508 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. V. No. 117. 



article on ' Some stages of Appalachian 

 «rosion ' (Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., VII., 

 1896, 519-525) was omitted from earlier 

 notice. A tardy note upon it is therefore 

 now presented. Keith contends against 

 the conclusion of Hayes and Campbell re- 

 garding the warping of the Cretaceous and 

 Tertiary Appalachian peneplains; he main- 

 tains that river basins at different distances 

 from the sea must, in similar rocks and at 

 similar stages of denudation, produce pene- 

 plains of different altitudes and of different 

 inclinations; and that part of the inequal- 

 ity of altitude and attitude that was ex- 

 plained by the earlier authors as a result 

 of warping is better explained as a result 

 of difference of distance to the sea. The 

 slopes of a number of peneplains, thus in- 

 terpreted, is generally so slight that their 

 present altitude is better accounted for by 

 nearly uniform uplift than by pronounced 

 warping. A fuller discussion of the prob- 

 lem is promised. We may then see it illus- 

 trated and argued with the detail that so 

 important a matter deserves. 



It may be noted that in ISTew England a 

 tilting of the Cretaceous peneplain of the 

 uplands from its former lower and nearly 

 level attitude is well proved ; for the sub- 

 mature rivers of to-day run to the sea on 

 flatter grades than the descent of the up- 

 lands ; and this would be impossible if the 

 peneplain had not been distinctly tilted. 



BALTZEE ON THE DILUVIAL AAR GLACIER. 



The thirteenth number of the Beitrage 

 zur Geologischen Karte der Schweiz is a 

 treatise on the diluvial glacier of the Aar 

 and its deposits in the neighborhood of 

 Berne, by Professor A. Baltzer of that citj'. 

 It is a handsome quarto volume of 170 

 pages and seventeen plates. The text is 

 chiefly concerned with the results of glacial 

 action in the neighborhood of the strong 

 terminal moraines and the included amphi- 

 theatre of Belp (just above Berne). This 



amphitheatre was in general eroded ; the 

 moraines outside of it were built up ; and 

 the forelying district was broadly aggraded 

 by surcharged glacial rivers. The chief of 

 the latter was the Aar, which shifted its 

 course to the right and left across the fore- 

 land, as one part after another was sheeted 

 with sands and gravels. Among the plates 

 special mention should be made of a superb 

 view showing the confluence of the two 

 main glacial branches far up among the 

 mountains, from a photograph by Sella; 

 a pictorial section exhibiting the dimensions 

 of the whole length of the diluvial glacier 

 when it extended even beyond Berne ; and 

 several views of the drift topography in the 

 piedment district. The effect of the Ehone 

 glacier in obstructing the natural outflow 

 of the Aar glacier and requiring it to run 

 over the Brunig pass towards Lucerne is 

 clearly set forth. A large two-sheet map 

 of the district about Berne will prove a 

 a valuable guide to foreign students who 

 wish to examine a typical glaciated area in 

 the light of detailed local investigations. 



W. M. Davis. 



Haevaed University. 



CURRENT N0TE3 ON 3IETE0R0L0QT. 

 the teaching of climatology in medical 



SCHOOLS. 



The importance of a study of climatology 

 by medical students is urged in a paper by 

 E. DeC. Ward, under the above title, in 

 the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal for 

 February 4th. At present very little atten- 

 tion is paid to this subject in any of our 

 medical schools, and a special course in 

 climatology is given in but about half a 

 dozen. Medical men all realize the close 

 relations which exist between climatic con- 

 ditions and health, but, so long as no in- 

 struction is provided for them during their 

 medical course, they are left to pursue the 

 subject as best they can after they begin to 

 practise. In this paper a general outline of 



