June 4, 1897.] 



SCIENCE. 



891 



localities more probably derived from some 

 form of sedimentary rock. 



The second paper of the evening was by Pro- 

 fessor J. F. Kemp, entitled ' Notes on Butte, 

 Montana, and its Ore Deposits.' Professor 

 Kemp described the geological position of the 

 copper and silver bearing ore rocks of Butte, 

 and illustrated his talk with a number of lan- 

 tern slides made from photographs in the re- 

 gion last summer. He spoke particularly of 

 the geological succession exhibited in the rela- 

 tionship of two forms of granite, an earlier basic 

 and a later acitic cut by later rhyolite flows. 



The third paper was by Professor Kemp, en- 

 titled ' Notes on the Geology of the Trail from 

 Red Rock to and beyond Leesburg, Idaho.' 

 This paper brought forth the first account 

 known of the geology of about 100 miles of the 

 trail mentioned, where the rocks are very 

 varied in character, but mostly early Cambrian 

 quartzites, together with many igneous rocks 

 including Tertiary rhyolites. The ore pro- 

 ducing region is found in the valleys where the 

 gravels are washed in some places by hydraulic 

 force and some gold gained therefrom. 



The last paper of the evening was by Profes- 

 sor C. A. Doremus, and was illustrated by a 

 series of specimens received from France from 

 M. Moissan, representing certain of the metals 

 and carbides formed by the electric furnace. 

 Some of these were very interesting geolog- 

 ically, because of their peculiar properties ; par- 

 ticularly the carbonates of aluminum, calcium 

 and cerium, which latter, when tested with 

 water, produces all the series from marsh 

 gas to the heavier petroleum products. The 

 specimens exhibited are for final placement in 

 the National Museum at Washington, D. C. 



This being the last meeting of the Geological 

 Section before the summer vacation, adjourn- 

 ment was made until October. 



Richard E. Dodge. 



Secretary. 



The evening was occupied by a paper by 

 Professor Edward S. Burgess, on ' Aster macro- 

 phyllut and its allies,^ illustrated by chart of re- 

 lationship and by numerous specimens. The 

 speaker sketched the history of the species 

 Aster macrophyllus, in which it has been the 

 custom of American botanists to include all 

 large-leaved asters. He showed how diverse 

 these asters are and in what confusion their 

 assignment to a single species results, and indi- 

 cated the characters according to which they 

 form two groups, each of several species and 

 varieties. 



The paper, which will soon appear in print, 

 was discussed by Mr. E. P. Bicknell, who con- 

 firmed the distinctions offered, by the results of 

 his observations about New York, and by Dr. 

 Britton, who paid a tribute to the masterly 

 manner in which Dr. Gray has treated the sub- 

 ject of the genus Aster, so far as material was 

 then available, and who referred to the special 

 need for extended field-work and further colla- 

 boration which this genus has long presented. 



APRIL 13. 



Dr. Albert Schneider presented a paper 

 entitled ' Methods employed in the examina- 

 tion of powdered drugs and their adulterations.' 



He described certain microscopic structural 

 features which he had investigated with a view 

 to find characters by which to distinguish the 

 more important drugs, giving details of such 

 charactei'istics determined by him for mace, 

 senna, leaves of Eucalyptus globulus, etc. 



Dr. Britton spoke of the utility of this work 

 and of its object, in behalf of the new edition of 

 the U. S. Pharmacopceia. 



The paper was followed by an early adjourn- 

 ment to facilitate the attendance of members 

 upon the annual exhibit given by the New York 

 Microscopical Society. 



Edward S. Burgess, 



Secretary. 



THE TORREY botanical CLUB, MARCH 31, 1897. 



The first paper, by Dr. Albert Schneider, 

 'The Phenomena on Symbiosis,' and a paper 

 by Leonard Barron on ' Horticulture in Botan- 

 ical Gardens,' were read by title, owing to un- 

 avoidable detentions. 



BOSTON SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



The Society met April 7th, with thirty-two 

 persons present. Professor J. Eliot Wolff 

 spoke of the occurrence of tourmalines at Mt. 

 Mica, Paris, Me., and gave an account of the 

 locality, with a history of its discovery. Sev- 



