January 31, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



179 



well as the many indexes to chemical literature 

 l)y Magee, Bolton, Traphagen, Tuckerman and 

 others were mentioned and discussed. The 

 paper was concluded with a full bibliography 

 of the chemical papers published by the Smith- 

 sonian Institution. 



Mr. Cabell Whitehead read some ' Notes on 

 a recent visit to European Mints. ' In the dis- 

 cussion of this paper mention was made of the 

 explosions that occur commonly in lighting a 

 'Buffalo Dental Company's' muffler furnace, 

 and Mr. Dewey said they could be avoided by 

 raising the whole body of the furnace by a 

 simple arrangement of movable levers and then 

 slipping a lighted paper over the burners. 



Under the title ' Calcium Phosphide,' Prof. 

 Chas. E. Munroe described the process of manu- 

 facture which he invented and carried into 

 operation at the United States Naval Torpedo 

 Station in 1891. The novelty consisted in the 

 use of the iron crucibles, in which quicklime 

 was heated to redness, after which sticks of 

 white phosphorus were added through an iron 

 tube which penetrated the cover. The process 

 was so simple that eventually it was carried on 

 by unskilled laborers, and the phosphide which 

 was then selling in the market for $2.25 per lb. 

 was produced at a cost of 20 cents per lb. It 

 was manufactured for use in Automobile tor- 

 pedoes while at practice, and was found so 

 efficient that when a pound in its container was 

 submerged in 18 feet of water it gave a flame 

 2 feet in height on the surface, which continued 

 to burn for three hours. 



A. C. Peale, 



Secretary. 



Huston at Brilliant, Ohio, and gave addi- 

 tional evidence, the result of a renewed study 

 upon the ground, to prove that the implement 

 was not intrusive but was found in the undis- 

 turbed strata of the original terrace. Prof. 

 Wright's paper was illustrated by a series of 

 lantern slides. 



Prof. H. W. Haynes reviewed the evidence 

 of early man in America as presented by Mr. 

 Upham and Miss Babbitt, and showed some of 

 the rudely flaked quartzes found by Miss Bab- 

 bitt, at Little Falls, Minn. 



Samuel Henshaw, 



Secretary. 



GEOLOGICAL CONFERENCE OF HAEVAED UNI- 

 VEESITY, JANUAEY 7, 1896. 



Some occurrences of Eruptive Granite in the 

 Archean Highlands of New Jersey: By J. B. 

 Wolff. 



Occurrences of eruptive granite have been de- 

 scribed in the white limestone area from Frank- 

 lin northeastward, to which the present crystal- 

 line condition of the limestone is ascribed as 

 due to contact metamorphism. These occur- 

 rences lie in the valley at the west base of the 

 Highlands. The object of this communication 

 was to describe the occurrence of a large area 

 of granite within the area of the gneisses them- 

 selves, lying near the west edge of the plateau 

 formed by the Archean gneisses and nearly due 

 east of Franklin. The area so far as determined 

 is about six miles from north to south and two 

 miles wide ; the field evidence seems to prove 

 its eruptive character through the bounding 

 sneisses. 



BOSTON SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTOEY. 



The Society met December 18 ; one hundred 

 and six persons present. 



Mr. F. W. Crosby described a remarkable 

 locality in Cephalonia where the water runs 

 from the sea into the land at a rate varying 

 from 4,000 to 10,000 cubic feet per minute. 

 This immense quantity of water is utilized as 

 power for mills, but what becomes of it is not 

 known. 



Prof. G. Frederick Wright discussed the 

 present status of Glacial man in America. He 

 showed an ancient chipped knife found by Mr. 



JANUARY 14, 1896. 



1. National Concentration of Ore Deposits : By A. 

 C. Lane. (To be published in the Engineer- 

 ing and Mining Journal.) 



2. Plains of Marine and Subaerial Denudation: 

 By W. M. Davis. (To be published in Bulle- 

 tin of the Geological Society of America.) 



T. A. Jaggae, Je., 

 Recording Secretary. 



TOEEEY BOTANICAL CLUB. 



The annual meeting of the Torrey Botanical 

 Club was held on Tuesday evening, January 



