458 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



north, from several parties; these are the only ones which T observed in my trav- 

 els. Their origin and purpose may ever remain a mystery. I have implements 

 of stone picked up in that locality. 



"Three New Medicinal Herbs Indigenous in Kansas," a paper by W. S. 

 Newlon, of Oswego, was read by the Secretary, Prof. Popenoe, the author being 

 absent. Mr. Newlon in his work among Kansas plants had found three herbs 

 widely distributed in Southeastern Kansas that possessed valuable properties 

 heretofore unknown and unused by the doctors. The botanical names of the 

 herbs are Helianthella te?iuifoUa, Elephantopus tomentosiis and Sabbatia campestris. 

 These herbs are all of a tonic nature and have been thoroughly tested by their 

 discoverer, who claims they are becoming rapidly known throughout the world. 



A miscellaneous discussion followed, in which many present particpitated ,^ 

 and then the Academy adjourned to meet at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. 



The Academy met at 3 o'clock, the afternoon train bringing in a large num- 

 ber, of members and several visitors. 



The first paper was by Joseph Savage on the "Leavenworth Coal Mines. "^ 

 He showed the order and thickness of the strata met in boring the shaft, and 

 stated that the lower eight feet of the shaft was impregnated with gas and con- 

 tained many fossils in the finest possible state of preservation. 



"The Analysis of Drinking Water" was the title of a paper by Prof. G. H. 

 Failyer, of Manhattan. The professor had found some very dirty water used for 

 drinking purposes. The sources of contamination were ordinarily cess-pools, 

 barn-yards or kitchen slops thrown near the well, and though the earth for a 

 while might act as a filter it would in course of time become saturated with the 

 impurities and cease to remove them from the water percolating. One instance 

 was given where six persons were attacked with the typhoid fever who had used 

 the water from a certain well, and no others in the neighborhood had the disease. 

 The professor would not say positively that the sickness resulted from the water, 

 but suspected that it did. 



The next was a "Description of the Habits and Characteristics of the Mot 

 Mots of Central America," by George F, Gaumer, recently returned from Yuca- 

 tan, where he has lived for four years, collecting natural history specimens. 

 These interesting birds, he stated, composed the family Momoiidal, which is pecu- 

 liar to tropical America, being distributed from Central Mexico to Brazil. They 

 are peculiar in having the cutting edges of the bill serrated. Whence their com- 

 mon English name "sawbills. " The central tail feathers are peculiarly deprived 

 of the web for several inches below the tip, leaving a short round portion full 

 webbed at the tip. They live in holes in the earth and lay from four to six fine 

 white transparent eggs. These birds are about the size of bluejays and are 

 brightly colored, forming handsome specimens. The paper was illustrated by 

 sets of the specimens described, with their eggs. 



"Visualized Numerals" was the title of a paper by Dr. A. H. Thompson, of 

 Topeka. This is a mental habit, that characterizes many persons, of arranging 

 numbers upon a diagram or picture in the mind so that they cannot think of the 



