308 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



ive, and showed among other interesting facts,' that the Gulf is not a shallow 

 continental sea, like the Irish Sea for instance, but is a true oceanic body, of as 

 great depths as the Atlantic. 



R. H. Thurston's paper " On the Effect of Prolonged Stress upon the Strain 

 in Timber" was read by the Secretary, Professor Tappan, of Kenyon College, 

 and was freely but not unfavorably discussed. 



" A remarkable case of the retention of heat by the earth," by H. C. Hovey, 

 treats of a bed of ashes buried thirty feet deep, in Nova Scotia, on the top of a 

 bed of bituminous coal, over which trees showing an age of over two hundred 

 and twenty-five years were growing. These ashes show that they stUl retained a 

 very appreciable portion of the heat of the fires that must have been kindled from 

 two to three hundred years ago. 



" Alhazen's Problem; its history and bibliography, together with various so- 

 lutions of it," by Marcus Baker, was a paper of abihty, but of more interest to 

 the lovers of pure mathematics than to the practical public. 



" On the Electrical Resistance and Co-efficient of Expansion and Incandes- 

 cent Platinum," by E. L. Nichols. 



"On a Simple Method of Measuring Faint Spectra," by Wm. Harkness. 

 The two following papers were the last on the programme for the day, in Sec- 

 tion A proper : "Suggestions for Improvement in the Manufacture of Glass, 

 and New Methods for the Construction of Large Telescopic Lenses," by G. W. 

 Holley. 



"The Stereoscope and Vision by Optic Divergence," by W. Le Conte 

 Stevens. 



Several papers on the programme of Section A were omitted, the authors 

 being absent. In the subsection of Microscopy, Mr. Thomas Taylor read a 

 paper entitled " New Freezing Microtome." In Section B the following papers 

 were read : 



"A Revision of the Anatojny of the Ethmoid Bone in the Mammalia," by 

 Harrison Allen. "On Bopyrus Manhattensis from the Gill-cavity of Palsemon- 

 etes Vulgaris Stimpson," by Carl F. Gissler. "The Life Unit in Plants," by 

 Byron D. Halsted. 



The paper " On a Mesal Cusp of the Deciduous Mandibular Canine of the 

 Domestic Cat, Felis domestica," by Burt G. Wilder, was read by Professor Tut- 

 tle, of Columbus, Ohio, and "Note on Some Fish Remains from the Upper 

 Devonian of New York," by H. S. Williams; " Notes on Specimens of Ptilophy- 

 ton and Associated Fossils Collected by Dr. H. S. Williams in the Chemung 

 Shales of Ithaca, N. Y.," by J. W. Dawson, were read by Professor H. S. Wil- 

 liams, of Cornell University, New York, the author of the first one. 



"Typical Thin Sections of the Rocks of the Cupriferous Series in Minneso- 

 ta," by N. H. Winchell. was read by its author. 



" On the Disposition of Color-markings of Domestic Animals," by Wm. H. 

 Brewer, was read by its writer in an animated tone of voice that could be heard, 

 which can not be said of all others. 



