March 9, 1883.] 



SCIENCE. 



147 



end. The quartz bowlders are found in forms which 

 indicate tliat they were firmly held in the ice, first in 

 one position, then in another, some of the smaller 

 masses having several facets. A great variety in the 

 nature of the soil is observed. There are deposits 

 of clean sand and of bowlder-clay. These peculiari-. 

 ties, and the abraded bowlders, indicate the moraine 

 profoiide, or under-moraiue. The large pot-holes 

 cleanly cut in the sandstone of the north slope are 

 referred by Prof. Blake to glacial origin, being simi- 

 lar to the 'giants' kettles' of the glaciated regions of 

 Norway, and formed, probably, by vertical torrents 

 falling through the ice-sheet. — {Conn. acad. arts and 

 sc; meeting Jan. 17.) [314 



MINERALOGY. 



Minerals of the cryolite group. — A note that 

 several minerals of this group, occurring in small 

 quantity, have been identified from a locality near 

 Pike's Peak, Col., by W. Cross and W. F. Hillerbrand 

 of the U.S. geological survey, is of interest. — {Amer. 

 jo«ni. sc, Oct., 1882, 281.) s. L. p. [315 



Vesuvianite. — Crystals from Kedalbek (Eastern 

 Caucasia), rich in planes, and brilliant, have been 

 chemically and crystallographically examined. The 

 results of analysis agree closely with the accepted 

 formula H2E"8R'^4Si7029. Four planes new to the 

 species were identified. — {Zeitschr. krist., vii. 344.) 

 s. L. P. [316 



Humite. — As the result of the crystallographic 

 study of this mineral from Ludugrufvan (Sweden), 

 Hj. Sjorgren has shown its analogy to the crystallized 

 humite from Vesuvius, though the number of occur- 

 ring planes is much smaller. The associations of the 

 mineral from this locality is very similar to that oc- 

 curring at Brewsters, N.Y. ; the humite, associated 

 with magnetite, calcite, and brucite, occurring from 

 pure, through all stages of decomposition into ser- 

 pentine. The pure, unaltered crystals were mostly 

 found imbedded in calcite. In thin sections under 

 the microscope, the appearance is almost identical 

 with that of olivine. The author entering into a 

 discussion of the chemical composition of this, and 

 the closely allied minerals clinohumite and chondro- 

 dite, states that the presence of water in all these 

 minerals has often been noted; and, although it fails 

 to appear in most of the published analyses, there is, 

 inmost cases, a deficiency of constituents given, in 

 order to make up the full 100 per cent; and this defi- 

 ciency increases as the quantity of fiuorine decreases. 

 Provided this deficiency is due to undetermined 

 water, it might be taken to indicate, that, where there 

 is a deficiency of fluorine, a univalent hydroxyl group 

 enters into the mineral as an isomorphous replace- 

 ment of a part of the fluorine. Taking this into con- 

 sideration, and also the varying ratios of Si : R (R=Mg 

 and Fe), he finds that the three minerals agree closely 

 with the following formulae, arranged so as to show 

 their relation to one another and to olivine : olivine, 



Mgi2 [Si04]6; clinohumite, Mg,o [Mgr*^]^)! 

 [Si04]6; humite,Mg3rMg(^^)1 [Si04]6; chon- 



drodite, Mgs [Mg ('°j^)s~| [SiO+lg. These formu- 

 lae are derived principally by calculation from the 

 older analyses ; and it is hoped that more exact analy- 

 ses may be made to clear up more fully the true 

 chemical nature of these minerals. — (Zeitschr. krist., 

 vii. 344. ) s. L. P. [317 



Rezbanyite. — Under this name, a new mineral 



resembling cosalite (2 PbS, 31283), but with varying 

 composition, has been described by A. Frenzel. It 

 occurs along with other bismuth and lead minerals 

 at Eezbanya, Hungary: structure, massive, with no 

 decided cleavage; lustre, metallic; streak, black; 

 hardness, 24-3; gravity, 6.09-6. .38. Three indepen- 

 dent analyses were made, which led to the formula 

 4 PbS, 5 BioSj. — (jl/ire. und petr. mitth., v. 175.) 

 s. L. P. [318 



AUocIasile. — This mineral, which occurs at Ora- 

 vicza (Hungary) in small crystals resembling mis- 

 pickle, has been newly investigated by A. Frenzel, 

 and shown to be in composition also closely related. 

 On account of the rarity of the crystals, enough of 

 them could not be obtained for analysis; but several 

 analyses from specimens of massive material were 

 made which agreed nearly with the formula (Co Fe) 

 (AsBi) S. It varies from mispickle in that most of 

 the iron has been replaced by cobalt, and part of the 

 arsenic by bismuth. — [Min. und petr. mitth., v. 179.) 

 s. L. P. [319 



METEOROLOGY. 



Thermal belts of North Carolina. — Professor 

 J. W. Chickering read a paper on this topic, reciting 

 the observations" of Mr. Silas McDowell and others. 

 The valley of the Little Tennessee river, in Macon 

 county, is about 2,000 feet above tide. When the 

 thermometer indicates a temperature of about 26° 

 F., the frost extends about 300 feet in vertical height 

 up the mountain-sides, and there ceases, appearing 

 again 400 feet higher. In the intervening belt, the 

 most delicate plants remain untouched ; and so sharp 

 are the dividing-lines, that sometimes one half of a 

 shrub may be frost-killed, while the other is unaf- 

 fected. Following a tributary stream upward from 

 the valley, one passes three mountain-barriers, and 

 enters in succession three valleys, the highest of 

 which is plateau-like, and 3,900 feet in altitude. 

 The vernal zone appears in each valley, rising as the 

 valleys rise, but somewhat less rapidly; sO that in 

 the highest it is only 100 feet above the plateau. In 

 this frostless zone the Isabella grape not merely has 

 ripened for twenty-six consecutive years, but is free 

 from mildew, blight, and rust. In Polk county a 

 similar belt is said to skirt the Tryon mountain, ex- 

 tending from 1,200 to 2,200 feet above tide. This is 

 untouched by frost until the latter part of December, 

 and is usually free from snow; while the mountains 

 above and the valleys below are covered. The pecul- 

 iar stratification of the air indicated by these state- 

 ments merits scientific investigation. — {Phil. soc. 

 Washington ; meeting Feb. 24. ) [320 



GEOGRAPHY. 

 (,A,ia.) 



Riebeck in India. — Dr. Riebeck writes, that after 

 returning with rich collections from Darjiling to 

 Calcutta, where an industrial exhibition gave him 

 opportunity to procure many specimens, he went to 

 Chittagong, and secured in a relatively short time 

 photographs and face-casts of twelve different hill- 

 tribes. A famine in the hill country had driven the 

 suffering people into the British territory, not with 

 any warlike designs as had been reported, but simply 

 to obtain food, "mostly rice from the government 

 stores. The poor people often came from twenty-five 

 days' journey beyond the British boundary, and many 

 of them had never seen Europeans before. — ( Verh. 

 gesell. erdk. Berlin, ix. 1882, 504. ) w. M. D. [321 



Regel in central Asia. — Dr. Regel reports a 

 number of new geographic details to the Russian 

 geographical society from the region of Karategin 

 and Darwas, about the sources of the Amee River. 



