EDITORIAL NOTES. 



509 



tile, when propelled from a gun, compatible with a subjection of the gun to 

 comparatively very moderate and uniform strains. — Scientific American. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Kansas City Academy of Science. — The 

 regular monthly meeting of the Kansas City 

 Academy of Science will be held at its rooms, 

 on the evening of Tuesday, Oct. 30, 1877. A 

 paper on "Cone Sections" will be read by Prof. 

 J. M. Greenwood, of this city. It is expected 

 that Prof. Mudge, State Geologist of Kansas, 

 will be present and favor the audience with an 

 account of hig palfeoatological discoveries in 

 Colorado during the past summer. 



In our list of the officers of the American 

 Association for the Advancement of Science, 

 given last month, we inadvertently omitted the 

 name of Prof. G. S. Blackie, of Nashville, 

 Tenn., who was elected Chairman of Permanent 

 Subsection of Microscopy. 



On October 14th, the steamer Olga, which 

 was towing the caisson containing Cleopatra's 

 needle, was compelled to abandon It during a 

 heavy gale ofi Cape Finisterre. Fortunately, 

 however, the steamer Fitz Maurice recovered 

 it the next day ninety miles north of Ferrol, 

 Spain. 



Oregon, Mo., Oct. 16, 1877. 

 Col. Case : Dear Sir — Herewith find a frag- 

 ment of a stump, recently uncovered by the 

 action of a stream of water, on the farm of A. 

 J. Tolby, in the N. E. corner of sec. 19, town. 

 62, range 38, in this county. The top of the 

 stump, which is uneven, was, 5 years ago, 5 ft. 

 below the surface. It is now uncovered to the 

 depth of one foot, disclosing the tops of the 

 roots. The diameter is 15 inches one way and 

 18 inches another; the color of the wood is 

 black, as in the specimen ; the wood is probably 

 burr-oak, colored by the action of the water. 

 The location is upland prairie, with no timber 

 near. The surface of the ground was originally 

 covered by blue stem grass, over which the 

 spring branch ran for centuries, perhaps, until 

 the place was improved by Mr. Tolby. The 

 spot where the stump stands is now enclosed in 



a lane lot, and as soon as the stock had killed 

 the grass the stream began to wash a channel 

 in the loose, black soil, underneath, when the 

 stump Vi^as exposed. The stump is within a 

 short distance .of the source of the branch. 

 Eespectfully your?, 



Wm. Baucher. 



This kind of wood is often found in alluvial 

 deposits, having been left by overflows or washed 

 down from the hills in some bygone age. It is 

 something similar to the black bog oak, found 

 in the Peat beds ot Ireland and other countries. 

 The same condition of wood is often found in 

 the sand-bars and banks of the Missouri Eiver. 

 After a long deposit in the water the wood un- 

 dergoes a kind of carbonization, and with the 

 requisite pressure and heat would in time 

 become coal. — ed. 



We are indebted to Prof. Geo. Halley, of this 

 city, for preparing and arranging the extended 

 report of the proceedings of the Kansas Acad- 

 emy of Science, which makes the first article of 

 the Eeview. After it was in print we received 

 the official report from the Secretary, Mr. A. 

 E. Popenoe, from which we learn additionally 

 that the following named gentlemen were elected 

 officers for the ensuing year, viz : 



President — F. H. Snow, of Lawrence. 



Vice Presidents — B. F. Mudge, of Manhattan, 

 and J. H. Carruth, of Lawrence. 



Secretary — Edwin A. Popenoe, of Topeka. 



Treasurer — E. J. Brown, of Leavenworth. 



Curators— ¥. H. Snow, W. K. Kedzie and E. 

 A. Popenoe. 



Prof. Halley is enthusiastic in his praises of 

 the energy, industry and genuine scientific spirit 

 of the Kansas Academy, and predicts a most 

 interesting meeting and a rare treat to our cit- 

 izens next June. 



The American Congress at Luxembourg. 

 — The second International Congress of Ameri- 

 canists, or students of American archpeology, 



