrument, while the cost is relatively 

 very small. O. C. Marsh details some observa- 

 tions made of globular lightning fi-om notes taken 

 at the time of its occurrence at Southampton in 

 Juljf, 1878. The circumstances were such that ■ 

 this rare phenomenon could be more minutely 

 and accurately observed than is often possible. 

 The concluding thirty pages of the number are- 

 devoted to abstracts of scientific papers, notices 

 of books, etc., on a wide range of subjects. 



SCHOOL OF MINES QUARTERLY, NOVEMBER. 



The November number of the School of Mines 

 Quarterly has recently appeared, J. F. Kemp 

 taking the place of A. J. Moses as managing 

 editor, as Dr. Moses is in Europe on a year's 

 leave of absence. The table of contents con- 

 tains the following: 'The Missouri Eiver,' by 

 George E. Moiison ; ' Temperature of Gases 

 from Lead Furnaces ' and ' Temperature of Lead 

 Slags,' both by Malvern W. lies; 'The Assay 

 of Platinum,' by E. H. Miller; 'Lecture Notes 

 on Rocks, ' by J. F. Kemp ; ' The Study of 

 Architectural History at Columbia College,' by 

 Wm. E. Ware. The first paper describes the 

 peculiar features of the Missouri River and the 

 difliculties met and surmounted in constructing 

 and maintaining bridges across it. The author 



