SCIENCE. 



191 



Amboccelia umbonata, Con. was found in several 

 beautifully preserved specimens. 



And one of the dorsal valves is marked on the outer 

 surface by concentric rows of minute short interrupted 

 radiating lines, and when magnified resembles very 

 closely the figure of Spirifer prematura on plate 33 of 

 Hall's Pal., of N. Y., Pal. 4, fig. 32. Further study of 

 these forms will probably develope interesting facts. 



SECTION AT 

 STATION XXXIV. 



H. S. W. 

 SCALE I cm I ft. 



-j \py^=HJ 



Avicula speciosa, Hall. This species 

 is represented by several specimens 

 small and large, some of quite large 

 size, but showing the characteristics of 

 the Portage representatives. 



This fact is especially interesting as 

 the form has not been recorded from 

 outside Portage rocks, and though this 

 stratum is but a few feet below the base 

 of the Portage, it is distinctly below 

 and in the midst of characteristic Gene- 

 see slate. 



It will be observed that this brings 

 the species into the Hamilton Period. 

 There are also some well marked plant- 

 remains, one linear grass-like form, 

 another sturdy branching form the re- 

 lations of which have not been made 

 out. 



The dip of the base of the Portage 

 in one direction was determined. Three 

 stations were examined a thousand 

 feet apart, and in nearly a straight line 

 running North and South, and the 

 elevation of the base of the stratum A 

 of the Portage determined relative to 

 the level of the lake. 



St. XXXII. base of A above lake level. . . . 7 ft. 



" XXXIII. " " " 35^ " 



" XXXIV. " " " 57.9 " 



These being 1000 feet apart, the dip is nearly 50 

 feet in 2000 feet. 



The first 1000 feet showing 28^ feet and the second 

 1000 feet showing 22^ feet nearly. Thus the dip is 

 not uniform, a fact further shown by a study of 

 the rocks further South where the dip is much less, as 

 was determined by careful survey of strata near the 

 top of the Portage. 



The accompanying diagram shows the general na- 

 ture of the section at the three stations XXXII., 

 XXXIII. , and XXXIV. The scale is one centimeter 

 to the foot. C, and A, and lower part of B contain 

 concretionary nodules of iron pyrites ; A, and C, sand- 

 stones, are separated by the shale B, which is more or 



less arenacious and differs decidedly from the Genesee 

 slate below, which is the characteristic mud shale, 

 black, and very fine in texture with arenaceous streaks 

 in it toward the top. 



The fossiliferous stratum whose fauna is described, 

 is d, lithologically scarcely defined from the shales 

 above and below. 



THE TELEPHONE AMONG THE INDIANS. 



The United States Fish Commission has lately con- 

 nected, by telephone, its Salmon Hatching Stations 

 at Baird, on the McCloud river, California, with the 

 establishment for breeding the California trout five 

 miles further up the river and the apparatus is now 

 in thoroughly good working order. The Indians look 

 on in blank amazement and call the instrument the 

 Klesch-teen, or speaking spirit. 



A REMARKABLE METEOR. 

 By Edwin F. Sawyer. 



While engaged in recording meteors on the evening 

 of Oct. 9th, I observed a very remarkable one at 

 10 h. 25 m. C. M. T., low down in the east, which 

 calls for special mention. My attention was first at- 

 tracted to what appeared a stationary meteor > 1 

 mag. near y (Gamma) Orionis, and of a deep orange 

 color. While noting its accurate position, the meteor 

 very slowly (motion hardly perceptible) began to de- 

 scend towards the horizon, where it disappeared 

 behind some houses. It remained perfectly stationary 

 for at least a second after it was first observed, and it 

 occupied 6 seconds in traversing an observed path of 

 io°. The meteor's brightness decreased slowly as it 

 approached the point of disappearance being at this 

 point of the 3d mag. No streak was observed. The ex- 

 act point of appearance was at R.A. 76° + 5' and it 

 vanished at R.A. 76^° — 5 near ft Orioms (Rigel). 

 Duplicate observations of this meteor would be of 

 value. 



Cambridgeport, Mass., Oct. 10, 1880. 



THE "YELLOWS" OF THE PEACH TREE. 



By Prof. T. J. Burrill, Illinois Industrial. University. 



A peculiar disease of the peach tree known as 

 the " yellows," has long been the scourge of the 

 principal peach growing districts of our country. 

 Its appearance somewhat recently, in Michigan, 

 caused much alarm, and since its occurrence through- 

 out great orchards in some of the best fruit districts 

 of the State, special attention has been called to it. 



In "Science" for September 25th, 1880, page 162, 

 there appeared an abstract of a paper read by me 

 before the American Society of Microscopists at De- 

 troit, upon the blight of pear and apple trees. In this 

 paper I expressed the opinion that the " yellows " of the 

 peach tree would be found due to an organism similar 

 to that found to be the cause of the pear tree blight. 

 This opinion was based upon my knowledge of the 

 latter disease, upon the thoroughly confirmed conta- 

 gious character of the "yellows," and upon the failure 

 of competent investigators to find, after extended re- 



