108 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIX. No. 472. 



c and Z are entirely absent; those present are 

 p, d, 0, f and g, with m and I of the prism; 

 the pyramid faces are etched. The general 

 character strongly recalls the Alabashka type 

 of the Urals, and this likeness would suggest 

 that the minerals to be found with it will 

 also resemble those of that noted locality. 

 Other crystals are perfectly colorless, but with 

 the same general form and proportions ; those 

 of about one centimeter in length are ex- 

 tremely brilliant, the larger ones less so ex- 

 ternally, but clear within. It is of great in- 

 terest that this belt of rare species which 

 traverses the state in its southern portion 

 gives indication of further occurrences of 

 remarkable minerals there to be found. 

 Clachamas Meteoric Iron: Dr. George F. 



KUNZ. 



There has lately been discovered in Oregon 

 an enormous iron meteorite, ranking with the 

 two immense ones found respectively by 

 Lieutenant Peary in Greenland and by Pro- 

 fessor H. A. Ward in Mexico. This is a mass 

 of iron, measuring ten feet in length by seven 

 in width and five in height, pitted in the usual 

 manner, but in an extensive degree, and at 

 one point even perforated, so as to leave an 

 opening through it as large as a man's hand. 

 It was discovered in the autumn of 1902 by a 

 prospector, Mr. Dale, on land belonging to 

 the Oregon Steel and Iron Company, some 

 two miles south of Oregon City, in Clackamas 

 County. The official statement of its location 

 is T. 2, S.; R 1, E. of Willamette Meridian. 

 It was dug loose from the soil and removed on 

 a truck to adjacent land belonging to Mr. Ellis 

 Hughes, where it now lies, subject to a claim 

 by the company and a suit now in progress. 

 The material has been subjected to analysis by 

 a local chemist and found to contain a small 

 percentage of nickel; but the exact figures are 

 not yet in the author's possession. According 

 to Mr. A. W. Miller, of Portland, Oregon, 

 from whom most of the facts have been 

 learned, a piece which he examined for struc- 

 ture did not show the Widmanstatten figures, 

 but a marked cubical structure, with very 

 high silvery luster. A fine photograph sent 

 by him to the author shows the mass as 

 roughly conical or dome-shaped, on an elliptic 



base, wonderfully pitted, and with the hole 

 through its lower portion. Men standing by 

 it indicate its size, which is perhaps as large 

 as that of any other meteorite known. 



Edmund Otis Hovey, 



Secretary. 



MICHIGAN ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 



The last meeting of the Michigan Ornitho- 

 logical Club for the current year was held at 

 the Detroit Museum of Art on December 6. 

 President Adolphe B. Covert presided. There 

 was a good attendance and the papers pre- 

 sented were of much interest. The program 

 was as follows: 



NoKMAN A. Wood : ' The Discovery of the Breed- 

 ing Area of Kirtland's Warbler in Michigan.' 



Alexander W. Blain, Jr. : ' Observations made 

 on the Habits of Birds of the Family Mniotiltidse 

 in Monroe County, Michigan, by Jerome Trombley, 

 during the years 1875-81.' 



J. Claire Wood : ' Some Late Breeders.' 



Edward Arnold : ' Nesting of the Sandhill 

 Crane in Michigan.' 



Professor A. H. Griffith : ' Birds in their Re- 

 lation to Art.' 



Following the papers a business session was 

 held. Dr. J. A. Allen, of the American Mu- 

 seum of Natural History, Wm. Brewster, of 

 Cambridge, and Robert Eidgway, of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, were elected to honorary 

 membership. Many new active members were 

 elected. The constitution was amended so as 

 to allow quarterly instead of monthly meet- 

 ings. A class of patrons was created. 



The next meeting of the club will be held 

 at the Detroit Museum of Art on February 5, 

 1904. Visiting ornithologists are cordially in- 

 vited to attend. 



Alexander W. Blain, Jr. 



Detroit College of Medicine. 



DISCUSSION A-ND CORRESPONDENCE. 

 THE WORD BAROMETER. 



To THE Editor of Science: In my letter 

 of August 28 I expressed the belief that the 

 letter of John Beale to Eobert Boyle bearing 

 date February 6, 1665, should read 1666. 

 Since then Dr. J. B. Nichols, of Washington, 

 D. C, has called my attention to the system of 



