October 23, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



623 



capped M'ith rubber. It was held in a horizontal 

 position and placed in a brood-oven where it 

 remained for three weeks, at the end of which 

 time a growth was apparent on the Agar Agar 

 which had not been inoculated, thus demonstra- 

 ting that something lighter than the bacillus 

 itself had floated in an air-tight chamber at least 

 one and one-half inches distant, warranting a 

 belief in the existence of spores. 



October 6th, Dr. Goldsmith called attention to 

 the trap formations in Pennsylvania, more par- 

 ticularly to that near Pottstown, known as 

 * Einging Eocks. ' Eeferring to the contention 

 as to whether they were of plutonic or volcanic 

 origin, he said that he had been examining 

 them for several years and was now convinced 

 of their volcanic origin. In support of this 

 view he described the general land configura- 

 tion surrounding these formations, which he 

 thought in some instances indicated the former 

 existence of a crater, while in others the out- 

 flow had been through fissures. In further 

 confirmation he exhibited a number of rock 

 specimens and microscopic sections of the same. 

 The subject was debated by Profs. Pilsbry 

 and Frazer and Dr. Eand. 



Theodore D. Eand presented specimens of 

 mica schist from the Eiver road, in Fairmount 

 Park, Philadelphia. The nodules resemble 

 very imperfect andalusite crystals, but appear 

 on examination to be almost wholly quartz 

 with a little kyanite or sillimanite, resembling 

 closely those described by the late Dr. George 

 H. Williams, in the 15th annual report of the 

 United States Geological Survey as occurring 

 on Sligo Branch (probably Fairfax county, 

 Virginia,) and as suggesting metamorphism of 

 included fragments. 



Papers under the following titles have been 

 recently presented for publication : 



'Fossil bones of Birds and Mammals from 

 Grotto Pietro Tamponi and Grive St. Alban.' 

 By E. W. Shufeldt, M. D. 



' Contributions to the Zoology of Tennessee, 

 No. 4, Mollusks.' By Samuel N. Ehoads and 

 Henry A. Pilsbry. 



' Mammals collected by Dr. A. Donaldson 

 Smith during his expedition to Lake Eudof. ' 

 By Samuel N. Ehoads. 



' The Hymenoptera collected by Dr. A. 



Donaldson Smith in Northeast Africa.' By 

 William J. Fox. Edward J. Nelson, 



Secretary. 



THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB. 



The first fall meeting was held on Tuesday 

 evening, October 13th, 33 persons being in at- 

 tendance. Eight new members were elected. 

 Dr. Britton reported that the field meetings 

 during July and August had been usually well 

 attended. Arrangements were made for re- 

 printing several exhausted numbers of the 

 Bulletin^ so that complete sets can again be 

 supplied. Specimens of the Eussian thistle, 

 collected on Captain's Island, off" the Connecti- 

 cut coast, were exhibited. The members inter- 

 changed accounts of their summer field experi- 

 ences. Specimens of fleshy fruits were ex- 

 hibited which had been preserved perfectly 

 well since the early part of May in a 4 per cent, 

 solution of formalin, H. H. Eusby, 



Secretary. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS. 

 AMERICAN CHEMICAL JOURNAL, OCTOBER. 



Trimetaphosphimic Acid and Its Decomposition 

 Products : By H. N. Stokes. The author has 

 defined a metaphosphimic acid as a metaphos- 

 phoric acid in which one-third of the oxygen is 

 replaced by an equivalent number of imide 

 groups. The complexity of these acids is so 

 great that in most cases at least four forms are 

 theoretically possible. Eeference is made to 

 the work of several investigators in the same 

 field, and it is pointed out that the results ob- 

 tained by Gladstone are capable of a difi^erent 

 interpretation from that which he gave, and 

 that the acid under investigation may have 

 been trimetaphosphimic acid. The constitution 

 of trimetaphosphimic acid depends on that of 

 the chloronitride PgNsClg. The author con- 

 siders that the methods of formation and de- 

 composition can be most readily explained on 

 the assumption that the nucleus consists of a 

 symmetrical ring of three phosphorus and three 

 nitrogen atoms. Eeplacement of the chlorine 

 by hydroxyl and a transformation into a tauto- 

 meric form would produce the trimetaphos- 

 phimic acid. It can be easily identified by its 

 salts, several of which are quite characteristic. 

 If a solution of the acid is decomposed by a 



