878 



SCIENCE. 



LN. S. Vol. XVI. No. 413. 



of the Bureau of Etlinology, when working 

 in the interests of the Jesup North Pacific 

 Expedition, it would appear that the plie- 

 nomenon involved was known to Indians of 

 our uortliwest coast. 



Formal notification has been received by the 

 Lewiston Land Ofiice from Counnissioner Her- 

 mann of the General Land Office, of the tem- 

 porary withdrawal of 2,300.000 acres in Idaho 

 and Boise Counties, lying south of the present 

 Bitter Eoot forest reserve, pending an investi- 

 gation as to the advisability of adding the 

 territory to the reserve, "^ith this addition, 

 the Bitter Root Reserve will comprise 5,300,000 

 acres, or an area as large as the State of 

 Massachusetts. The land now temporarily 

 withdrawn lies along the Salmon Eiver water- 

 shed, and includes Thunder Moinitain, Mar- 

 shall Lake, Warrens and other mining dis- 

 tricts. 



The sixth meeting of the Congress of Ameri- 

 can Pliysicians and Sm-geons will he held in 

 Washington, on May 12, 10 and U. 1903. The 

 subjects chosen for special discussion are ' the 

 pancreas and pancreatic diseases ' and ' the 

 medical and surgical aspects of diseases of 

 tie gall-bladder and bile ducts." The presi- 

 dent Dr. W. W. Keen, of Philadelphia, has 

 chosen as the subject of his address ' The 

 duties and responsibilities of trustees of medi- 

 cal institutions.' 



Oy the 1-lth inst. the chemists of Syi'acuse 

 organized themselves into a society with the 

 following officers : 



President, J. D. Pennock, Solvay Process Co. 

 . Vice-President, Professor E. X. Pattee,' Syracuse 

 University. 



Sccrctarii, Professor H. ilomnouth Smith. Syra- 

 cuse University. 



Treasurer, Dr. J. W. Mathews. Crucihle Steel Co. 

 of America. 



Councilors, Dr. H. G. Carrell, Solvay Process 

 CA; Matthew Adgate, General Chemical Co.; Edw. 

 L. French, Crucible Steel Co. of America. 



The society begins with a membei-ship of 

 35. Meetings will be held monthly, except 

 during the summer. 



The New England intercollegiate geolog- 

 ical excursion, announced a few weeks ago. 

 took place on Saturday, November 1, an ex- 



ceptionally beautiful autiunnal day, when 

 teachers and students to the number of sixty- 

 nine from nine colleges and a number of nor- 

 mal and seeondar.v schools, met at Holyoke, 

 Mass., and were led by Professor B. K. Emer- 

 son, of Amherst, to some of the most inter- 

 esting localities in the district, in connection 

 with the Triassic sandstones and lava flows. 

 A superb view of the Connecticut valley was 

 obtained in the afternoon from the top of 

 Mt. Tom, the summit of which was gained 

 by a funicular railroad. It is plamied that 

 the third excursion of the series, a year hence, 

 shall be to the Hanging Hills, near Meriden, 

 Conn., under the leadership of Professor 

 Gregory, of Tale. 



A SERIES of investigations is about to be be- 

 gun by the Division of Hydrography of the 

 U. S. Geological Survey, under M. O. Leigh- 

 ton, resident hydrographer, into the effects of 

 coal-mine refuse upon the rivers of the coal 

 region. It has been commonly observed that 

 the streams running close to the anthracite 

 mines of eastern Pennsylvania and other min- 

 ing localities are heavily charged with sul- 

 phur, and that their waters often have a 

 slightly acid reaction; the beds of the streams 

 are also often overlain by heavy deposits of 

 sulphur precipitated from the water. It is 

 the purpose of the investigations to discover 

 the effects, deleterious or otherwise, upon the 

 rivers which receive the polluted streams. 

 One of the inmiediate results of the pollution 

 is the driving away of all varieties of fish, 

 which were once abundant in these streams, 

 but a more important consideration is the 

 influence of the sulphur-charged streams on 

 the processes of decomposition of organic mat- 

 ter going on in rivers into which they flow. 

 The mine refuse, especially such as comes 

 from culm-pile washery, is a troublesome 

 source of pollution. The separation of the 

 coal from the waste is accomplished through 

 the use of quantities of water, which are re- 

 turned to the streams laden with fine coal- 

 dust. For some distance below the oiitlets of 

 these washeries the streams have the appear- 

 ance of liquid stove-polish, and the coal-dust, 

 extending for many miles downstream, is 

 gradually deposited, in places even filling the 



