April 8, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



585 



In this locality the plant was abundant and 

 in bloom, notwithstanding the fact that its 

 usual time of flowering is from April to June. 

 This appears to be the farthest northern limit 

 of this plant's occurrence and the only station 

 thus far reported for it in this state. 



Geology. — ^P. F. Schneider. The discovery 

 is noted of two overthrust faults of small 

 throw in the limestones of the Waterlime 

 group, exposed by a cutting on the Jamesville 

 suburban road. They are especially inter- 

 esting because of the rarity of such occur- 

 rences in our horizontally stratified Paleozoic 

 rock. 



Several marked disturbances were also dis- 

 covered in the limestones of the Helderberg 

 series along the route of the Marcellus line 

 and studied. A cave of considerable size was 

 also opened up by the line of the Auburn inter- 

 urban road. 



Peculiar crystals of bright sparkling hema- 

 tite have been found in the Red Shale of the 

 Saline formation, especially in the lines of 

 the cavities formed by the pseudomorphs after 

 salt. These have been collected, described 

 and studied. Crystals of celestite have also 

 been discovered disseminated through one or 

 more of the layers of the waterlime group in 

 a recent railroad cutting near Jamesville. 

 Some of the cavities are over half an inch in 

 length and show the fauna of the celestite 

 crystals perfectly preserved. More of the 

 peculiarly clear and limpid quartz crystals 

 have been found in the veins of the crystalline 

 Onondaga limestone and described. Much 

 additional information has also been added to 

 our knowledge of local Pleistocene geology. 



J. E. KlRKWOOD, 



Corresponding Secretary. 



THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE AND ART OP PITTSBURG. 

 SECTION OP BIOLOGY. 



The monthly meeting of this section of the 

 academy was held in the lecture hall of the 

 Carnegie Institute, on January 5. Professor 

 John C. Fettermann, biologist of the Western 

 University of Pennsylvania, lectured on the 

 ' Relation of Bacteria to the Dairying In- 

 dustry.' 



The lecturer brought out a number of facts 



concerning this very important industry. He 

 discussed the nature of milk as it is secreted 

 from the milk glands; the various bacteria 

 commonly found in miUt, and sources of con- 

 tamination ; the keeping qualities of milk, and 

 the influence temperature has on the develop- 

 ment of the bacteria; the different preserva- 

 tives used to keep milk from souring, and 

 their action on milk, and the injurious effect 

 upon the consumer. Condition of milk as 

 sold in large cities; the significance of the 

 great numbers of bacteria present in normal 

 milk; results of the bacteriological examina- 

 tion of normal milk, and the facts regarding 

 sterilization and pasteurization; the use of 

 pure cultures in butter making; the prev- 

 alence of particular bacteria in certain 

 localities, by which means a peculiarly desir- 

 able flavor is imparted to the butter; the in- 

 troduction of these bacteria into other local- 

 ities, in order to produce butter of an equally 

 good quality; the occurrence of bacteria in 

 cheese, and their importance to the manu- 

 facturer. 



A number of cultures in culture tubes were 

 exhibited, showing the various stages of the 

 development of the bacteria, and their effect 

 on the milk. The method of making the 

 cultures was also explained. The discussion 

 following the lecture chiefly concerned tuber- 

 culosis and the danger of inoculation of 

 human subjects by the use of milk coming 

 from infected cattle. 



Professor Fettermann stated that, unless 

 the tuberculous stage involves the udder of 

 the cow, there need be no cause for appre- 

 hension of inoculation of human subjects, 

 and as this only occurs in about one per cent, 

 of all cows infected with tuberculosis, the 

 danger resulting from the use of such milk 

 is insignificant. 



Professor J. B. Hatcher exhibited before 

 the section a molar tooth of Mastodon (Tetra- 

 lophodon) brought from Burmah by Mr. J. 

 F. Weller, of Emlenton, Pa. The specimen, 

 which belongs to M. latidens or a closely re- 

 lated species, exhibits an interesting stage in 

 the passage of the molar teeth of the Pro- 

 boscidea from the conular type of the mas- 

 todons to that of the elephants, where the 



