12$ The American Geologist. February, 1904. 
sand deposits were intra-morainic from their beginning and formed in 
this way, viz. : the inland ice, being thin at its edge when gliding out 
in waterfilled basins dammed up by ice, was lifted up so that the 
subglacial streams could deposit the sand under the ice and beneath 
the inner (upper) moraine. 
To these deposits belong also the Rixdorf sand the great extent 
and thickness of which, as well as the peculiar structure of its beds — 
sand alternating with strata of coarse gravel and layers of boulders 
with no end of discordancies — plainly indicate ' that their formation 
is of glacial origin. And only the mighty torrents issuing from glaciers 
could have laid down such immense deposits of coarse gravel. The 
fauna of the Rixdorf sand is a mixed fauna, appears only, or at least 
mainly, in the coarse gravel and must be a secondary deposit. The 
study of these sands by W. Wolff and G. Miiller has led these geol- 
ogists to similar conclusions. (D. G. G. Jan. 1902.) 
The author believes that this "argument against interglacialism" will 
prove that the two moraines are contemporaneous. Moraines are the 
most significant of glacial formations. If they bear witness to but one 
glaciation then the so-called interglacial formations themselves, if cor- 
rectly interpreted, can give no other verdict. J. L. 
Lecture notes on general and special mineralogy. By Frank R. Van 
Horn, professor of geology and mineralogy in Case School of Ap- 
plied Science. 683pp., 1903, published by the author, Cleveland. 
The preface states that "Owing to the fact that there is no text- 
book in English, or in any other language which covers a general course 
of mineralogy, I have decided to publish the series of lectures which I 
have delivered during the past five years at Case School of Applied 
Science. * * * -phe chief faults with most existing text-books 
are, either that they are not modern, or that one devotes too much time 
to a certain division with consequent curtailing of others. One will be 
all crystallography, another all physical mineralogy, while a different 
one will be devoted practically to descriptive mineralogy." The first 
part of the book is devoted to general mineralogy, including crystal- 
lography, chemical and physical mineralogy; and the second part, to 
special mineralogy, in which 260 mineral species are described. The two 
parts of the book are about equal in number of pages; every alternate 
page is left blank for the insertion by the student of additional notes 
and figures. u. s. g. 
