10 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XXIII. No. 570 



MEETING OP THE IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



The eigbth annual session of the Iowa Academy of 

 Sciences occurred in Des Moines, Iowa, Dec. 26 and 27, 

 1893, and was one of the most largely attended and profit- 

 able in the history of the Academy. About thirty Fellows 

 were in attendance, and over forty papers were pre- 

 sented. 



The officers elected for the coming year were: Dr. L. W. 

 Andrews, President; Prof. H W. Norris and Dr. C. E. 

 Keyes, Vice-Presidents; Herbert Osborn, Secretary-Treas- 

 urer; and Professors Arey, Hendrixson and Nutting ad- 

 ditional members of the executive committee. Dr. L. W. 

 Andrews presented a paper on the "Assumption of a 

 Special Nacent State," in which he concluded that the as- 

 sumption of such a condition is the survival of an obso- 

 lete doctrine and that it explains nothing which cannot be 

 as well exj)lained without it. In another paper he treated 

 of some peculiarities of Ferric Sulphocyanate, discussing 

 them from a physico-chemical basis. 



Prof. A. A. Bennett made a verbal report upon certain 

 work done in the Chemical Laboratory of the Iowa Agri- 

 cultural College and called attention to the methods in 

 vogue in instruction in chemistry. 



Prof. W. S. Hendrixson, of Grinnell, Iowa, discussed 

 "The Electrolysis of Silver," detailing a method by which 

 pure silver could be obtained in a rapid and easy way, 

 and, in another paper entitled "Some Laboratory Appar- 

 atus," he described several inexpensive forms, one of 

 which was for the distillation of water. 



Prof. Gr. W. Bissell presented some notes on experi- 

 mental engineering at the Iowa Agricultural College, giv- 

 ing the results of some studies, the result of which can 

 be used to advantage in the designing of certain kinds of 

 machinery. 



Prof. S. Calvin, of Iowa City, discussed the "Geological 

 Position of Benettites Dacotensis, MacBride," with obser- 

 vations on the stratigrophy of the region in which the 

 species was discovered. This was a careful description 

 of the geological features of the region of Hot Springs, 

 South Dakota, with the conclusion that this fossil belongs 

 to the Cretaceous. 



Dr. C. R. Keyes read a paper upon the "Derivation of 

 the Unione Fauna of the Northwest." He compared the 

 faunae of different river basins and discussed at length 

 their relations and derivations. In discussing the paper 

 Professor Shimek, of Iowa City, called attention to the 

 similarity of the Unione Fauna of eastern Nebraska and 

 eastern Iowa, whereas in central and western Iowa these 

 forms are much less plentiful. 



Prof. J. L. Tilton, of Indianola, discussed the "Origin 

 of the Present Drainage System of Warren County." The 

 present river valleys aud larger ravines fit into the pre- 

 glacial valleys, whiie in the smaller divisions only do we 

 find erosion without regard to the pre-glacial configura- 

 tion of the country. 



H. F. Bain, of the Geological Survey, in a paper on 

 "The Structure of the Mystic Coal Basin," presented data 

 from a number of different sections, showing a remark- 

 able persistence of character in the coal strata at different 

 points, which has had a very imjjortant bearing upon the 

 development of the coal industry of southern Iowa. In 

 another paper he gave a careful record of the strata pene- 

 trated in the boring of the "Deep Well at Sigourney." 

 These borings of nearly two thousand feet penetrated the 

 various formations to the "St. Peters" and entered the 

 Oneota. 



E. H. Lonsdale, of the Geological Survey, in a paper 

 entitled "Southern Extension of the Cretaceous in Iowa," 

 presented the results of an extended examination of the 

 southwestern portion of the State, in which he has been 

 able to determine the occurrence of Cretaceous deposits 



at points considerably farther south than hitherto recog- 

 nized. 



A. G. Leonard, on the "Zinc Deposits of Northeastern 

 Iowa," showed that these deposits have proven quite valu- 

 able and are being extensively worked, occupying the 

 same localities as the lead deposits, which at one time 

 were worked with profit, but have for a number of years 

 been practically abandoned. He also spoke of "Satin 

 Spar from Dubuque, Iowa," and exhibited some very 

 handsome specimens of this mineral. 



H. A. Jones, of Grinnell, Iowa, in a paper on the "Coal 

 Measures in Powesheik County," indicated the location of 

 coal seams and coal measure strata in the vicinity of Grin- 

 nell and at other points in the same county. 



Prof. T. H. McBride, of Iowa City, presented some very 

 interesting "Notes on North America Cycads," in which, 

 he described the occurrence of a remarkable new species 

 of Benetites found in South Dakota. He also showed 

 photographs of a large specimen of the fossil and a speci- 

 men of one of the living species for comparison. In an- 

 other paper he discussed the "Distribution of Rhus 

 typhina." 



The presidential address by Prof. L H. Pammell was 

 devoted to a discussion of bacteria, their relation to mod- 

 ern medicine, the arts and industries. It was a very com- 

 prehensive and interesting account of the historical de- 

 velojDment of bacteriology and of the relations which these 

 organisms bear to modern medicine and to various im- 

 portant industries. He also presented the following 

 pajjers: "The Powdery Mildew of the Apple," "Further 

 Notes on Cladosporiuin carpophilum" and "Notes from the 

 Botanical Laboratory of the Iowa Agricultural College." 



Prof. H. W. Norris, of Grinnell, in a paper on the "De- 

 velopment of the Ear of Necturus," presented the results 

 of a very careful study of this organ and exhibited draw- 

 ings of sections and also, for comparison, reconstructions 

 of the ear of Amblystoma. 



Prof. B. Shimek, of Iowa City, in "An Additional 

 List of Iowa Molusca," recorded a considerable number of 

 species additional to the list which he published some 

 years ago. He also presented a paper and exhibited 

 specimens illustrating the variations in certain Succinidse 

 occurring in the loesa, comparing them with living forms 

 and showing conclusively the great range •of variation 

 in certain species. He considers these shells an import- 

 ant factor in determining the age of the loess formations. 



Prof. C. C. Nutting, of Iowa City, gave two anatomical 

 palmers, one devoted to the "Vascular Supply of the Teeth 

 of the Domestic Cat," in which he showed that the distri- 

 bution of the blood vessels to the teeth was different from 

 what has been commonly held; the other discussed the 

 "Homology of the Inca Bone." 



Mr. Herbert Osborn, of Ames, presented a paper upon 

 the "Distribution of Hemij^tera," giving records which 

 extend the known distribution of a number of species, . 

 also a paper including laboratory notes, in which he called 

 attention to species ^particularly useful for laboratory 

 work in this region. 



Mr. C. W. Mally, in the "Hackberry Psyllidse of Iowa," 

 reviewed the species occurring in the state and gave very 

 full descriptions of certain forms which had been studied 

 in detail in their different stages. 



Mr. F. A. Sirrine described "A New Species of Plant 

 Louse Occurring on Thorn." 



Aside from these j)apers, which were read, a number of 

 others were read by title and will appear in the proceed- 

 ings of the Academy, which will be published by the 

 State at an early date. 



Resolutions were passed commending the Geological 

 Survey and, also, looking toward the securing of a 

 greater amount of scientific literature in the State 

 Library. 



