Febeuabt 19, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



307 



The work of a railroad clieniist divides it- 

 self into three main divisions, which are: (1) 

 Experimental investigations to ascertain the 

 requirements of the railroad, respecting dif- 

 ferent classes of supplies, and from such in- 

 vestigations the preparation of written speci- 

 fications describing such requirements. The 

 importance of this work for the future good 

 to the road was emphasized. (2) The testing 

 of supplies to learn if the quality of the ma- 

 terial corresponds with that provided for by 

 the specifications. (3) Difficulties or problems 

 which other officers of the road, from lack 

 either of time or of proper training, are unable 

 to solve. A number of examples of such 

 difficulties which came within his experience 

 were described. The speaker concluded by 

 assuring the young men present that the num- 

 ber of problems for the railroad chemist to 

 solve was greater now than ever, and this field 

 of work still offers very important opportuni- 

 ties for usefulness. A. Seidell, 



Secretary. 



MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 

 GEOLOGICAL JOURNAL CLUB. 



Ti-iE club reviewed the following articles 

 during December and the first two weeks in 

 January : 



L. T. Buell, ' The Tin Deposits of the Malay 

 Peninsula' (Jour. Geol., February-March, 

 1903) ; H. A. Buff, ' Conditions in the Penn- 

 sylvania Anthracite Eegion' {En.g. and Min. 

 Jour., November 28, 1903) ; P. M. Paine, ' The 

 Laurentian Peneplain ' (Jour. Geol., October- 

 November, 1903); J. T. Glidden, 'Lead Ee- 

 sources of the United States ' (Eng. and Min. 

 Jour., November 28, 1903) ; B. L. Johnson, 

 ' Some Montana Coal Fields ' (Am. Geologist, 

 December, 1903); W. L. Spalding, 'The Ore 

 Deposits of Tonopah, Nevada ' (Eng. and 

 Min. Jour., November 21, 1903) ; W. L. Whit- 

 temore, ' Cobalt Mining in New Caledonia ' 

 (Eng. and Min. Jour., November 28, 1903) ; 

 E. H. Allen, ' Gold Mining in Ehodesia ' 

 (Eng. and Min. Jour., December, 10, 1903) ; 

 C. H. Clapp, 'The Wisconsin Zinc Fields' 

 (Eng^ and Min. Jour., December 5, 1903) ; 

 W. G. Ball, ' The Quicksilver Mines in Idria ' 

 (Eng. and Min. Jour., December 17, 1903) ; 



, C. E. Danforth, ,/ Asphalt Mining and Ee- 

 fining in the Indian Territory ' (Eng. and 

 Min. Jour., December 17, 1903) ; C. W. Johns- 

 ton, ' The Gold Placers of Bokhara ' (Eng. and 

 Min. Jour., December 24, 1903) ; E. Burton, 

 ' Age of Gypsum of Central Iowa ' (Jour. 

 Geol., November-December) ; F. S. Elliot, 

 ' Geology of the Apache Canon Placers ' (Eng. 

 and Min. Jour., December 24, 1903) ; M. 

 Eubel, ' The Anthracite Conciliation Board ' 

 (Eng. and Min. Jour., December 24 and 31, 

 1903). 



The following original papers were read: 

 Professor W. O. Crosby, 'The Physiographic 

 Geology of the Gold Eegions of Alaska.' 

 The paper was illustrated by several lantern 

 views which were taken by Professor Crosby 

 on his recent trip through Alaska. Professor 

 W. H. Niles, ' The Life of Joseph Le Conte '; 

 Professor A. W. Grabau, ' Eock Classification.' 

 Professor Grabau presented a new .system of 

 classification which should include all the dif- 

 ferent kinds of rocks. His paper was dis- 

 cussed with very great interest and met with 

 general approval. G. F. Loughlin described 

 a granite-gneiss of central Connecticut. The 

 igneous origin of this formation was proved 

 by Mr. Lewis Westgate (Jour. Geol., Vol. 

 VII., No. 7, October, 1899). Mr. Loughlin 

 reviewed Mr. Westgate's paper, and spoke of 

 the fitness of the stone for building purposes. 

 He attributed the tendency of the stone to 

 stain on exposure to the minute grains of 

 pyrite and microsc.opic garnets which are 

 abundant in the rock. J. Daniels spoke 

 briefly on the methods of taking sample bor- 

 ings and the uses made of them. 



G. F. Loughlin, 



Secretary. 



NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 

 SECTION OF BIOLOGY. 



The January meeting was held on the 

 eleventh of the month. Professor Underwood 

 presiding. Papers were read by Professor 

 H. F. Osborn and Miss Adele M. Fielde. 



Professor Osborn's paper, entitled ' The 

 Classification of the Eeptilia,' presented the 

 history of the classification as follows : (1) 

 Eecognition of the Cotylosauria as the most 



