470 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XV. No. 377. 



those which are made there to-day. The ore 

 is a copper-bearing pyrite, carrying some sili- 

 ca. The copper-bearing portions run irregu- 

 larly through the iron pyrites, and the Rio 

 Tinto Company has removed millions of tons 

 of forty-two per cent, iron ore in getting at its 

 copper ore. The iron ore is not profitable at 

 the present time, although it may become so 

 in the distant future. There are some re- 

 mains of the workings of the ancients here. 

 At Tharsis, in particular, the old shafts are 

 very peculiarly constructed, one at least being 

 spiral to enable the miners to carry the ore on 

 their backs. Shelves were excavated at inter- 

 vals in the walls of the shaft to enable the men 

 to rest their loads on their weary journey to 

 the surface. 



The mines ar^ worked now as open air 

 diggings in circular terraces. They produce 

 about two million tons of ore per year, and it 

 is estimated that there are one hundred and 

 sixty million tons in sight. Some silver-bear- 

 ing galena is associated with the copper ore. 

 The old-fashioned method of roasting the ore 

 in heaps was kept up until 1893, but the ore 

 is now leached by means of water. This is a 

 long process, requiring four years for its thor- 

 ough completion, but the copper is leached 

 out so that less than one-fourth of one per 

 cent, is left in the tailings. The great bulk of 

 the world's supply of sulphuric acid is ob- 

 tained from the Eio Tinto pyrite, which is 

 shipped all over the world for the purpose of 

 manufacturing the acid. Five hundred thou- 

 sand tons per year are utilized in this way. 



The paper was discussed by Dr. Julien and 

 Mr. Howe, and the Section passed a hearty 

 vote of thanks to Professor Douglas for his 

 kindness in giving the paper. 



A REGULAR meeting of the Society was held 

 on February lY, with the Chairman, Dr. A. A. 

 Julien, presiding. 



The first paper to be read was by Dr. 0. P. 

 Hay, on the 'Snout-fishes of Kansas.' In this 

 paper the author presented a brief history of 

 our knowledge of the genus Protosphyrcena, 

 and a statement showing what portions of the 

 skeleton were still unknown. Those parts 

 which are best known are the skull, especially 



the elongated snout, and the jaws, the shoulder 

 and the caudal and pectoral fins. These parts 

 have seldom been found associated, and there 

 have been established three series of species — 

 one on the teeth, one on the snout and the third 

 on the fins. It is certain that, as new collec- 

 tions are made and studied, some of these sub- 

 species will be reduced to synonomy. The au- 

 thor pointed out various errors on the part of 

 writers in the interpretation of different ele- 

 ments of the skeleton, and illustrated his 

 points by means of specimens. 



Dr. A. A. Julien gave an impromptu discus- 

 sion of the relation of honestones to the cutting 

 edge of tools, in the course of which he said 

 that the quality of a hone depended on the size 

 and shape of its component particles, and upon 

 the cement joining the whole together, except 

 in the case of the novaculites from Arkansas, 

 in which the honing quality is due to the sharp 

 edges of minute cavities left by the solution 

 of calcite ; and in the ease of the Turkey-stone, 

 in which the honing quality is due to veinlets 

 of quartz intersecting a rock which has been 

 formed by silica replacing a granular lime- 

 stone. A microscopic study shows that the 

 edge of a tool is not regularly serrated, part of 

 it being smooth and part undulatory. Viewed 

 on edge, the sharpest tools are practically 

 straight, while the others are more or less regu- 

 larly wavy. Viewed in the cross section, a 

 fine edge is seen to be a perfect wedge, while 

 the duller tools show a minute shoulder. 

 Edmund O. Hovey, 



Secretary. 



SECTION OP BIOLOGY. 



At a regular meeting of the Section, held 

 on February 10, Professor W. B. Scott, of 

 Princeton University, presented an illustrated 

 lecture entitled, ' The Origin and Develop- 

 ment of South American Mammals.' 



The speaker began by expressing his great 

 obligation to Dr. F. Ameghino, as also to 

 Dr. Moreno, director, and to the curators of 

 the La Plata Museum, for their kindness in 

 giving him the freest use of their collections 

 and enabling him to examine all the types of 

 the Santa Cruz mammals. 



The fauna of every continent is made up of 



