Recent Proceedings of Societies. 



Natural science association, Staten Island. 

 Feb. 13. — Mr. Hollick remarked upon the vege- 

 table remains in the cretaceous fire clay beds at 

 Kreischerville. Specimens have been carefully stud- 

 ied and compared with others from New Jersey, with 

 the result of confirming that the Kreischerville beds 

 are but the extension of those at Woodbridge and 

 Amboy, and were continuous with them until cut 

 through in comparatively recent times by the channel 

 of the Kills. The specimens were found in a narrow 

 stratum, nowhere more than a foot in thickness, near 

 the surface of the bed. The stratum was conspicuous 

 from its dark color, due to the mass of lignified vege- 

 table matter which it contained. Much of this was 

 broken twigs and branches, some pieces being quite 

 large, and showing the woody texture very beauti- 

 fully ; they, however, fell in pieces upon exposure to 

 the air. Specimens of willows are found in almost 

 every block of clay examined. There are two highly 

 characteristic and distinct species, — one with a 

 broad lanceolate outline, tapering to a somewhat 

 acutish tip ; and the other a long narrow species, of 

 almost uniform width, terminating in a blunt tip. 

 There are great numbers of small leaves, evidently 

 belonging to shrubs, resembling very closely some of 

 our Ericaceae, and one of the fruits discovered ap- 

 pears to be very much like a Vaccinium. Pine 

 needles are distributed plentifully throughout, and 

 in one specimen there is a sheath or bundle contain- 

 ing three needles. Another conifer which has left 

 its marks is so close to Sequoia that it has been 

 referred to that genus. There are also a number of 

 fragments of parallel-veined leaves, which are prob- 

 ably grasses or sedges. There are also little masses 

 of a yellow substance here and there, which appears 



to be a fossil gum or amber. Dr. Carroll called 



attention to the relation between the death-rate for 

 various diseases and the seasons. The importance of 

 the ground-water as a factor in malarial diseases was 

 urged, and the necessity of lowering its level by suit- 

 able drainage wherever possible. The speaker con- 

 sidered soil-saturation as the principal source of ma- 

 larial troubles on Staten Island, especially on the 



drift formation. Mr. Wright exhibited a large 



mass of small stones (about a hundred in all) attached 

 to one another by the edible mussel (Mytilus edulis). 



Mr. Davis stated that he had been informed 



some time ago, by Mr. Matthew Taylor, that a colony 

 of night herons nested on Staten Island. The speaker 

 in person had visited the heronry ; and, from informa- 

 tion gathered, it appeared that the birds came to the 

 locality about a dozen years ago, but as they have 

 been persecuted by the Italian laborers, who eat their 

 eggs in large numbers, it is doubtful if they will 

 again return, only a few individuals having been 

 seen this past summer. Some of the farmers in the 

 neighborhood also collected their eggs, which, when 

 beaten up, were fed to the cows. The nests are ex- 

 ceedingly numerous, and are built in a thickly wooded 

 oak-swamp. 



Academy of natural sciences, Philadelphia. 

 Feb. 23. — Dr. Leidy called attention to a specimen 

 consisting of the posterior portion of a last upper 

 molar tooth of the mastodon from Florida, which he 

 had attributed to a new species under the name 

 Mastodon floridanus. The specimen is of unusual 



interest from the circumstance that it apparently 

 exhibits the result of caries, — a condition of which he 

 had never previously observed an instance in extinct 

 animals. The supposed caries appears as an irregular 

 excavation immediately above the crown of the 

 tooth, about four lines in depth. The surface of the 

 cavity appears irregularly eroded. He also exhibited 

 a specimen of the tusk of a huge extinct hog-like 

 animal from Florida, which had been found mingled 

 with the teeth of the mastodon before referred to. 

 Th© specimen nearly accords in shape with the cor- 

 responding part of the tusk of the hog, but approxi- 

 mates in proportionate size that of the hippopotamus. 

 The worn surface in the entire tooth has been about 

 three inches long, and is an inch wide. Thin enamel 

 invests the tooth : excepting on the posterior surface, 

 it shows no trace of the fluting formed in the tusk of 

 the hippopotamus, nor the strong external ridge of 

 the peccary. No undoubted remains of either the 

 hog or hippopotamus have as yet been found on this 

 continent, the peccary appearing to be the American 

 representative of those animals. The fossil was 

 provisionally referred to a new genus under the 



name Eusyodon maximus. Mr. Thomas Mee- 



han, at a former meeting, called attention to the fact 

 that during the past winter, when the snow covered 

 the ground, he had observed blackbirds eating fieely 

 of the berries of the poison ivy, Rhus radicans, 

 apparently without injury, although he had evidence 

 that the berries as well as the leaves of this plant are 



poisonous to other animals. Papers ' On the 



structure of Stromatopora and its allies,' by Dr. C. 

 Rominger, and ' On the phenomena of reversed 

 vision,' by Charles Morris, were presented for publi- 

 cation. 



Publications received at Editor's Office, Feb. 22-27. 



Brinton, D. G. Notes on the Mangue ; an extinct dialect 

 fcrmerly spoken in Nicaragua. Philadelphia, McCalla &* 

 Stavely, pr. .1SS6. 22 p. 8°. 



Brown, G. T. Life on the farm. Animal life. Ed. by J. C. 

 Morton. London, Bradbury, Agneiv &? Co., 1886. 141-1-16 p. 



12°. 



Connecticut agricultural experiment station, annual report of, 

 for 1885. New Haven, Tuttle, Morehouse & 1 ' aylor,pr„ 1886. 

 *37P- 8°. % 



Heredity, the journal of. A popular scientific quarterly. A ol. 

 i. No. 2. Ed. by Marv Weeks Burnett, M.D. Chicago, Joum. 

 hered.ptib\. Co., 1886. 148J p. 8°. 



Koehler,G. Die storungen der gange, flotze und lager. Leipzig, 

 Engelmann, 1886. 32 p., illustr. 8°. (New York, Stechert.) 



Mar me', W. Lehrbuch der pharmacognosie des pflanzen- 

 und thierreichs. Leipzig, Veit, 1886. 16+684 P« 8°. (New York, 

 Stechert.) 



Mulhall, M. G. History of prices since the year 1850. Lon- 

 don, Longmans, 1S85. 8-4-204 p.. 8 col pi. 12 . 



Otto, B. Schlagwetter und kein ende der forschung. Berlin, 

 Springer, 1886. 4+-112 p. 8°. (New York, Stechert.) 



Peters, H. Die untersuchung des auswurfs auf tuberkel- 

 bacillen. Leipzig, Wigand, 1886. 24 p. 12 . (New York, 

 Stechert.) 



Rammelsberg. Die chemische natur der mineralien. Berlin, 

 Habel, 1886. 90 p. 8°. (New York, Stechert.) 



Rauch, J. H. Report of an inspection of the Atlantic and 

 Gulf quarantines between the St. Lawrence and Rio Grande to 

 the Illinois state board of health. Springfield, 111., State, 1886. 



Strieker, S. Allgemeine pathologie der infectionskrankheiten. 

 Wien, Holder, 1886. 6+173 p. 8°. (New York, Stechert.) 



U. S. bureau of education, circular of information, No. 4. 

 Education in Japan. Washington, Government, 1885. 55 p. 8°. 



commissioner of education, report of, for the year 



1883-84. Washington, Government, 1885. 272+943 p. 8°. 



Wilson, J. Drainage for health ; or. Easy lesions in sanitary 

 science. 2d ed. Philadelphia, Blakiston, 1886. 74+23 p., 

 illustr. 8°. Si. 



Wundt, W. Essays. Leipzig, Engelmann, 1885. 4+386 p. 

 8°. (New York, Stechert.) 



