SCIENCE 



A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 



OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 



FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 



Friday, May 11, 1906. 



CONTENTS. 



Climatology of Tinajas Alias, Arizona: Dr. 

 W J McGee 721 



A Symposium on Chemistry Requirements: 

 Pbofessor J. F. Sellers 730 



Scientific Books: — 



Ward's Status of the Mesozoic Floras of 

 the United States: Professor D. P. Pen- 

 hallow. A Respiration Calorimeter: Dr. 

 H. P. Aemsbx. Loeb's Studies in General 

 Physiology: Db. S. J. Meltzer 737 



Scientific Joui'nals and Articles ." 748 



Societies and Academies: — 



The Torrey Botanical Clui: 0. Stuart 

 Gageb. The Michigan Ornithological Club: 

 Alexander Blain, Jr 744 



Discussion and Correspondence: — 



The Fallacy of the Mutation Theory: Dr. 

 A. E. Obtmann. Misrepresentations of Na- 

 ture in Popular Magazines: Professor A. 

 R. Ceook. Alluvial Slopes: C. E. Sieben- 

 THAL 746 



Special Articles: — 



The Northern Limit of the Papaw Tree: 

 Db. Charles A. White. The Parasitism 

 of Neocosmospora: Howard S. Reed. 

 Effects of an Unbalanced Ration: W. M. 

 MuNSON 749 



Notes on Organic Chemistry : — 



The Action of Ozone on Organic Com- 

 pounds; Researches on the Amino Acids, 

 Polypeptides and Proteids: Db. J. Bishop 

 Tingle 702 



The American Institute of Electrical Engi- 

 neers and the Metric System 755 



The California Earthquake at Ukiah: Db. 

 Sidney D. Townley 756 



Scientific Buildings and Collections at Stan- 

 ford University : Pbofessor Veenon L. Kel- 

 logg 756 



The University of California and the Cali- 

 fornia Academy of Sciences 757 



Scientific Notes and News 757 



and Educational News 759 



MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 

 review should be sent to the Editor of Science, Garrison-on- 

 Hudson, N. Y. 



CLIMATOLOGY OF TINAJAS ALTAS, ARI- 

 ZONA:^ PRELIMINARY REPORT. 



THE STATION. 



Tinajas Altas (colloquially, Tinaxaltas ; 

 a Spanish term com m only rendered 'high 

 tanks') may be described as a locality in 

 extreme southwestern Arizona about forty 

 miles east of the mouth of Rio Colorado 

 and three miles north of the Mexican 

 boundary. The name denotes a number of 

 tinajas, or tanks ('water-pockets' in the 

 vernacular of western America, 'pot-holes' 

 in British geology), found in the bottom of 

 a precipitous gorge on the northeastern 

 side of Sierra Gila, a granite range extend- 

 ing southeastward from Gila City and 

 terminating in Sonora a few miles south 

 of the international boundary. The tanks 

 were well known to the aborigines in pre- 

 historic times, and have been known to 

 white men since Padre Kino passed by 

 them in that notable expedition of 1699- 

 1701 which led to the rediscovery of Rio 

 Colorado and the subsequent mapping of 

 the country beyond as a peninsula rather 

 than an island. While California was a 

 province of Mexico, one of the main over- 

 land routes connecting it with the capital 



^ Published by permission of the chief of the 

 U. S. Weather Bureau. 



