Maech 20, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



453 



He showed that in prehistoric times the 

 Tusayan people had Oliva shells from the Pa- 

 cific Ocean and turquoises from New Mexico. 

 They were ignorant of any metal, but were 

 adepts in stone chipping and polishing. Fabrics 

 were made from the feathers of the bluebird 

 and eagle, and they had necklaces of cedar 

 berries, turkey bones, with ornaments of lignite, 

 selenite and mica. 



He brought forward additional evidence to 

 show the identity of cliff dwellers and ancient 

 pueblos and considered that some of the cliflf 

 houses were inhabited when Sikyatki was in 

 its prime. In closing Dr. Fewkes emphasized 

 the poverty of material in museums from which 

 we could draw evidences for speculations in 

 regard to the derivation of prehistoric pueblo 

 culture, and held that theorizing had far out- 

 stripped observation. While considering science 

 piteou-sly weak in data, he thought that no 

 field offered more promising results to a serious 

 student than the ruins of the Southwest. 



The second paper was on a new solution of the 

 geodetic problem, by Chas. H. Kummell, of U. 

 S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. This solution 

 is based on the geodetic line. It requires 

 therefore a reduction of the astronomical 

 azimuth to the geodetic azimuth and, theo- 

 retically at least, a reduction of the astro- 

 nomical latitude to the reduced latitude. An 

 auxiliary spherical triangle is assumed, having 

 the equation of the geodetic line for its sine re- 

 lation, which is referred' to that point as origin 

 where it meets a meridian at right angles. The 

 distance in arc of the first point from that 

 meridian is denoted S, that of the second a^^a^ 

 -\-Aa. The arc o^ is easily computed, and Act is 

 found from a series of which only three terms 

 are required even for the greatest intervisible 

 distances. We have now in the auxiliary spher- 

 ical triangle the sides Act, 90° — f^ (complement of 

 reduced latitude of first point), and included 

 angle Oj (geodetic azimuth to second point). 

 We can find then by rigorous spherical trigo- 

 nometry the parts Oj and 90° — f^ and hence also 

 the astronomical back azimuth a^ and latitude 

 *2. To attain the customary precision this 

 would require ten-place logarithms. In order 

 to reach the same accuracy with seven place 

 logarithms formulse are given for computing the 



convergence of meridians Aa and difference of 

 latitudes A(p. For AA, the difference of longi- 

 tudes, two methods are given, one based on the 

 geodetic line by computing A\, the angle oppo- 

 site the side Aa and correcting this, by a term 

 of the fourth order in eccentricity and first order 

 in distance. The other method is by Dalby's 

 theorem and is more convenient. A complete 

 example computing the position of Konigsberg 

 from Berlin was exhibited, which showed the 

 formulse used as precise as the ten-place com- 

 putation of the same example in Helmert's 

 Hoehere Geodsesie. The method is claimed to 

 be principally advantageous for the greatest in- 

 tervisible distances for which e and Act are nearly 

 of the same order (they are equal at about 

 500,000™). For secondary points Aa is much 

 smaller than e and in that case Tables and 

 Formulse such as Woodward's Smithsonian 

 Geographical Tables and those of the Coast 

 Survey which go an order higher are preferable. 

 Bernard R. Geeen, 



Secretary. 



ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



The 11.5th regular meeting was held March 

 5, 1896. 



Mr. Marlatt, under the title ' A Study of the 

 Anatomy of Hymen optera,' gave a comprehen- 

 sive view of certain structural features of Tenth- 

 redinidse, dwelling at length upon the homol- 

 ogies of the sclerites of the thorax. 



Mr. Schwarz, under the head ' Notes From 

 Southwestern Texas, No. 2,' spoke of a species 

 of Termite which is found in great numbers 

 throughout southwestern Texas, which bur- 

 rows deeply under the ground and which is of 

 great economic importance from the fact that 

 during a large part of the summer it destroys all 

 low-growing vegetation in large patches, rising 

 from the ground aud enclosing all portions of 

 the plants with a tubular structure composed 

 of grains of subsoil. The insect is probably 

 the worst insect pest of southwestern Texas, 

 on account of the damage which it does to 

 pasturage. 



Mr. Ashmead exhibited a specimen of a new 

 species of Koctronia of Provancher. The species 

 in question comes from California, and by its aid 

 Mr. Ashmead has decided that this genus be- 



