January 19, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



in 



Counties. All are intercalated, however, as 

 thiu beds in the Manhattan Series ; in not a 

 single case has a hornblende schist been ob- 

 served to cross the other beds. If one or all of 

 these are dikes, the lamination of the associated 

 beds must also have been effected by a general 

 shearing. But the series is accepted as typically 

 metamorphic, a succession of true beds of al- 

 tei-ed sandstone (quartzitic gneiss), shales (mica 

 schist), magnesian schists (dolomite marble), 

 etc., into which the injection of trap dikes ex- 

 clusively between the beds would be entirely 

 improbable. These hornblende schists, more- 

 over, on Morniugside Heights, as elsewhere, 

 thiu out along the strike like the other lenticu- 

 lar beds, often become partially or entirely 

 biotltic and quartzose, passing gradually into 

 biotitic schists, biotitic and hornblende gneisses, 

 exactly like those of acidic constitution which 

 enclose the above supposed dike. Indeed, a 

 basic element, rich in lime and magnesia, is 

 distributed throughout the Manhattan Series, 

 and was originally perhaps hornblendio through- 

 out, or, in the absence of silica, concentrated 

 in the numerous dolomite beds. The more 

 purely hornblendic layers correspond in compo- 

 sition, as shown by the interesting analysis in 

 the author's paper, to beds of altered marl ; 

 their density has enabled them to resist and es- 

 cape, in the present surviving layers, the bio- 

 titic alteration which has affected the general 

 series. 



A paper was then presented with lantern 

 illustrations by Mr. W. D. Matthew, 'Notes 

 on the Geology of the Laramie Plains and Rat- 

 tlesnake Mountains in Wyoming.' Professor 

 H. F. Osborn remarked on the uncertainty of 

 the age of the dinosaur-beds, whether Jurassic 

 or Lower Cretaceous. All determinations 

 hitherto have been made by collectors, but 

 neglected by the paleontologists, though the sec- 

 tion is here continuous from the Blountain Lime- 

 stone of the Carboniferous up to the base of the 

 Cretaceous. Nor has the correlation yet been 

 made with the corresponding beds of the 

 Wealden, Purbeck, etc., of England and the 

 European Continent. The seolian theory of the 

 author, however, does not appear consistent 

 with reported observations of remains of aquatic 

 life in these beds. The Chairman stated that 



no true Mountain Limestone fossils have yet 

 been detected in the bed so called in Wyoming, 

 nor the good evidences yet needed of Jurassic 

 life in the dinosaur -beds, of other vertebrate 

 life, lacustrine remains, etc., of that age, and 

 for confirmation of synchronism of Jurassic life 

 between the continents. As to the heavy oils 

 of Wyoming, they contain but little paraffin 

 and perhaps less than twenty per cent, of kero- 

 sene, and are likely to be worthless, except 

 possibly hereafter for use as a coarse fuel. The 

 paper was further discussed by Professors 

 Dodge, D. Van Ingen and others. 



Alexis A. Jtjlien, 

 Secretary of Section. 



THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASH- 

 INGTON. 



The 297th regular meeting of the Society 

 was held Tuesday evening, December 19, 1899. 



Mrs. M. C. Stevenson read a paper on ' Zuni 

 Games,' in which several ceremonial games 

 were technically described, and the errors of 

 other observers and writers pointed out. The 

 author claimed that these errors were due to a 

 superficial acquaintance, not only of the game 

 itself, but to the lack of familiarity with the 

 people and their language. It was necessary 

 to live a long time with them in order to dis- 

 cover the true meaning of many of the details_ 



Dr. J. H. McCormick read a paper entitled 

 'The Supernatural in Primitive Concept,' in 

 which he traced the origin and development of 

 primitive ideas of religion and pointed out the 

 four universal primitive doctrines of Physian- 

 thropy. Animism, Transmigration and Anthro- 

 pomorphism, and the influence exercised by 

 each upon such concepts. 



Mr. George R. Stetson gave ' Some Curiosi- 

 ties of Philological Literature. '• 



Mr. Stetson examined the literature of Com- 

 parative Philology from the point of view of the 

 student " who is disturbed if not somewhat ap- 

 palled by the prevailing confusion and contra- 

 dictions in the understanding and application 

 of the technical terms used by philologers." 



In behalf of the inquirer whose mental vision 

 is obscured by the divergent concepts and theo- 

 ries advanced by the various professional writ- 

 ers in regard to the origin of speech, and the 



