Tbbruaey 21, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



295 



■conditions, show, to a greater or lesser degree, 

 a fissility developed when they were nearer the 

 surface. 



The relations of the secondary structures, 

 cleavage and fissility, to bedding were consid- 

 ered. It was shown that there is a tendency 

 for the primary and secondary structures to be- 

 come parallel or nearly so on the limbs of the 

 folds and to intersect each other at the arches and 

 troughs. In case the folding is close the two 

 structures may be so nearly parallel, except at 

 the short turns of the anticlines and synclines, 

 that the fact that there is a discrepancy any- 

 where is likely to be overlooked and the con- 

 ■clusion reached that in a given district the two 

 structures are everywhere accordant. This 

 mistake in the past has frequently led to great 

 overestimates of the thickness of formations 

 having slatiness or schistosity. 



Prof Van Hise's observations and conclu. 

 sions were corroborated and supported by 

 Messrs. Diller, "Willis and Keith. 



W. F. MORSELL. 

 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY. 



At the regular meeting of the National Geo- 

 graphic Society, held in Washington, D. C, 

 February 7, 1896, Prof. W J McGee, of the 

 Bureau of American Ethnology, presented a 

 ■communication on 'A Sojourn in Seriland,' 

 which was illustrated by lantern slides. The 

 paper was an account of his recent explo- 

 rations among a hostile, savage and little 

 known people near the Gulf of California. Mr. 

 McGee gave a brief sketch of the country 

 traversed, with special reference to the flora 

 and fauna and the characteristics of the Seri 

 Indians. A feature of the address was a de- 

 scription of thirst, real and extreme thirst, 

 based on the experience and observation of the 

 speaker. 



At the lecture on February 14th, Capt. Z. 

 L. Tanner, United States Navy, commander of 

 the United States Fish Commission Steamer 

 Albatross, described the Commission's method 

 of deep sea fishing, and the forms of submarine 

 life brought up by the dragnet. He also de- 

 scribed the voyage of the Albatross from the 

 Atlantic to the Pacific, where she visited the 

 Galapagos Islands and ran several lines of 



soundings for a submarine cable from California 

 to the Hawaiian Islands. The lecture was 

 illustrated by lantern-slide views of scenes both 

 on shipboard and ashore. 



W. F. MOESELL. 

 boston SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



A GENERAL meeting was held January 15th; 

 eighty-four persons were present. The pro- 

 posed By-Laws of the Society were first con- 

 sidered and, after discussion and acceptance of 

 a single amendment, they were adopted. 



Mr. William Brewster spoke on the natural 

 history of Trinidad, illustrating his remarks 

 with a series of lantern slides, showing views 

 of the vegetation and of various animals. He 

 sketched the general characters of the island, 

 the temperature, climate, etc., and referred to 

 the value of the government resthouses to 

 travellers and naturalists. The fauna and flora 

 of Trinidad is the same as that of the valley of 

 the Orinoco; many of the birds and plants are 

 identical with those found on the Amazon. The 

 absence of annoying insects was especially note- 

 worthy and the protective coloration of the 

 birds universal. The forests with the scarcity 

 of brilliantly colored animals, and the trees 

 noticeable for the smallness of their leaves, 

 gave a first impression not very different from 

 that derived from a New England forest. Mr. 

 Brewster read from his journal various notes 

 on the characteristics and habits of some of the 

 conspicuous mammals, birds, reptiles, and in- 

 sects, noting especially the habits of the parasol 

 ants and the fungus-hunting ants, and closed 

 with a reference to the palatableness of the 

 Agouti, Lape, Peccary and Howling Monkey. 

 Samuel Henshaw, 



Secretary. 



the torrey botanical club. 



The regular meeting of the Torrey Botanical 

 Club was held on Wednesday evening, January 

 29th, with 38 persons in attendance. Ten new 

 members were elected. 



Dr. Valery Havard, U. S. A., read a very in- 

 teresting paper entitled ' Drink Plants of the 

 North American Indians.' 



These plants were divided into three classes: 



1st. Plants yielding alcoholic drinks. 



Distillation was unknown to the North Ameri- 



