72 
THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE OF ST. LOUIS. 
AT the meeting of the Academy of Science 
of St. Louis on the 7th of June, 1897, twenty- 
one persons present, Mr. Robert Combs, of 
Ames, Iowa, presented a paper entitled ‘ Plants 
Collected in the District of Cienfuegos, Province 
of Santa Clara, Cuba, in 1895-1896.’ The paper 
embraces the results of a collection extending 
from the commencement of the rainy season of 
one year until the close of the dry season the 
following spring, the territory covered by the 
collection lying between the entrance of the 
Bay of Cienfuegos, on the south coast of Cuba, 
up the bay and the river Damuji to Rodas, and 
extending back from the river to Yaguaramos 
and almost to the Cienega de Zapato, a region 
including nearly all kinds of soil and conditions 
found upon the island, except those of the 
mountain regions and the mud swamps. A brief 
statement was made concerning the origin of 
the Cuban flora and its affinities with that of 
continental Central America, rather than the 
geographically nearer Floridan region. 
The paper comprised a full catalogue of the 
collections made, which had been determined 
at the herbarium of Haryard University, and 
of which several sets had been distributed to 
the larger herbaria. 
Professor F. E. Nipher made some remarks 
on the difficulties yet involved in the theories of 
the ether. 
WILLIAM TRELEASE. 
THE TEXAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 
At the annual meeting of the Texas Academy 
of Science, held in the chemical lecture room 
of the University of Texas, June 15th, the fol- 
lowing papers were presented : 
‘The Personality of a Great Genius—Syl- 
vester,’ by Dr. George Bruce Halstead, in which 
the author took occasion to point out the ex- 
alted position of the higher pure mathematics 
and to give his estimate of Sylvester—his old 
friend and teacher—as a mathematician. 
‘Epsom Salts, Magnesium Sulphate, from 
Brown county, Texas,’ by Dr. H. W. Harper. 
The occurrence of Epsomite in large quantities 
in Brown county, and of a purity sufficient to 
make it the source of an exceedingly cheap 
commercial product, was here announced for 
SCIENCE. 
LN. S. Von. VI. No. 132. 
the first time. Dr. Harper’s analyses gave the 
following results : 
Wrabersccccscsleccscsssesonsssese 40.07 40.00 
Dilla. eeisecvseenseresceteessts 21.075 21.43 
Alumina and Iron Oxides.. 2.20 2.21 
Magnesium Oxide.......... 12.381 12.38 
Calcium Oxide................ trace. 
Sulphur Trioxide............ 24.014 24.01 
99.74 100.03 
Calculated to contain 76.13 % MgSO,.7 H,0. 
A series of experiments demonstrated that the crude 
material yields crystallized MgSO, within one or two 
% of the analyticai results. 
‘Some Texas Oil Horizons,’ by Hon. E. T. 
Dumble. The Oil Horizons in Texas range 
from the Carboniferous to recent formations. 
I. The lowest horizon in the State is in the 
Bend division of the Carboniferous—the black 
shales of the Colorado river near Brownwood. 
They are apparently a continuation of the 
asphalt deposits of Indian Territory, as indi- 
cated by the finding of similar fossils. II. The 
lower beds of the Cretaceous—the Trinity Sands 
—in Jack, Montague and Burnett counties. 
III. The Eagle Ford Shale (Benton) of tho 
Cretaceous, as, for example, in the well at 
Fiskeville, which furnished a little oil, and in 
the railroad cut south of Austin, where, it is 
said, the shale will burn. IV. The Black 
Marls of the Black Waxy Prairie Division 
of the Cretaceous. The well at Corsicana en- 
counters at 1,040 feet a 15-foot oil sand. Oil 
will also be found eastward to Smith and An- 
derson counties. VY. The Nacogdoches horizon, 
which seems to be the eastern appearance of the 
oil and asphalt deposits of California. 
‘Pedagogical Note on Mensuration,’ by 
Professor Arthur Lefevre, 
‘The Texas Permian,’ by W. F. Cummins 
(read by title). 
‘On the Bio-Geography of Mexico and the 
Southwestern United States,’ by C. H. Tyler 
Townsend (read by title). 
The following officers were elected for the 
ensuing year: President, Dr. George Bruce 
Halsted: Vice-President, Professor T. U. 
Taylor; Treasurer, Hon. E. T. Dumble ; Sec- 
retary, Professor W. W. Norman. 
FREDERIC W. SIMONDS. 
