January 31, 1902.J 



SCIENCE. 



193 



tern slides. Englemann's spruce and lodge- 

 pole pine were the chief timher trees noted on 

 the reserve. An interesting view was shown 

 of a valley, running east and west, on whose 

 sunny southern slope grew the Pinus flexilis, 

 while the cooler slope with the northerly ex- 

 posure supported a growth of Englemann's 

 spruce. A view of especial interest was shown, 

 of a group of trees on whose sides were long 

 and deep-worn scars, made years before and 

 partially healed over, where elk had persistent- 

 ly rubbed their antlers while in the velvet. 



Mr. Henry L. Clapp gave an account of 

 school gardens in Europe and in this coun- 

 try. There are in Europe over 80 such gar- 

 dens, from Sweden to Switzerland. The meth- 

 ods of laying out the gardens, preparing the 

 soil, and planting of the flowers and vegetables 

 by the children were explained by the speaker 

 and illustrated by a fine series of lantern slides. 

 Only recently has this practical and interest- 

 ing method of teaching botany to children 

 been introduced into this country, but the re- 

 sults have already been noteworthy, and more 

 such gardens should be established for our own 

 schools. 



GiiOVEE M. Allen, 



Secretary. 



THE KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



The Kansas Academy of Science held its 

 thirty-fourth annual meeting at lola, Kansas, 

 on December 30 and 31, 1901, Professor E. 

 Miller, of the Kansas State University, in the 

 chair. While the meeting did not have an 

 attendance equal to that of some former years, 

 there was much interest manifested in its work 

 and an unusually full program presented. 

 Fourteen new active members were elected, 

 and seven active members advanced to life 

 membership. About forty papers, mainly on 

 biological, geological and chemical topics, were 

 presented, many of the more technical ones 

 being read by title only. 



A paper by Professor J. T. Lovewell, for- 

 merly chemist in Washburn College, Topeka, 

 on 'Gold in Kansas Shales,' provoked con- 

 siderable discussion. The author announced 

 as the result of a very large number of assays, 

 that gold in paying quantities exists in the 



vast beds of shales which cover such a large 

 section of western Kansas. The chemists and 

 geologists of the State University and many 

 others have positively denied that gold exists 

 in these shales. A warm discussion followed 

 the reading of the paper, with the result that 

 the Academy appointed a commission of three 

 of its members to investigate the matter fur- 

 ther, and to report at the next meeting of the 

 Academy. 



On Tuesday evening, December 31, Presi- 

 dent Miller gave the retiring president's an- 

 nual address, choosing for his topic, 'The 

 Growth of Science during the Nineteenth 

 Century.' 



'A New Plesiosaur' was described by Dr. 

 S. W. Williston, of the State University. The 

 remains of this animal, as well as those of 

 many others, were discovered during the past 

 season by Mr. Charles H. Sternberg, of Law- 

 rence. Mr. Sternberg spent several months 

 in the field, part of the time in the employ of 

 a noted foreigTi museum, which thus obtained 

 many of his most valuable discoveries. He 

 read before the Academy an interesting paper 

 on 'The Permian Beds of the Big Wichita 

 Valley of Texas.' At the conclusion of his 

 paper much interest was manifested in de- 

 ploring the loss of these rapidly disappearing 

 paleontological specimens to American insti- 

 tutions, and especially to those of Kansas. A 

 lack of funds for employing explorers or buy- 

 ing the specimens is responsible for this con- 

 dition. 



The members of the Academy were shown 

 every courtesy by the people of lola, who 

 interested themselves in showing their visitors 

 through the vast industrial plants located 

 there. These include several large zinc smelt- 

 ers, an acid manufactory, cement works, etc., 

 all made possible by the vast field of natural 

 gas which underlies this beautiful part of 



The following is a list of the officers for the 

 ensuing year : President, J. T. Willard, of the 

 State Agricultural College, Manhattan; Eirst 

 Vice-President, Edward Bartow, of the State 

 University, Lavwence; Second Vice-President, 

 J. A. Tates, of Ottawa University, Ottawa; 

 Secretary, G. P. Grimsley, of Washburn Col- 



