August 14, 1903.] 



SCIENCE. 



211 



foniiatious ranging from the broom of Cin- 

 chona Hill to the dildoes and Melocactus of 

 Port Henderson. Cinchona thus possesses the 

 chief requisite for a botanical station in the 

 abundance and variety of its flora. There 

 are also numerous and important accessory 

 advantages of an even more exceptional 

 nature. 



The accessibility of Jamaica makes it a 

 most desirable location for a botanical station. 

 Six to ten steamers each week land passengers 

 at Port Antonio or Kingston, and from either 

 of these places Cinchona can be reached 

 readily in ten or twelve hours of delightful 

 travel by train, carriage and saddle. I^o other 

 portion of tropical America has as fine a sys- 

 tem of carriage roads in the lower country, 

 and bridle paths in the mountain regions, as 

 has Jamaica. To the collecting grounds 

 about Cinchona one can walk or ride, in all 

 directions, upon well-graded and well-drained 

 mule paths. These paths lead to the thickets 

 of Blue Mountain Peak, the dense forests of 

 Mabess, the dry hills and the fertile bottoms 

 of the Clyde, Yallahs and Hope valleys. 



The stable government and efficient police 

 system which make life and property secure 

 are an advantage possessed by Jamaica over 

 many tropical countries. The use of the 

 English language throughout the island is a 

 very evident advantage to the transient resi- 

 dent. As a consequence of superior political 

 conditions, we find here government gardens, 

 with corps of resident trained botanists fa- 

 miliar with the flora and very courteous in 

 offering aid, which may prove invaluable to 

 a worker on his introduction to the island. 

 The government gardens are valuable adjuncts 

 to the native flora in furnishing material of 

 many exotics growing under practically nor- 

 mal conditions. In this connection it should 

 be remembered that at Cinchona itself is an 

 extensive garden with greenhouses containing 

 many native and exotic temperate plants. 

 There is also here a series of buildings which 

 can readily be made to fill all the require- 

 ments of a tropical botanical station. Such 

 an equipment, I believe, is not to be" found 

 in any other available location. 



Health conditions at Cinchona, which is 

 5,000 feet above sea level, are most favorable, 

 and the botanist is, therefore, not liable to be 

 prevented by physical disability from taking 

 fullest advantage of the excellent opportuni- 

 ties for botanical work. Malarial troubles are 

 unknown, and the many dangers to health, so 

 frequent in tropical regions, are here absent. 

 Food in sufficient quantity and variety and 

 pure drinking water from the source of the 

 Clyde River are readily obtained. Moderate 

 temperatures, ranging from 50° to 80°, pre- 

 vail throughout the year, and the climate is 

 stimulating to physical and mental effort. 

 DuxcAX S. Johnson. 



•Johns Hopkins Uxi\ebsitv. 



SHORTER ARTICLES. 



THE STRATIGRAPHIC POSITION OF THE JUDITH 



RIVER BEDS AND THEIR CORRELATION WITH 



THE BELLY RIVER BEDS.* 



The readers of Science will recall that dur- 

 ing last winter and spring a discussion was 

 carried on in its pages concerning the age 

 and relationships of the formations mentioned 

 in the title of this note. This discussion, 

 which was provoked by the publication of 

 Osborn and Lamb's paper on the vertebrate 

 fossils of the Belly River beds, was partici- 

 pated in by Messrs. Hatcher, Stanton, Osbom 

 and Williston. 



Since June 1 the undersigned have been 

 engaged in an investigation of this subject 

 in the field, and have reached some definite 

 conclusions which are deemed worthy of 

 prompt publication. Our field studies were 

 begun on Milk River at Havre, Montana, and 

 we examined the excellent exposures along 

 that stream to the International Boundary, 

 and beyond to Pendant d'Oreille Police Bar- 

 racks, which is near one of Dawson's described 

 localities, where the base of the Belly River 

 beds is seen resting on the marine ' lower 

 dark shales.' This is near Lake Pakowki of 

 the maps, locally known as ' Badwater Lake.' 

 We also examined the exposures of upper 

 Belly River beds showing contact with the 



* Published by permission of the Director, 

 United States Geological Sur\'ey. 



