954 The American Naturalist. [November, 
most of its phases, and gives the following facts as the basis of the 
suggestion : 
“The recent denudation of the western plains, of the bad lands, and 
of the Cordilleran plateau is extensive enough to furnish the materials 
many timesover. The different rocks in these regions, and the change- 
ability of the atmospheric currents would combine to bring together 
and thoroughly mix a variety of materials, like those of which the 
loess is composed. The winds would naturally distribute over wide 
areas the heterogeneous but uniform mixture thus produced. When 
not taken close to exposures of other materials ninety-nine per cent. 
by weight, of the loess, is composed of particles below the size of .1 mm., 
and it contains only a small proportion of the finest materials common 
in clays and residuary earths, just as must be the case in an atmos- 
pheric sediment. It is best developed along the westernmost north-and- 
south drainage valley, that of the Missouri-Mississippi river. Almost 
everywhere it is heaviest nearest the water-courses. (Journ. Geol.,Vol. 
II, 1894.) 
` Geological News. Patxrozoic.— According to Mr. Winslow, 
the Coal Measures of Missouri occupy the whole western and north- 
western portions of the State and embrace an area of 25,000 square 
miles. This region is a plateau of moderate elevation in which denu- 
dation has not progressed very far. The strata have a slight dip to 
the west. Their estimated maximum thickness is 1900 feet. The 
€oals oceur in basins of limited dimensions, and are chiefly bituminous 
in character. The beds range in thickness from one inch to about 
five feet. 
Mesozorc.—F orty-six additions have been made to the Cretaceous 
paleobotany of Long Island through the researches of Prof. Hollick. 
Of these nine are recognized as new species and are described and fig- 
ured in the Bull. of the Torrey Botanical Club for 1894. 
A new Plesiosaur, Cimoliosaurus caudalis, is described by Captain 
Hutton. The specimen, now in the Canterbury Museum, was found 
in the Cretaceous rocks near the Waipara river in New Zealand. It 
represents an animal about the size of Pleisosaurus australis, and is 
distinguished by the long and powerful tail. (Trans. New Zeal. Inst., 
1893.) 
Two new and interesting forms of Reptiles have been added to the 
group from the Elgin Sandstone described by Prof. E. T. Newton. One 
