158 The American Geologist. ^^^'^■h- i9<^3. 
olivines are often shattered, with thin plates — mere films or 
veinlets — of the phosphide extending up through them, as de- 
scribed in the paper already quoted. 
A slab will be sawn from the entire length of one side of 
the mass for the purpose of showing its internal structure and 
securing material for study, the main mass being kept intact, 
after the usual custom of the Museum. It is expected that 
later more complete analyses will be made and a more detailed 
description given. 
The weight of the mass as received was 351 pounds (159.21 
kilograms). It will be known as the Mount Vernon mete- 
orite. 
THE MARL-LOESS OF THE LOWER WABASH 
VALLEY.* 
By M. L. Fuller. Washington. D. C, and F. G. Clapp, Boston, Mass. 
A study of the marl of the lower portion of the valley of 
the Wabash river in southern Indiana and Illinois shows it to 
be the equivalent of the loess, replacing the latter over consid- 
erable areas. This marl-loess is usually a little coarser than 
the common loess and carries about 30^/^ of CaCOg, as com- 
pared with less than y/c in the common type. Numerous ex- 
posures have been discovered in which the materials are dis- 
tinctly or even conspicuously stratified, and in some instances 
thin interbedded layers of fine gravel were noted. It is fre- 
quently abundantly fossiliferous, the forms being stated as a 
mixture of aquatic and land species. The stratified marl-loess 
appears to reach an altitude of about 500 feet or some 120 
feet above the flood plain of the river. Instead of forming a 
mantle conforming to the surface inequalities, as is the case 
with the common loess, the marl-loess frequently occurs as ex- 
tensive flats on broad gently sloping terraces at elevations 
ranging from 40 to 120 feet above the river. Beneath these 
there is usually buried a somewhat rugged topography. In 
distribution, the marl-loess is confined mainly to the east side 
of the valley, an occurrence which is most favorable to the hy- 
pothesis of wind origin, but the balance of evidence appears 
to be in favor of the view, with certain limitations, of aqueous 
origin. 
•Abstract of a paper read at the late meeting, G. S. A., at Washington, D. C. 
