Febeuaey 7, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



213 



valley of Taunton Kiver. Still later an outlet 

 was opened eastward along the south side of 

 the Blue Hills into Lake Bouv6 at a height of 

 about 160 feet. The plains formed during this 

 stage of the Charles-Neponset Lake extend east- 

 ward across Wellesley and Needham into New- 

 ton and West Roxbury, and northward across 

 the broad water-parting (now occupied by Lake 

 €ochituate) between the Charles and Sudbury 

 Rivers, and thence, apparently, down the 

 valley of the Sudbury and Concord Rivers into 

 Pillerica. 



The western edge of the great angle or lobe 

 of the ice sheet naturally receded eastward 

 more rapidly than the southern edge receded 

 northward, and so it happened that the ice con- 

 tinued to form a solid barrier across Boston 

 Harbor after it had disappeared from all the 

 •country between the Blue Hills and Arlington 

 Heights. The drainage of the Neponset and 

 Charles Basins thus eventually became tribu- 

 tary to Lake Bouve along the north side of the 

 Blue Hills, at the height, first, of Glad Tidings 

 Plain, and, later, of Lower Plain. Plains of 

 these heights have an extensive development 

 in the lower valleys of the Charles and Ne- 

 ponset Rivers, across the site of Boston, and 

 also in the upper valley of the Mystic River, 

 outlining a body of standing water, which it is 

 proposed to call Lake Shawmut, from the In- 

 dian name for Boston. 



When the front of the ice sheet receded from 

 the high land terminating in Fox Hill, north- 

 east of Billerioa Center, the drainage of the 

 Concord, Merrimac, and Shawsheen Valleys 

 probably found an outlet southeastward, along 

 the course of the Boston and Lowell Railroad 

 and the old Middlesex Canal, into the valley 

 of the Mystic, and thence through Lake Shaw- 

 mut and Lake Bouve to Cohasset Harbor. In 

 the glacial lake thus conditioned north of the 

 Mystic water-parting were deposited the exten- 

 sive plains having a normal height of about 

 100 feet, which stretch across Wilmington, 

 northern Billerica, Tewksbury, and Lowell. It 

 is very probable, also, that later a part of this 

 northern drainage found its way southward 

 through the valleys of the Maiden and Saugus 

 Rivers. Samuel Henshaw, 



Secretary. 



NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, BIOLOG- 

 ICAL SECTION. JANUAKY 18. 



The papers presented were : 



G. S. Huntington, ' On The Visceral Anatomy 

 of the Edentates.' The characters of the brain, 

 alimentary, respiratory and genito-urinary 

 tracts were especially considered. The follow- 

 ing forms were discussed: Myrmecophaga jubaia, 

 Taniandua bivittata, Arctopithecus didaclylus, 

 Dasypus sexcinctus, Tatusia novemcincta, Mania 

 longicandata. In the brain characters the fol- 

 lowing features were considered : the transverse 

 frontal sulcus, the great longitudinal fissure, 

 and the absence of a distinct Sylvian fissure. 

 In the alimentary tract the Sloths are to be 

 sharply separated from the remaining groups, 

 the stomach structure with its pyloric gizzard 

 notably aberrant : the ileo-colic junction is 

 traced throughout the Edentates in a well 

 marked series of transitional forms. 



O. S. Steong, ' On the Use of Formalin in 

 Injecting Media.' The paper made especial 

 note of the advantages posessed by this pre- 

 servative in injecting in brain in situ. Formalin 

 (40 "/d formaldelyde) diluted with an equal vol- 

 ume of water is injected into the cephalic ves- 

 sels until it runs from the cut jugulars. After 

 a few minutes the same quantity is again in- 

 jected, and once or twice again after an elapse 

 of fifteen to twenty minutes. The brain is then 

 removed and will be found to be completely 

 fixed throughout. The swelling usually noticed 

 in formalin hardened brains does not appear to 

 take place when this method is employed. Be- 

 sides the many general advantages of fixing 

 brains by injection, formalin has the especial 

 merit of giving them the best consistency for 

 microscopic work, and further, such brains are 

 available subsequently for the Golgi and Weigert 

 methods, as well as possibly for cytological 

 methods. Formalin also has the advantage 

 that it can be used, as above, stronger than is 

 necessary for fixation and thus allowance made 

 for its dilution when permeating the tissue. 

 When only the Golgi method is to be used, an 

 equal volume of a 10 ^ solution of potassium 

 bichromate may be added to the formalin instead 

 of water. Pieces may be subsequently removed, 

 hardened further in formalin-bichromate and 

 impregnated with silver. 



