74 Scientific Intelligence. 



14. On the value of the meter in English inches ; by C. B. 

 Comstock, U. S. A. (Communicated).— In April 1885 f read a 

 paper belore the National Academy of Sciences in which the 

 value of the meter in terms of the yard was given, as derived 

 from comparisons of a meter (R 1876) and Clarke yard A, both 

 formerly belonging to the TJ. S. Lake Survey. This value was, 

 meter =39-3699 inches. 



A note from Dr. Benoit of the International Bureau of Weights 

 and Measures of 27 March 1893, gives the value of the Toise of 

 Bessel in terms of the meter, from Dr. Benoit's comparisons : of 

 Toise No. 10 in terms of the Toise of Bessel from Peter's com- 

 parisons and of Toise No. 10 in terms of the yard from Clarke's 

 comparisons: the resulting value of the meter is, 



Meter = 3 9*3699 inches. 

 These equal results obtained through independent routes, indicate 

 that this value has a high degree of accuracy. 



Army Building, New York City, 

 May 17, 1893. 



15. A Student's Manual of a Laboratory Course in Physical 

 Measurements; by Wallace Clement Sabine. 126 pp. Boston, 

 1893. (Ginn & Co.). — This little manual is of special interest as 

 detailing the series of 72 experiments given in the prominent 

 Physics course at Cambridge as also at the Harvard summer 

 school. As given in the college, it requires about 180 hours from 

 the student in the laboratory with the requirement of one half 

 as much time given to outside study. 



II. Geology and Mineralogy, 



1. The Tertiary Revolution in the Topography of the Pacific 

 Coast ; abstract of a paper read Mav 10th, 1893, by J. S. Diller 

 before the Geological Society of Washington, D. C. A prelimi- 

 nary study of the ancient plains and peneplains of erosion in 

 Northern California and the distribution of the associated sedi- 

 mentary formations laid down upon their borders, as well as of 

 the large masses of the auriferous gravels deposited upon their 

 gentle slopes, has thrown much light upon the condition of that 

 region during the Eocene and early Neocene. It has afforded a 

 basis for estimating the amount of elevation which the northern 

 end of the Sierra Nevada has experienced since the close of the 

 Miocene. In the Lassen Peak region strata which were laid down 

 during the Miocene in an estuary have since been raised in one 

 place to 3400 and in another to 4000 feet above the sea. The 

 amount of elevation in that district increases southward and at 

 the northern end of the Sierra Nevada the upheaval has been at 

 least 4000 feet and probably over 5000 leet. The Klamath 

 mountains and Coast range have been even more profoundly 

 affected by the same movement. 



