1883. ] _ Botany. 1061 
a green sandstone and sand known as ancella-schicht. The sand- 
worth has examined a supposed meteorite found at Waterville, 
Maine, just after the passage of a meteor over the town. The 
fragment was a cinder-like mass, the surface of which was coated 
by a fused crust. Although a report like that of a small cannon 
had been heard at the time the meteor was seen in the s y, sus- 
picion was attached to this stone from the fact that the grass on 
which it lay was unchanged in appearance. Professor Shepard 
had analyzed it, but regarded it as doubtful. Examination 
showed that it was a slag-like body, long exposed to the action of 
the weather, and containing in its cavities remains of plant fibers. 
The fluidal structure and the fused matters seen under the micro- 
in fluorite. Professor J. S. Newberry has contributed interest- 
ing articles on the formation of coal and the origin of carbona- 
ccous matter in bituminous shales. He describes a number o 
facts regarding the bituminous coal fields of the Mississippi valley 
which clearly show that the “ peat bog theory” gives the true 
explanation of the origin of that great deposit, as opposed to an 
“estuary or raft theory ” now advocated by some geologists. He 
holds that the carbonaceous matter in bituminous shales is due 
to the presence of algze, which thus are the primary source of 
petroleum and mineral gas. 
BOTANY. 
Tue Growru oF PLANTS IN Acip SOLUTIONS. II.— Before the 
plants could be analytically exgmined they became disarranged 
and some identifications lost. The following items are inter- 
ing: 
S 1 . . 
The hydrochloric acid plant was examined for chlorine, the 
‘Edited by Pror. C. E. Bessey, Ames, Iowa. 
