102 



aCIENCK 



[N. S. Vol. XI. No. 264. 



report of the Council was submitted 

 and approved. Reports were received 

 from the photographic committee which 

 shows that a collection of over 1900 views 

 has been made. The committee then re- 

 signed and ]Sr. H. Darton was elected a 

 committee of one to have charge of the 

 matter. A motion was passed approving 

 of the organization of a CordilJeran Section 

 to embrace the members living on the 

 Pacific coast, who by reason of distance 

 cannot meet with the Society, and a tele- 

 gram of greeting was sent to them in their 

 first session. 



Tlie report of the Council showed the So- 

 ciety to be in a very prosperous condition. 

 There are 239 Fellows, besides the 8 elected 

 at this meeting. The Society has an in- 

 vested fund of $5,000, and on account of 

 an unavoidable delay in issuing Vol. X, had 

 also a balance, December 1st, of $3,030.02. 

 The Society is, howevei', vei-y anxious and 

 ambitious to increase its invested funds in 

 order that the income may admit of the 

 suitable illustration of papers. 



Deposits of calcareous marl in Michigan. By 

 Israel C. Russell, Ann Arbor, Mich. 

 A large number of lakes and swamps in 

 the southern Peninsula of Michigan have 

 been found to contain deposits of calcareous 

 marl suitable for the manufacture of Port- 

 land cement. The marl is composed in 

 part of shells, but is mainly a chemical pre- 

 cipitate and is still being deposited. The 

 better grades contain from 80 to 95 per 

 cent, of calcium carbonate. Several large 

 cement works have alreadj' been established 

 and others are contemplated. The supply 

 of marls is practically inexhaustible and 

 Michigan can easily take a leading place in 

 the Portland cement industry. 



The precipitation of the calcareous matter 

 is probably due to the fact that calcium 

 carbonate is more soluble in cold water 

 than in warm, and as the lakes are fed by 



springs, the waters rise in temperature and 

 lose their dissolved material. 



J. F. Kemp referred to the importance 

 of the industry and the previous efforts 

 that had been made near Syracuse to utilize 

 the same materials. J. M. Clarke empha- 

 sized the possible part played by algse in 

 precipitating the calcium carbonate. The 

 speaker replied that he had not found 

 much evidence of them. 



Glacial origin of the older Pleistocene in the 

 Gay Head Cliffs, ivith a note on the fossil 

 horse of that section. By J. B. Woodworth, 

 Cambridge, Mass. 



The occurrence of glaciated fragments in 

 the boulder bed at the base of the older 

 Pleistocene (Columbia) in the Gay Head 

 Section was described and illustrated, con- 

 firming, it is thought, the theory of the ex- 

 istence of an ice invasion long antedating 

 the surface moraines of the ISTew England 

 islands. The astragalus of a mammal iden- 

 tified with that of a horse, by Professor 

 Osborn, was exhibited. This bone was 

 found in the Miocene underlying the 

 boulder bed at Gay Head. 



Beach structure in Medina sandstone. By 

 H. L. Fairchild, Rochester, N. Y. 

 The papers involved an exhibition, by 

 lantern slides, of structural features in the 

 Medina which indicate shallow water and 

 beach deposits. The speaker referred to 

 the phenomena described by G. K. Gilbert 

 at a previous meeting as giant ripples, 

 which suggested waves of 60 ft. height. 

 Many views were shown illustrating them, 

 and small ripple marks were seen on these 

 crests. Individual cases without parallel 

 neighbors were exhibited. The phenomena 

 were then interpreted by the action of ac- 

 tual waves on the beach of Lake Ontario 

 and they were explained as due to shore- 

 wave action. C. W. Hayes cited similar 

 phenomena on the San Juan River, Nica- 

 ragua, and H. S. Williams described chan- 



