128 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XI. No. 265. 



son, they have no cause to fear him. Such 

 precautions as that of taking the animals 

 out in a boat so that they may be killed over 

 vrater seem rather absurd, the more that 

 when pressed by hunger they will even de- 

 vour the skinned bodies of their own species. 

 One piece of information desired, as to 

 whether or not the foxes would wander off 

 on the ice floes when they were being fed, 

 has not yet been obtained because, curiously 

 enough, during the two years that the ex- 

 periment has been made the ice has not 

 happened to touch St. George. 



Incidentally Mr. Judge has made obser- 

 vations on the food, size and condition of 

 foxes, and has shown that the pelt does not 

 improve with age, as has commonly been 

 stated, but that the yearlings and two-year- 

 olds have the best fur. As for weight, the 

 smallest fox weighed a little over eight 

 pounds, the largest a trifle more than four- 

 teen, the great majority weighing in the vi- 

 cinity of ten pounds. 



The outcome of these experiments will be 

 awaited with much interest, and if by a 

 little artificial selection and environment a 

 naturally monogamous animal can be ren- 

 dered polygamous, the supply of blue fox 

 furs will be materially increased. 



The table appended gives the results of 

 the catch for the season of 1898-99, and the 

 total number of animals must seem rather 

 surprising to one familiar with the island. 



It only remains to add that the greatest 

 number taken in any one evening was 245, 

 of which 61 were killed ; the second best 

 night's work was 211, and of these 57 were 

 killed. 



Foxes taken on St. George during the 



season of 1898-99 : 



Male Blue Foxes trapped and killed 334 



Male Blue Foxes otherwise killed 34 



"White Foxes killed, males and females 18 



Male Blue Foxes trapped and released 110 



Female Blue Foxes trapped and released 389 



Total 885 



F. A. Lucas. 



THE DEEP WELL AT WILMINGTON, N. C. 



The deep well which is now being bored 

 at Wilmington, N". C, is of especial inter- 

 est to geologists: (1) That in reaching 

 granite, as it does at about 1109 feet, it 

 shows the absence at this point of forma- 

 tions between the upper Cretaceous and the 

 old crystalline floor underlying the coastal 

 plain deposits ; (2) it shows the existence 

 there of an unfortunately and unusually 

 thick series of salt-water-bearing strata, 

 from 350 to 1100 feet below the surface ; 

 (3) it may throw some light on the relations 

 between the deposits of the sand hill regions 

 (generally classed as Potomac) and the 

 upper Cretaceous beds penetrated by this 

 well. 



The well is located on the bank of the 

 northeast Cape Fear river, at Hilton Park, 

 one mile north of Wilmington. The river 

 border at this point exhibits two terraces ; 

 one only a few feet above tide water, extend- 

 ing back a distance of 30 or more feet from 

 the river ; and the other rising 30 to 40 

 feet higher, extending back for a consider- 

 able distance, and indeed representing the 

 general surface of the region. The differ- 

 ence in elevation between these two terraces 

 represents the thickness of the remnants of 

 the Tertiary fossiliferous clays and limestone 

 and the overlying recent sands. The lower 

 terrace represents the upper surface of the 

 Cretaceous ; so that the well starts in the 

 Cretaceous clays and sands, and continues 

 in them to a depth of some 1109 feet. In 

 these sands and clays there are occasional 

 beds of shell-rock and calcareous sandstone 

 varying in thickness from a few inches to 

 80 feet, and occasional thin beds of clay 

 containing small nodules or concretions. 

 The sands are mostly micaceous and are 

 usually quite fine grained, with a prevailing 

 gray color. From about 700 to 800 feet, 

 their color is decidedly greenish. Below 

 950 feet these sands become coarser and are 

 interbedded with occasional gravel deposits, 



