22 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. XIX. No. 466 



it unfortunate that the German craze for morphology should 

 occupy so much attention iu colleges to the exclusion of very 

 important systematic work. He would not, however, belittle 

 the work of the morphologist, since the whole structure of 

 the systematic zoologist rests largely on the results of his 

 labors. One reason why systematic work has failed to comi- 

 mand the attention that it deserves on the part of the college 

 student is a wide misapprehension as to its real nature and 

 scope. A majority of students are wont to regard systematic 

 zoology as particularly to be shunned on account of what 

 they consider its most essential character — an endless suc- 

 cession of fearful names, a veritable nightmare of polysylla- 

 bic horrors, the dead languages resurrected for the special 

 discomfort of the unfortunate student. Systematic zoology 

 is much more than a collection of names. Classifications 

 are but the skeletons which his studies and investigations 

 should clothe with living facts, so that finally the dry bones 

 will be almost forgotten as he contemplates the beauty and 

 symmetry of the well rounded vital structure. 



Professor F. M. Witter read two papers on " Arrow Points 

 from the Loess" and "The Gas Wells near Letts, Iowa." 

 The hills on which the city of Muscatine stands are covered 

 with a very fine deposit of loess, which in some places must 

 be nearly fifty feet thick. This loess abounds in laud shells, 

 the bones of at least two American reindeer, a considerable 

 part of the antler of the elk or common deer. The ancient 

 loess lake is nearly 150 feet above the present high-water of 

 the Mississippi. In this loess deposit has been found an 

 arrow point and a spear point. In it also occur fragments 

 of the tooth of an elephant. Professor Calvin, in discussing 

 this paper, remarked that arrow points had been found in 

 the loess at Council Bluffs some years ago. He also referred 

 to a skull found in Iowa that resembled the famous Neander- 

 thal skull. That man was undoubtedly contemporaneous 

 with the elephant shortly after the great ice age. 



In speaking of the gas wells of Letts, Iowa, which have 

 been flowing since December, 1890, Professor Witter thought 

 it due to the decomposition of organic matter in the lower 

 part of the drift material. Professors Call and Calvin both 

 remarked that the flow of gas would not be permanent; it 

 was wholly unlike the gas of Ohio and Indiana. Chemical 

 examination has shown that this gas is closely related to 

 marsh gas. 



Professor Ha worth read papers on " Melanite from Mis- 

 souri," and "Prismatic Sandstone from Madison County, 

 Missouri " (read with consent of the state geologist). He also 

 presented a paper on " Limonite Pseudo-morphous after 

 Calcite." 



Professor J. E. Todd read a paper on "Striation of Eocks 

 by River Ice." Specimens were exhibited showing strise. 

 These vrere observed at St. Louis, Cape Giradeau, Mo., and 

 Sioux Falls, So. Dakota, also at several points along the Mis- 

 souri. He also presented, by title, a paper on "Further 

 Notes on the Great Central Plains of the Mississippi." 



Professor Calvin gave an account, showing specimens, of 

 the distinctions between Acervularia davidsonii and A. pro- 

 funda. The species are quite distinct, not only does this 

 difference appear in the external characters, but when they 

 are polished. Both species occur in Iowa, sometimes in the 

 same geological formation. 



Professor Call spoke of "The Present Status of Artesian 

 Well Investigation in Iowa." Tiiis work has been done in 

 connection with the Iowa State Weather and Crop Service. 

 The artesian wells are very numerous and extensive. Many 

 •of the so-called artesian wells are not artesian wells iu the 



sense that Professor Call uses the term. As an instance, he 

 cited the wells at Dunlap and Council Bluffs, which are not 

 artesian, since water does not flow under hydrostatic pressure. 

 Professor Todd took issue with him on this point. The wells 

 at those places are on high elevated portions of the country. 

 If they had been bored on lower ground, a short distance 

 away, they would produce flowing water. 



Mr. Charles R. Keyes presented three geological papers as ' 

 follows: "Geological Structure and Relations of the Coal 

 Bearing Strata of Central Iowa," "Brick and Other Clays of 

 DesMoines," and "Aluminium in Iowa." The clay used at 

 Hampton, Iowa, where a large stock company has recently 

 been organized, is said to be the richest in the country, 

 yielding eight ounces per bushel, or three ounces uiore than 

 is produced in any known deposit of the neighboring States. 

 Aluminium is soon to take the place of iron to a large extent 

 in the arts, and the value of the early development of the 

 industry cannot be overestimated. In speaking of the brick 

 and other clays of DesMoines, he said that perhaps no prov- 

 ince in the Union is better supplied with raw material of 

 unexcelled quality for the manufacture of those objects com- 

 monly made from clay than our own State. 



The only chemical papers were those presented by Pro- 

 fessor G. E, Patrick. One was on "Sugar Beets in Iowa." 

 Something over 500 samples from more than half the 

 counties of the State have been analyzed. The results are 

 highly gratifying. Though the sugar content on an average 

 is less than in Nebraska, the yield is considerably more. 

 More sugar can be grown on an acre in Iowa than in Ne- 

 braska. It was also shown that beets on the station farm, 

 although under the best of culture, contained less sugar than 

 those of Muscatine, which is owing to soil conditions. Cer- 

 tain portions of this State are apparently well adapted to the 

 growing of beets for sugar production, and he mentioned 

 the fact that of the 500 samples of beets recently analyzed at 

 the Experiment Station, sent in from all parts of the State, 

 the best have come — and in large numbers — from the 

 regions about Davenport and Muscatine. He added, how- 

 ever, that "there may be other parts of the State just as 

 well adapted to the beet-sugar industry as the localities here 

 named." Professor Patrick's other paper was on the sub- 

 ject, " Can Fat be Fed into Milk, i.e.. Can the Composition 

 of Milk be Modifled by Variations in the Kind of Food ? " 

 As opposed to the writings of several other scientists who 

 deny food influence upon the composition of milk, he cited a 

 number of European and American experiments, — one of 

 which was recently performed at the experiment station at 

 Ames, — which seem to prove conclusively that the kind of 

 food fed to cows does have a material influence upon the 

 percentage of butter-fat in the milk. 



Professor S. E. Meek presented a paper " On the Fish 

 Fauna of Arkansas and Iowa Compared." The river basins 

 of eastern Iowa contain many more species than the river 

 basins of the western part of the State. About 120 species 

 occur in the State. Arkansas, which has not been thor- 

 oughly explored, contains 150; the darters being more numer- 

 ous in Arkansas than in [owa. 



Professor R E. Call exhibited a specimen of "An Abnor- 

 mal Hyoid Bone in the Human Subject." 



Professor H. L. Bruner, in a paper on "An Aboriginal Rock 

 Mortar," referred to relics found on the east slope of the 

 Franklin Mountains, about eleven miles north of El Paso, 

 Texas, and near the mouth of the " Hous Canon." 



Professor Tilton found near Indianola, Iowa, a three-legged 

 snow-bird, which was exhibited. In domestic animals this 



