Personal and Scientific News. 6l 
and Laurentide ice sheets. At the close of the Kansan stage the St. 
Croix probably still followed its preglacial course. The lowan drift 
sheet effectually blocked this course. The interglacial stage between 
the lowan and Wisconsin drift was very short in this region and it 
appears that the present Middle St. Croix valley is chiefly of post- 
glacial origin. The Middle St. Croix valley affords an additional 
case for the computation of postglacial time. The problem is highly 
complicated by the number and the great variance of the factors 
which must be considered. Each section of the Middle St. Croix 
presents a group of factors quite different from that of the other sec- 
tions. It is evident that the time interval represented by the erosion of 
the present Middle St. Croix is very long. The writer is of the 
opinion that 40,000 years will represent approximately the duration of 
postglacial time as expressed by the history of the St. Croix valley. 
The above preliminary note is intended to announce the determina- 
tion of the definite relationship of the preglacial and postglacial courses 
of the St. Croix river. A detailed description and discussion of the 
problems involved will follow at a later date. 
Minneapolis, April 2j, i8q8. A. H. Elftman. 
PERSONAL AND SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 
Prof. R. S. Tarr is spending the summer in the Rock)- 
Mountain region and the Pacific States, traveling extensively 
to visit localities of special geological interest, in behalf of 
his department in Cornell University. 
Cornell University. An instructorship in economic 
geology has been created in the geological department of 
Cornell University, and Dr. Heinrich Ries of Columbia Uni- 
versit\- has been appointed to the position. 
Geological Society of Washington. At the meeting 
of May 25th the following papers were presented : 
Pitch Coal from Oregon. J. S. Diller. 
Distribution and quantitative occurrence of vanadium in rocks of the 
United States. W. F. Hillebrand. 
The Devonian in southwestern Colorado. A. C. Spencer and G. H. 
Girty. 
A geological excursion in southern Russia. S. F. Emmons. 
New York Academy of Sciences. Section of Geology 
and Mineralogy, May 16, 1898. — Mr. Geo. F. Kunz exhibited 
specimens of quartz crystals found in massive gypsum at Gal- 
lineo Springs, N. Mex., and announced the discovery of a new 
meteorite from Ottawa, Kas. 
The first paper on the programme was bv Prof. D. S. 
Martin on "The Geology of Columbia, S. Ca.,and its Vicinity." 
