488 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. V. No. 116. 



river. The most noteworthy feature in the 

 glacial geology of the area of St. Paul (com- 

 prising 55 square miles) consists in its deposits 

 of modified drift at high levels, forming a group 

 of plateaus of gravel and sand, rising with 

 steep slopes to nearly flat upper plains 100 to 

 125 feet above the highest terraces representing 

 the old flood plain of the river valley. These 

 plateaus tell of a water level peculiar to this 

 area ; and the general contour of the region, 

 the sigmoid course of the Mississippi, and two 

 moraine belts, one' of northeastern drift in the 

 east part of the city, and another of northwest- 

 ern drift in the west part, imply that this was 

 the site of a glacial or ice-dammed lake, which 

 is named Lake Hamline. The surface of the 

 glacial lake during the early part of its exist- 

 ence, as shown by the Hamline and Como 

 plateaus, was about 250 feet above the present 

 river, or 930 to 940 feet above the present sea 

 level. A little later, when the plateau a mile 

 east of Lake Como was formed, the glacial lake 

 level had fallen five or ten feet. Still later 

 plateaus show that this lake finally was reduced 

 to 875 or 870 feet above the sea. Its outlet was 

 toward the southwest and south, across the 

 present watershed between the Minnesota and 

 Mississippi rivers, to Rich Valley and the Mis- 

 sissippi. The modified drift forming the pla- 

 teaus has an aggregate volume of a tenth of a 

 cubic mile, and it is thought to have been 

 brought by streams from the englacial and 

 finally superglacial drift of the waning ice sheet. 

 Charles P. Beekey, 



Secretary. 



THE TEXAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



The regular monthly meeting of the Texas 

 Academy of Science was held in the chemical 

 lecture room of the University of Texas on 

 Friday evening, March 5, 1897. 



Papers were presented by Dr. B. F. jSTorthrup, 

 professor of physics, on 'Ether,' and by Dr. H. 

 W. Harper, professor of chemistry, on 'A New 

 Suggestion Concerning the Transmutation of 

 Matter.' 



Since the February meeting of the Academy 

 the transactions for 1896 have been published, 

 together with the proceedings, from its organ- 

 ization, January 9, 1892, to January 1, 1897, 



thus completing Volume I. This publication 

 of 404 pages contains the constitution, lists of 

 ofl&cers, patrons, fellows and members, thirty- 

 four papers in full and seven abstracts. Of 

 the papers and abstracts thirteen are upon geo- 

 logical or related subjects; six on mathematics; 

 six on biological and allied topics ; four on 

 engineering ; two on philosophy ; two on edu- 

 cation and culture ; and one each on physics, 

 language, ethnology and physiological chemis- 

 try ; to these there must also be added four 

 addresses of a somewhat general character. 



As now constituted the Academy consists of 

 two patrons, each of whom has paid into the 

 treasury $500, thirty-four fellows and 107 

 members. 



Frederic W. Simonds. 



NEW BOOKS. 

 The Will to Believe. W. James. New York, 



London and Bombay, Longmanns, Green 



&Co. 1897. Pp. xvii+332. 

 An Introduction to Geology. William B. Scott. 



New York and London, The Macmillan Com- 

 pany. 1897. Pp. xxvii+573. $1.90. 

 Vntersuchungen iiber den Bau der Cyanophyeien 



und Bahterien. Alfred Fischer. Jena, 



Gastav Fischer. 1897. Mark 7. 

 Zur Zoogeographie der landbewohnenden Wirbel- 



losen. Otto Stoll. Berlin, R. Friedlander 



& Sohn. 1897. Pp. 113. Mark 4. 

 Das Tierreich. I. Lieferung, Aves. bearbeitet 



von Ernst Hartert. Berlin, R. Friedlander 



und Sohn. 1887. Pp. 98. Subscription price, 



Mark 4.50. 

 First Principles of Natural Philosophy. A. E. 



DoLBEAR. Boston and London, Ginn & Co. 



1897. Pp. 318. 

 Laboratory Practice for Beginners in Botany. 



W. A. Setchell. New York and London, 



The Macmillan Company. 1887. Pp. xiv+ 



199. 90 cts. 

 La cause premiere d'apr^s les donnees experi- 



mentales. Emile Ferriere. Paris, Felix 



Alcan. Pp. 462. 

 The Phase Rule. Wilder D. Bancroft. 



Ithaca, N. Y., The Jour. Phys. Chem. 1897. 



Pp. viii+255. 



