376 



8GIENGE, 



[Vol. VI., No. 143. 



to my absence from home, I was unable to visit 

 the place until Oct. 17, four days after the skull 

 had been found. During this visit, I made a care- 

 ful study of the peat formation and the under- 

 lying blue clay, which I take to be the bowlder 

 clay covering the bottom of the basin or old pond, 

 which is some four or five acres in area. Over 

 this blue clay, containing both rounded and spht 

 stones, the deposit of peat has taken place. The 

 two skulls, mastodon and human, were unques- 

 tionably at the bottom of this peat, both resting 

 on the blue clay ; but, owing to the inchnation of 

 the basin toward the northeast from the spot 

 where the human skull was found, there were two 

 feet less of peat over the skull than there were over 

 the mastodon. The stratification of the peat was 

 quite marked, and the lower portion immediately 

 covering the two skuUs is very fine, and evidently 

 a deposit made entirely under water. Above this 

 the peat is slightly coarser, which character in- 

 creases to the surface. While a few small pieces 

 of wood were found at the bottom of the peat, 

 several large logs, and what seems to be the re- 

 mains of a partially burnt stump, were found in 

 the layer about two feet above the human skull. 

 To this depth heavy objects could have readily 

 sunk through the coarse or more open formation 

 above, but I question the possibihty of so Hght an 

 object as a human skull sinking through the 

 lower two feet to the hard pan at any time subse- 

 quent to the formation of that stratum. That 

 both skulls were transported, seems to be proved 

 by the fact that no other bones of the two skele- 

 tons were found in the immediate vicinity ; and 

 that they were transported by water before the 

 peat deposit began, seems probable. The broken 

 portions of the human skuU have the appearance 

 of having been worn by water action, and the 

 dissociation of the jaw and cranium would also 

 indicate that method of removal from the rest of 

 the skeleton. Had it been a settling of a heavy 

 body through the peat, we could hardly expect 

 that the skull and jaw alone would have settled to 

 hard pan, and the rest of the bones of the skeleton 

 to have been nowhere near them ; and the same re- 

 mark would apply to the skuU of the mastodon. 



The skuU has been placed in my hands for care- 

 ful study and comparison, and I hope soon to be 

 able to give definite information in regard to it. 

 Unfortunately, the skull is not a typical one, and 

 the averaging and careful balancing of its char- 

 acters will have to be made before its race affinities 

 can be determined. In regard to its color, I may 

 add that it is as deep, if not deeper brown, than 

 the bones of the mastodon. Its comparatively 

 perfect preservation when compared with the mas- 

 todon skull is, however, remarkable; but this 



could be easily accounted for by the longer ex- 

 posure of the mastodon bones on the surface of a 

 gravel deposit before being washed into the basin. 



F. W. Putnam. 



THE INTERNATIONAL GEOLOGICAL CON- 

 GRESS AT BERLIN, 



The third and most important session of the 

 International geological congress, which was insti- 

 tuted by an American committee of the American 

 association at its Buflfalo meeting in 1876, has just 

 been held. 



The first session at Paris in 1878 was really a 

 pour parler which broke ground. The next ses- 

 sion at Bologna in 1881 accomphshed something, 

 but was especially useful in preparing for the 

 work of the session just closed by deciding to pro- 

 duce a geological map of Europe on a scale of 

 1: 1,500,000 and intrusting its execution to one com- 

 mittee, wMle another was appointed to devise 

 some scheme for unifying the nomenclature, and, 

 where possible, of fixing the Hmits of various 

 congeries of beds, which had heretofore been dif- 

 ferently understood by different geologists. The 

 obstacles which faced these committees will be at 

 once understood from this bare statement, and 

 will modify any hasty impression that in fact very 

 Httle has been accomplished. 



The two committees, or a majority of members 

 of each, met at Foix and at Zurich during the four 

 years which intervened between the congresses of 

 Bologna and Berlin, and the action of the congress 

 which has just ended was almost exclusively con- 

 fined to the propositions made in the printed reports 

 of these committees. 



Those who arrived in Berlin some days before 

 the opening of the congress found at the superb 

 Bergakademie on the Invaliden strasse the bureau 

 organized to examine the credentials of delegates, 

 and provide each with the necessary card and re- 

 ceipt for the ten marks he paid, besides a medal in 

 silver, bearing the inscription on one side, ' Geolo- 

 gorum conventus, mente et malleo,' with the con- 

 ventional mallet and chisel crossed, and surrounded 

 by a wreath of oak. On the other side, within a 

 similar wreath, were the words, ' Berlin, 1885.' 

 The medal was suspended by a white satin ribbon, 

 and worn on the lapel of the coat for identification 

 on excursions, etc. 



A programme of the order of events may be 

 thus condensed: Monday, September 28, at 10 

 A.M., meeting of the council at the Reichstags- 

 gebaude ; 5 P.M., social re-union of the members 

 of the congress in the ante-chamber of the palace. 

 Tuesday, September 29, 9 a.m., opening of the 

 congress ; 2 p.m., visit to the Bergakademie to see 



