26 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VIII. No. 183. 



name ' Peorian ' is suggested, lies between the 

 lowan and the Wisconsin till sheets. It is pro- 

 visionally correlated with the earlier named 

 Toronto beds of peat, etc. ' A Geological Sec- 

 tion Across Southern Indiana, from Hanover to 

 Vincennes,' by John F. Newsome. A very ex- 

 cellent geological section has been prepared and 

 plotted, but in the illustration the scale is so 

 reduced that the sections are practically illegi- 

 ble. One can only make them out with a mag- 

 nifying glass. The letter-press describes the 

 formations and their relations to the topogra- 

 phy. ' Notes on the Ohio Valley in Southern 

 Indiana,' by Arthur C. Veatch. The paper 

 discusses the phenomena of the development of 

 the present drainage in Spencer County, Ind., 

 along the Ohio, and incidentally throws light 

 on the relations of the continent to the sea dur- 

 ing the formation of the Lafayette beds. ' The 

 Brown or Yellow Loam of North Mississippi 

 and its relation to the Northern Drift,' by T. 

 O. Mabry. After defining the loam the author 

 discusses its strategraphic relations to the un- 

 derlying Lafayette and the Loess or Bluff forma- 

 tion, which is regarded as an equivalent. The 

 origin and age ef the Loess-Loam concludes the 

 paper. It is regarded as a flood-plain deposit 

 of glacial debris, more or less worked over by 

 the wind. ' Classification of the Mississippian 

 Series,' by Stuart Weller. The paper is a valu- 

 able review of the subdivisions proposed for the 

 Mississippian and indicates the portion of the 

 continent over which each prevailed. 



The Physical Review for June, the last num- 

 ber of the sixth volume, publishes as frontispiece 

 a portrait of the late Professor William A. 

 Eogers, of Colby University. It also contains 

 an obituary notice of Professor Rogers and a 

 bibliography of his contributions to science, in- 

 cluding 61 titles. Other articles in the num- 

 ber are : ' On the Surface Tension of Liquids 

 under the Influence of Electrostatic Induction,' 

 Samuel J. Barnett ; ' On the Fall of Potential 

 at the Surface of a Metal when exposed to the 

 Discharging Action of the X-Kays,' Clement D. 

 Child ; ' An Experimental Determination of the 

 Period of Electrical Oscillations, ' Arthur Gordon 

 Webster. 



Terrestrial Magnetism for June, 1898. The 



first article, by Professors Elster and Geitel, 

 describes a method for determining the up- 

 ward or downward direction of vertical elec- 

 tric currents in the atmosphere by mean& 

 of atmospheric electric observations. These 

 observations serve as a control upon the results- 

 obtained from magnetic observations made at 

 the same time. Professor Abbe continues his 

 article on ' The Altitude of the Aurora above 

 the Earth's Surface.' The present installment 

 gives a chronological summary of the results- 

 obtained up to date since Dalton's time. Mr. 

 Putnam gives an interesting summary of Pro- 

 fessor Eschenhagen's investigations of the- 

 magnetic anomalies in the Harz Mountains. 

 Relations with reference to geological structure- 

 and with regard to deviations of the plumbline- 

 are discussed and cartographically exhibited. 



In the next article Professor Eschenhagen 

 discusses the electric car disturbances felt by 

 magnetic observatories. The Potsdam Mag- 

 netic Observatory insists that no electric rail- 

 ways using the earth as a return circuit be 

 allowed within a radius of fifteen kilometers. 



Letters to the Editor and reviews conclude- 

 the number. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 CHEMICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



The 103d regular meeting of the Society was- 

 held on May 12, 1898. 



The first paper of the evening was presented 

 by Messrs. F. K. Cameron and H. A. Holly, 

 and was entitled ' Acetone-Chloroform, 1st 

 paper.' Acetone- chloroform is produced by 

 bringing together acetone and chloroform and 

 adding powdered potassium hydroxid to the 

 cooled mixture in small portions at a time, al- 

 lowing to stand until the reaction is completed 

 and fractionating the fluid products. The ex- 

 periments which are described by the authors 

 have led them to the following conclusions : 



I. The existence of but one acetone-chloro- 

 form, a white, crj'stalline solid, a derivative of 

 tri-methyl-carbinol. 



II. The substance is not a simple addition 

 product and cannot be resolved into its original 

 constituents by direct means. 



III. The substance forms no definite hydrate.. 



IV. The temperature of the quadruple point 



