86 Scientific Intelligence. 



written original monograph or report upon some special problem 

 studied in the field or laboratory or both, i. e., not a mere com- 

 pilation from books. This report may contain from 50 to 200 

 pages and from 5 to 10 full page plates of the size of the bulle- 

 tins. It may be written in any language using Roman characters. 

 The judges in awarding the prize shall have the power to divide 

 the prize in two equal parts in case of doubt between the merits 

 of two excellent articles, or to withhold the prize in case no suit- 

 able article appears. All communications regarding the matter 

 should be addressed to Prof. G. D. Harris, Department of Paleon- 

 tology, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. * h. s. w. 



3, The Midway Stage, by G. D. Harris (Bull. Am. Pal., 

 No. 4, Ithaca, N. Y., June 11, 1896, pp. 1-156, plates 1-15).— 

 This lourth number of Professor Harris' Bulletins discusses, in the 

 author's thorough way, the formations and fossils of the lowest 

 midway stage of the Eocene in the Southern states. 



In the course of the paper the author has shown that there is 

 unconformity between the Cretaceous and overlying Eocene east 

 of the Mississippi, and a contact between the two is photographed 

 in Plate II. 



The author's study of the species examined leads him to the 

 following conclusions, as summarized in a communication re- 

 ceived from him. 



"All of Gabb &> Safford's 'Ripley Cretaceous' fossils from 

 Hardeman Co., Tenn., are Eocene. 



"The uppermost 100 ft. of Smith & Johnson's ' Cretaceous ' 

 section at Prairie Bluff is Eocene, as proven by an abundant and 

 typical Eocene fauna. 



"The beds at and to the south of Palmer's mill, Wilcox Co., 

 Ala., referred to the ' Cretaceous ' by Smith & Johnson (Bull. 43, 

 U. S. G. S.) are all Eocene. Here, as on the Alabama River, they 

 have their contact line 100 or more feet too high. 



" EiicUmatoceras idrichi, instead of being confined to one cal- 

 careous bed, a few feet in thickness, is now known to occur in 

 every important bed of the Midway stage in western Alabama, 

 from the contact (Cret.-Eoc.) below to and including the Mat- 

 thews landing horizon. 



" The Chattahoochee River Midway limestones are the repre- 

 sentatives of the whole Midway stage to the west, and are not 

 the outgrowth of an insignificant rock in western Alabama." 



The paleontological part of the work gives the description, 

 figures and synonomy of all the well authenticated species of the 

 Midway stage and of forty-five new species and several varieties. 

 The genera Perna, Isocardia and Keilostoma are reported for 

 the first time from North American Eocene deposits. h. s. w. 



4. The Studenfs Lyell, a Manual of elementary Geology, edited 

 by John W. Judd, pj). 635, figs. 736. London, 1896. (John 

 Murray.) — This once standard student's manual of geology is pre- 

 sented with corrections and additions, the latter particularly in the 

 way of illustrations of newly discovered fossils, but retaining the 



