February 14, 1896.] 



8GIENGE. 



249 



of the Tryxalinse of New England by an ac- 

 count of the new genus Pseudopomala, the 

 single species of which is described in detail. 

 J. W. Folsom describes three new species of 

 the Thysanuran genus Papirius found in Massa- 

 chusetts. Sharp's treatment of the insects in 

 the new volume of the Cambridge Natural His- 

 tory is reviewed, and the proceedings of the 

 Cambridge Entomological Club for January are 

 added. In a supplement, containing contribu- 

 tions from the New Mexico Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station, new insects are described by T. 

 D. A. Cockerell and L. O. Howard, including 

 diagnoses of a large number of new Coccidse 

 by the former. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



CHEMICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON, 84TH EEG- 

 ULAE MEETING, THURSDAY, DE- 

 CEMBER 12, 1895. 



The President, Chas. E. Munroe, in the chair, 

 with thirty-six members present. Messrs. H. 

 Harrington Bolton, W. W. Skinner and F. B. 

 Bomberger were elected to membership. Dr. 

 W. F. Hillebrand discussed and exhibited the 

 spectra of Argon and Helium. 



Dr. H. W. Wiley read a paper on the ' Use of 

 Acetylene Illumination in Polariscope Work 

 with Illustrations.' He said that Acetylene, 

 while not inferior to other forms of illumination 

 in point of accuracy, is so intense as to permit 

 of accurate polarization with solutions so dark 

 in color that they cannot be polarized with 

 lights ordinarily used for this purpose. The 

 Acetylene light and the ' Schmidt-Haensch 

 Triple Field Polariscope ' were exhibited. 

 This polariscope was said to be of great assist- 

 ance in rapid and accurate work. 



Mr. F. P. Dewey presented a comprehensive 

 paper on ' The Early History of Electric Heat- 

 ing for Metallurgical Purposes.' He traced the 

 history of the application of the current to the 

 production of metal^ from heated compounds, 

 the necessary heat being developed by the cur- 

 rent itself. Beginning with the very early work 

 of van Marum, published in 1795 at Haarlem, 

 the idea was followed through the work of Sir 

 Humphrey Davy, 1808-1808; Children, 1809- 

 ■'15; Depretz, 1848-'9; Pichon, 1854; Fox, 1875; 



Siemens, 1879; Bradley, 1883; Cowles, 1885; 

 Heroult, 1886, and Moissan, 1892-'5. 



Dr. Marcus Benjamin contributed a ' Sketch 

 of Professor Josiah P. Cooke,' who, from 1849 

 ^ntil the time of his death in 1894, was Ewing 

 Professor of Chemistry in Harvard University. 

 The sketch was of special interest from the fact 

 that the statements given were taken from a 

 manusci'ipt sent by Prof. Cooke to Dr. Benjamin 

 some years ago. Besides his six years' interest 

 in the great chemical inventions of his time, i. e. , 

 friction matches, daguerreotypes and gun cot- 

 ton, the development of the chemical depart- 

 ment under his guidance was fully described. 

 The first practical instruction in chemistry to 

 undergraduates in our American colleges was 

 given by Prof. Cooke. A laboratory was fitted 

 up in a cellar room of University Hall, of Cam- 

 bridge, and from this grew the present magnifi- 

 cent equipment. Dr. Benjamin discussed Prof. 

 Cooke's chemical work, especially that on the 

 atomic weight of antimony, and referred also to 

 his writings, of which ' The New Chemistry ' is 

 probably best known. A. C. Peale, 



Secretary. 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OP WASHINGTON, 264TH 

 MEETING, JANUARY 25. 



Charles T. Simpson presented a paper on 

 The Extra-limital Mississippi Basin Unios. 



The speaker stated that the Unione fauna of the 

 Mississippi basin was one in which the species 

 were finely developed, often large or solid, 

 richly sculptured or colored. The fauna of the 

 Atlantic region consisted of smaller, less finely 

 developed forms. The boundary between these 

 regions on the north and northeast is not at the 

 Height of Land, but far to the northward. 

 Some 40 or more species of Mississippi naiades are 

 found extra-limital in the northern and Atlantic 

 drainage, while probably but a single Atlantic 

 drainage form inhabits the Mississippi Valley. 

 He believed this distribution was caused by the 

 fact that at the close of the Glacial Epoch the 

 northern lakes overflowed into the Mississippi 

 Valley, and the Mississippi basin species 

 ascended by way of these old streams into the 

 British possessions. 



These extra-limital forms were generally 

 smaller and thinner, less highly colored, and 



