760 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VIII. No. 204. 



sented were mentioned. The two most notable 

 papers were those on the synthesis of albumen, 

 by Lilienfeld, and on fermentation without 

 cells, by Buchner. The entertainments af- 

 forded to visiting members were also described. 

 A full report will soon be published in the 

 Joia-nal of the American Chemical Society. 



The second paper of the evening was read by 

 Dr. H. C. Bolton, and was entitled ' Chemical 

 Bibliography.' The author described, in an in- 

 teresting manner, the methods pursued by him 

 in the collection of bibliographic references and 

 related some of his experiences in Europe. 



Mr. Tassin called the attention of the Society 

 to a new solution for determining high specific 

 gravities, which consists of a solution of acety- 

 lene tetra-bromide in benzol or toluol. It has 

 the advantage of being stable, cheap and easily 

 made, has a high refractive index and does not 

 decompose with metallic oxides or metals. 

 William H. Ketjg, 



Secretary. 



HARVARD UNIVERSITY : STUDENTS' GEOLOGICAL 

 CLUB, OCTOBER 25, 1898. 



Mr. J. M. BouTWELL gave a paper on ' Nipis- 

 sing Pass, An Ancient Outlet of the Great 

 Lakes.' After briefly reviewing the post-gla- 

 cial history of the great lakes, he described the 

 results of a day's study of the region between 

 Trout Lake and Nipissing Lake. Along the 

 southern slope of the heights to the north, and 

 overlooking the low, swampy divide between 

 these lakes, are well developed and only slightly 

 dissected bars, spits, terraces, and boulder- 

 strewn beaches. These correlate with similar 

 features, observed by Taylor, Gilbert, Spencei" 

 and others, about the upper Great Lakes, and 

 mark the position, character, and recency of 

 one of their post-glacial outlets. 



Geological Conference, November 1, 189S. In 

 a communication entitled ' Minerals of the 

 Ural Mountains,' Dr. Charles Palache described 

 the localities, occurrences, and important fea- 

 tures of the ores, gems and rare minerals of 

 that region. Native gold occurs in paying 

 quantities in quartz veins which traverse the 

 granite, syenite, metamorphic rocks and sedi- 

 ments older than Devonian, and also in pla- 

 cers, which are mainly in streams that drain 



eastward. Platinum is found locally in asso- 

 ciation with serpentine and chrome-iron. Chal- 

 copyrite occurs in limited areas with an al- 

 tered surface zone of malacite. Along the axis 

 of the mountains are valuable deposits of 

 magnetite that are associated with porphyry 

 dikes. Siderite, with its alteration products, 

 and manganese oxide are found as beds in the 

 Devonian. Beryl, topaz and tourmaline oc- 

 cur only in pegmatites, which cut the granite, 

 gneiss, and metamorphic rocks of the central 

 Urals. Both are found in large, perfect crys- 

 tals of the blue variety, and are used as gems. 

 In addition to the valuable specimens of epi- 

 dote, garnet, vesuvianite, perofskite, ilmenite 

 and massive rhodenite, which occur at the con- 

 tact of basic eruptives with Paleozoic limestone, 

 this region affords several minerals that are 

 unknown elsewhere. 



Mr. J. B. Woodworth described a recent 

 visit to 'The Glaciers of Chamonix, France.' 

 Two phenomena, found repeatedly, were a 

 ' shingling ' arrangement of boulders in the 

 lower, lateral moraines, due to a shoving 

 method of deposition by the ice ; and a mani- 

 fest overthrusting of the upper layers of the 

 ice, in the manner observed by Chamberlin in 

 certain Greenland glaciers. At a point in the 

 Glacier d'Argentiere a sharp, overthrust fault 

 showed characteristic, drag features. Current 

 photographs fail to do justice to the height of 

 the Alpine moraines. 



J. M. BoUTWELL, 

 Recording Secretary. 



NEW BOOKS. 



Elementary Text-book of Botany. Sydney H. 

 Vines. London, Swan, Sonnenschein & Co., 

 Ltd.; New York, The Macmillan Company. 

 1898. Pp. xv+611. $2.25. 



The Metric System of Weights and Measures Used 

 by the Hartford Steam Boiler-Inspection Com- 

 pany, Hartford, Conn. 1898. Pp. 196. $1.25. 



Legons de chimie physique. J. H. Van't Hoff. 

 Translated from the German by M. Corvisy. 

 Paris, A. Hermann. 1898. Pp.263. 10 fr. 



The Living Organism, an Introduction to the Prob- 

 lems of Biology. ALFRED Earl. New York 

 and London, The Macmillan Company. 1898. 

 Pp. xiii+271. $1.75. 



