October 14, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



505 



stored in the Archeau rocks, the author 

 does not attempt any explanation, further 

 than to suggest that possibly, owing to the 

 chemical characteristics of potassium, it re- 

 mained in the earth's atmosphere until the 

 consolidation and also the cooling of the 

 first crust sufficiently to allow the ocean to 

 rest upon it, and that it was then rapidly 

 extracted by the moist, heavy atmosphere 

 that prevailed, being carried into the sea. 



22. Joints in Rocks. By Professor C. R. 

 Van Hise, Madison, Wis. (Read by title.) 



23. Notes on Some European Museums. By 

 Dr. E. O. Hovey, American Museum of 

 Natural History, New York City. Relating 

 to museum administration and methods of 

 display, as observed in Europe ; published 

 in the American Naturalist. 



24. History of the Blue Hills Complex. By 

 Professor W. O. Crosby, Boston, Mass. 

 Relating to the tract of the Blue Hills, on 

 the southern border of the Boston basin. 

 {Read by title.) 



25. Paleontology of the Cambrian Terranesof 

 the Boston Basin. By Amadeus W. Geabau, 

 Boston, Mass. The Lower Cambrian rocks 

 are found to contain fossils at Nahant, 

 Mill Cove, Rowley, ToiDsfield and Jeffreys 

 Ledge. The last three localities were dis- 

 covered by Mr. J. H. Sears, who was also 

 the first discoverer of fossils at Nahant 

 (1887). From collections made by him at 

 Nahant seven species have been identified, 

 including four of Hyolithes. The fossils 

 detected in the rocks of the other localities 

 consist of indeterminate sections of Hyo- 

 lithes and a cross section of a trilobite from 

 Mill Cove. From pebbles and boulders 

 found at Nahant and Cohasset by Mr. T. 

 A. Watson, a large number of Lower Cam- 

 brian fossils have been obtained, represent- 

 ing fifteen species. The Middle Cambrian of 

 Hayward's Creek, South Braintree, con- 

 tains the large Paradoxides harlani, Agraulus 

 quadrangularis and several other forms. 

 The Upper Cambrian is represented in this 



district only by erratics containing Lingula 

 and Scolithus. 



26. Diamonds in Meteorites. By Mrs. E. 

 M. SouviELLE, Jacksonville, Fla. 



27. The Periodic Variations of Glaciers. 

 By Professor Harry F. Reid, Baltimore, 

 Md. (Read by title.) The Journal of Ge- 

 ology for July- August (Vol. VI., pp. 473- 

 476) contains an article by Professor Reid 

 on this subject, giving records for Europe, 

 Asia and Greenland in 1896 and for the 

 United States in 1897. A general retreat 

 of the glaciers is noted, excepting slight 

 tendency to advance in Greenland. 



28. Notes on the Occurrence of Tourmalines 

 in California. By C. R. Orcutt, San Diego, 

 Cal. Near San Diego an enormous bed or 

 vein of lepidolite (lithia mica), 60 feet or 

 more in width where best exposed, con- 

 tains rubellite (pink tourmaline) in large 

 amounts. As a source of lithia and potash 

 this deposit must soon take first rank com- 

 mercially. It is now being worked as an 

 open quarry, and 1,500,000 tons are esti- 

 mated to be available. Much of the ru- 

 bellite has been distributed to museums. 

 Tourmalines of gem quality were first 

 found during the present year, being all of 

 the red variety. Black tourmalines are 

 frequent, but green tourmalines occur only 

 sparingly, at this locality. 



29. The Agassiz Geological Explorations in 

 the West Indies. By Robert T. Hill, Wash- 

 ington, D. C. This paper, which, with sev- 

 eral preceding, was presented in Cambridge 

 on Friday forenoon in the Museum of Com- 

 parative Zoology (largely founded through 

 the labors and munificence of Louis Agas- 

 siz and his son. Professor Alexander Agas- 

 siz), described briefly the expeditions made 

 during recent yeara bj^ Alexander Agassiz, 

 with his assistants, for observations in zool- 

 ogy and geology, on sea and land, in the 

 West Indies and on the Isthmus of Panama. 

 Within Late Tertiary and Quaternary time 

 many parts of this region have undergone 



