May 1, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



679 



placed among the Braconidfe iu a subfamily 

 which he called SetphauiuEe. 



Mr. Uhler made some remarks on the 'schluss- 

 feld ' of certain Cicadidfe, tracing the develop- 

 ment of this basal fold iu the hind wings 

 throughout Cicadas from many parts of the 

 world and suggesting its connection with the 

 rapidity of flight of the species. Mr. Benton 

 spoke of the proposed introduction of Apis 

 dormta into the United States, giving an ac- 

 count of previous attempts and particularly of 

 his own journey some years ago to Ceylon in 

 search of this giaut bee of India. He described 

 the methods by which he secured colonies and 

 gave an account of the habits of the hee and 

 the character of its nests. He desired the 

 opinion of the Society as to the possibility of 

 the successful introduction of this bee into the 

 United States and the desirability of such intro- 

 duction. The paper was briefly discussed by 

 Messrs. Mann, Skinner, Schwarz, Ashmead and 

 Stiles. L. O. Howard, 



Secretary. 



NEW YORE SECTION OF THE AMERICAN 

 CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 



At the meeting of the Section held on the 

 10th inst, at the College of the City of New 

 York, Prof. Birchmore exhibited on the screen 

 the absorption spectra of a number of aniline 

 and other colors, including eosin, aniline red 

 ultramarines, potassium perriianganate, cud- 

 bear, etc., and explained the effect of certain 

 reactions with ammonia and other reagents on 

 the size and position of the absorption bands. 



Dr. Birchmore also explained an arrange- 

 ment of adjustable colored prisms projecting 

 through the opposite sides of a cylinder, to be 

 filled with a liquid having the same refractive 

 index as glass : oil of juniper was mentioned ; 

 whereby the colors of the Nessler reagent in 

 ammonia determinations could be recorded. 



The description of this apparatus was brought 

 out in the discussion of Dr. Albert B. Leeds' 

 paper on ' Standard Prisms in Water Analysis, 

 and the Valuation of Color in Potable Waters,' 

 in which Dr. Leeds described his first attempts 

 nearly twenty years ago to obtain suitable 

 standards of comparison, using solutions of vari- 

 ous kinds, colored glass plates and colored 



glass prisms. He reviewed the progress which 

 has been made in the matter, aud recommended 

 the appointment of a committee to unify the 

 methods and adopt a standard. 



Prof. C. L. Speyers read a paper on ' Matter 

 and Energy,' in which he discussed the more 

 recent views of Ostwald. 



Dr. E. G. Love exhibited some remarkably 

 fine microphotographs of several varieties of 

 starch. 



Dr. L. Saarbach exhibited an improved form 

 of laboratory temperature regulator, which has 

 not only the advantage of small cost, but can 

 be taken apart, cleaned and adjusted with the 

 greatest ease. It may be arranged for high or 

 low temperatures and for, almost any degree of 

 sensitiveness. It is practically an air thermom- 

 eter, but can be adjusted to different degrees 

 of sensitiveness by replacing more or less air, 

 by mercury. 



Prof. Breueman, chairman of the committee 

 appointed to consider the organization of a 

 chemical club, rej)orted that he had received 

 nearly a hundred replies to the circular sent out, 

 all but about twenty of which were unquali- 

 fiedly iu favor of the project. He stated that 

 there had been a misunderstanding on the part 

 of some as to the intended membership, and he 

 desired to have it known that there is no in- 

 tention of limiting the membership to any 

 society or section of the chemical fraternity, but 

 to include chemists and chemical manufacturers 

 generally. Durand Woodman, 



Secretary. 



GEOLOGICAL CONFERENCE OF HARVARD UNI- 

 VERSITY, MARCH 31, 1896. 

 ' Longshore Transportation on the North Jersey 



Coast. J. Edmund Woodman. 



Littoral transportation is caused by wind 

 waves, wind currents, tidal waves and tidal 

 currents. All these factors are in active opera- 

 tion on the Jersey coast, but the proof is very 

 strong that the controlling forces are tidal. 

 The most general statement of this proof is 

 that the winds, which must be uniform over a 

 considerable extent of shore, act in some places 

 in conjunction with the transportation, in 

 others in opposition to it. 



From the region east of Toms river to Sandy 



