December 0, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



839 



to ascertain the magnitude of the particles and 

 the relative proportions of the diflferent grades 

 in terms of this scale. " Down to the particles 

 measuring one-eighth of a millimeter all the 

 separations were made by sieves, and below 

 this the per cent of the weight of each grade 

 was determined by microscopic measurements 

 and by calculation from the number of grains 

 counted in each grade " (page 6). Acknowledg- 

 ment is made to Professor Milton Whitney for 

 information concerning the mechanical analyses 

 in the United States Department of Agricultui-e. 

 The deposits examined include drifting sand, 

 both rolled and dune, from Illinois, Indiana, 

 Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota and Massa- 

 chusetts ; and lee saud from Illinois, Kansas 

 and North Dakota. In addition, special atten- 

 tion was given to atmospheric dust, formed and 

 carried under various conditions, which was col- 

 lected by ingenious devices. In the final pages 

 the author discusses the principles of what may 

 be called eolation, i. e., eolic erosion (the defla- 

 tion of Walther) and eolic deposition, and he re- 

 fers to the bearing of the researches on the prob- 

 lem of the loess, though wisely withholds final 

 judgment concerning the solution of the prob- 

 lem. The memoir carries inherent evidence of 

 patient and painstaking labor ; and, since the 

 labor extended into a little-wrought but impor- 

 tant field, it must take rank as a notable contri- 

 bution to geology. 



W J M. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS. 



The American Journal of Science for Novem- 

 ber contains the following articles : 



' Another Episode in the History of Niagara Falls :' 

 By J. W. Spencer. ' Apparatus for Measuring very 

 High Pressures : ' By A. deF. Palmer, Jr. ' Appli- 

 cation of Iodine in the Analysis of Alkalies and 

 Acids : ' By C. F. Walker and David H. M. Gilles- 

 pie. ' Associated Minerals of Rhodolite : ' By W. 

 E. Hinden and J. H. Pratt. ' Revision of the Mo- 

 raines of Minnesota : ' By J. E. Todd. ' Preliminary 

 Report on some new marine Tertiary horizons discov- 

 ered by Mr. J. B. Hatcher near Puuta Arenas, Ma- 

 gellanes, Chile : ' By A. E. Ortmann. ' Comparative 

 Value of Different Kinds of Fossils in Determining 

 Geological Age:' By O. C. Marsh. 'Families of 

 Sanropodus I inosauria : ' By 0. C. Marsh. ' Biotite- 

 tinguaite Dike from Manchester by the Sea, Essex 



County, Mass. : ' By A. S. Eakle. ' Descriptions of 

 new American Actiuians with critical notes on other 

 species, I. : ' By A. E. Verrill. 



The Journal of Comparative Neurology, pub- 

 lished quarterly at Granville, Ohio, and edited 

 by President C. L. Herrick, Dr. O. S. Strong 

 and Dr. C. Judson Herrick, has added to its 

 collaborators Professor C. F. Hodge, of Clark 

 University (Neurocytology, especially func- 

 tional changes in nerve cells) ; Dr. G. H. 

 Parker, Harvard University (The sense organs 

 and nervous system of the invertebrates), and 

 Professor A. D. Morrill, Hamilton College 

 (The sense-organs of the vertebrates). 



The Educational Review for November opens 

 with an article on the ' Status of the American 

 Professor,' by ' One of Them.' The author 

 urges that the American professor, with the ex- 

 ception of those in several of our larger uni- 

 versities, lacks a proper income, proper author- 

 ity and proper leisure. Especial attention is 

 called to the unfortunate fact that a college in- 

 structor can often only secure the advancement 

 that is his due by securing a call from another 

 university. The author might have added that 

 the conditions are peculiarly bad in America, 

 where an offer from a university is usually given 

 privately and sometimes confidentially. In 

 Germany a vacant position is usually offered to 

 the man who is thought to be the best and who 

 at the time holds a position that is considered 

 less desirable, without regard to whether he is 

 likely to accept or not. The German professors 

 and docents have thus in their own subjects a 

 rank depending on their reputation and effi- 

 ciency, which is tolerably well known to the 

 authorities of all the universities. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADE3IIES. 



SECTION OF GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY OF THE 



NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, 



OCTOBER 17, 1898. 



The first paper, by Professor J. F. Kemp, on 

 the Minerals of the Copper Mines at Ducktown, 

 Tenn., gave a brief history of the mines and 

 described some of the processes employed in 

 treating the ores, and the character of the rocks 

 and associated minerals. The paper was illus- 

 trated with an extended series of lantern views 



