680 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. III. No. 70. 



Hook there is a dominant northward current ; 

 from the former place to Delaware bay a south- 

 ward one. This current can be seen and traced 

 in many places. Its geographic effect is chiefly 

 the migration of material (and hence of inlets) 

 from the center towards the two extremities of 

 the State. This opposition of moveipent can- 

 not be due to the fact that the northern half is in 

 the lee of Long Island, and thus while north- 

 east winds dominate farther south they are 

 ovei-powered by southeast winds there, for at 

 Sandy Hook or Long Branch the northeast 

 storms are as severe as at Atlantic City. 



The reason given by the U. S. C. S. (1856) 

 for this northward movement cannot be correct ; 

 for upon examining the region we see that ever 

 so strong a draught through False Hook channel 

 would not cause a steady and strong current as 

 far south as Manasquan inlet. The explana- 

 tion must be sought in the effect of submarine 

 topography upon the tides, which near shore 

 move as waves of translation. This effect seems 

 to be chiefly the formation of nodal points of 

 secondary importance in the three great tidal 

 bays of the Atlantic coast. The same phenom- 

 enon occurs on the south shore of Long Island, 

 and on the east shore of Cape Cod. These 

 secondary nodes are joints of divergence of 

 currents, and must be caused by inequalites of 

 the great continental delta which we do not 

 now recognize. 



While the author considers tidal action to be 

 dominant here, he does not believe it to be the 

 exclusive agent of transformation. The direc- 

 tion and amount depend upon the resultant of 

 all the factors tending to produce movement, 

 and wind waves form a veryconsiderable element 

 in this. But that wind waves do not control it 

 is proved by the fact that the current continues 

 northward against adverse winds, and can only 

 be momentarily reversed by long continued and 

 violent storms. 



Transportation is mainly off-shore, by bar mi- 

 gration ; but a small amount can be observed 

 along the strand, demonstrably propelled by cur- 

 rents and not by waves. Most of the movement 

 here, however, is caused by wave impact and 

 the reflex flow of water. 



The deposition is little affected by currents, for 

 much of it is made upon the outside of Sandy 



Hook, at a place where the current enters the 

 mouth of False Hook channel, and hence is, if 

 anything, stronger than farther south. But with a 

 constant current deposition often varies with 

 direction and intensity of wind. 



It is worthy of note that the point of diverg- 

 ence of the northward and southward currents is 

 so located that the wing, Sandy Hook, is receiv- 

 ing all the waste from the wearing-back of the 

 soft headland of Cretaceous and Tertiary age 

 which extends from Bay Head to Low Moor; 

 while of the transportation along the barrier 

 beaches southward none comes from the head- 

 land. Thus these beaches are only carrying 

 their own detritus, piled up at an earlier stage, 

 and are wasting themselves away. 



T. A. Jaggae, Jr., 

 Recording Secretary. 



THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE OF ST. LOUIS. 



At the meeting of April 20th Dr. C. M. 

 Woodward presented the results of a study of 

 certain statistics of school attendance, from 

 which it appeared that the average age of with- 

 drawal from the public schools in three cities 

 compared was as follows : Boston, 15.8 ; Chi- 

 cago, 14.6; St. Louis, 13.7. 



Prof. J. H. Kinealy exhibited and gave a 

 mathematical discussion of the Stang plauime- 

 ter, an interesting and simple instrument of 

 Danish invention, but improved in the United 

 States. William Teelease, 



Becording Secretary. 



NEW BOOKS. 



A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology 

 in Cristendom. Andrew D. White. New 

 York, D. Appleton & Co. 1896. Vol. I., 

 pp. xxiii -1-415; vol. II., pp. xxiii-(-474. $5.00. 



A Dictionary of Chemical Solubilities. Aethur 

 Messinger Comey. London and New York, 

 Macmillan & Co. 1896. Pp. xx-F515. $5.00. 



Current Super slit ions. Fanny D. Beegen. 

 Boston and New York, published for the 

 American Folk-Lore Society by Houghton, 

 Mifflin & Co. 1896. Pp. x-fiei. 



Plane and Solid Geometry. C. A. Van Veltzee 

 and CtEORge G. Shutts. Madison, Wis., 

 Tracy, Gibbs & Co. Pp. viii f 395. 



