70 Scientific Intelligence. 



Matthews and includes a list of the works and maps published 

 relating to the physiography, geology and mineral resources of 

 the state, from 1526 to 1896, inclusive, and Part v is the first 

 report by Mr. L. A. Baur on the magnetic work in Maryland, 

 including the history and object of magnetic surveys in general. 



Volume ii, in addition to the state geologist's administrative 

 report on the operations of the survey during 1896, and during 

 1897, contains in Part ii an elaborate paper by Messrs. George P. 

 Merrill and Edward B. Matthews, on the Building and Decorative 

 Stones of Maryland, illustrated by beautiful colored pictures of 

 some of the more important stones as polished, and micro-photo- 

 graphs of their structure. Part iii is an equally elaborate report 

 on Cartography, to which Mr. Gannett, of the United States 

 Geological Survey which is cooperating with the state survey, 

 contributes a valuable paper on the aims and methods of carto- 

 graphy; and Mr. E. B. Matthews one on the maps and map- 

 makers of Maryland. 



The volumes are printed on excellent paper, and the illustrations 

 are numerous and often of great beauty as works of art, and noth- 

 ing seems to be spared to make the reports models of their kind. 



h. s. w. 



2. The Lower Cretaceous Gryphmas of the Texas Region • by 

 R. T. Hill and T. W. Vaughan. Bull. No. 151, IT. S. Geol. 

 Survey; pp. 1-139, plates i-xxxv. Washington, D. C. 1898. — 

 At last the Gryphcea pitcheri Morton, and the age of the 

 Tucumcari beds, have been set at rest. Mr. R. T. Hill has 

 succeeded not only in solving, but in clearly demonstrating his 

 solution of the perplexing problems regarding the Lower Creta- 

 ceous beds of Texas and neighboring regions, in showing the 

 true order of the beds and their faunas. In this work, one of 

 the greatest difficulties has arisen from the great variability of 

 the Gryphseas which have served as leitfossilien, aud from the 

 confusion arising from mis-naming, and careless (or worse ) state- 

 ments regarding their occurrence and distribution. Mr. Hill, with 

 the assistance of Mr. Vaughan, has made an exhaustive study of 

 the whole group of Grypbaeas, and determined and illustrated 

 with numerous figures the characters of the species, their develop- 

 mental history and their stratigraphic range and geographical 

 distribution. The names of the Gryphceas (to which the name 

 G. pitcheri has been applied) which survive the searching inves- 

 tigation are G. corrugata Say, G. navia Hall, G. mucronata 

 Gabb, G. washitaensis Hill and G. Newberryi Stanton. Two 

 new species, G. Wardi and G. Marcoui, are described. Partic- 

 ular attention should be called to the ontogenic study of the 

 several species according to the Hyatt school of paleontologists. 



h. s. w. 



3. Bibliographic Judex of North American Carboniferous 

 Invertebrates ; by Stuart Weller. Bull. No. 153, U. S. Geol. 

 Survey, pp. 1-653, 1898. — The indexing and classifying of the 

 innumerable facts regarding fossil species is a necessary prep- 



