June 30, 1911] 



SCIENCE 



1007 



inal or unaltered form, while secondary en- 

 largement of sand grains is a diagenetic proc- 

 ess and so belongs to the subject of meta- 

 morphism. 



Primarily the question is one of the admis- 

 sibility of the non-clastic or endogenetic 

 granular deposits to the group of sands, even 

 in a popular sense. We would hardly speak 

 of a bed composed of Siromatopora heads as 

 a boulder bed, although when subject to wear 

 on the margin of a reef the original purely 

 organic (biogenic) mass passes into a hydro- 

 rudyte. In like manner the purely biogenic 

 or hydrogenic granular or powdery accumula- 

 tions (bioliths and hydroliths) may be trans- 

 formed into elastics by one or another of the 

 exogenetic agencies. Thus a purely biogenic 

 (phytogenic) or a chemical (hydrogenic) 

 oolite may become an seolian or anemoclastic 

 rock and the same is often true of foraminif- 

 eral or molluscan shell accumulations, as in 

 the cases cited by Sherzer. 



It would be advantageous if we could re- 

 strict the use of the term arenyte to sands of 

 clastic origin, i. e., destructional sands in 

 which the texture is arenaceous, and use some 

 such term as granulite for constructional sand 

 rocks in which the texture is granulitic. 

 Such sands of organic (biogenic) origin form 

 hiogranuliies; of concentrational (hydrogenic) 

 origin (chemically formed oolites), hydro- 

 granulites or, as in the case of granular snow 

 of atmospheric (atmogenic) origin, atmo- 

 granulites. Pyrogranuliies may be taken as 

 another type, illustrated by lapilli, which can 

 not be considered as truly clastic as in the 

 case of volcanic sand. Coarser-than-sand 

 masses of endogenetic origin might be classed 

 as spherites* and finer as pulverites. We may 

 thus speak of hiospherites and hiopulverites, 

 hydrospherites and hydropulverites, pyro- 

 spherites (volcanic bombs), etc., and should 

 thus have our deposits of clastic and non- 

 elastic materials classified by texture. Thus 

 a Stromatopora bed or one made up of Oir- 

 vanella would be a tiocalcispherite, an organic 

 oolite or a sand of small shells would be a 



* There is no danger of confounding this with 

 the mineral sphserite. 



hiocalcigranulite, while common chalk would 

 be classified primarily as a iiocalcipulverUe. 

 A biocalcigranulite may be subject to wind 

 action and so become a hydroclastic biocalci- 

 granulite. It would ultimately pass into an 

 anemocalcarenjrte. It might be objected that 

 such terms are too complex and difficult, but 

 only a slight examination will show that they 

 consist of logical combinations of a few easily 

 comprehended terms. When understood, it 

 will be conceded that such terms make for 

 precision not only in expression, but also in 

 thinking. 



While I thus would urge the improvement 

 of the terminology, I fully agree with Sherzer 

 as to the principles on which his classification 

 is based. I would merely again emphasize 

 the importance of making a primary division 

 into clastic (exogenetic) and non-clastic 

 (endogenetic) sands and I would suggest the 

 addition to the former of the division of 

 bioclastic (chiefly the artificial sands) and 

 to the latter the atmogenic snow and hail, and 

 the pyrogenic sand or lapilli. 



A. W. Grabau 



Columbia University 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY OP WASHINGTON 



The 454th regular and annual meeting of the 

 society was held in the hall of the Public Library, 

 April 18, 1911, 8 p.m., with the president. Dr. 

 Fewkes, in the chair. The following were elected 

 officers for the ensuing year: 



President — Mr. F. W. Hodge. 



Vice-president — Dr. J. K. Swanton. 



Secretary — Dr. T. Michelson. 



Treasurer — Mr. J. N. B. Hewitt. 



Additional Members of the Board of Managers 

 —Messrs. G. C. Maynard, G. E. Stetson, E. T. 

 Williams, W. H. Babcock and Dr. E. L. Morgan. 



It was voted to hold bi-weekly meetings at 4:45 

 P.M. on Tuesdays in the new National Museum 

 instead of once a month at 8 p.m. as formerly; 

 evening meetings to be held as the board of the 

 society shall desire. 



There was a joint meeting of the Washington 

 Anthropological Society and the Medical Society 

 of the District of Columbia at the New Masonic 

 Temple on May 3, 1911, at 8 p.m. with Dr. Barton, 

 president of the Medical Society, in the chair. 



