288 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIII. No. 582. 



isolated patches and the regular outcrops 

 of the Vicksburg. 



On the Jackson Anticlinal in Clarke 

 County, Ala.: Eugene A. Smith. 

 A well-defined anticlinal fold in Clarke 

 County, Ala., shows some rather peculiar 

 features of erosion and other phenomena 

 which were described with the aid of an 

 illustrative map. 



Erosion at Ducktown, Tennessee: L. C. 



Glenn. 



Ducktown is situated on an old pene- 

 plain now uplifted into a plateau and thor- 

 oughly dissected so that the actual surface 

 consists of slopes many of which are steep. 

 It is a region of deep surficial rock decay, 

 of heavy annual rainfall and of thick 

 forest-covering under natural conditions. 



The roasting and smelting of copper ores 

 in the recent past has entirely destroyed 

 the vegetation and left the surface per- 

 fectly bare. Surface erosion is rapidly 

 removing the soil covering. The slopes are 

 already deeply scarred with gullies only a 

 few years old which are still rapidly grow- 

 ing. 



The waste from the steep slopes has 

 buried the former surface along the stream- 

 lets between them and is rapidly building 

 up waste planes, so that neither slope nor 

 narrow flood-plain is of any value for agri- 

 culture or grazing. Reforestation will be 

 a very slow and difficult process. 



Floods on these small streams rise higher 

 and more rapidly than formerly and sub- 

 side more quickly. During dry seasons 

 some springs that were formerly perennial 

 go dry and others almost cease flowing. 



The case has peculiar importance as an 

 illustration of not only the possibilities but 

 the certain results of deforestation by man 

 in other parts of the southern Appalach- 

 ians, and of the need of adoption by the 

 general government of a policy of forest 

 preservation in these mountains. 



The Hydrology and Geology of the Gulf 

 Embayment Area of West Tennessee, 

 West Kentucky and Southern Illinois: 

 L. C. Glenn. 



Unconsolidated deposits of Cretaceous or 

 later age consist from below upward of 

 Coffee, Rotten Limestone, Ripley, Porter's 

 Creek, La Grange, Lafayette, Loess, Loam 

 and Alluvium formations, the last four be- 

 ing surficial, but giving character in much 

 of the area to waters from springs and 

 shallow wells. Structurally the rocks dip 

 gently from the edge toward the center of 

 the embayment area. 



The Coffee, Ripley and La Grange are 

 water bearing and form one or more avail- 

 able sources of potable deep water over 

 practically the entire region. The La 

 Grange covers the greatest area and is most 

 important. Deep waters are gotten at 

 depths varying according to local condi- 

 tions from 150 to 700 or 800 feet, the ma- 

 jority ranging from 200 to 400 feet. The 

 water flows out at the surface in many 

 cases and rises nearly to the surface in 

 many others. The quality of the deep 

 water is generally good. If any mineral 

 matter is present it is apt to be a small 

 amount of iron carbonate. Calcium and 

 magnesium carbonate and sulphate may be 

 present in some cases, usually in small 

 quantities. 



Increasing attention is given by the in- 

 habitants of the region to these deep 

 waters, and wells are sunk not only for 

 corporate and industrial supply but for 

 many private families. The beneficial 

 effect of the deep water on the health of 

 the users is marked. 



The Skull of Syndyoceras: Erwin H. Bar- 

 bour. 



A new fo^il mammal, allied to Proto- 

 ceras of the Oligocene and to the modern 

 antelope, was discovered by the Morrill 

 Geological Expedition of the University of 

 Nebraska during the past season in the 



