1 86 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XI. No. 272 



with plant-bearing beds of the horizon (as determined by Sir W. 

 Dawson) of the Laramie, or so-called miocene of the Mackenzie 

 River and Alaskan coast. A few fossil plants, which are probably 

 of cretaceous age, were also found at one place on the Pelly. 



The miocene proper is represented in the upper Liard valley by 

 soft stratified rocks associated with basalts ; and basaltic flows of 

 limited extent, and probably of the same age, occur on the Pelly, 

 al the confluence of that river with the Lewes, on the latter river at 

 the Caiion, and again in the Stikine valley east of the coast 

 mountains. There is not, however, in the entire region examined, 

 any wide basaltic plateau. 



Some features of special scientific importance occur in connection 

 with the superficial deposits and the evidences of glacial action, but 

 these cannot be more than mentioned in this brief note. It may be 

 stated, however, that true bowlder-clay is frequently seen in the river- 

 sections, and generally passes up into and is covered by important 

 white or gray silty deposits, resembling those of the Nechacco basin 

 in British Columbia, and of the Peace River region to the east of the 

 Rocky Mountains. These later-glacial silts are particularly wide- 

 spread in the Upper Yukon basin. Terraces are generally conspicu- 

 ous features in the landscape, and extend even to the higher parts 

 of the district, while waler-worn and travelled stones were found to 

 occur at a height of at least 4,300 feet on an isolated mountain 

 near the watershed between the Liard and Pelly Rivers. In the 

 Lewes and Pelly valleys, traces of the movement of heavy glacier- 

 ice in northward or north-westward directions were observed in a 

 number of places, the grooving and furrowing being equally well 

 marked at the water-level and across the summits of hills several 

 hundred feet higher. The facts are such as to lead to the belief 

 that a more or less completely confluent glacier-mass moved in a 

 general north-westerly direction from the mountainous district 

 south of the southern sources of the Yukon, toward the less 

 elevated country which borders the lower river within the limits of 

 Alaska. This observation, taken in connection with the evidence 

 of the former northward movement of glacier-ice in the Arctic 

 regions to the east of the Mackenzie (Aiimial Report of the Geologi- 

 cal Survey, 1 886, p. 56 R), appears to have very important bearings 

 on theories of general glaciation. 



The discovery of small rounded bowlders or pebbles of jade 

 (nephrite) on the upper part of the Lewes River may be mentioned 

 as of interest. Though not actually observed in place, the material 

 is evidently derived from the altered volcanic rocks, probably of 

 paleozoic age, which are abundant in the district. The theory that 

 the jade used by the coast tribes for the manufacture of implements 

 was imported by them from Asia, if still held by any, can scarce- 

 ly any longer be maintained as tenable. 



A second minor point of interest brought to light in connection 

 with the expedition is the existence of a very wide-spread deposit 

 of volcanic ash in the Upper Yukon basin. This generally occurs 

 beneath the soil, but is distinctly newer than the silts or latest gla- 

 cial deposits. It forms a layer which is seldom more than a few 

 inches in thickness, and is doubtless to be attributed to some single 

 great volcanic eruption of a date long antecedent to our historical 

 knowledge of the north-west part of the continent. 



George M. D.\wson. 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS IN WASHINGTON. 

 National Academy of Sciences ; Partial List of Papers ; Presentation of 

 Medals. — How to detect Cottonseed-Oil in Lard. — Aboriginal 

 Copper-Workers in the Lake Superior Region ; Proofs that they 

 were Modern. — The Siana Indians ; Investigations by the Bureau 

 of Ethnology. — International Entomology. 



National Academy of Sciences. 



The National Academy of Sciences has been holding its annual 

 meeting in Washington during the past week, but too late to report 

 its proceedings in this number. Among the features of the meeting 

 were the presentation, on Wednesday evening, of the Henry Draper 

 medal to Prof. Edward C. Pickering, director of the Harvard Obser- 

 vatory, for his work upon astronomical photography ; the J. Law- 

 rence Smith medal to Prof. H. A. Newton of Yale University, for 

 his work on meteors ; and the reading of memorial papers com- 

 memorative of Prof. J. C. Watson and Capt. James B. Eads, by 



Prof. G. C. Comstock of Wisconsin University, and Mr. William 

 Sellers of Philadelphia, respectively. 



Among the papers expected were the following : ' The Rotation 

 of the Sun,' by Prof. J. E. Oliver of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. ; 

 ' The Foundations of Chemistry,' by Dr. T. Sterr)- Hunt of Montreal, 

 Canada; ' On an Improved Form of Quadrant Electrometer, with 

 Remarks upon its Use,' by Prof. T. C. Mendenhall, director of the 

 Rose Institute, Terre Haute, Ind. ; ■ On the Vertebrate Fauna of 

 the Puerco Series,' by Prof. E. D. Cope of Philadelphia; 'Re-en- 

 forcement and Inhibition,' by Dr. Henn' P. Bowditch of Harvard 

 University; 'On Apparent Elasticity produced in an Apparatus by 

 the Pressure of the Atmosphere, and the Bearing of the Phenome- 

 na upon the Hypothesis of Potential Energy,' by A. Graham Bell of 

 Washington ; ' The Orbits of Aerolites,' by Prof. H. A. Newton of 

 Yale University. 



Detection of Adulteration of Lards. 



The recent examinations of lards made at the Agricultural De- 

 partment have resulted in the discovery of a test by which the pres- 

 ence of cottonseed-oil may be detected instantly by any dealer or 

 housekeeper. The experiment is as follows: As much lard as can 

 be taken up on the point of a case-knife is placed in a teacup. 

 About a quarter of an ounce of sulphuric acid is poured upon it and 

 thoroughly mixed with it. If the lard is pure, it will coagulate, and 

 there will be a little difficulty in the mixing. If it is adulterated 

 with cottonseed-oil and stearine, the mixture will take place imme- 

 diately and easily. After half a minute, one-fourth of an ounce 

 more of sulphuric acid should be poured upon and mixed with it. 

 The whole process thus far should not occupy more than one min- 

 ute. 



The substance thus obtained is poured into a common test-tube, 

 such as may be bought at any chemist's shop for a few pennies. 

 The acid, somewhat colored, will sink to the bottom, and the fatty 

 substance will remain on top. If the lard thus tested was pure, the 

 color of the latter will be that of a light-colored sponge, changing 

 in a minute or so to a dark-cinnamon color. If it has been adul- 

 terated with cottonseed-oil, the color at first will be darker, changing 

 immediately to a dark brown. These differences of color are so 

 marked that no experience is required to detect them. 



Cards might be printed upon which the colors produced by the 

 sulphuric-acid re-action for both pure and adulterated lards might 

 be shown ; and dealers, by using this test, may prove to their cus- 

 tomers in a minute or two that the lard that they are selling is an 

 unadulterated article. The experiment is simple, and the cost of it 

 almost nothing. The novel thing about it is the placing of the 

 mixture in a test-tube in which the acid may become separated 

 from the fatty substance, thus making the test much more decisive 

 and satisfactory'. This was first suggested by Dr. Thomas Taylor, 

 who has extended his experiments to a great number of different 

 animal and vegetable oils. 



Algonkin Metalsmiths. 



Mr. Henry Lee Reynolds read a paper before the Anthropologi- 

 cal Society at a late meeting, in which he replied to M. Paul du 

 Chatelier, who has discussed the great antiquity of the ancient 

 mines discovered at Lake Superior, in 'Materiaux pour L'Histoire 

 Primitive et Naturelle de I'Homme.' The idea, he said, that these 

 mines were very ancient, is commonly prevalent. Although Drs. 

 Charles T. Jackson and I. C. Lapham gave quite plausible reasons. 

 for thinking them to be the works of the present race of Indians, 

 men like Wilson and Whittlesey subsequently published standard 

 works in which they asserted their belief in a contrary opinion ; and 

 these latter theories are now being promulgated by a host of writers 

 like M. du Chatelier. 



Mr. Reynolds reviewed the evidence upon which these theories 

 are based, criticised some of it as misleading and some of it as 

 having lost its original importance and prominence in the light of 

 later ethnologic and archaeologic research, and expressed the opin- 

 ion that the mines in question are the work of the ancestors of 

 some of the historic Algonkin tribes, if not of the historic tribes 

 themselves. In proof of this he quoted some pertinent testimony 

 from early chroniclers to show that the copper reported as having 

 been found among the historic tribes could not all have been drift- 

 metal discovered upon the surface. Three sources whence the 



