560 



SCIENCE. 



LN. S. Vol. VIII. No. 199. 



used and becomes larger an effect is exerted on 

 the germ such that the organ tends to develop 

 to a larger size in the next generation, and this 

 peculiarity will in later generations be devel- 

 oped earlier and earlier in embryonic life, be- 

 coming at the same time more stably heritable. 

 The work is full of interesting facts, is written 

 in a fairly readable style and is accompanied 

 by an extensive ' Litteraturverzeichniss' of 

 over 11 pages. While one may question the 

 validity of the theory and find the explanation 

 of inheritance of acquired characters vague and 

 unsatisfactory, still we can hardly regard such 

 an attempt as this to draw up a new and com- 

 plete theory of evolution as entirely in vain. 

 Chas. B. Davenport. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS. 

 American Chemical Journal, October : ' On 

 Some Double Halides of Mercury,' by J. N. 

 Swan. ' The Double Halides of Tin with Ani- 

 line and the Toluidines,' by R. L. Slagle. ' On 

 Double Halides of Zinc with Aniline and the 

 Toluidines,' by D. Base. These three papers 

 contain the results of work carried on in the 

 Johns Hopkins University, in the general line 

 which has been under investigation there for a 

 number of years. The field has been thoroughly 

 worked over, and, as a result, many of the com- 

 pounds described in the literature have been 

 shown to be impure substances or mixtures. 

 ' Sulphonation of the Paraffins,' by R. A. 

 Worstall. The author has found that the sul- 

 phouic acid of these hydrocarbons can be easily 

 formed, and he has prepared a number of these 

 acids and their salts. ' The Formation of Ily- 

 drazides by the Action of Phenylhydrazine upon 

 Organic Acids in the Cold,' by V. L. Leighton. 

 ' Aliphatic Sulphonic Acids, Ethylenesulphonic 

 Acid,' by E. P. Kohler. The recently discov- 

 ered gases — ' krypton, metargon, neon and 

 coronium' — and ' fermentation without cells ' 

 are discussed in the Notes at the end of this 

 number. J. E. G. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



GEOLOGICAL CONFERBNOB OP HARVARD UNI- 

 VERSITY, OCTOBER 4, 1898. 



At the opening meeting of the conference 

 general -statements concerning the opportu- 



nities for advanced geological work in the vi- 

 cinity of Cambridge were made by the several 

 instructors and two papers were presented. 



Dr. J. E. "Wolff" spoke on ' The Relation of 

 the Granite to the Ore Deposits at Franklin 

 Furnace, New Jersey.' The problem discussed 

 was the relative age of the zinc ores and the 

 granite. According to one theory the ore, 

 granite, limestone and associated secondary 

 minerals are all contemporaneous. While by 

 the other the ore dates from the time the 

 granite was intruded. Dr. Wolff recently ob- 

 served the contacts between several dikes of 

 granite and the ore body, at the nine hundred 

 and fifty-foot level, Parker Shaft, which were in 

 some cases parallel and in others transverse to 

 the parallel-banded structure of the ore. The 

 granite, in places, showed a finer grain at the 

 contact, a contact zone of garnet and in- 

 durated ore, tending to show the intrusion of 

 the granite into the pre-existing ore body. 



Dr. R. A. Daly introduced a future illustrated 

 paper on the Volga River, with a sketch of the 

 Physiography of Russia. In travelling across 

 the great basin of Russia one may find evidence 

 of three well defined periods of denudation. 

 The first resulted in the peneplain upon the 

 crystalline foundation which underlies, every- 

 where and at no great distance from the sur- 

 face, the Paleozoic and later sediments ; the 

 second culminated in Triassic time, and the 

 third is still in progress. The last is marked 

 by a maturely developed peneplain of constant 

 altitude, and remarkable continuity. 



J. M. Bout WELL, 

 Recording Secretary pro tempore. 



NEW BOOKS. 



A Texk-book of Mineralogy. Edward Salis- 

 bury Dana. New York, John Wiley & 

 Sons ; London, Chapman & Hall, Limited. 

 1898. New Edition. Pp. vii -|- 593. $4.00. 



Radiation. H. H. Francis Hyndman and 

 SiLVANUS P. Thompson. London, Swan & 

 Sonnenschein; New York, The Macmillan 

 Company. 1898. Pp. xviii + 307. 



North America. Frank G. Carpenter. New 

 York, The American Book Company. 1898. 

 Pp. 352. 



