July 17, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



97 



ters of three as in the living pitch pine, and 

 a number of cypress-like trees which -were once 

 widely spread over the world but are now ex- 

 tinct. There was also a fan palm with very 

 large leaves, which was perhaps the remote 

 ancestor of the palmetto. Among the decidu- 

 ous trees there were wax berries (Myrica) of 

 two kinds, walnuts, many willows with long, 

 narrow leaves, oaks of the type of the living 

 black oak, fig trees of many kinds, and several 

 magnolias. Among the smaller trees or shrubs 

 there were soapberries (Sapindus), bittersweet, 

 sumac, laurels and cinnamons nearest to forms 

 now confined to the Old World, and three 

 kinds of eucalyptus, the living representatives 

 flf which are now native to Australia. The 

 remote ancestors of the persimmon were also 

 present, as well as a number of other kinds 

 that are without vernacular names. From the 

 careful study of this ancient flora which has 

 been preserved in fossil form in the rocks, it 

 has been possible to draw certain tentative 

 though apparently reasonable conclusions as 

 to the conditions which prevailed in South 

 Carolina and Georgia when it was growing. 

 These indicate that shallow seas extended 

 inland over 100 miles from the present Atlantic 

 coast; that there was a considerable elevation 

 and relief of the Piedmont area to the west; 

 that the river gradients were high and the 

 streams numerous and more or less torrential 

 in character; and that there were swamps 

 along the lower courses of the streams. The 

 fossil plants indicate that there was a mild 

 though not a strictly tropical climate, without 

 marked seasonal changes — in fact, there is no 

 evidence that frost occurred. The raiirf all was 

 abundant, as shown by the general character of 

 the flora, as well as by certain features ob- 

 served on some of the leaves and known as 

 the " dripping points." The later or Eocene 

 flora has been found only in the state of 

 Georgia and is relatively small, as it numbers 

 only lY sfiecies. All the species represent 

 northward migrants along the Eocene seaeoast 

 from equatorial America. They include West 

 Indian palms, plants of the wonderful man- 

 grove swamps that skirt the tidal shores in the 

 tropics of both hemispheres, and remains of 



the golden fern whose present-day descendants 

 lead a gregarious existence in the coastal 

 swamps of the torrid zone. AU these Eocene 

 plants are types of the Florida keys, Antillean 

 islands and Central American shores and 

 clearly indicate that in middle Eocene time 

 the climate of Georgia was much warmer than 

 it was either during the Upper Cretaceous 

 epoch or at present. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS 

 Announcement has been made by Tale Uni- 

 versity that members of the Lauder family of 

 Pittsburgh, Pa., and of Greenwich, Conn., 

 were the donors of the $400,000 fund 

 recently pledged to the Tale Medical School. 

 It will be known as the " Anna M. R. Lauder 

 Fund," in memory of the late Mrs. George 

 Lauder. The donors make the stipulation that 

 a memorial professorship in public health be 

 established for the benefit of the state of 

 Connecticut. 



A GIFT of $13,Y50 has been made by Mr. D. 

 D. Stewart, of St. Albans, to the University of 

 Maine, to discharge the remaining indebted- 

 ness on Stewart Hall, the College of Law build- 

 ing in Bangor. 



The merging of the Starling-Ohio Medical 

 College with Ohio State University will be- 

 come effective next September. Buildings and 

 equipment valued at approximately $250,000 

 win be added to the university. No state aid 

 will be asked at present, it was announced, 

 although it had been previously planned to 

 ask the legislature for an appropriation of 

 $25,000. Beginning with the session of 1914^ 

 15, the medical college will require for en- 

 trance one year's work of college standard, 

 which must include instruction in chemistry, 

 physics and biology. 



Here Caesae Scholler, of Zurich, has 

 made an additional gift of 15,000 Marks to 

 the Philogenetic Museum at Jena, to which 

 he had previously given 115,000 Marks. 



Dr. B. L. Arms has been appointed professor 

 of preventive medicine in the medical depart- 

 ment of the University of Texas. 



