.Tanuaky 15, 1897.] 



SCIENCE. 



87 



Vineyard, of glacial origin, were now laid 

 down on eroded surface of folded older 

 strata. In the Vineyard subepoch of erosion 

 the islands were deeply denuded; then fol- 

 lowed the last glacial epoch with deposition 

 of moraines and sand plains. 



W. B. Clark, in discussion, called attention 

 to the parallelism of the Cretaceous and 

 Miocene on these islands and in New Jersey 

 and Maryland. David White on paleo- 

 botanic evidence of age stated that the plant- 

 bearing clays belonged with the Amboy clays. 

 He also commented on the interest attach- 

 ing to the subdivision of the Tertiary beds. 

 G. K. Gilbert remarked the complexity of 

 the later Pliocene and glacial deposits, in- 

 volving, as they do, very coarse and fine 

 components, and coinciding with Chamber- 

 lin's observations in the West. David White 

 inquired about the correlation of the beds 

 of the Elizabeth Islands with those of the 

 Vineyard. Mr. Woodworth replied that it 

 could at present be but roughly carried out. 



The Cementing Materials of the Tertiary Sands 

 and Gravels of Western Kansas. Erasmus 

 Hawoeth. 



In the absence of the author an abstract 

 was given by G. K. Gilbert, who stated that 

 the cementing material proved to be arag- 

 onite with subordinate calcite, and sketched 

 the relation of the deposition of the cement 

 to the conditions of aridity in earlier times. 



The Work of the United States Geological Sur- 

 vey in the Sierra Nevada. H. W. Tuknee. 

 The speaker had a series of geological at- 

 las sheets of the work in the Sierras and, 

 using these as illustrations, outlined the 

 large features of the geology. 



President LeConte remarked the com- 

 plexity of the geology of the Sierras. In 

 reply to a question of J. E. Wolff regarding 

 the age of the granodiorites, Mr. Turner re- 

 plied that they were late Jurassic or early 

 Tertiary and that they exhibited remarkable 

 examples of contact metamorphism on the 



Jurassic slate. Mr. Walcott remarked the 

 completion of the work on the Gold Belt 

 and the plans for the future work of the 

 Sui-vey in the Sieri-as. 



27ie Cornell Glacier, Greenland. Ealph S. 



Tare, Ithaca, IST. Y. 



The speaker outlined the old view of the 

 continuous ice sheet from Greenland to 

 North America, and the later views of 

 Chamberlin and Salisbury regarding the 

 limited and strictly insular character of 

 it. He described the angular topography 

 of the highlands in the interior, and the 

 more rounded, glaciated slopes termipa- 

 ting in cliffs near the coast, interpret- 

 ing even the jagged mountains as compat- 

 ible with glaciation. The location of last 

 summer's work was shown and the Cornell 

 glacier was described. The local rocks are 

 gneiss and schists with diabase dikes. The 

 hills are rounded toward the ice, but are an- 

 gular toward sea. The ice has covered in 

 recent times Wilcox Peninsula and Duck Is- 

 lands, showing an extension 30 or 40 miles 

 beyond its present position and from 3,000 to 

 over 7,000 feet thick. The ice is now re- 

 treating. Reference points were established 

 from which to measure future movements. 

 All the nunataks have been glaciated, 

 though now bare. 



G. F. Wright remarked the parallelism 

 between these observations and his own 

 on the edge of the Arctic circle. 



Prof. Heilprin also corroborated the con- 

 clusions given about the former larger ex- 

 tent of the ice from his own observations 

 in the region and especially on the Island 

 of Disco. The coast was outlined and the 

 character described from Disco to Robert- 

 son Bay. The observations of all these 

 speakers, as well as the important paper of 

 Mr. Barton which followed, flatly contro- 

 verted the views which have recently been 

 expressed regarding the former extent of 

 the ice and certain of its local phenomena. 



