818 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIII. No. 595. 



ing out the general improvement in the treat- 

 ment of underground water problems which 

 has taken place in the last few years, but call- 

 ing attention to certain western folios in 

 which the water problems, although of para- 

 mount importance, had not been treated, and 

 emphasizing the need of more extended dis- 

 cussions. Mr. Richardson enumerated the 

 more important problems which the investiga- 

 tions should cover, laying stress upon the need 

 of accurate data relating to flow, head and 

 quality of waters in addition to information 

 as to their geologic occurrence. Mr. Fuller 

 discussed the relative economy and thorough- 

 ness of the hydrologic studies as conducted by 

 geologists or geohydrologists, advocating the 

 employment of the former if they could give 

 the necessary time. Mr. Newell spoke on the 

 desirability of having the hydrologic work of 

 geologists referred to the division of hydrol- 

 ogy for approval in the same way that the 

 geology of hydrologists is referred to the 

 geologic branch. M. L. Fullee, 



Secretary. 



BOSTON SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



At the annual meeting of the society. May 

 2, 1906, the following officers were elected: 



President — Charles Sedgwick Minot. 



Vice-presidents — Charles P. Bowditch, Henry 

 W. Haynes, Edward L. Mark. 



Secretary — Glover M. Allen. 



Treasurer — Edward T. Bouvg. 



Councilors for three years — Charles P. Bat- 

 chelder, Hubert L. Clark, William M. Davis, W. L. 

 W. Field, N. T. Kidder, William L. Underwood, 

 Arthur W. Weysse, Miss Mary A. Willcox. 



The curator, Mr. Charles W. Johnson, in 

 his annual report, called attention to the in- 

 terest and activity shown in building up the 

 New England collection which is henceforth 

 to be the chief display of the museum. Two 

 large exhibition cases have been installed dur- 

 ing the past year and a pair of moose from 

 Maine have been secured for one of these, 

 while the deer and caribou are to be displayed 

 in the other. A list of desiderata of New 

 England birds and mammals has been printed 

 with a view to aiding the society's efforts in 

 making its collection of these groups as nearly 



complete as possible. A number of additional 

 New England birds has been secured through 

 the gift of Mr. Augustus Hemenway. The 

 collection of New England invertebrates has 

 also been largely augmented during the year, 

 particularly through the efforts of the ento- 

 mologists of the society. The Emily L. Mor- 

 ton collection of Microlepidoptera, containing 

 195 species and Y55 specimens, largely from 

 the vicinity of Newbury, N. Y., has also been 

 received through Mr. H. H. Newcomb. 



Two Walker prizes were awarded in the 

 annual competition for the best memoirs pre- 

 sented on subjects previously announced. The 

 first prize of $100 was awarded to Professor 

 Amadeus W. Grabau, of Columbia University, 

 for his essay on ' The Interpretation of Strati- 

 graphic Series by the Principles of Sedimen- 

 tary Overlap.' The second prize of $50 was 

 awarded to Professor Douglas W. Johnson, 

 of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 

 for his essay on ' Drainage Modifications in 

 the Tallulah District. A Study in River 

 Capture.' 



The subjects announced for the Walker 

 Prize competition, 1907, are: 



1. The structure and affinities of some fossil 

 plant or group of fossil plants. 



2. The development of the gametophytes in 

 any little-known representative of the Conif- 

 erales. 



3. The anatomy and development of some 

 order or group of the angiosperms. 



4. The functions and habits of animals in 

 their relations to environment and to each 

 other. 



5. The habits and structure of any species, 

 of the Myriapoda. 



6. A contribution to a knowledge of the rate 

 of speed at which birds travel. 



The paper of the evening was by Mr. George 

 Carroll Curtis on ' Geographic Modeling from 

 the Naturalist's Standpoint.' 



Glover M. Allen, 



Secretary. 



DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 



A FEW NOTES ON ' INDLAN MOUNDS ' IN TEXAS. 



Noting an article written by Mr. P. J. 

 Earnsworth, ' On the Origin of the Small 



