492 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



PROFESSOR SCHAEFFER ON THE BURLINGTON GRAVEL. 



Since the publication of the article on the " Burlington Gravel Beds" in the 

 October number of the Review, the author has received the following note from 

 Prof. C. A. Schaefifer, of Cornell University, New York, to whom was sent a 

 package of chert for examination. Prof. Schaeffer has the chair of General 

 Chemistry and Mineralogy, in Cornell University, and has a wide reputation as 

 a chemist. He writes from Ithica under date of September 21, 1881, and says: 



" Your letter of the 12th ult. was received during my absence from home, 

 but until to-day I have had no time to examine the specimens. The pebbles con- 

 sist of quartz, more or less regularly permeated by oxide of iron, and in some 

 cases containing grains of sand. The distribution of the iron oxide is such in 

 several cases as to characterize the specimens as jasper — namely, those having a 

 waxy lustre. A closer examination shows in several cases a large number of 

 small silicified corals, the two genera Fenestella and Trematopora being readily 

 distinguishable. The species could only be determined by a more careful study 

 than I can at present devote to the matter. For the same reason I cannot ex- 

 actly decide the geological position in which these pebbles were found, some- 

 where in the Silurian, however. From a theoretical standpoint there is no doubt 

 that the gravel will answer well as a macadamizing material, since the pebbles con- 

 sist almost entirely of quartz." 



This confirms the opinion of Dr. Eaton who, on a casual examination, 

 thought the pebbles were jasper, as they possessed all the apparent characteristics, 

 but reserved his opinion until he had made a chemical examination. While ex- 

 amining Shell Island, Prof. Parker found a fine bivalve fossil embedded in one of 

 the pieces of gravel. The fossil was placed in the package of gravel sent for ex- 

 amination to Prof. J. D. Dana, of Yale College. 



ZOOLOGY. 



MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY, AT HARVARD COLLEGE. 



BY CHARLES H. STERNBERG. 



This Museum, founded by the lamented Louis Agassiz, teacher, and so ably 

 carried on by his successor, Alexander Agassiz, who has built a large addition 

 80x120 feet and in other ways done much to carry out the wishes of his father, 

 is situated near Harvard College, Cambridge, eight miles from Boston. The 

 building is of brick, five stories high. It is 360 feet long and 80 feet wide, ex- 

 cept the addition, which is 120 feet wide. The basement occupies the whole 



