January 24, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



125 



in Iowa to blue stem and game grasses of 

 the plains. 



Mr. F. C. Stewart and G. W. Carver pre- 

 sented a paper on 'Inoculation Experiments 

 with Gymosporangium Macropus,' in which 

 it was shown that different varieties behave 

 quite differently with respect to the fungus. 



Prof. L. S. Ross, in a paper on ' Prelimi- 

 nary Notes on the Iowa Entomostraca,' 

 showed that this interesting and economic 

 group of animals is much neglected. His 

 collections were made at Lake Okoboji and 

 Spirit Lake. 



Prof. T. H. McBride, in a paper on ' For- 

 est Distribution in Iowa and Its Signifi- 

 cance,' laid special stress on the distri- 

 bution of trees in Iowa on the loess. The 

 various theories advanced to account for the 

 absence of trees in Iowa have some founda- 

 tion and only partially explain the absence 

 of trees. There is much in the theory of 

 Prof. McGee on the relation of the loess to 

 the distribution. In a second paper on 

 ^ County Parks ' he advocated the establish- 

 ment of county parks for the purpose of 

 retaining some of the many wild plants 

 once common in Iowa, and for the purpose 

 of giving the people needed recreation. 



' Recent development in the Dubuque lead 

 and zinc mines,' by A. G. Leonard. The 

 production from this region in 1895 was 

 750,000 pounds of lead and 3,500 tons of 

 zinc. The increase is due to better mining 

 and the recovery of ore from the ' fourth 

 opening.' 



' Some facts brought to light by deep 

 wells in Des Moines county,' Iowa, by P. 

 M. Fultz, detailed the discovery of certain 

 deeply buried river channels which leads 

 to the inference of a later origin of the drain- 

 age than previously argued by the author. 



' Recent discovery of glacial scorings in 

 southeastern Iowa,' by F. M. Fultz. Marks 

 of the presence of the Illinois ice, in a set 

 of striae bearing S. 79% W., have been 

 noted by Mr. Leverett and the author. 



' The Buchanan gravels, an inter-glacial 

 deposit in Buchanan county,' by Samuel 

 Calvin, describes a series of gravel beds 

 lying between the Kansan and lowan drift- 

 sheets and located near Independence. 



' The Le Claire limestone,' by Samuel 

 Calvin. The local variations in thickness 

 and dip are referred to the conditions of 

 deposition and are regarded as due to cross- 

 beddiag. 



' Variations in the position of the nodes 

 of the axial segments of the pygidium of a 

 species of Encrinurus,' by W. H. Norton. 

 The small classiflcatory value of the char- 

 acteristic is shown. 



'A Theory of the Loess,' by B. Shimek. 

 The seolian origin of the deposit is advo- 

 cated from a study of the loess-fossils, the 

 timber distribution and certain field rela- 

 tions. 



Prof J. L. Tilton presented two papers, 

 one on the ' Slate area of near Nashua, N. 

 H.,' and the other ' Notes on the Geology 

 of the Boston Basin.' 



' Observations on the Cicadid£e of Iowa,' 

 by Herbert Osborn, included a list of the 

 known Iowa species of this family and dis- 

 cussion of the distribution of Cicada septen- 

 decem in the State. 



Other papers presented or in some cases 

 read by title were: 'Perfect Flowers in 

 Salix,' by Prof. B. Shimek; 'Some Ana- 

 tomical studies of Sporobolus and Panicum,' • 

 by Miss Emma Pammel and Miss Emma 

 Sirrine; Contributions to a Knowledge of 

 the Thripidfe,' by Miss Alice M. Beach ; 

 'A Review of the Genus Clastoptera,' by 

 Mr. E. D. Ball ; ' Notes on Chromogenic 

 Bacteria,' by L. H. Pammel and Robert 

 Combs ; 'A Brief Study of a Curious Water 

 Organism,' by F. M. Witter ; 'A Compara- 

 tive Study of the Spores of North American 

 Ferns,' by C. B. Weaver; ' Two Remarkable 

 Cephalopods ' and ' Note on the Nature of 

 Cone in Cone,' by C. R. Keyes. ' Biologic 

 Notes on Certain Iowa Insects,' by H. 



