34 



SCIENCE. 



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



from the region by Prof. Stevenson, wlaicli had. 

 certainly been derived from this limestone. 

 It M^as identified by Prof. H. S. Williams as a 

 species of Lonsdcdeia, and was regarded as 

 demonstrative of the carboniferous age of the 

 beds. 



The quartz-diorite is a homogeneous rock, 

 consisting of white plagioclase, with frequent 

 thin prisms of hornblende, and occasional 

 biotites and some quartz. A contact was found 

 between it and the argillites which seemed 

 clearly an irruptive one. Other contacts ob- 

 served by Dr. Reid with the limestone also indi- 

 cated contact metamorphism. 



The diorite is a more basic rock than the 

 quartz-diorite, and is found in the moraines. 

 It has probably come from the mountains, 

 which have yet proved inaccessible. 



The crystalline schists embrace mica schists 

 and actinolite schists and were obtained from 

 erratic blocks. 



The diabase dikes have all been intruded 

 since the metamorphism of their wall rocks and 

 are the latest rocks in the region. Mr. Gush- 

 ing gives a detailed comparison of these rocks 

 with other Alaskan sections, noting many paral- 

 lel features and some contrasts. The paper 

 concludes with a detailed petrographical de- 

 scription of the crystalline rocks. 



The second paper of the evening was by Hein- 

 rich Ries, on ' The Ge'ology of Orange County, 

 New York.' Mr. Ries gave a resume of the 

 results obtained by him while in the field the 

 past summer under Prof. James Hall, State 

 Geologist, to whom the report will be made. 

 The paper was extemporaneous and was not in- 

 tended for publication. It was illustrated by 

 numerous lantern views and geological sec- 

 tions. 



The third paper was by Theodore G. White, 

 on ' The Faunas of the Upper Ordovician Strata 

 at Trenton Falls, New York.' Mr. White de- 

 scribed the results of a visit to this, the typical 

 locality of the Trenton formation, and of a de- 

 tailed study of the faunas of each stratum of the 

 limestones at Trenton Falls, and Poland, Oneida 

 County, New York. The work was undertaken 

 in connection with a doctorate thesis on the 

 Trenton Faunas of the Lake Champlain Valley, 

 which will be submitted in the spring to the 



Faculty of Columbia College. The faunal lists 

 at Trenton Falls will be published in full in the 

 Transactions of the Academy of current date. 



By making use of conspicuous and constant 

 layers as datum planes, the thickness of the 

 beds in the Trenton Falls gorge was found to 

 be 331 feet. On the same creek, three miles 

 below Poland, underlying strata were found 

 as follows : 



Black River limestone, 11 feet 9 inches. 



' Dove ' limestone, 5 feet 1 inch. 



Calciferous strata, 8 feet. 



Various peculiar distortions of the beds in the 

 Trenton Falls gorge was also shown and dis- 

 cussed. 



The paper was illustrated by numerous lan- 

 tern views from photographs. 



The fourth paper of the evening by J. F. 

 Kemp and T. G. White, 'Additional Notes on 

 the Distribution and Petrography of the Trap 

 Dikes in the Lake Champlain Region,' was 

 postponed until the next meeting, on account of 

 the lateness of the hour. 



J. F. Kemp, 

 Secretary. 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON, 2.50TH 

 MEETING, NOVEMBER 30. 



The first papier. Some Fundamentals of Nomen- 

 clature, by Dr. Edward L. Green, is printed in 

 abstract in this journal. 



Mr. Theo. Holm made some Contributions to 

 the Flora of the District of Columbia, illustrating 

 the same by specimens. Since the publication of 

 the third list of additions to the flora many rare 

 plants have been reported, some of which are 

 new to the District. It was shown that the 

 genus Panicum is exceedingly well represented 

 in the local flora, and seven species were enu- 

 merated as not having been before reported. 

 Sjjorobolus vaginieflorus, which was formerly 

 known only from one locality, has now spread 

 to several distant places and may be considered 

 as rather common. Several rare Cyperacese 

 were reported, among which Kijllinga inimila 

 and Cyperus aristatus were new to the flora. The 

 genus Polygala appears, like Panicum, to be 

 widelj' distributed in the District, and P. 

 ambigua, P. incarnata and P. verticillata were re- 

 ported from several places. Plantago Patagonica, 



